The area will soon have a new glossy magazine, Catfish Alley, to celebrate local food, art, music, ideas and most of all, local people.
The quarterly magazine, produced by freelancers and Dispatch staff, will debut this spring. Catfish Alley will be available for sale on newsstands at area retailers, by subscription and will be made available to visitors and guests in hotels, bed and breakfasts and other locations.
“We”ve had such a powerful response in recent years to our annual Progress Edition in its glossy magazine format, we thought, why not do this throughout the year?” said Dispatch publisher Birney Imes. “Our part of the South has produced such an abundance of gifted musicians, artists, athletes and business people; we really have an embarrassment of riches. Through Catfish Alley we intend to celebrate this wealth of talent and all that makes our region unique.”
The magazine takes its name from the alley off of Main Street in downtown Columbus. Catfish Alley, in its heyday, was a vibrant, one-block-long row of businesses that served as a gathering place for the area”s fishermen and farmers, merchants and residents, people of every race and walk of life.
“There, when the day”s catch was delivered from the waters of the Tombigbee, it was fried and served up with a side of news, politics and tall tales,” said Stacy Clark, the magazine”s editor. “Every town in the South has an alley of sorts — a place that epitomizes the South”s cultural diversity. A place for sharing the food, the art, the music, and the ideas that begin to define the Southern experience.
“With Catfish Alley, the magazine, our goal is the same. We have created a gathering place for the words and images that paint an authentic, compelling portrait of life in today”s South,” Clark said.
The magazine will feature stories and images of local people, art and music profiles, regional history, recipes, travel ideas, local products and services, and home and garden advice.
For information on advertising in the magazine, call Advertising Director Beth Proffitt, 662-328-2427.
ON THE WEB
-CATFISH ALLEY MAGAZINE: www.catfishalleymag.com
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