The Road to Kismet

A new magazine seeks spiritual conversation outside of the conservative bubble.

Kismet has had a journey in finding a name. After all, what do you call a literary magazine tasked with exploring “spirituality, religion, and mysticism for seekers and skeptics alike”?

“Heathen” was one early option. Editor in chief Samuel Rutter liked its playfulness––it was a term his grandmother often used growing up. Ultimately, the word’s history proved to be too contentious. “Schism” was another. (Too confrontational.) Rutter and Alec Gewirtz, the magazine’s editor and publisher, eventually settled on “Amulet” and posted the first issue online under that name in early March. The week of the launch party, however, they received a cease-and-desist from a book publisher that operates a children’s imprint under the same name. Rather than fight it, they decided to go back to the drawing board––and to throw out dozens of tote bags already branded with the moniker. Kismet, as the magazine is now known, was suggested by a friend of Rutter’s who worked in banking. It checked all the boxes: nondenominational, inviting, and six letters long, enabling it to be easily worked into the existing design logo. “A lot of people have told us, ‘Actually, I like Kismet better,’” Rutter insisted.