The Sun (magazine)

The Sun is a magazine based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The overall goal for the publication, as stated by editor and co-founder, Sy Safransky, is to create a feeling of connection between contributors and readers.[1]

The Sun
Issue 348, December 2004
photograph by Kevin Bubriski
EditorSy Safransky
CategoriesLiterature, photography
FrequencyMonthly
First issue1974
CompanySun Publishing Company
CountryUnited States
Based inChapel Hill, North Carolina
LanguageEnglish
Websitethesunmagazine.org
ISSN0744-9666

History

In 1974, Sy Safransky started the magazine with co-founder, Mike Mathers, who left after 18 months. The partners borrowed $50 and solicited writing by friends and family for the first issue. Safransky typed up the material, Mathers drew illustrations, and it was printed on a copy machine.[2] The first issue was titled the Chapel Hill Sun and was sold for $0.25 each.[3] The title was later changed to The Sun. Readership was about 1000 for roughly the first decade[2] and has now increased to more than 70,000.[1]

Safransky describes the magazine as one "that honors the mystery at the heart of existence."[2] In 1990,[4] when readership reached roughly 10,000, Safransky dropped ads from the magazine and transformed it into a reader-supported publication.[5] Safransky believes this has "allowed for an uncommon atmosphere of intimacy in our pages."[5]

Format

The Sun's format features a lengthy interview with a “deep thinker” at the front of each issue, followed by fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and photography. In the “Readers Write” section, readers are invited to contribute reflections on a different theme for each issue.[6]

Anthologies
  • A Bell Ringing in the Empty Sky: The Best of the Sun, Volume I by Sy Safransky (1985)
  • A Bell Ringing in the Empty Sky: The Best of the Sun, Volume II by Sy Safransky (1985)
  • Four in the Morning: Essays by Sy Safransky (1993)
  • Stubborn Light: The Best of the Sun, Volume III by Sy Safransky (2000)
  • The Mysterious Life of the Heart: Writing from The Sun about Passion, Longing, and Love by Sy Safransky, Tim McKee, and Andrew Snee (2009)
  • Paper Lanterns: More Quotations from the Back Pages of The Sun by Sy Safransky, Tim McKee and Andrew Snee (2011)
  • Sunbeams: A Book of Quotations Revised Edition by Sy Safransky (2012)

References
  1. Matthews, Sebastian. "Every Word Tell: Sy Safransky, The Sun, and the Stars Who Revolve Around It". Stated Magazine.
  2. "Still Burning Bright: Sy Safransky Takes 'The Sun' Magazine into Its Fourth Decade" (PDF). The Village Rambler. January–February 2005. pp. 4–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2013. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  3. MacIver, Roderick, Art as a Way of Life, North Atlantic Books, 2009. Cf. pp.38-39.
  4. "Sy Safransky: Life in The Sun".
  5. Blevins, B (19 August 2011). "Publisher Profile: Sy Safransky". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  6. "The Sun Keeps Rising". 22 April 2015.
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