Rain Taxi
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''Rain Taxi'' is a
Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
-based book review and literary organization. In addition to publishing its quarterly print edition, ''Rain Taxi'' maintains an online edition with distinct content, sponsors the Twin Cities Book Festival, hosts readings, and publishes
chapbook A chapbook is a type of small printed booklet that was a popular medium for street literature throughout early modern Europe. Chapbooks were usually produced cheaply, illustrated with crude woodcuts and printed on a single sheet folded into 8, 1 ...
s through its Brainstorm Series. ''Rain Taxi''s mission is "to advance independent literary culture through publications and programs that foster awareness and appreciation of innovative writing." , the magazine distributes 18,000 copies through 250 bookstores as well as to subscribers. The magazine is free on the newsstand. It is also available through paid subscription. Structurally, ''Rain Taxi'' is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. It sells advertising at below market rates, much of it to literary presses.


History

The magazine was founded in 1996 by Carolyn Kuebler, Randall Heath, and David Caligiuri (who resigned with issue one). Current editor Eric Lorberer joined the staff after issue one. The magazine is art-directed and business-managed by Kelly Everding. ''Rain Taxi'' has been relatively free of controversy and widely lauded for its role in bringing to light books which might not otherwise be reviewed. It has been awarded the 2000 ''
Utne Reader ''Utne Reader'' (also known as ''Utne''; , ) is a digital digest that collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment, generally from alternative media sources including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music, and ...
'' Alternative Press Award for Best Arts and Literature Coverage and Best Literary Journal in ''City Pages'' (Minneapolis). Editor Eric Lorberer was named to the ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' "The Twin Cities Top 10". An exception to the lack of controversy was
David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American writer and professor who published novels, short stories, and essays. He is best known for his 1996 novel ''Infinite Jest'', which ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine ...
's Summer 2001 review of ''The Best of the Prose Poem: An International Journal'' (White Pine Press). The review, which took the form of a bullet-pointed index that "broke down the anthology into numerical components", inflamed many of the book's contributors. See responses in Fall 2001 print edition of the magazine. The magazine publishes relatively few dismissive reviews. Lorberer explained that "the reason the majority of the reviews are positive is that the process of selection itself is an aspect of reviewing–we're trying to select the best of the best". Former Board Member and Twin Cities journalist Josie Rawson also notes: "There are so few avenues in the reviewing press for praise for books from small presses, independent presses, it's hardly worth wasting space on books nobody should be reading anyway."


''Rain Taxi Review of Books'' (Print)

''Rain Taxi'' focuses on literary fiction, poetry, and non-fiction with an emphasis on small press and offbeat books. The review features interviews with prominent writers such as
Lydia Davis Lydia Davis (born July 15, 1947) is an American short story writer, novelist, essayist, and translator from French and other languages, who often writes very short stories. Davis has produced several new translations of French literary classics ...
and
Tao Lin Tao Lin (; born July 2, 1983) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, short-story writer, and artist. He has published four novels, a novella, two books of poetry, a collection of short stories, and a memoir, as well as an extensive assortment o ...
; reviewers include Sharon Mesmer, Jacob Appel, Spencer Dew, and Mark Terrill.


Raintaxi.com

The site includes distinct content not found in the print edition, as well as information about events publications. , it receives approximately 15,000 hits a day.


Brainstorm Series Chapbooks

''Rain Taxi'' publishes limited edition chapbooks, each limited to 300 copies or less. Authors have included Kees 't Hart, Alice Notley,
Donald Revell Donald Revell (born 1954 in Bronx, New York) is an American poet, essayist, translator and professor. Revell has won numerous honors and awards for his work, beginning with his first book, ''From the Abandoned Cities'', which was a National Poetr ...
,
Dara Wier Dara Barrois/Dixon (Dara Wier) (born December 30, 1949) is an American poet and author. She has received awards from the Lannan Foundation, American Poetry Review, The Poetry Center Book Award, Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Ar ...
,
Nathaniel Tarn Nathaniel Tarn (June 30, 1928 – June 26, 2024) was a French-American poet, essayist, anthropologist, and translator. He was born Edward Michael Mendelson in Paris to a French-Romanian mother and a British-Lithuanian father. He lived in Paris ...
,
Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (February 3, 1947 – April 30, 2024) was an American writer, novelist, memoirist, poet, and filmmaker. His notable works include '' The New York Trilogy'' (1987), '' Moon Palace'' (1989), '' The Music of Chance'' (1990), ' ...
, Russell Edson,
Anne Waldman Anne Waldman (born April 2, 1945) is an American poet. Since the 1960s, Waldman has been an active member of the Outrider experimental poetry community as a writer, performer, collaborator, professor, editor, scholar, and cultural/political acti ...
and
Rikki Ducornet Rikki Ducornet (; born Erica DeGre; April 19, 1943) is an American writer, poet, and artist. Her work has been described as "linguistically explosive and socially relevant," and praised for "deploy ngtactics familiar to the historical avant-gard ...
(collaboration)
Kai Nieminen
James Tate, Stephen Dixon, Paul Metcalf, and
Clayton Eshleman Clayton Eshleman (June 1, 1935 – January 29 or 30, 2021) was an American poet, translator and editor, noted in particular for his translations of César Vallejo and his studies of cave painting and the Paleolithic imagination. Eshleman's work ha ...
.


Twin Cities Book Festival

''Rain Taxi'' launched the Twin Cities Book Festival in 2001. The festival includes readings, talks, book signings, panel discussions, children's activities, book arts demonstrations, a used book sale, and a Literary Magazine Fair.


''Rain Taxi Readings''

The ''Rain Taxi'' Reading Series began in 1998 and has hosted more than 200 writers.


References

{{Reflist, 30em


External links


Official website
Book review magazines published in the United States Quarterly magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1996 Magazines published in Minnesota Mass media in Minneapolis–Saint Paul