The Rumpus, a long-standing fixture of indie online literature, is unveiling a fresh editorial project.
El Alboroto is a new vertical aimed at Spanish-language readers and writers. According to the press release, the venture will focus on presenting original works in Spanish—not as translations or secondary material, but as a central part of the magazine’s future.
In the editors’ inaugural note, co-leaders Alejandra Márquez and Vasthi Jean-Michel describe the mission, stressing that composing and publishing in Spanish within the United States is not a neutral act.
El Alboroto will offer a platform for creators to engage with the cultural and political realities around them, while maintaining a broad editorial scope. Instead of translating existing material from The Rumpus, El Alboroto will commission and publish original Spanish-language writing spanning cultural criticism, personal essays, interviews, fiction, poetry, and comics.
After a period of difficulty, The Rumpus was revived and reimagined earlier this year by the literary duo Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman. This initiative exemplifies a Rumpus 2.0 approach, aimed at widening the magazine’s appeal and anchoring the publication within its California community.
The first edition of El Alboroto features authors from Mexico, Colombia, and Puerto Rico who work across fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
Readers can get to know the writers Francesca Dennstedt García, Andrea Villa Franco, Gabriela Boscio Santos, and Ave Barrera.
