THIS QUESTION is asked by Valerie Stivers in a new column at Compact Magazine— in which New Pop Lit and its editor are mentioned. The topic? What Stivers calls “Rebellion Lit”– which really means, in the context she uses the term, those writers and literary projects who believe the literary game– the art, how it’s produced and how it’s marketed– needs to radically change.

Stivers lauds the ambition but is skeptical of the ability of those mentioned to achieve the objective. Speaking only for this project– possibly the others– our chief focus at this point is simply to bust open the door and break literature and creative writing out of its stultifying box. To point a direction– and hope others will follow. The idea, first, is to begin moving. Attempting new ideas, as we’ve been doing, whether the idea is multi-dimensional writing, or fiction and poetry involved in the here-and-now. Fortunately(?) some other rebellious literary person (John Pistelli) was used by Stivers as example of the failure to fully embody the New. Which would be like famed jazz drummer Buddy Rich’s remark in 1956 about Elvis Presley and his rockabilly combo that “These guys can’t even play their instruments!” Within a few years, rock music entered new realms of creativity and popularity, while hyper-skilled Buddy Rich was forgotten.

SIMULTANEOUS to these contentions, we posted a day-late “May Day” column of our own at our colorful Fast Pop Lit site, here, about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novella May Day— a long-ago work which itself might answer questions raised by Valerie Stivers’ column. Does it? If you have thoughts on this or related matters, let us know!