Kitchen Sink (magazine)
Kitchen Sink, published in Oakland, California, is a nonprofit, quarterly print magazine and monthly web publication that explores thought, art, culture, identity and politics.
Founded by a community of writers, artists and editors in 2002, Kitchen Sink is dedicated to embracing and exploring the contradictions found in all parts of our lives, working to challenge assumptions AbOUT the world, and expand a sense of self, our communities, culture and politics. The magazine provides an original take on music, art and film - presenting essays rather than reviews. It also covers topics such as the Sustenance found in food, [...] and god.
Initially, Kitchen Sink was a magazine made amongst a group of friends (Jen Loy, Jeff Johnson, Nicole Neditch, Kaya Oakes, Sierra Filluci, Stephanie Groll, Antonia Blue, Elka Karl, Stefanie Kalem), an idea that first came to light in the Fall of 2001. To this day, it is a growing community of artists, thinkers and editors who hope to confront and explore the world in which we all live, aiming to carefully examine thought and knowledge, and encourage it's readers to do the same.
It is the premiere program of the Neighbor Lady Community Arts Project, an Oakland-based arts organization.
Kitchen Sink is the magazine for people who think too much.
Antonia Blue was the publisher of Kitchen Sink Magazine for issues 1-11. Carla Costa and Jen Loy (also Editor-in-Chief) assumed a shared role as co-publishers from this point on.
On December 29, 2006, the staff of Kitchen Sink Magazine announced via e-mail and blog entry that, for a number of reasons, issue 16 would be their last. The closure of the IPA (Independent Press Association), dwindling subscription numbers, and a noticeable drop in revenue (advertisement sales) during its final year, were said to be the chief causes for their decision to end the publication's run.
Kitchen Sink Magazine Sections
Louder Than Words
The mission of this section is to Contribute a thoughtful discourse about music that focuses on its inherent worth, its potential for personally-assigned value. We listen to music as we engage the world, and we resist the commodification of what interests us, even as many of us are hooked on collecting and accumulating albums. We'll talk about music, not CDs; we'll write about bands, and the ways we hear them. Editor: Jeff Johnson
Reverse Angle
This section strives to encompass a wide scope of filmic and digital entertainment - from movies to television to animated shorts - via well-written features, intriguing news briefs, sharp commentaries, humorous jabs, and InterViews with both up-and-coming and established key figures. There will be even-handed coverage of mainstream and independent films; classic, cult and current movies; recent video releases and television shows. Editor: Sam Hurwitt
Untitled
The Kitchen Sink art section provides exposure to and discussion of the visual arts through essays, articles, stories, and interviews about and written by local and national artists. Additionally, it investigates the art world from a variety of perspectives and translate the visual experience of art through the occasional personal essay. Editor: Jen Loy
Paper City
The focus is not on the book business, or on trendy books that everyone's reading on the train. Rather, this section turns its lens on writing: practitioners, craft, habits, origins. Kitchen Sink interviews do not focus on the selling features of a text, but rather on the author's process. Investigating how IDeaS are born and brought into fruition, the influences authors have on one another, the way that other media (music, film, television, fine arts), politics and the mores of society feed into what people write. Rather than running reviews, Kitchen Sink re-examine classic literature from a contemporary perspective, in order to understand and explain why forgotten books are still relevant. This part of the magazine also focuses on authors in translation, writers who are still relatively obscure, and question what makes a book "good" or even "readable". Examining how writing is taught, from elementary school through graduate programs, in order to understand how the seeds that usher new writers into the world begin to bear fruit. Editor: Elka Karl
R:evolution
The KS politics and culture section delivers well-researched features on local and global matters. With a desire to investigate and expose malfeasance, wherever it happens; to hold power accountable to the people in this democracy; to hold the leaders accountable to their theoretical bosses. Editor: Jeff Johnson
[...], Food and God
SFG explores the personal acts and material goods that sustain and enrich our lives. With humor, intelligence and rabid curiosity, Kitchen Sink examines [...], food, spirituality, travel and material goods with the intention of informing, entertaining and motivating the reader. Editor: Stephanie Kalem
Awards & Other Publications
Since the first public issue debuted in October 2002, Kitchen Sink has gained a reputation for both literary excellence and reader loyalty. KS was the multiple recipient of Best of the Bay awards from all three Bay Area newsweeklies and of the prestigious Utne Independent Press Award for Best New Title. Kitchen Sink continues to be nominated for Best-of awards, both locally and nationally.
Additionally, KS is the proud founder of the Indie Mag All Stars, a group of local (Bay Area) publications that host literary readings, along with partners ranging from Watchword Press, The Believer magazine and McSweeney's.
The Neighbor Lady Community Arts Project
NLCAP is a 501(c)3 nonprofit public benefit corporation dedicated to the promotion of the literary, visual and performance arts communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. NLCAP rely on contributions from interested parties to keep publishing and promoting artists.
Kitchen Sink Target Demographics
The KS readership
- is 25 to 40 years old
- is 50% women, 50% men
- makes a median annual income of $40K
- has college degrees
- dwells mostly in urban environments, though most of its grad school readers live in college towns
- describes itself as smart, busy, unpretentious, anxious, obsessive, independent, inquisitive, funny and creative.