Exclusive: McSweeney's Quarterly gets tubular for Issue 80

The 80th issue of the Quarterly Concern, which features art from Adrian Tomine, comes in a trapper-keeper style notebook filled with other goodies.

By Drew Gillis | October 8, 2025 | 3:00pm

Photos courtesy of McSweeney's

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Exclusive: McSweeney's Quarterly gets tubular for Issue 80

Issue number 80 of McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern is out next month, and The A.V. Club can give you an exclusive first look at it. While the publisher has often gotten creative with the presentation of its quarterly—Issue 79 was literally embroidered, for example—Issue 80 delivers on what the folks at McSweeney’s tell us has been “a long-time dream.” The latest issue comes in a trapper-keeper inspired notebook, adorned with some Lisa Frank-inspired dolphins and stuffed to the gills with 1980s and 90s style ephemera. As it boasts on its pre-order site, “McSweeney’s 80 will absolutely gag you with a spoon in awe and bodaciousness.”

The collection includes seven different art pieces. A story from the writer Pip Adam, for example, is formatted as if on a Scantron sheet. A piece of literary criticism from Tamara Shopsin comes as an acrylic stencil, while Chris Ames contributes a crossword about “being in (and out) of love.” The collection also includes a grid-lined sketchbook from artist Adrian Tomine, known for his work in The New Yorker and his comic series Optic Nerve. You can check out an exclusive first-look video of the issue below.

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McSweeney’s 80 features stories from Lucy Corin, Patrick Cottrell, Matt Sumell, Ava Tomasula y Garcia, Sara Reggiani, and Brittany Newell. The issue also includes 2025 Stephen Dixon Award-winner Akhim Alexis and runners up Olga Lexell and Colin Heasley. There’s also a full-color comic by John Pham, a flower catalog by Yiyun Li and illustrated by Wesley Allsbrook, a novel excerpt from Kevin Moffett, and letters from Steven Dunn, Lia Sina, Shanoor Seervai, Molly McGhee, Anelise Chen, and Katrina Dodson. The issue is available for pre-order here, and you can check out some more photos below.