A Scrappy Lit Mag Gets New Owners and a Bigger Mandate
The Rumpus is back online under new leadership, and the people running it this time are not strangers to the publication. Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman acquired the beloved San Francisco-born literary magazine last year, and today marked the public debut of their rebranded version – new essays, new fiction, new design, and a stated editorial direction that stretches well beyond the site’s original scope. For readers who had watched The Rumpus persist on goodwill and volunteer labor for years, the relaunch is less a rescue than a reinvention with familiar DNA.
Founded by writer Stephen Elliott in 2009, The Rumpus built its reputation as a sharp, low-budget platform for serious literary work. It was the publication that first gave meaningful real estate to writers who would go on to define a generation – Cheryl Strayed wrote her “Dear Sugar” advice column there before it became a book and a film; Yumi Sakugawa and Steve Almond also found early footing on the site. Elliott’s eventual departure was complicated, and editorial control changed hands more than once. The site continued largely through the efforts of unpaid contributors and editors, sustained more by loyalty than infrastructure.
Gay herself was one of those contributors – she served as essays editor for an extended stretch, and the site holds real personal weight for her.
Why Gay and Millman, and Why Now
In a statement released last March, Gay described the publication’s role in her own development plainly: “The Rumpus was one of the first places where my writing found a significant audience, and it helped shape me into the writer I am today.” That history makes the acquisition feel less like a business decision and more like a long-deferred responsibility – a writer returning to take care of something that once took care of her. Millman, the designer and podcast host who will serve as culture editor and creative director, brings a complementary set of instincts to that foundation.
Millman outlined the editorial shift in an interview with Publishers Weekly: “We’ll still be covering with the same rigor and integrity, fiction, essays, poetry, book reviews, author interviews, and so forth. But we’re also going to include more design criticism, art criticism, and overall cultural coverage. The soul of the writing and the coverage will be very similar; topically, it will be different.” That last sentence is doing real work. Expanding into design and art criticism without losing literary credibility is a balance that has sunk more than a few publications with similar ambitions. The Rumpus under Gay and Millman is betting that the voice can hold even as the subject matter widens.
Neither leader has shown any interest in softening political coverage. Both have indicated the site will engage directly with the concerns of the current moment, and Gay has plans to launch a companion Spanish-language vertical aimed at broadening the publication’s readership beyond its existing base. The expansion reflects a specific editorial philosophy – that a literary site with national ambitions should speak to more than one linguistic community.
New Columns, a Book Club, and a Question for July
One of the more distinctive editorial commitments comes from a conversation Gay had with poet Reginald Dwayne Betts, the founder of Freedom Reads. That exchange led directly to plans for a new column written and edited by people who are currently or formerly incarcerated – a format that sits outside what most literary publications are willing to attempt, logistically or editorially. Betts, who has worked extensively on literature access inside prisons, is a credible inspiration for that kind of project, and the fact that Gay name-checks the conversation rather than a general initiative suggests the column has specific shape already.
A feature planned for July will ask a broad range of writers and artists a single question: “What does freedom mean to you?” The timing – placed squarely within the America 250 commemorations – is not accidental. With many cultural organizations currently navigating the constraints of a defunded and politically diminished NEA, a literary publication willing to put that question to working creatives without institutional hedging is offering something functionally different from official celebration content. Whether the responses live up to that framing depends entirely on who gets asked and what they’re willing to say.
Today’s live site already carries an essay from Sheila Monaghan, a conversation with author Dave Housley, and two new short stories. The Rumpus book club – briefly inactive – is also returning, with monthly author discussions open to all readers at no cost. The first session is scheduled for June 30th at 7pm, led by Millman, and will center on Ann Patchett’s latest novel, Whistler. Patchett will be the guest. Registration is open now. For readers who follow emerging patterns in literary culture, the book club format – free, author-driven, editor-led – reflects exactly the kind of direct reader engagement that’s gaining ground this year.
Ann Patchett on June 30th, a Spanish-language vertical without a launch date, a prison-writing column still taking shape, and a July feature that will either cut through the patriotic noise or get swallowed by it – The Rumpus has given itself a lot to prove before summer ends.
