A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories , poetry , and essays , along with literary criticism , book reviews , biographical profiles of authors , interviews and letters. Literary magazines are often called literary journals , or little magazines , terms intended to contrast them with larger, commercial magazines .
48-534: Poet Lore is an English-language literary magazine based in Bethesda, Maryland . Established in 1889 by Charlotte Porter and Helen Archibald Clarke , two progressive young Shakespeare scholars who believed in the evolutionary nature of literature, Poet Lore is the oldest continuously published poetry journal in the United States. Porter and Clarke, who were life partners as well as co-editors, launched
96-547: A "renegade's base attempt to assassinate the reputation of this country" and continued with Neal's claim in The Yankee that Garrison was fired from his editorial position for attacking Neal in the paper. Journalist and historian Edward H. Elwell characterized Neal's willingness to publish these inflammatory back-and-forth letters and essays as the embodiment of "impulsive honesty and fair play". Neal stopped after receiving complaints from subscribers, which he also published in
144-460: A contributor to the Ladies' Magazine shortly afterward – a relationship that may have been orchestrated by Neal. Whittier sought Neal's opinion in the magazine at a turning point in the poet's career, saying when he submitted a poem that "if you don't like it, say so privately; and 'I will quit poetry, and everything also of a literary nature, for I am sick at heart of the business'." In what may be
192-749: A literary non-profit based near Washington, D.C. , currently publishes Poet Lore in semi-annual installments, featuring poetry by established writers side by side with those just breaking into print. Poet Lore also publishes essays of interest to poets and readers, as well as reviews of new books of poetry. In its first few decades, Poet Lore published the works of such renowned writers as Rabindranath Tagore , Rainer Maria Rilke , Paul Verlaine , Frederick Mistral , Stephane Mallarmé , Anton Chekhov , Maxim Gorky , Jose Echegaray , Hermann Hesse , Henrik Ibsen , August Strindberg , Emma Lazarus , and Sara Teasdale . Award-winning American poets whose early work (in some cases their first published poems) appeared in
240-440: A person talks beautifully in his sorrow, it shows both great preparation and insincerity." Instead of relying on highly cultivated circumstances in the plot, "The incidents will be such as every man may hope or dread to see ...; for it is there, and there only, that we can judge of a hero, or of a nation, or sympathize with either." This "thorough revolution in plays and players, authors and actors" called for in "The Drama"
288-476: Is a demonym used to refer to people from Maine and the other New England states. Holding his native state in high regard, Neal in the third issue of The Yankee claimed: "Her magnitude, her resources, and her character, we believe, are neither appreciated nor understood by the chief men" and the "great mass of the American people." To correct this, he published articles written by himself and others detailing
336-517: Is directly opposed to theirs ...; they are not eligible to office; and they are not, nor is their property protected at law. So much for the equality of the sexes here .... The solution, which he offered in "Woman" (March 26, 1828), was female solidarity and organizing to secure economic and political rights: "If woman would act with woman, there would be a stop to our tyranny". The Yankee also promoted female editors like Sarah Josepha Hale and Frances Harriet Whipple , and proclaimed
384-708: Is not a landscape nor a portrait painter alive who dares to paint what he sees as he sees it; nor probably a dozen with power to see things as they are." Neal's essays in The Yankee about landscape painting and its potential role in America's artistic renaissance anticipate the rise of the Hudson River School and provide early coverage (1828) of its founders, Thomas Doughty , Asher Brown Durand , and Thomas Cole . These essays also offer unprecedented coverage of reproduction technology like engraving and lithography and American portrait painters trained in
432-578: Is regarded as the first literary magazine; it was established by Pierre Bayle in France in 1684. Literary magazines became common in the early part of the 19th century, mirroring an overall rise in the number of books, magazines, and scholarly journals being published at that time. In Great Britain , critics Francis Jeffrey , Henry Brougham and Sydney Smith founded the Edinburgh Review in 1802. Other British reviews of this period included
480-1133: The Westminster Review (1824), The Spectator (1828), and Athenaeum (1828). In the United States, early journals included the Philadelphia Literary Magazine (1803–1808), the Monthly Anthology (1803–11), which became the North American Review , the Yale Review (founded in 1819), The Yankee (1828–1829) The Knickerbocker (1833–1865), Dial (1840–44) and the New Orleans–based De Bow's Review (1846–80). Several prominent literary magazines were published in Charleston, South Carolina , including The Southern Review (1828–32) and Russell's Magazine (1857–60). The most prominent Canadian literary magazine of
528-524: The District of Maine ), and later lived in Boston , then Baltimore , where he pursued a dual career in law and literature following the bankruptcy of his dry goods business in 1816. After gaining national recognition as a critic, poet, and novelist, he sailed to London , where he wrote for British magazines and served as Jeremy Bentham 's secretary. Upon returning to his native Portland in 1827, Neal
SECTION 10
#1732802238130576-761: The National Endowment for the Arts , which created a committee to distribute support money for this burgeoning group of publishers called the Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines (CCLM). This organisation evolved into the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP). Many prestigious awards exist for works published in literary magazines including the Pushcart Prize and the O. Henry Awards . Literary magazines also provide many of
624-553: The "humbler contingencies" of sign painting and applied arts . Neal's opinions on art in The Yankee carry a "a pungency rare in nineteenth century criticism", according to art scholar John W. McCoubrey. Fellow art scholar Harold E. Dickson said they "to a remarkable degree ... have stood the trying test of time." At the time The Yankee was in circulation, Neal was one of the most important critics of American drama. His serial essay "The Drama" (July–December 1829) elaborates upon opinions on theater originally published in
672-480: The 1838–1839 Aroostook War between the United States and the United Kingdom. He published a "vigorous campaign" of seventeen articles against lotteries over the course of 1828, claiming they encourage idle and reckless behavior among patrons, an argument he first conveyed in his novel Logan (1822). On a local level, Neal's advocacy in The Yankee contributed toward municipal funding being designated for
720-574: The 19th century was the Montreal-based Literary Garland . The North American Review , founded in 1815, is the oldest American literary magazine. However, it had its publication suspended during World War II, and the Yale Review (founded in 1819) did not; thus the Yale journal is the oldest literary magazine in continuous publication. Begun in 1889, Poet Lore is considered the oldest journal dedicated to poetry. By
768-417: The American gymnastics movement, cover national politics , and critique American literature , art , theater , and social issues. Essays by Neal on American art and theater anticipated major changes and movements in those fields realized in the following decades. Conflicting opinions published in The Yankee on the cultural identity of Maine and New England presented readers with a complex portrait of
816-638: The Arkansas Supreme Court ), Grenville Mellen , Isaac Ray , and early published works by John Appleton (later chief justice of Maine ). Neal biographer Donald A. Sears felt that The Yankee ' s greatest impact was encouraging new authors through publication and criticism of their early works. For this, literature scholar John A. Pollard dubbed Neal "doctor of American literature". Poe, Whittier, Nathaniel Hawthorne , and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow all received their first impactful encouragement in The Yankee ' s pages. Most of
864-1083: The Arts, and New Ideas , which began publication in 1951 in England, the Paris Review , which was founded in 1953, The Massachusetts Review and Poetry Northwest , which were founded in 1959, X Magazine , which ran from 1959 to 1962, and the Denver Quarterly , which began in 1965. The 1970s saw another surge in the number of literary magazines, with a number of distinguished journals getting their start during this decade, including Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art , Ploughshares , The Iowa Review , Granta , Agni , The Missouri Review , and New England Review . Other highly regarded print magazines of recent years include The Threepenny Review , The Georgia Review , Ascent , Shenandoah , The Greensboro Review , ZYZZYVA , Glimmer Train , Tin House , Half Mystic Journal ,
912-518: The Canadian magazine Brick , the Australian magazine HEAT , and Zoetrope: All-Story . Some short fiction writers, such as Steve Almond , Jacob M. Appel and Stephen Dixon have built national reputations in the United States primarily through publication in literary magazines. The Committee of Small Magazine Editors and Publishers (COSMEP) was founded by Richard Morris in 1968. It
960-533: The US gymnastics movement, provided a forum for new writers, and promoted Neal's own accomplishments. Because Neal included a high proportion of his own work, self-promotion, and details of feuds with other public figures, "no magazine ever bore more fully the stamp of a personality", according to scholar Irving T. Richards. Around fifty authors contributed to the magazine, including John Greenleaf Whittier , Edgar Allan Poe , Albert Pike (later associate justice of
1008-416: The bar despite opposition, founded Maine's first athletic program, and established The Yankee . The first issue was published on January 1, 1828. The idea came from a local bookseller who urged Neal shortly after his return to Portland to establish a new magazine or newspaper. Neal initially refused, not wanting to be the financial backer of his literary undertaking. The bookseller then offered to publish
SECTION 20
#17328022381301056-409: The construction of Portland's first sidewalks . In March 1828, Neal advertised his gymnasium in The Yankee as "accessible here to every body, without distinction of age or color", but when he sponsored six Black men to join, only two other members of three hundred voted to accept them. In May, Neal used his magazine to call out his fellow gymnasts' racial prejudice. He ended his involvement with
1104-518: The country that nourished him" and a "renegado" who "basely traduced his native town and country for hire". Neal experienced verbal taunting and physical violence in the streets and an attempt to block his admission to the local bar association , though he had been a practicing lawyer in Baltimore (1820–1823). In the second half of 1827, he pursued several projects to further his personal goals and to vindicate himself to his local community. He joined
1152-578: The country's regions in a state of constant cultural evolution that beckons but thwarts characterization. Described by one scholar as "vinegary", the first volume of The Yankee (January 1 – December 24, 1828) documents literary feuds between Neal and other New England journalists like William Lloyd Garrison , Francis Ormand Jonathan Smith , and Joseph T. Buckingham . Tensions between Neal and Garrison started with Garrison's denunciation of Neal's literary criticism in Blackwood's Magazine (1824–1825) as
1200-514: The end of the century, literary magazines had become an important feature of intellectual life in many parts of the world. One of the most notable 19th century literary magazines of the Arabic-speaking world was Al-Urwah al-Wuthqa . Among the literary magazines that began in the early part of the 20th century is Poetry magazine. Founded in 1912, it published T. S. Eliot 's first poem, " The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock ". Another
1248-630: The evolution of independent literary journals. There are thousands of other online literary publications and it is difficult to judge the quality and overall impact of this relatively new publishing medium. Little magazines, or "small magazines", are literary magazines that often publish experimental literature and the non-conformist writings of relatively unknown writers. Typically they had small readership, were financially uncertain or non-commercial, were irregularly published and showcased artistic innovation. The Yankee The Yankee (later retitled The Yankee and Boston Literary Gazette )
1296-595: The example of economic freedom these women provided: "We hope to see the day when she-editors will be as common as he-editors; and when our women of all ages ... will be able to maintain herself, without being obliged to marry for bread." In other articles, The Yankee affirmed intellectual equality between men and women, opining that "When minds meet, all distinctions of sex are abolished" and "women are not inferior to men; they are unlike men. They cannot do all that men may do – any more than men may do all that women may do." The magazine's title word, Yankee ,
1344-447: The first review of Hawthorne's first novel, The Yankee referred to Fanshawe as "powerful and pathetic" and said that the author "should be encouraged to persevering efforts by a fair prospect of future success". An 1828 review of Longfellow noted "a fine genius and a pure and safe taste" but also cited the need for "a little more energy, and a little more stoutness". Neal was the first American art critic. Scholars find his work in
1392-435: The gym shortly thereafter. Neal's writing on gender and women's rights in The Yankee show his focus moving beyond inter-gender social manners and female educational opportunities and toward women's economic and political rights. In the first issue of the second volume, he asserted that unmarried women are treated unfairly "as if it were better for a woman to marry anybody than not to marry at all; or even to marry one that
1440-705: The magazine as a forum on "Shakespeare, Browning, and the Comparative Study of Literature" but soon sought out the original work of living writers—featuring more drama than poetry at first, and moving beyond North America and Europe to publish in translation the work of writers from Asia, South America, and the Middle East. In its early decades, the magazine featured poetry by Rabindranath Tagore, Frederic Mistral, Rainier Maria Rilke, Stephane Mallarmé, and Paul Verlaine. The first translation of Chekhov's The Seagull appeared in its pages. The Writer's Center ,
1488-477: The magazine. The Yankee published regularly from the beginning of 1828 through the end of 1829, during which time the magazine changed its name, printing format, frequency, and volume numbering system. Volumes 1 and 2 (January 1, 1828, through July 3, 1829) are composed of eight-page weekly issues in quarto . New series volume 1 (July through December 1829) is composed of six, 56-page monthly issues in octavo . For financial reasons, Neal merged The Yankee with
Poet Lore - Misplaced Pages Continue
1536-566: The most influential—though radically different—journals of the last half of the 20th century were The Kenyon Review ( KR ) and the Partisan Review . The Kenyon Review , edited by John Crowe Ransom , espoused the so-called New Criticism . Its platform was avowedly unpolitical. Although Ransom came from the South and published authors from that region, KR also published many New York–based and international authors. The Partisan Review
1584-410: The new authors whose careers it started were women, including Elizabeth Oakes Smith and others lesser known to history. The Yankee is credited with having "discovered" Poe, and influenced the young writer's style with the magazine's essays. Poe considered Neal's September 1829 review of the poem " Fairy-Land " to be "the very first words of encouragement I ever remember to have heard". Poe became
1632-520: The novel Randolph (1823), Blackwood's Magazine (1824), and The Yankee to be the most historically important, in which he discussed leading American artists and their work "with unprecedented acumen and enthusiasm". The essay "Landscape and Portrait-Painting" (September 1829) anticipated John Ruskin 's groundbreaking Modern Painters (1843) by distinguishing between "things seen by the artist" and "things as they are", as Ruskin put it more famously fourteen years later. In Neal's words in 1829, "There
1680-408: The pages of Poet Lore include Mary Oliver , Linda Pastan , Colette Inez , R. T. Smith , D. Nurkse , John Balaban , Carolyn Forché , Alice Fulton , Dana Gioia , Pablo Medina , Seán Mac Falls , Kim Addonizio , David Baker , Carl Phillips , Natasha Trethewey , Terrance Hayes , Dede Wilson , and Reginald Dwayne Betts . Literary magazine Nouvelles de la république des lettres
1728-415: The periodical if Neal would serve as editor, which Neal accepted. Subscription to the new weekly magazine cost $ 3 a year, or $ 2.50 paid in advance. The Yankee was Maine's first literary periodical and one of America's first cultural publications. Controversial at the time for its lack of association with any political party or interest group, it was a precursor for the independent American press that
1776-1020: The pieces in The Best American Short Stories and The Best American Essays annual volumes. SwiftCurrent , created in 1984, was the first online literary magazine. It functioned as more of a database of literary works than a literary publication. In 1995, the Mississippi Review was the first large literary magazine to launch a fully online issue. By 1998, Fence and Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern were published and quickly gained an audience. Around 1996, literary magazines began to appear more regularly online. At first, some writers and readers dismissed online literary magazines as not equal in quality or prestige to their print counterparts, while others said that these were not properly magazines and were instead ezines . Since then, though, many writers and readers have accepted online literary magazines as another step in
1824-412: The prefaces to his first play, Otho (1819) and his second poetry collection, The Battle of Niagara: Second Edition (1819). The essay dismissed well-accepted Shakespearean standards and outlined a prophecy for the future American drama that largely played out by the end of the century. Neal predicted that characters would become more relatable by expressing feelings "in common language" because "when
1872-552: The region's customs, traditions, and speech, particularly the series "Live Yankees" (March–June 1828), "New England As It Was" (March–November 1828), and "New England As It Is" (March–November 1828). He juxtaposed articles by separate authors with conflicting views and inserted his own editorial footnotes into others' essays to encourage discourse over the region's identity. Nineteenth-century American regionalists are known for sentimentally posing rural traditions in conflict with America's urbanization. In contrast, The Yankee presented
1920-485: The region. Many new, predominantly female, writers and editors started their careers with contributions and criticism of their work published in The Yankee , including many who are familiar to modern readers. The articles on women's rights and early feminist ideas affirmed intellectual equality between men and women and demanded political and economic rights for women. John Neal grew up in Portland, Maine (then
1968-679: Was The Bellman , which began publishing in 1906 and ended in 1919, was edited by William Crowell Edgar and was based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Other important early-20th century literary magazines include The Times Literary Supplement (1902), Southwest Review (1915), Virginia Quarterly Review (1925), World Literature Today (founded in 1927 as Books Abroad before assuming its present name in 1977), Southern Review (1935), and New Letters (1935). The Sewanee Review , although founded in 1892, achieved prominence largely thanks to Allen Tate , who became editor in 1944. Two of
Poet Lore - Misplaced Pages Continue
2016-414: Was an attempt to organize the energy of the small presses. Len Fulton, editor and founder of Dustbook Publishing, assembled and published the first real list of these small magazines and their editors in the mid-1970s. This made it possible for poets to pick and choose the publications most amenable to their work and the vitality of these independent publishers was recognized by the larger community, including
2064-528: Was confronted by community members who were offended by his literary work in the preceding years: the unsympathetic depiction of his hometown in his semi-autobiographical novel Errata (1823), the way he depicted New England dialect and customs in his novel Brother Jonathan (1825), and the criticism in his American Writers series in Blackwood's Magazine (1824–1825). Residents posted inflammatory broadsides calling Neal "a panderer for scandal against
2112-609: Was established later in the century. When asked why he would establish such a magazine outside a major city, Neal said, "We mean to publish in Portland. Whatever the people of New-York, or Boston or Philadelphia or Baltimore might say, Portland is the place for us." The Yankee functioned to educate Americans about England, spread Jeremy Bentham-inspired utilitarian philosophy, publish literary contributions, and critique American literature , American art , theater , politics, and social issues. The magazine also aided in establishing
2160-613: Was first associated with the American Communist Party and the John Reed Club ; however, it soon broke ranks with the party. Nevertheless, politics remained central to its character, while it also published significant literature and criticism. The middle-20th century saw a boom in the number of literary magazines, which corresponded with the rise of the small press . Among the important journals which began in this period were Nimbus: A Magazine of Literature,
2208-450: Was not her selected and preferred of all than to go unmarried to her grave." The article "Rights of Women" (March 5, 1829) includes some of the "angriest and most assertive feminist claims" of his career, saying of coverture and suffrage that: The truth is, that women are not citizens here; they pay taxes without being represented ...; if they are represented, it is by those whose interest, instead of being included in theirs,
2256-434: Was one of the first cultural publications in the United States, founded and edited by John Neal (1793–1876), and published in Portland, Maine as a weekly periodical and later converted to a longer, monthly format. Its two-year run concluded at the end of 1829. The magazine is considered unique for its independent journalism at the time. Neal used creative control of the magazine to improve his social status, help establish
2304-562: Was still in process 60 years later when William Dean Howells was considered innovative for issuing the same criticism. The Yankee documented and offered commentary upon the period's nationally relevant social and political topics, such as the nullification crisis , the Tariff of Abominations , Andrew Jackson 's spoils system , lotteries , temperance , women's rights , and the Maine-New Brunswick border issues that led to
#129870