If the first month is any indication, 2017 is going to be a very tough year. We aren’t blind to the fact that Donald Trump’s ascent to the presidency appears to have kicked off a new, possibly global movement against authoritarianism and bigotry. But we also believe that, without a vision of a different world related to our own, we will only go so far. Red Wedge has asserted countless times that, even when things look grim, there is a need for a radical imagination, for singing in the dark times. Without the roses, is the bread even worth winning?
Which is why we are aiming for Red Wedge to up its ante this year. And in a big way. We are looking for our material to be stronger, sharper, more imaginative, and for it to reach more eyes and ears than it has ever before. Red Wedge is, at this point, the only English-language publication dedicated to examining all of the arts from a Marxist perspective. We take this responsibility seriously. And as the times grow more serious, so must we.
We are in the process of assembling our third print issue, which will be longer and more comprehensive than our previous two. We have launched wedgeshop in an effort to give radical artists, writers and musicians a bigger platform to be compensated for their work. We will be taking our first steps toward publishing chapbooks and other related materials. We also hope to take steps toward finally being able to pay our contributors, to compensate them for their time, labor and talent.
"Soulèvements" reviewed; "Flawed Silence," poems by Sunni Hutton (image by Craig E. Ross); Trump effigy; Matthew Whitley on the problems with contemporary conceptual art and poetry; Colin Revolting on the People and Politics of Punk; "Dario Fo: Ideas that Outrage"
Here comes the line you all saw coming: We need money to make all of this happen. In years past, we’ve accomplished this by undertaking fund drives for a few months, soliciting our readers for one-time lump sums so that we can continue operating for the next year and/or pay for a particular project. It is, frankly, an exhausting and nerve-wracking way to fund a publication. Which is why this year we are going to try a different approach.
The Red Wedge Patron Program is run through the Patreon platform. For those who might not be familiar, Patreon allows you to donate a certain amount to a project each month – as little as a dollar and as much as you like – in exchange for ongoing rewards:
- A pledge of two dollars a month gets you a digital subscription to the yearly journal of Red Wedge, send directly to your inbox.
- Five dollars a month gets you a print subscription to the journal.
- Ten per month gets a print sub and special Red Wedge posters.
- For twenty dollars, you get a print sub, posters, and any and all special publications printed during the time of your subscription.
In other words, your donations will get you the best of what Red Wedge has to offer: essays, reviews, commentary pieces, art, poetry, fiction, dynamic and original design. It will also help us stay afloat. One donation of twenty a month will keep our website up. If ten of you decide to donate ten a month, that more or less assures that we will have the funds to send issue three to the printers and to get it into independent bookstores across North America and the UK. Fifty of you donating five dollars a month will allow us to begin paying our contributors.
Caliban's Revenge on the Kate Evans illustrated biography of Rosa Luxemburg; Doug Greene on "Benjamin, Blanqui and the Apocalypse"; "Hard Times at the Dollar Art House"; "Inaccessible The Commodified Built Environment," Matt Woodward interviewed by Ashley Bohrer; "Lucy Parsons at the Golden Nugget" by Adam Turl; Consumer Grade Film
We are willing to bet that the virtual entirety of our audience believes in the independent Left press, along with the freedom of expression and hunger for sharp ideas that have always guided its best iterations. Red Wedge stands in this lineage; you all no doubt understand this. We know that many of you out there have had your resolve and understanding strengthened by our publication, even if only a little. Now we are asking, humbly as always but with all due sincerity, to be an ongoing part of maintaining and growing this project.
Red Wedge relies on your support. Our project is both urgent and urgently needed for cultivating a left-wing cultural resistance. If you like what you read above, consider becoming a patron of Red Wedge.