Magazine creates space for spirituality outside of religion through literature

Samuel Rutter was raised Catholic, no longer follows one religion, but is now editor-in-chief of Kismet, a literary magazine focused on “spirituality, religion, and mysticism for seekers and skeptics alike,” quoted from the magazine’s website.

It was such an unexpected turn for him that when he informed his wife, Kendall Storey, editor in chief of Catapult, that he might be starting a magazine focused on religious themes, her initial response was, “But you’re not religious. Why would you be interested in that?”

Soon, she says, she came to understand that the project was a literary journal primarily, and the writing is neither didactic, dogmatic, or proselytizing for one religion. Rather, the magazine is a place where religion can be explored from countless perspectives through fiction, poetry, and non-fiction.

Its first issue was published in March 2025, online only, followed by three more issues to date. Soon, the magazine plans on expanding into print.

The first issue laid out the magazine’s ethos. “Kismet aspires not to be a literary magazine about spirituality, but an engine of the spiritual experiences literature makes possible,” according to the editors’ note written by Rutter and his creative partner, Alec Gewirtz, editor and publisher of the magazine. The issue featured young writers and old, one almost 800 years old, Dante Alighieri. Their presentation of a canto of his next to a writer like Natasha Oladokun, a Black, queer poet working on her first poetry collection, set the standard for the kind of writing they would be publishing: the best available, on religious topics, from an artistic angle, no matter the author’s level of fame or, in some cases, continued presence on this plane.

Since that issue, Rutter and Gewirtz have been proud to make discoveries of new writers, begun publishing book reviews, and continue to find the voice of the magazine.

“There are already quite a few religiously themed magazines. So, what we’ve been conscious of is finding what we can do within our niche. For example, we don’t publish news, but when the pope passed, that was something you’d think we would want to cover. My thinking was every newspaper in the world was going to be covering that. We don’t have the resources or the contacts to say something new just yet, so we didn’t cover it then. But in a few years’ time, we might have an essay that covers something like what we’re seeing with the previous pope and the current pope and an emerging schism in American Catholicism where you have people like JD Vance, who are at pains to tell you how Catholic they are, at loggerheads with the pope, when, you know, a classic edict of Catholicism is the pope is always right,” shared Rutter.

The idea to start the magazine was, in some ways, a political organizing tool. Gewirtz, a religious scholar, had previously published an editorial in Jacobin magazine wherein he described and lamented that the political left was missing out on community organization of Americans who identified as spiritual, but not religious.

Gewirtz is also CEO of Nearness, a company that works with religious organizations as well as political nonprofits to help individuals and organizations nurture spiritual and community well-being.

Kismet, a project of Nearness, was described by Gewirtz as a way to “build the artistic and theological side of Nearness.” He continued, “Nearness is a theological project, and I thought we’d done lots of work on the community side of things but I wanted to do a lot more on the artistic, soul-enriching side of things. I thought the magazine seemed like the perfect venue for that.”

Gewirtz approached Rutter to be his collaborator for his taste. “He is brilliant, incredibly well-read, extraordinarily charming and fun to work with. He has a unique sensibility and can spot talent, interesting writers and thinkers, and help them produce their best work and honor what’s unique about their work.”

Rutter, in addition to editing Kismet, is also a writer who has published in a variety of outlets, studied for a Ph.D. “for about five years without quite finishing it,” and runs reading groups at the Center for Fiction.

At home, he is husband, co-cook, and creative partner with Kendall Storey, editor in chief of Catapult, a Brooklyn-based independent publisher, which regularly publishes critically lauded and awarded books.

Their shared home in Sunset Park is lined on both sides with bookshelves, between which they often discuss writing and literature, and they’re always cooking meals together. Sometimes even for authors that Storey is publishing at Catapult.

“Working in independent publishing, sometimes the advance is modest, but it’s so valuable to be able to invite the author and her husband over and have a celebratory dinner for them.”

Sometimes the same book excerpts cross both of their desks. As well, Storey is thankful that Kismet is now publishing book reviews — “From a book publishing perspective, thank God there’s another place where long form criticism can be published,” she says — but the thing they bring most to one another’s lives, it would seem, is support for one another creatively.

“Sam and Kendall have created such a special home in Sunset Park and are such amazing hosts and just have a wonderful little creative community they cultivate around themselves. They’re just really special, wonderful human beings,” said Gewirtz.

They really do love Sunset Park. “I really hope we never have to move from here,” said Storey. “When I first started looking for an apartment in Sunset Park, I immediately found several apartments that were in our budget. When I first saw this apartment, my immediate reaction was ‘What’s the catch?’ you know? It was a block from the train, lovely light, lovely neighborhood with the best people and the best food.”

“I remember the day moving here trying to park the moving van,” said Rutter.

“All the guys at the restaurant down the street were laughing at you,” Storey chimed in.

“Yeah, they’re laughing and then they’re like, we’ll help you. It’s just such a lovely neighborhood.”