Parting Gifts

Parting Gifts was a United States literary magazine founded in 1987 and published by March Street Press in Greensboro, North Carolina. It operated as a biannual journal, placing its primary emphasis on literary short-shorts and other forms of flash fiction rather than on conventional long-form short stories or general-interest magazine content. The publication also occasionally included poetry, but its defining editorial identity was its focus on concise fictional forms and the craft possibilities created by extreme brevity. The journal occupied a specialized position within the American small-press literary ecosystem. Its subject was not a commercial product category in the usual consumer-brand sense; instead, its brand represented an editorial project, a recurring publication, and a platform for writers working in compressed narrative forms. By concentrating on flash fiction and related short-short formats, Parting Gifts helped give visibility to work that could be overlooked by broader literary magazines whose editorial programs centered on longer stories, poetry, or essays. Parting Gifts was also recognized as one of a select group of literary journals whose published stories were eligible for inclusion in New Stories from the South, an annual anthology. That connection provided an important form of external recognition: it linked the magazine's editorial output to a wider regional and national literary-selection process and indicated that at least some of its fiction was considered suitable for annual anthology consideration. Robert J. Bixby served as the journal's editor and publisher. The available reference material does not identify a separate founder, corporate owner, circulation figure, subscription price, or detailed staff structure. March Street Press was the publishing organization associated with the magazine, and Greensboro served as its publishing base. No evidence in the supplied material indicates that the journal was part of a larger commercial media conglomerate or that it had a publicly traded parent. Parting Gifts ceased publication in 2009. Its active publishing period therefore spanned approximately twenty-two years, from its 1987 founding through its final year. Although the magazine is defunct, its historical significance rests in its sustained support for flash fiction and short-short literature, its role in the small-press magazine field, and its connection to the New Stories from the South anthology tradition.

Parting Gifts was established in 1987 as a biannual literary magazine published by March Street Press of Greensboro, North Carolina. From the beginning, its editorial identity was associated with literary short-shorts and flash fiction, forms that depend on compression, implication, and carefully limited narrative space. The magazine occasionally published poetry, but fiction in very short formats remained its central area of concentration. The journal belonged to the American small-press and literary-magazine tradition rather than to the mass-market periodical sector. Its value as a publication lay in curating and circulating work by writers whose stories could fit the short-short or flash-fiction form. Through regular issues, Parting Gifts created an outlet for concise literary narratives and contributed to the broader development and visibility of short-form fiction in literary publishing. Robert J. Bixby was identified as the editor and publisher. The supplied reference material does not provide a separate founding figure, detailed editorial succession, circulation data, or information about the magazine's business finances. March Street Press remained the associated publisher, with Greensboro serving as the journal's publishing location. Parting Gifts was among a select group of journals whose stories were eligible for New Stories from the South, an annual anthology. This relationship connected the magazine's fiction to a larger literary recognition system and helped distinguish it from less formally curated or purely local publications. Eligibility did not mean that every published story was necessarily selected, but it indicated that the journal was part of the pool of periodicals considered for the anthology's annual fiction coverage. The magazine ceased publication in 2009. No later relaunch, acquisition, successor title, or continuing publication is identified in the supplied sources. Its documented legacy is therefore that of a now-defunct literary journal with a sustained focus on flash fiction and short-shorts, published for more than two decades by March Street Press.

• 2009

  Publication ended

  [1]Parting Gifts (journal)en.wikipedia.org

  Parting Gifts ceased publication after operating as a biannual literary journal for approximately twenty-two years.

• 1987

  Journal founded

  [1]Parting Gifts (journal)en.wikipedia.org

  Parting Gifts was founded as a biannual literary magazine published by March Street Press in Greensboro, North Carolina.

• Recognition through anthology eligibility

  [1]Parting Gifts (journal)en.wikipedia.org

  The journal became part of the select group of literary magazines whose stories were eligible for consideration in New Stories from the South, an annual anthology.

A small-press literary journal positioned around concise fiction, especially literary short-shorts and flash fiction, with occasional poetry and recognition within the New Stories from the South anthology network.

• Literary magazine · 1987

  Parting Gifts

  The core offering was a biannual literary magazine published by March Street Press. Its editorial program focused on literary short-shorts and other flash fiction, with occasional poetry. The journal served as a small-press platform for concise literary work and was associated with a group of magazines whose stories were eligible for New Stories from the South. Publication ended in 2009.

1. 1Parting Gifts (journal)en.wikipedia.org