'Sybil's Garage' -- A new magazine for fiction

By: Diana Schwaeble
Current Editor 07/01/2005

Matthew Kressel pays tribute to Hoboken by naming his magazine Sybil's Garage.

Do you ever find yourself wishing your job was more fulfilling? Did you ever wake up one morning and decide to follow your bliss? That's what happened to Matthew Kressel, Hoboken resident, who had a career in computers when he decided to take the plunge.

The New School University

Matt Kressel always had an interest in reading, but didn't consider writing until three years ago. "I lived in a fantasy world," said Kressel. "And part of me need to express these inner feelings."

In the spring of 2002, Kressel enrolled in a science fiction writing class at The New School University. His teacher was writer Alice Turner. After taking the class, he joined a writing group to further his development as a writer. Initially, the group he was in met in Hoboken, but then his former teacher, Turner, contacted him to see if he wanted to join another group in the city.

A few years later, he had his first story, "Mortar," published by Alien Skin Magazine in December, 2004. "It took years to get to the point of having my work published," said Kressel. "You have to be surrounded by a group of people who can be supportive of your work."

The magazine

Kressel had the idea for a literary magazine and decided to test it out in the winter of 2004. He and fellow group member, Devin J. Poore, were walking along Frank Sinatra Drive in Hoboken, trying to come up with a name for the magazine. They wanted a name that was relevant to Hoboken since the writing group met there. As they passed the area near Sybil's Cave, one of them asked if it was still there and they joked that the cave had been made into a parking garage. The conversation inspired the name of the magazine, Sybil's Garage.

The first issue, self published in April 2004, only included writing from four members, who were all part of the original Hoboken writing group. Kressel and his friends did all the work from his apartment. He initially thought it might be a one-time deal, but after seeing the process, he decided to do it again, only bigger and better.

For the second issue, Kressel decided to expand the magazine to include poetry as well as fiction and non-fiction es