Communication Commons^™

Venerable Nonfiction Magazine Proves It’S Still In The Game; Review Of Creative Nonfiction, Issue 72, Bria Peterson

The Review Review

Creative Nonfiction magazine is “true stories, well told.” Each issue works to prove that interesting narratives can make any subject meaningful through the adaptive essence of narrative nonfiction. In issue 72, titled “Games: The Power of Play,” they achieve this goal through long and short-form essays along with columns that examine the craft, style, and trends of writing true stories.

American Little Magazines Since 1950: Charting Many Histories, Thom Caraway

The Review Review

As lit mag enthusiasts know, Little Magazines cuts off in 1947. It details the magazines of the Modernist period quite well, as several other excellent comprehensive resources do. The three-volume Oxford Cultural History series on literary magazines details the work of various little magazines in the US, UK, Europe, and Ireland, but gets no further than 1950. Tri-Quarterly’s excellent “documentary” issue of 1978 surveys several editors of significant magazines in the intervening period, and they provide engaging statements of purpose, origin stories, and “biographical” sketches of their particular magazines. More recent volumes like Spreading the Word, Paper Dreams …

Your Perfect Cover Letter, The Review Review Team

The Review Review

Most literary magazines request a cover letter along with your writing submission. This is just way to introduce your work and introduce yourself. Its tone should be polite, professional and unassuming.

During Turbulent Times, A Reminder: The Ground Beneath Us Has Always Been Shifting, Jeffrey Dodd

The Review Review

This issue of The Review Review is being released at a remarkable time here in the United States, where we’re based.

• Global pandemic?
• Most divisive U.S. election season in living memory?
• Editor gets Covid?
• Uncertain economic future due, in large part, to those first two items?

“I Will Take Every Opportunity To Encourage Others”: A Chat With Heather Cuthbertson, Editor Of Gold Man Review, Heather Cuthbertson, Sydney Gonzalez

The Review Review

Gold Man Review is an annual literary journal serving and supporting a community of authors residing on the West Coast. It highlights diverse and passionate writers of short fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The journal’s founder and Editor-In-Chief, Heather Cuthbertson, has overseen all issues and has ensured that they abide by Gold Man Review’s mission, “Creativity Becomes Community.” The journal’s 9th, and most recent, issue delightfully walks the line between playful and serious with a varied collection that has something for everyone. Issue 9 offers readers tales of love gained and lost, poignant reminders of how words affect others and …

West Coast Litmag Promotes Creative Community With Geographic Focus; Review Of Gold Man Review, Issue 9, Sydney Gonzalez

The Review Review

The 9th Issue of Gold Man Review explores human behavior through analysis, tragedy, and aspiration in a varied collection of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. This annual literary journal accepts submission from writers who reside in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington. The 2019 edition honors Gold Man Review’s mission statement of “Creativity Becomes Community” by presenting unique works that are tonally in conversation.

Journal’S Contest Issue Presents Surprising Array Of Narrative Poetry; Review Of Naugatuck River Review, Issue 23, Jeffrey Dodd

The Review Review

Many fine literary magazines benefit from regular turnover in editorial staff, and sometimes editorial vision. Such is often the case with journals housed in university writing programs, where ever-new cohorts of students bring renewed energy and aesthetic interests. This often allows for new voices to make their way onto a journal’s pages. If there’s a downside to that model, other than the amount of onboarding work and potential lost institutional memory associated with regularly revolving leadership, it is that a journal’s identity can sometimes become confused. This is not the case with Naugatuck River Review, a journal of narrative …

Mind The Gap: A Landscape Analysis Of Open Source Publishing Tools And Platforms, John Maxwell

Charleston Library Conference

This presentation gave an overview and high level discussion of a landscape analysis study done in 2018–2019. The “Mind the Gap” study catalogued and provided analysis of available open-source publishing tools and platforms.

Should You Pay For The Chicken When You Can Get It For Free? No Longer Life On The Farm As We Know It, Sharon M. Mattern Büttiker, James King, Susie Winter, Crane Hassold

Charleston Library Conference

The scholarly publishing ecosystem is being forced to adapt following changes in funding, scholarly review, and distribution. Taken alone, each changemaker could markedly influence the entire chain of research consumption. Combining these change forces together has the potential for a complete upheaval in the biome. During the 2019 Charleston Library conference, a panel of stakeholders representing researchers, funders, librarians, publishers, digital security experts, and content aggregators addressed such questions as what essential components constitute scholarly literature and who should shepherd them. The 70-minute open dialogue with audience participation invited a range of opinions and viewpoints on the care, feeding, and …

What Are Students Saying About Their Reference Needs?, Damon Zucca

Charleston Library Conference

Libraries and publishers rely on transactional data to support evidence-based decision making. However, by itself quantitative information does not provide a full picture. To anticipate the evolving needs of our audience we also need to hear from the individual users themselves. In this article, I will review the findings from several recent examples survey-based research into the question of how students use reference materials in and outside of their libraries. What are students actually saying about their needs and preferences when it comes to reference? While some uses cases for reference are moving out of the library into the open …

Open Access Publishing: Obstacles And Options, Eleta Exline

Open Access Events

Everyone benefits from increased access to the latest research. Making your scholarship Open Access should be easy! Instead, it can be confusing and expensive, especially if you're trying to decide on short notice. This presentation will help you sort out your options, find out how you can plan ahead, and put you on the pain free path to open.

Access link: https://unh.zoom.us/j/91844432673?from=msft

A Journal That Serves “To Provide A Home For Creative Work Inspired By Journeys To Places Where There Are No Roads”: A Chat With Rick Kempa, Editor Of Deep Wild, Rick Kempa, Teresa Mccarthy

The Review Review

Deep Wild: Writing from the Backcountry, is a not-for-profit journal, published annually, whose mission is to provide a home for creative work inspired by journeys to places where there are no roads. The second issue, forthcoming this summer, will include work by 41 writers and 2 artists, representing five countries.

“One Of My Favorite Parts … Is When I Help To Pair Up Writers And Architects To Create Pieces Together”: A Chat With Joseph Altshuler, Editor Of Soiled, Joseph Altshuler, Caroline Gray

The Review Review

SOILED positions itself between a literary journal and a design magazine. Produced an artist-led team of four and published by a Chicago-based design practice, the journal publishes themed issues, the most recent of which focuses on children’s stories.

Clever Collaboration Highlights Israeli Experience; A Review Of The Ilanot Review, Fall 2019, The Collaborative Issue: Translations Of Granta Hebrew, Katharine Tibbitts

The Review Review

For two journals that have only been established in the last decade, Ilanot Review and Granta Hebrew pack a century’s worth of grief and wisdom into their awe-inspiring collaborative issue for Fall 2019. This collaboration, published under the title The Ilanot Review: The Collaborative Issue, represents a break from routine for both journals, as The Ilanot Review is known for its compelling thematic issues and Granta Hebrew for its Hebrew and Arabic extension of the illustrious London-based Granta—the Magazine of New Writing. The editors have compiled a brilliant whirlwind of poetry, prose, and memoir that pulls pieces from …

And Then Suddenly, Jeffrey Dodd

The Review Review

The story of how this relaunch of The Review Review took shape feels like a minor saga.

Because Literature Promotes Justice: A Roundup Of The Review Review’S Coverage Of Litmags And Editors Addressing Important Social Issues, Jeffrey Dodd

The Review Review

When, in early 2019, we began the process of transitioning The Review Review leadership, I was struck by how well Founding Editor Becky Tuch and her team had balanced their mission to provide writers, readers, editors, and students a phenomenal resource for understanding and appreciating the world of litmags, with their clear understanding that all artforms always have political implications. Fast forward eighteen months.

Family Reads Children’S Issue Of Architecture-Focused Literary Magazine, Strongly Approves; Review Of Soiled, Issue 8, Jeffrey Dodd

The Review Review

Soiled exists at the intersection of literature and architecture. Let me rephrase that. Soiled owns the intersection of literature and architecture. This artist-led, Chicago-based project, now offering its 8th issue, "narrates a playfully sincere and seriously humorous exploration of oft-overlooked dimensions of our built environment." Each issue is thematized around a different exploration and the works written and illustrated by architects and designers. Issue 8, "onceuponascrapers: architectural children's stories," is elegantly illustrated, delicately told, and intricately woven into one of the most exciting literary magazines I've encountered in some time.

New Journal Takes Readers Back To Nature; A Review Of Deep Wild, Volume 1, 2019, Teresa Mccarthy

The Review Review

Deep Wild: Writing from the Backcountry is a brand new literary journal that invites writers and artists with an enthusiasm for the outdoors to offer accounts of exploring the natural world through poetry, nonfiction narratives, and a few miscellaneous genre pieces. This first volume was published in 2019, and plans are to publish annually. This journal embraces a balance of appealing to a deeply formed community of backcountry explorers yet provides pieces that are able to resonate with city-dwellers (like myself) who will find beauty in escaping from the scenes of everyday life. For the contributors and potential readers of …

"Our Little Publication Brings The Kind Of Understanding And Acceptance That Is Much Needed When Those Feelings Of Isolation And Shame Kick In”" A Conversation With Célia Schouteden, Editor Of Peculiars Magazine, Célia Schouteden, Asha Douglas

The Review Review

Célia Schouteden is the founder and editor-in-chief of peculiars magazine (@peculiarsmag). Her contribution to the artistic world has also been expressed through her passion for film photography. She is originally from Belgium, and currently attends university there to study Psychology. Her efforts to promote mental health awareness have reached all corners of the world.

Global Connectivity And Multiculturalism In Publishing: A Roundtable Chat With The Editors Of Chattahoochee Review, Waxwing , And Manoa: A Pacific Journal Of International Writing, Alicia Cole, Michael Diebert, Frank Stewart, Sara Sams

The Review Review

A Roundtable Chat With the Editors of Chattahoochee Review, Waxwing, and Manoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing.

Broad, Substantive, And Deeply Humanist: Lit Mag Digs Deep; Review Of Virginia Quarterly Review, Winter 2016, Rebecca Schwarz

The Review Review

Here’s one of the best general literary magazines you may not have heard of. The Virginia Quarterly Review (its cover now sports the more hip and hashtagable VQR) was founded by the University of Virginia in 1925. Still supported in part by the university, this quarterly magazine features a variety of topics both national and international and a uniformly high level of writing regardless of the subject. I would say more than half of the material falls under various nonfiction categories such as memoir, essay, interviews, reporting, and criticism. Clocking in at nearly 200 pages, there is something for every …

South Asian Literary Journal Shines In Debut; Review Of Shoreline Review, January 2018, Stephanie Katz

The Review Review

The Shoreline Review is a new literary journal that provides a digital space specifically for South Asian poets to be read and recognized for their unique contributions to the realm of poetry. TSR is edited by Sreshtha Sen and Shyamolie Singh, two poets who are from India. All the poetry in TSR is in English, some appearing to be written originally in English while others have been translated from their original language. Some poets are living in their home countries, while others are living abroad, mostly in the United States. TSR’s inaugural issue, which was published in January 2018, presents …

Elegant Writing, Intelligently Curated; Review Of Salamander, Fall/Winter 2015, Marjorie Hakala

The Review Review

Salamander is a twice-annual print magazine published by Suffolk University in Boston. Issue 41, published in fall/winter 2015, has a picture of a dahlia on the cover. A brief, polite note from the editor kicks things off by informing us that Andre Dubus III judged the magazine’s 2015 short story contest, and we get his comments on the winners and a brief enumeration of the other prose works in the issue as well as the names of some of the poets. That is all the introduction anybody gets before we are off to the races.

Inside Bitter Oleander: A Chat With Paul B. Roth, Editor Of Bitter Oleander, Paul B. Roth, Andrew Tobia

The Review Review

Paul B. Roth founded The Bitter Oleander and The Bitter Oleander Press as a young man fresh out of college, eager to make his mark on the literary world. He has nursed his journal and press for over 35 years.

New Online Lit Mag Is A First Stop For Flash Fiction; Review Of First Stop Fiction, Fall 2014, Stefanie Trout

The Review Review

First Stop Fiction is an online literary journal publishing flash fiction that ends at the earliest possible moment. That is, there are no neat conclusions where the reader knows what happens to the characters after the story has ended. Instead, First Stop Fiction readers are left to ponder, speculate, and marinate in the last words, perhaps reading the story over again from the beginning. In the editors’ own words, “First Stop Fiction is dedicated to publishing stories that spare no opportunity to end. We like things left messy. We like resonance achieved, then left alone.” In that sense, First …

"I Don't Believe In Borders": A Chat With Samir Rawas—Editor Of Cecile's Writers' Magazine, Samir Rawas, Robin Kalinich

The Review Review

Samir Rawas is the editor of Cecile’s Writers, an emerging online literary publication with an intercultural focus.

Why Are Writers Of Color Underrepresented Among Published Authors? One Poet's Questions And Possible Solutions, Clara B. Jones

The Review Review

On 7 November 2015, The Atlantic published an article by Kavita Das titled, “Writers shouldn't romanticize rejection: in the literary world, talent isn't hiding. It's being ignored.” The article advanced two major premises: that a minority “voice” may be “alien or unrecognizable” and that rejection is a function of “power” relations. In Das' words, “Is my voice going to be somehow alien or unrecognizable to the person I am submitting it to?” Though the author recognizes that her essay might apply to all writers from underrepresented groups, she directs her concerns primarily to “writers of color.” While I agree that …

Lit Mag Is Home For Best Of What's Happening In Literature Today; Review Of Kenyon Review, Spring 2016, Rashi Rohatgi

The Review Review

That the March/April issue of The Kenyon Review is full of beautiful writing by important people should surprise no one: the magazine, prominent since the mid-20th century, has on its current advisory board Amitav Ghosh, Joyce Carol Oates, Ann Patchett, and other writers of the same caliber. In his Editor’s Notes, David H. Lynn makes much of the blossoming overlapped content between the current print and online issues, but, as ever, the real treat is in the small assemblages – particularly, here, Transylvanian poetry, an early Tennessee Williams play with commentary, and a new Amit Majumdar story – punctuated by …

Breathe The Fresh Air; Review Of Georgia Review, Fall 2008, Vince Corvaia

The Review Review

The Fall 2008 issue of The Georgia Review contains five essays, two short stories, ten poems (including the latest by Albert Goldbarth), reviews by three contributors, artwork by Judy Pfaff, and excerpts from a new book featuring the correspondence between Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop.

A Creature Of (Many) Habit(Ation)S; Review Of Salamander, Summer 2008, Holly Monacelli

The Review Review

A salamander is amphibious. Not only can salamanders live both on land and in water, many species are endangered. Which means the salamander is doubly unique. Salamander, then, is a fitting name for Suffolk University's journal, showcasing multi-faceted writers that offer distinct viewpoints, which may just take you out of your comfort zone into exciting new environs. The journal was started in 1992 by Jennifer Barber, who wanted to target new authors. Barber recently told the Suffolk Scoop that it "isn't just for writers. It's for readers who understand, appreciate and enjoy good writing." I like to think I …