At a time when people have trouble dealing with a 144 character Twitter tweet, it takes a special optimism to publish yet another small circulation literary magazine. Yet Contrarium Press has seen fit to do so. Besides the magazine, Tom offers other services at Contrarium:

We are an independent book publisher interested in transcendent works of art. We create beautifully crafted books, both in print and e-book format. We also offer translation and editorial services.

The first issue of Geist magazine has just been released online. This is the official press release:

The first edition of our literature and art magazine, “Geist”, is just out, and you can read it for free. A multilingual magazine with texts in English and German, Portuguese, French and Italian translated to English, and artworks by several international artists. Poems, short stories, photographs, paintings and illustrations — it’s all there.

We are especially pleased that it includes a short story written by our own Cologero titled “No More Mister Nice Guy. Here is a segment:

I asked about his family. He hesitated, but then answered, “My wife ran off with a professional drag car racer two years ago.”

“Wow, what are the odds of that?”

“Hold on a second, I can pull that up for you,” as he reached for his cell phone.

“Whoa, dude, the question was rhetorical. What have you been doing since then?”

“I decided I needed a complete personality makeover. So I bought a small condo in the Art Deco section of Miami Beach. Then I started a consultancy, extending my actuarial work with data science. I was basically an electronic gumshoe.”

“You were always good at math.”

He seemed irritated by that remark. “They are totally different. Math is based on logic and certainty. Once a proof is found, it is true from the beginning of the world until the end of time. On the other hand, an actuary deals with uncertainty, risk, doubt, the unknown, the improbable. I am always looking for what is the worst that can happen.”

“And I’m sure it does,” I conceded. “But what does that have to do with a makeover?”

“I did the research and drew some conclusions.”

I’m sure he did; once Chad got an idea in his head, he became obsessed.

We wish Tom all the best success with his business and we are proud to be included in the inaugural issue of Geist Magazine.