Karl "King" Wenclas (born in Detroit, Michigan) is a founder and the former Publicity Director and front man of the Underground Literary Alliance. (The moniker "King" was taken from a critic of the ULA.) After ceasing publication of his zine New Philistine, Wenclas returned to writing at the urging of fellow underground zinesters Michael Jackman and Steve Kostecke, both of whom founded the ULA with Wenclas in 2000. His essay "How to Create a Literary Movement", published in Zine World: A Reader's Guide to the Underground Press, launched the idea of the ULA. Wenclas likens his brand of "ballyhoo" to the tactics of famous promoters including P.T. Barnum, Brian Epstein and Malcolm McLaren. A quote: "The entire history of rock music is a history of ballyhoo."
After leaving the ULA, Wenclas left Philadelphia to return to his birthplace and devote himself to his many blogs. His philosophy, particularly as conveyed via his flagship blog, Attacking The Demi-Puppets, centers on several related core beliefs: that the literary world is unhealthily centered in New York City, that the literary world is overly insular and therefore corrupt, and that the literary world is bent on silencing him. In opposition to what he sees as the corrupt status quo, Wenclas offers up works of "literary rebellion" that exist outside of the mainstream. Generally, these works appear to be limited mostly to DIY authors, as exemplified by members of the ULA.
Frequent targets for Wenclas' scorn include the Ivy League, The Paris Review, N+1, The Believer, McSweeney's, Dave Eggers, Jonathan Franzen, The Nation, PEN American Center, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and especially Rick Moody. Critics have observed that Wenclas' arguments are weakened by his unwillingness to acknowledge the differences among these individuals and institutions, and his similar unwillingness to acknowledge the world of literature that exists between the poles represented by the "establishment", as exemplified by the above, and the "underground", as exemplified by the ULA and other DIYers.