The Washington Post Magazine published what a colleague has called “a lovely and long-overdue profile of (Gargoyle publisher) Richard Peabody, who does so much and then some to tirelessly promote, publicize and shape Washington writers and writing”: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/04/AR2011020405355.html
“I just want to say that I’m happy to see Richard Peabody‘s many contributions to DC writers recognized in the Washington Post. I took a writing class with him at the Writer’s Center over 10 years ago and it was one of the best experiences I ever had in a writing workshop. He has a way of inspiring writers to do work that transcends the self-editing mind, as well as a fail-proof BS detector. I wish he still taught at the Writer’s Center.”
—Sheila Walsh
“The shaping hands of Lucinda Ebersole and Richard Peabody have opened the taps of superb writing in Gargoyle 45. Some of the contributors are even speculative in nature, but none of them will you regret reading. Among the more fantasticated pieces are Sharon Krinsky’s poem “Things to Do in an Edward Hopper Painting,” which invites the reader to step into many canvases; Kyle Conwell’s “An Underdeveloped Picture of my Brother,” which tells of the fierce emotional bond between a man and his dog who is more than a dog; Amy Eller Lewis’s “The Double Life of Evelyn Gray,” wherein a woman confronts her doppelganger; and finally Davis Schneiderman’s “Tupeat, Frompeet, Repeit,” a metafictional romp across linguistic landscapes.”
–Paul Di Filippo, Asimov’s Magazine of Science Fiction
“I get a lot of literary magazines. There are some I save to read later. Gargoyle is the only one I’ll pick up right away. What I like is how eclectic it is. I love the stories because they take chances; occasionally, I find myself thinking about them long after. I don’t have that reaction to other magazines.” — Rita Dove, Washington Post
“Loyal readers of Gargoyle know that this smart, slick magazine published out of DC can consistently be counted on for a well-rounded offering of wry social commentary, soft, sad wisdom, feline sexuality, and intelligent, sacastic humor. They know, too, that the arrangement will present itself in the sleekest of packages. Gargoyle, edited by Lucinda Ebersole and Peabody . . . has throughout its history, adorned its covers with dark, bright, seductive, and at times surrealist art and photography. The images are unique. They are distinct. They are not shy. They come in bold color and also in striking black and white. They feature women and men, the present, past and future, and images that seem delivered from a world that is disconcerting for its slight resemblance to ours. It is clear simply from looking at its visual history that Gargoyle believes in the power of spectrum.” –Julianna Spallholz, WordHouse Vol.9, No.3, Nov. 2003
“Gargoyle should be required reading.”
— Serials Review
“A window on new directions in storytelling.”
— Newsday
“Although ostensibly a journal, the fat perfect-bound annual called Gargoyle can more accurately be viewed as a massive feast of an anthology, compiled with superior intelligence and taste.”
—Paul Di Filippo, Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine
“Reading Gargoyle is like visiting a cafe in space.”
—Choice
“Gargoyle is both chaotic and contradictory, a kaleidoscopic journey into the more unconventional realms of contemporary art and literature.”
— Dazed and Confused
“Gargoyle Magazine specializes in recklessly eclectic selections of poetry, fiction, photography, art, essays and interviews.”
— Hot Press (Ireland)
“It is enough to urge any inquisitive reader to sample this professionally edited and produced magazine of the arts.”
— Bill Katz, Library Journal
“The staff of Gargoyle obviously care about the physical appearance of their product down to the last period in a way all too few publishers seem to nowadays.”
— Ben Nyberg, Literary Magazine Review
“This is a venerable local institution by now. A vibrant and punchy publication unafraid of taking chances either in its large review section or in its poetry and fiction.”
—Andrei Codrescu, The Baltimore Sun
“Yes, this is the latest issue of Washington’s most revered and irreverent literary magazine. For me its highlight is Steven Moore’s “Nympholepsy,” a despairing meditation on love, literature and unappeasable longing: “Still she haunts me.” Surely it belongs in one of those anthologies of the best essays of the year. Certainly no man past 40 will read it without a pang of recognition.” —Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World 12/1/02
“Gargoyle is Washington’s preeminent literary magazine.”
—Washington Post Book World
“We’ve seen some substantial issues of Gargoyle before, but this is evolution into an entirely different species; it’s like a handy, stout paperback, and to call it a magazine is like saying an eel is an elephant when you rearrange the e’s and put pants on it.”
— Noel Peattie, Sipapu
“A truly impressive and comprehensive literary journal with poetry of high quality.”
—Judson Jerome, Writer’s Digest
“Gargoyle is a lively, diverse magazine with strong editorial direction and a feistiness one expects, but all too rarely finds these days, among independent journals.”
— Small Press
“The editors have done a superb job of finding both new writers and writers whose work seems to reflect current obsessions.”
—John Gabree, The Nation
“The new Gargoyle should be an occasion for standing in line … there is something for everyone with exceptional panache.”
—Small Press Review