What We’re Reading: Thirty Two Magazine
Thirty Two Magazine (Vol. 2, Fall 2012)
Thirty Two Magazine is a fresh new face in the world of Minnesotan magazines, literary, or otherwise. Thirty Two falls into that latter category of otherwise. While they include literary essays, poems, and more, they also include interviews, articles about local fashion, a breed of investigative journalism, contemporary art, current affairs, and Midwest design features, all just in their second issue. In their own words, it’s a gathering of “Minnesota minds exploring our times.”
The magazine was founded by print-lover Katie Eggers, who is one smart cookie. The design is freshly subdued, clean, and contemporary (think Instagram in cleaner, wholesome, more dignified magazine form). The voices reflected within are diverse in subject and tone, yet complementary in overall aesthetic. The masthead is also a starry lineup, including literati Maggie Ryan Sandford and Andy Sturdevant.
The masthead page includes a mini-manifesto at the very bottom, which I found to be especially insightful to the goals of the magazine. It’s about the great work that happens in Minnesota, and about showing pride in all that happens here:
If you are from Minnesota, thirty-two is your number, not only because it is the point of freezing. At Thirty Two, we also see it as the point of thawing, where movement and life begin and new things are on the way. It just so happens that Minnesota is also the thirty-second state of the union—a gentle reminder that it’s about time that we claim our place in contemporary America.
The issue feels balanced and whole thanks to the varying length of content, as well. There are short paragraph blurbs, page-long essays, and two exceptionally written long-form articles at the heart of the fall issue. One of these is an interview with Björgvin Sævarsson, entrepreneur and cofounder of the Twin Cities’ Element 6 Media. Fascinating and inspiring, Sævarsson, originally from Iceland, offers an alternative look at Minnesotan and corporate agency culture. The other, called “In the Land of Oil and Money,” follows fortune hunters camped out in rigs in North Dakota. Both pieces are strong and unique, bringing character and excellent writing to the center of this magazine’s focus, and indulging the desire for longer, investigative pieces.
Another favorite is the short essay by Maggie Ryan Sandford called “You Say You Want a Revolution,” an invigorating, funny piece about Minnesota’s cultural renaissance.
Most of all, what I love is that this is a magazine about hybridity; it embodies a sentiment of bringing together these separate, diverse communities of literature, art, fashion, film, design, and current events together under the contextual umbrella of a contemporary Minnesota. And let me tell you, Thirty Two, it feels good to be a Minnesotan.
What other state publications bring out your geographical pride (in Minnesota or otherwise)?
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LOVE Thirty Two, and am proud to be a subscriber – can’t wait for the next issue. I urge anyone who can to support this new mag – it’s good stuff, superbly written.