Contempo: A Review of Books and Personalities

Contempo, A Review of Books and Personalities, was a "literary and social commentary" published by Milton A. Abernethy and Anthony Buttitta at Chapel Hill, North Carolina from 1931 to 1934. Though less well-known than some of its contemporaries, Contempo fits into the tradition of the "Little Magazine," a group of elite literary magazines pervasive in the first decades of the twentieth century.

The Little Magazines, Contempo included, were influential in the popularization of modernism, both as it influenced literary and visual arts. They were often sympathetic to leftist social ideologies such as anarchism, communism and socialism. The publication's original subtitle, "A Review of Ideas and Personalites," reflects the editors' interest in political as well as literary ideas. Appropriately, then, Contempo incorporated a wide variety of genres in its format, including book reviews, literary and political essays, prose, poetry, short stories, and works in progress. The editors of Contempo aimed to "carry on the pioneering spirit of Margaret Anderson's The Little Review" by identifying and publishing emerging creative writers

Contempo sought to be a publication where authors could freely publish their own work, as well as critique other authors and respond to criticisms. Abernethy stated the magazine’s policy as: (1) complete freedom from all cliques whatsoever, (2) asylum for aggrieved authors, (3) encouraging literary controversy, and (4) the rapid reception of new ideas." To this end, the magazine included "author-review," a novel format which allowed writers to pronounce upon their own work. It was this feature which made the magazine so attractive to many writers, despite the lack of remuneration for their work. (Contempo, like most other Little Mags, was a non-commercial venture and its contributors received no compensation.)

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