Keep People Reading in 2026

Dear Reader,

Earlier this year, I met a very nice author at a book festival who, upon learning what I did for work, leaned in and asked me apologetically, “Didn’t Electric Lit close?”

“Not on my watch!” I responded, possibly yelled. I like to think that my tone was defiant, even triumphant, but I may have sounded deranged.

Though the author was misinformed, I couldn’t take offense. The survival of all literary magazines, especially magazines like Electric Lit—an independent, nonprofit publication that is completely free to read—is far from guaranteed; every year is a gift. 

Because fear is a powerful motivator, I have occasionally pictured a world without Electric Literature in order to pump myself up to write a letter like this one. Electric Lit publishes over 500 writers per year. Their important, moving, funny, weird, and incisive work is read by over three million readers annually, many of whom make visiting our website a daily practice. Where would they go if we pulled the plug? And what would happen to the tens of thousands of short stories, essays, poems, and interviews—from award-winning to viral to niche to classic—championed and preserved by Electric Lit?

Just this year, the NEA was gutted, and grant funding for the arts continues to diminish. Yet with your support, Electric Lit persists as a home for human stories in a country that is increasingly inhospitable to art. While AI is churning out slop, we are one of the few venues that pair emerging writers with experienced editors. And as free speech is under threat, as books are banned and protestors are arrested, we are proud to be a platform for writers of all backgrounds, beliefs, and identities to speak openly, to critique, to create, and to hone their craft. 

Simply put, Electric Literature is a gift. A gift to me, who has devoted my adult working life to EL’s mission; a gift to our small but mighty staff, who get to make their passion their vocation; a gift to our dozens of eminently employable interns who gain valuable professional experience; a gift to the thousands of writers who have launched and grown their careers at EL; and a gift to the millions who get to read free, world-class literature every day of the week. Supporting writers and readers costs money—$500,000 a year, to be precise—and we need your financial help to sustain this gift.  

Today, I’m asking you to give Electric Literature the gift of another year. We need to raise $35,000 to get us through 2025 and balance the budget for 2026. This is the largest goal we’ve ever set for a campaign, but in these challenging times, we need our community to step up. The world is a better place with Electric Lit in it—let’s fight to keep it that way.

Gratefully yours, 

Halimah Marcus
Executive Director, Electric Lit