Alaska Quarterly Review :: NewPages Guide to Literary Magazines

Alaska Quarterly Review

About Alaska Quarterly Review: One of America's premier literary magazines and a source of powerful, new voices. AQR is "one of the nation's best literary magazines," The Washington Post Book World.

Publisher’s Description: Alaska Quarterly Review is one of America’s premier literary magazines and a source of powerful, new voices. AQR publishes short stories, short novellas, novel excerpts, short plays, poetry, and literary non-fiction in traditional and experimental styles. The magazine also features photographic essays and interviews.

Praised by The Washington Post Book World as “one of the nation’s best literary magazines,” and "fresh treasure" in the Sunday New York Times Book Review, works from AQR have appeared in Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, Pushcart Prize, Beacon Best, Best American Mystery Stories, Best Creative Nonfiction, Best American Fantasy,  Best American Essays, Best American Nonrequired Reading, and Best American Poetry. John McNally in Literary Magazine Review observed that "When all is said and done, Ronald Spatz and his crack team of editors put together one hell of a magazine."  Laura Furman, the series editor of the Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, wrote that “Alaska Quarterly Review is playing an impressive part in our national literature.” Library Journal concluded AQR "is highly recommended and deserves applause."

AQR contributing editors include Stuart Dybek, Maxine Kumin, Amy Hempel, Patrica Hampl, Stuart Dischell Nancy Eimers, Pattiann Rogers, Dorianne Laux, Peggy Schumaker, Michael Ryan, Jane Hirshfield, and Billy Collins. We note with great sadness the passing of long-time Contributing Editor, Grace Paley, on August 22, 2007. AQR is published twice a year by the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Recent issues:

This issue (Spring/Summer 2013) features two novellas: “The Army Disease” by Cary Holladay and “Mistakes I Made” by Christie Hodgen. The issue also includes fiction by Ben Brooks, Matt Carmichael, Patricia Schultheis, Peter Gordon, Ihab Hassan, Catherine Bussinger, Emily Mitchell; nonfiction by Anne Kaier, Edward Hower, Mary Koral, and Leslie Ullman; and poetry by Matthew Westbrook, Joan I. Siegel, Kim Farrar, Carol Edelstein, Deborah Brown, and many more.

As part of the 30th Anniversary Edition, the Fall/Winter 2012 issue includes a special feature called “Urgent Beauties: 30th Anniversary Poems,” which is a collection of 60 poems by 60 poets with guest editors Jane Hirshfield, Todd Boss, and Camille Dungy. The issue also includes 9 short stories and 5 personal essays.

30th Anniversary Edition (Spring/Summer 2012) featuring fiction by Sarah Scoles, Colleen Curran, Sarah Blackman, Gordon Bennett, and Viet Dinh; poetry by Nancy Eimers, Ellen Bass, Valerie Bandura, Melanie McCabe, Sean Bishop, Dana Roeser, Cynthia Atkins, Murray Reiss, Kathleen Flenniken, Marge Piercy, David Moolten, Janet McNally, David Hernandez, and more. Special feature “Liberty and Justice (for All): A Global Photo Mosaic” guest edited by Benjamin J. Spatz.