Advocate Staffers Produce 'Cheap Lit'

On kiosks, in entryways, in libraries, Harvardians on their way to class can now read poetry a la Advocate and short short stories that deal with such subjects as sexual, inter-racial tensions in colonial societies.

Harvard Advocate staffers are bringing a whole new meaning to the idea of accessible literature through their new cheap poster alternative to the traditional highbrow, glossy magazine.

Called "Cheap Lit.," the one-page magazine is distributed on campus twice a month, when several designated students make about 200 copies of this unique literary form and plaster it all over campus. Although the contents require more than a few seconds' perusal, the poster form does aim at immediate accessibility.

Caleb Crane '89, the Advocate's fiction editor, came up with the poster idea last year. After he and some friends collaborated on a trial run in the spring, they decided to put out Cheap Lit. regularly during the next school year.

"We want to create something that moves fast and grabs people's attention," Crane said. "The root idea is to popularize the reading of students' creations through an easy and available medium."

Rachel Coleman '90, a contributor, said, "It seemed like a really good idea to do this kind of mass-marketing of literature, to just slap posters up."

Emphasizing the cheapness inherent in the mini-magazine, Andrew Osborn '89 said, "We got a grant of $119 from the Office of the Arts, which actually takes us a long way because it only costs us $15 to put out each issue."

Several students--not necessarily Advocate staffers--take responsibility for putting together each edition. There are no appointed executives; the title "editor" is simply bestowed on those people in charge of a given issue.

"Cheap Lit. is absolutely anti-comp," said Osborn. "We'd love to have a rolling membership. Anyone can come to our meetings and help out without feeling that they are making a serious time commitment."

The only problem the students face is gauging the response to the posters. "Some people seem to have never seen them and don't know where they are. Other people have asked us: `When is the next one coming out? We're waiting,'" said Coleman.

Mallay Charters '90 said she saw the words "Cheap Lit Crit: Nasty!' scrawled in red ink" on the third stanza of a sexually explicit poem. "Cheap Lit. is accessible because it is postered and someone was responding to that accessibility spontaneously," she said.

"I think it's a great idea to have a promiscuous proletarian publication," said Sven P. Birkerts, lecturer in Expository Writing. "It combines two of my favorite things--literature and cheapness."

Another Expos lecturer, Ed Miller, agreed with Birkerts, saying, "It's definitely one of the better posters I've read lately."