Tomorrow we publish Paper Dreams: Writers and Editors on the American Literary Magazine, a compilation of the continued history and conversations of the people who love new and interesting literature so much they spend their lives dedicated to sharing it with the world. But before we make history, it is only polite to introduce you to the literary magazines that most impress us — Atticus staff, authors, and associates.
Allow us the guilt-free pleasure of leading you to publications that have turned us into better writers and voracious readers and to hopefully, carry on the conversation.
While new literary magazines are dubbed places to find new and interesting writing, we’ve still got to respect those who have been finding new and interesting writing for years and years, and has been recognized for it. When it comes to lit mags, old dogs are constantly learning new tricks with each issue a new chance to publish fresh and relevant writing and art.
Jodee Stanley, writer and editor of Ninth Letter, recommends two lit mags that both have reputations for publishing strong writing that is capable of being anthologized and up for prestigious awards.
* Click here to read more lit mag recommendations. Or, to get some firsthand advice from Jodee Stanley on editing literary magazines, check out this interview with her at PressGang.
Jodee: I’d love to give a shout-out to The Cincinnati Review, which premiered in 2004, the same year as Ninth Letter, and has consistently published exciting work.
Atticus: The Cincinnati Review is run out of the University of Cincinnati and publishes poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and book reviews, as well as some artwork and translation. Every year they organize the Robert and Adele Schiff Awards in Poetry and Prose with submissions open in June and early July.
Mid-American Review
Jodee: Mid-American Review is another fine Midwestern literary journal in which a reader can always discover really great, interesting new writers.
Atticus: The Mid-American Review has been up and running since 72′ originally as an in-house publisher of students at Bowling Green University under the name Itinerary until they began accepting submissions internationally in the 80s. With over 30 years of publishing top notch stories, poems, and essays, they have grown to also offer multiple contests and awards throughout the year as well as sponsoring Winter Wheat, a literary festival held in November.
Post Contributor
Jodee Stanley is the editor of Ninth Letter, the award-winning literary/arts journal published by UIUC’s MFA in Creative Writing Program in collaboration with the School of Art and Design. She has worked in literary publishing for twenty years and has been a speaker and panelist at various conferences and festivals, including Bread Loaf, AWP, MLA, and the Kenyon Review Literary Festival. In 2009, she was awarded an Academic Professional Award from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UIUC, and she received a 2007 Faculty Fellowship from the University of Illinois Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership. Her fiction, essays, and book reviews have appeared in several publications including Crab Orchard Review, Mississippi Review, Hobart, Cincinnati Review, Future Fire, BkMk Quarterly, The Smoking Poet, 580 Split, and Electric Velocipede, and have received special mention in the 2004 Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror and the 2001 Pushcart Prize. She is currently co-editing an anthology of Midwest Gothic fiction.