What’s New at Antioch Review?

According to Editor Robert Fogarty, the Antioch Review Spring 2009 issue introduces the new feature From Our Archives: “Beginning with this issue we will reprint a famous piece from our archives (essays, stories, poems).”

I’ve previously heard some controversy about publications doing this, as reprinting already published works takes up valuable real estate that hungry new writers are ever eager to fill. However, Antioch‘s approach to this, simply stated, is intriguing: “Read it and see how it stood the test of time. Is it gold or pyrite?”

Regardless of the hungry masses, this is a great question to ask and have the opportunity to explore. As often as I run across “old” lit mags and am thrilled to find some of the first works of now-famous authors, there are far more where-are-they-now authors. Granted, we can’t all be famous, or even a recognized name, but probably more the issue: is what was written for the time, or for all time? And does its having been the former rather than the latter render it “pyrite”? I’ll be interested to see what Antioch discovers with their new feature and some feedback from their readers.