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TAMARA KAYE SELLMAN, FOUNDING EDITOR & PUBLISHER

"I ENJOY the challenge of taking an idea and making something tangible of it. What better way to achieve this than through publishing?

"While I agree that wholesale classification of literature is of limited intellectual use or is mostly the domain of book marketeers, I think defining it still makes for an interesting inquiry. Magical realism is often confused with other genres (i.e. fantasy, speculative fiction, science fiction, experimental writing, surrealism). The term itself arrived by way of the canvas with Germany's post-Expressionist paintings. I think many will agree that magical realism as a literary form yields a painterly quality which distinguishes it from other forms of literary realism.

"But to understand magical realism is to take into account its many influences: cultural, political, communitarian, spiritual. I think, too, that magical realism is a story venue for voices outside the mainstream. I have always been interested in outsiderism, which may explain my fascination with magical realism, as it often brings to us marginal characters, ideas, places—not marginal in the sense that they are lesser, but in the sense that they are, perhaps, extraordinary." —T.K.S.

S.L. DEEFHOLTS, MANAGING EDITOR

"I WAS born in India. Although I grew up in Canada, my parents raised me on bizarre family myths that portrayed a very different reality to that which prevails in North America. This was my early introduction to magic realism.

"By the time I entered university, my fascination was fixed. I adopted a three-fold focus to my studies, concentrating on magic realism, the works of Angela Carter and The Thousand and One Nights. Given the elusiveness of the concept of magic realism, my work in the field sought to bring about a clearer understanding of its use and significance in contemporary writing.

"To me, magic realism is about acknowledging that perceptions of reality are culturally determined and seeking to give voice to alternate versions of what is true. It is important to realise that the subject matter can be as diverse as the people who are writing it—there is no set formula behind 'getting it right.' All too often, people try to be clones of García Márquez or Allende, without realising that magic realism is actually about portraying a subjective, cultural reality." —S.L.D

BRUCE TAYLOR, CONSULTANT

BRUCE TAYLOR is founder of The Magic Realist Writers International Network, president of the Seattle Writer's Association and a member of Science Fiction Writers of American (SFWA). Taylor teaches novel writing at North Seattle Community College. His books include The Final Trick of Funnyman & Other Stories and Kafka's Uncle & Other Strange Tales. Taylor has written and published literary magical realism since the 1970s. He has several new titles forthcoming in 2005 and 2006.

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Rev'd 2005/06/06