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| Big Table (magazine) | |
|---|---|
| Title | Big Table |
| Category | Literary magazine |
| Frequency | Irregular |
| Firstdate | 1959 |
| Finaldate | 1962 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Big Table (magazine) was an underground literary magazine published in Chicago in the late 1950s and early 1960s that became notable for printing work by Beat Generation and avant-garde writers. It brought together voices associated with the Beat Generation, Confessional poetry, and the postwar American avant-garde, attracting attention from institutions such as the United States Congress and cultural gatekeepers like the Library of Congress and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Big Table emerged in 1959 following tensions around the editorial direction of established outlets such as The Chicago Review, Poetry (magazine), and the influence of figures linked to Faber and Faber and Random House. The magazine’s founding was shaped by events including the publication controversies surrounding work by authors associated with Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and Jack Kerouac, and the broader milieu shaped by the Cold War, the McCarthyism era, and debates in venues like The New Yorker and The Paris Review. Early issues coincided with the cultural activities of institutions such as the University of Chicago, the New School for Social Research, and reading series involving contributors connected to City Lights Booksellers & Publishers and Black Mountain College.
Editorial leadership drew on editors and activists with ties to academic and countercultural circles including alumni or associates of the University of Chicago, the Kenyon Review, and the Guggenheim Fellowship network. Contributors included prominent Beats and avant-garde luminaries: writers linked to Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gregory Corso, and Diane di Prima; poets associated with Robert Creeley, Charles Olson, Ed Dorn, and Lorine Niedecker; and prose and experimental work resonant with figures like Norman Mailer, J. D. Salinger, Samuel Beckett, and Jean Genet. The masthead and contributor lists often overlapped with editors and translators connected to City Lights Publishers, New Directions Publishing, and the small-press milieu surrounding Grove Press and Gordon Lish.
Big Table showcased poetry, prose, manifestos, and translations reflecting the intersection of Beat Generation aesthetics, Black Mountain College poetics, and European modernism tied to Surrealism and Dada. Themes ranged from candid explorations associated with sexuality debates that intersected with cases like Roth v. United States-era obscenity controversies, to critiques of postwar American culture appearing in parallel with discussions in venues such as The Nation, Harper's Magazine, and The Atlantic (magazine). The magazine printed experimental narratives and cut-up techniques resonant with practices popularized by William S. Burroughs, along with politically charged verse in the tradition of poets linked to the Black Arts Movement and readings that occurred at venues like The Gaslight Cafe and The Beat Hotel.
Issues were produced on small-press runs typical of independent magazines associated with the little magazine tradition exemplified by periodicals like The Dial (magazine), Poetry (magazine), and The Partisan Review. Physical format varied across editions, with mimeographed and stapled chapbook-style presentations similar to publications distributed by outfits such as City Lights Booksellers & Publishers, Grove Press, and university-affiliated presses at institutions like Columbia University and the University of Chicago Press. Distribution relied on independent bookstores, reading-series networks, and mail-order lists connected to San Francisco Renaissance outlets, East Coast small presses, and coffeehouse circuits including locations in Greenwich Village and North Beach, San Francisco.
Critical response ranged from praise in alternative journals like The Evergreen Review and The Village Voice to censure in mainstream outlets such as Time (magazine) and debates echoed in congressional hearings influenced by Cold War cultural politics. The magazine influenced subsequent small presses and anthologies produced by figures connected to City Lights, Grove Press, and university series awarding the Pulitzer Prize and other recognitions. Its role in elevating experimental and Beat writing linked it to the rise of academic interest at programs like Iowa Writers' Workshop, Columbia University School of the Arts, and the institutionalization of previously marginal writers later taught in courses at institutions such as Harvard University and Yale University.
Big Table became embroiled in obscenity disputes reflecting nationwide legal battles similar to cases involving Lady Chatterley's Lover and publishers like Grove Press who litigated against censorship under precedents following the Roth v. United States and later Miller v. California frameworks. The publication attracted scrutiny from postal authorities and police in jurisdictions influenced by state-level obscenity statutes and drew interventions from organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union and advocacy from literary figures who had previously defended controversial publications in court, including attorneys and advocates associated with cases before the United States Supreme Court. These controversies contributed to debates about First Amendment protections for avant-garde literature that also implicated prominent cultural arbiters like editors of The New York Times Book Review and legal scholars at institutions such as Yale Law School and Harvard Law School.
Category:Literary magazines published in the United States