Today, local literary magazine The James Franco Review, which treats every submission as though it was written by James Franco, started rolling out an "Emergency Issue" on art and engagment. What does that mean?

Writers, editors, and artists around the country explored what it meant for them to be politically or consciously engaged in their work and to also examine literature’s relationship to safety.

The first piece, by Nancy Jooyoun Kim, is live now, and it's powerful stuff, about her own experience with a white writer who workshopped a story with a black protagonist.

Someone “hinted” at the “potential” problem of the protagonist’s race. That was enough for the writer to decide to make the character white. It’d be easier. A wave of relief washed over the room.

I'm so excited for this "Emergency Issue." And I love the idea of an Emergency Issue, too. It makes the act of publication so urgent and relevant. Go give the JF Review your attention.

And while we're talking about awesome local literary magazines, the Moss Kickstarter has already met its goal with 21 days left to go. If you're interested in owning an attractive print anthology of Northwest writing, you can go buy a copy for $10 and up. Moss generously makes their magazine available for free online, and this is a way to invest in the magazine's future.