Interview: Kerouac's Dog Magazine

A while ago I discovered a beat little magazine called "Kerouac's Dog." They agreed to an e-mail interview, and here it is. Click here to visit their website.

The Beat Handbook: Kerouac's Dog is certainly an interesting name for a magazine (especially since Jack was more of a "cat person"). What can you tell our readers about the name's origin?

Kerouac's Dog Magazine: Ah yes, we get asked this all the time. The name is inspired by a dog called Potschky, owned by one of Kerouac’s contemporaries, Lucien Carr. Potschky chewed and savaged the end of Kerouac’s typed manuscript for On the Road, after Kerouac and his wife Joan Haverty moved into Carr’s apartment on 21st Street, off Seventh Avenue, in 1950.

TBH: You have a couple of interviews posted at the website and we don't want to cover the same territory. What's happened of note since the date of the last interview (November 2010)?

KDM: Well after the success of Issue 1 'Freedom'; we got to work straight away on Issue 2 'Life' - which went down a storm. Issue 3 'Truth' is about to go out, and we're already working on the final issue of the year. The response we've had has been incredible, and the sheer talent of work is overwhelming. We're also working on a brand new website that will hopefully be more of a platform for some of the awesome work we've had, and a spotlight and springboard for the talented writers, artists and photographers we've had the pleasure to work with.

TBH: How did your decision to go with a printed magazine in this Internet age relate to your magazine's topic, Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation?

KDM: Well we're not out-and-out Beatniks, we're massively inspired by Kerouac and what he stood for, so we're happy to tilt our hat to the guy. I think we wanted to pay homage to the philosophy of the Beat Generation and to underground, and free press; giving people the opportunity to see the breathings of their creative hearts in a creative, uncensored publication.

TBH: How much current writing aligns with your magazine's vision? Do you get more acceptable submissions than you have space to handle?

KDM: As we said earlier, we're not die-hard Beatniks, we have our own vision and ethos, but Kerouac's not bad for drawing inspiration! But if the work we receive resonates, and 'speaks' to us, and touches our soul, and fits in with the theme for each issue, then we'll do our best to include it. We have to turn a lot of people away for each issue, simply because of size. We're already aiming at 300 pages for Issue 4 - but having said that, we don't deal in absolutes, so more than happy to reconsider work for future issues.

TBH: How much do you think the upcoming On The Road movie will increase interest in Kerouac and the Beats?

KDM: It could go either way - but judging by the massive global following Kerouac and the Beats still have today, I think it will reignite the passion for Kerouac and bring it more mainstream. It's a shame in one way, but if it's opening more and more people up to some of the awesome literature of that period, then it can't be a bad thing. There's still a part of me that thinks that some books simply should stay as the written word.

TBH: Your magazine is priced in £ but many of our readers are in the U.S. Does PayPal handle that issue pretty transparently for the buyer?

KDM: Surely, as far as we know Paypal handles other currencies pretty seamlessly. We are hoping to offer other payment methods like Direct Debits and Standing Orders - especially when we set up Subscriptions in the not-to-distant future.

TBH: How many issues of KDM are you shooting for in 2011?

KDM: We really wanna push things as much as we can - but want quality rather than quantity - each issue is so rich and in-depth, I think we'd be doing the incredible content an injustice if we went for more than 4 issues a year. We may do more, but we want readers to really be able to savour each issue.

TBH: Who do you consider to be "beat writers" today?

KDM: Some of the contributions we've had are certainly form the brave new steps to a new Beat Generation. ;)

TBH: Do you have any "inside advice" for authors looking to get published in KDM?

KDM: Be creative, be inspiring and blow us away.

TBH: Last question: What do you think Jack would say about Kerouac's Dog Magazine?

KDM: He'd either love it, or totally shoot us down. We like to think he'd chuckle and give us a good pat on the back for providing a platform for free, creative expression.