LA Weekly previews Swink, the new magazine that links literary L.A. and New York.

The West Coast has always been saddled with the burden of proof when it comes to high culture, and the East Coast has always been cast as its somewhat tolerant but unattainable muse. It is just this sort of frayed myth that Swink editor Leelila Strogov seeks to unravel for good with a biannual collection of fiction, nonfiction, interviews, poetry and essays from writers working at both ends of the country. The magazine debuted last week in New York and launches here April 17. “One of my goals is to really bridge that East Coast–West Coast gap,” says Strogov, a 33–year–old New York native and MIT graduate who settled in Silver Lake two years ago. “They both tend to be so isolated. And when I say East and West, I’m referring not just to where a writer’s from but to the sensibility of the writing. We’re really going for diversity here.”

This weekend’s L.A. launch party features readings by Margaret Malone, Rachel Resnick, Andrew Foster Altschul, Deirdre Shaw, David Ulin and Lisa Glatt. Read more.