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Find literary magazine reviews on the NewPages Blog. These reviews include single literary pieces and an issue of a literary magazine as a whole.

Midnight Mind Magazine – Fall 2003

The staff of Midnight Mind Magazine must have a great time at work. At least that’s the impression you get from reading their latest issue. Yes, it’s filled with fiction, essays, poetry and reviews just like all those other “little” magazines. But what makes Midnight Mind such a standout is the exuberance with which it’s all executed. A letter to the editor could be a yawner, but not when it’s written by a fictional character from the previous issue—and addressed to the “assholes at Midnight Mind.” Even the column of subscription information will make you smile.

Continue reading “Midnight Mind Magazine – Fall 2003”

Quarterly West – Fall/Winter 2003/2004

A bizarre admission: I write and, much more often than not, read fiction and poetry, and Quarterly West, seemingly without intent, has made a nonfiction convert out of me. It’s not that I am not enthralled by the two novellas from the biennial contest within this issue (and pity Kevin McIlvoy for having to choose between these two, let alone however many countless others). Continue reading “Quarterly West – Fall/Winter 2003/2004”

Iron Horse Literary Review – 2003

I go back and forth about the debate regarding whether or not there are simply too many literary magazines. There’s the statistic that the majority of amateur authors spend more money per year on sending work out than they do on the literary magazines they’re so desperately trying to garner an acceptance from, and there’s the notion, to me anyway (an admitted elitist), that if there’s eventually a venue for every piece of writing, what does that do to writing overall? Continue reading “Iron Horse Literary Review – 2003”

Sewanee Review – Fall 2003

If personified, Sewanee Review would be an accomplished scholar, wry professor and imaginative writer, persisting with an evening pipe and pale cardigan despite colleagues who have lurched forward into dark jeans and lunchtime smoothies. Indifferent to keeping up with any literary Cloneses, its spirited criticism, fiction and poetry abide no indulgent memoirs about tallness or the curse of an Irish childhood, no sneering hepcats, noble gang members or hyper-realist bodily functions. Continue reading “Sewanee Review – Fall 2003”

Image – Winter 2003

This somewhat conservative, glossy-covered journal publishes art, poetry, fiction and essays that focus (mostly) on the God of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but the work is surprisingly diverse and thought-provoking. (Production quality note to artists: The art work is featured beautifully in full color and heavy paper.) Continue reading “Image – Winter 2003”

Witness – 2003

Witness runs a lot of issues with political themes; the theme of this issue was “Ethnic America,” and contributors like Naomi Shahib Nye, Joyce Carol Oates, and Bib Hicok examine the lives of immigrants, of outcasts, of refugees, and of the assimilation of individual cultures. The history of American diversity has not been a happy one, and this issue takes an unflinching look the past and current realities of that diversity. Continue reading “Witness – 2003”

Salt Hill – 2004

Always surprising and unconventional, this issue of Salt Hill is even edgier than usual, with Thom Ward’s “imaginary” scholar Dr. Arnold Schnagel and Schnagel’s parody of reviews and critiques (like this one!) of the work of “imaginary poet” Jan DeKeerk whose very real poetry is translated here (from Flemish) by Schnagel; and Steve Almond’s interview with novelist and screenwriter Tom Perotta (“Q: But you don’t behave badly?” A: Well, I’m a fiction writer”); and Denise Duhamel’s poem “Lost Bra,” thirty-four couplets, every line of which ends with the words “Maidenform Bra.” G. C. Waldrep contributes three poems with his signature merger of the sacred and the profane (as it happens, a story about Waldrep’s conversion to the Amish is featured in the latest issue of Poets & Writers and provides a context for his work). Poet Miles Waggener contributes excellent translations from the Spanish of three poems by Jaime Siles — poems that at moments sound as raw as Peter Cooley, who also has a poem in this issue, and a verse or two later as erudite as Jorge Luis Borges: “Hace que deulen hasta los pronombres/It hurts right to the very pronouns.” There’s never a dull moment at Salt Hill. [Salt Hill,  Syracuse University, English Department, Syracuse, NY 13244. E-mail: [email protected]. Single issue $8. http://students.syr.edu/salthill/] – SR Continue reading “Salt Hill – 2004”

Prairie Schooner – Spring 2004

There is always something for nearly every serious reader in Prairie Schooner. It’s not because Raz lacks a consistent editorial vision. On the contrary, issue after issue the journal feels whole and unified. It’s more because her vision is large and generous. The prose is especially strong this issue, with a tender and memorable story by Tamara Friedman (“Stealing Sherisha”) and a fine example of literary journalism by David A. Taylor, “Nailing a Freight on the Fly: The Federal Writer’s Project in Nebraska.” Taylor’s essay is a solid and pleasingly humble combination of competent research, travel writing, and literary history. Continue reading “Prairie Schooner – Spring 2004”

Grain – Spring 2004

The same mistakes is not…a mistake. In fact, it’s a provocative and successful theme, beginning with editor Kent Bruyneed’s witty introduction and his description of these writers “doubting and soaring.” The poems and stories in this issue share a casual energy that is more difficult to achieve than it may at first seem, elevating mistakes to art. Continue reading “Grain – Spring 2004”

The Carolina Quarterly – Winter 2004

Established back in 1948, the tiny literary magazine known as The Carolina Quarterly is a model of humility: a pamphlet-style book not even a hundred pages long, yet filled with writing of such distinction that the reader is provoked to the kind of loving pondering elicited by publications of the snazzier variety. After careening straight through this winter issue, I found myself turning it over and over in my hands in wonder. Continue reading “The Carolina Quarterly – Winter 2004”

The Threepenny Review – Spring 2004

Anne Carson, Gary Shhteyngart, and Mark Doty, all in this issue! There’s also a wonderful story (“The Red Fox Fur Coat”) by Teolinda Gersao, translated from the Portuguese by Margert Jull Costa, who also contributes a translation of an essay on Faulkner by Javier Marías, outstanding book essays by P.N. Furbank (on Geoffrey Hill’s Style and Faith) and Rachel Cohen (on a new edition of Rilke’s Letters On Cézanne), and C.K. Williams on Lowell’s Collected Poems, comparing poets to composers: “…that there are elements in the poems that I don’t care for, or even have to forgive, is incidental to the elemental experience of being taken again by Lowell’s singularly gratifying music.” The prose is accompanied by marvelous poems. Continue reading “The Threepenny Review – Spring 2004”

The Laurel Review – Spring 2004

The Laurel Review is unpretentious and reliable, qualities not to be underestimated in these precarious times, especially when that means poems like Susan Ludvingson’s “Barcelona, The Spanish Civil War: Alfonso Laurencic Invents Torture by Art”: “We know the body can be made / to lose its recollections birthed in music / its desire for bread / and sex, its only remaining wish / confession // Who’d have guessed how easily / the brain opens its many mouths / to red.” Continue reading “The Laurel Review – Spring 2004”

The Antioch Review – Spring 2004

I have always loved The Antioch Review and this “All Essay” issue deepens my appreciation. The editors succeed in demonstrating that “essays…comes in all forms and about all subjects” and in meeting their goal to “highlight [the essay’s] diversity and vivacity.” This would make a fine volume for any workshop in the essay’s strengths and varieties and is exceptional reading for any devotee of serious nonfiction. The thirteen essays include political/social analysis (Bruce Jackson, Bruce Fleming, Michael Meyers and John P. Nidiry, Irwin Abrams), personal essays (Floyd Skloot, Nick Papandreou, P.F. Kluge, Paul Christensen, Carol Hebald), … Continue reading “The Antioch Review – Spring 2004”

Hunger Mountain – Spring 2004

With new editors each time, Hunger Mountain can be vastly different from issue to issue, and that unpredictability can be exciting. Guest editors Syndey Lea’s and Jim Schley’s vision for this all-Vermont special edition to “keep the door open” led them to the discovery of writers they had not known, a celebration of writers who seem “insufficiently applauded” and to what managing editor Caroline Mercurio calls “a few treasured Vermont favorites” (Ruth Stone, Hayden Carruth). Continue reading “Hunger Mountain – Spring 2004”

The Greensboro Review – Spring 2004

This spring issue of The Greensboro Review contains two short stories that are simply breathtaking: Adam Berlin’s “The Karaoke Bet” and Matt Valentine’s “Zohra.” Berlin’s piece, in its portrayal of a soulless, lustful bookie is worth close study by any aspiring short story writer, so perfect is its characterization, voice, plotting, and overall thematic significance. Continue reading “The Greensboro Review – Spring 2004”

Ninth Letter – Spring/Summer 2004

Ninth Letter is a vigorous and fearlessly enterprising magazine, unconventional in both appearance and content without lapsing from quality. Instead of the trade paperback format favored by most lit mags, the Ninth Letter editors have opted for an exhibition-catalog size printing, an eccentric incarnation that aptly suits the journal’s adventurous character and could easily inspire a wider scope of design among the lit mag community. Continue reading “Ninth Letter – Spring/Summer 2004”

Sycamore Review – Winter/Spring 2004

At first glance, Sycamore Review seems a typical literary journal, divided into the usual blocks: poetry, fiction, interview, review. A deeper look reveals an eclectic and engaging selection of work. Smart but not obtuse, the poetry is well-crafted with diverse subject matter – mortality, refugee camps, a child’s collection of pets – but my favorites are the witty pieces. One standout is Mary Jo Firth Gillett’s “On Being Asked by a Student How You Know When a Poem Is Done” (“I say, when you’ve given up searching / for something to rhyme with orange because / you’ve eaten the orange.”) Continue reading “Sycamore Review – Winter/Spring 2004”

Tampa Review – 2005

I had a sense of déjà vu while reading The Tampa Review. I held the large slim 7×11 hardcover and remembered beautifully illustrated fairy tales books from my childhood. Although The Tampa Review is not filled with whimsical tales, the cover artwork by Florida artist James Rosenquist along with the black and white photos in the journal creates a book of beauty. Continue reading “Tampa Review – 2005”

Sentence – 2003

Size and shape matter — literally and metaphorically. And because they do, Sentence is off to a great start with this inaugural issue. The journal has an inordinately pleasing size and shape, both literally and metaphorically. With an announced bias for work that does not veer toward sudden fiction, editor Brian Clements describes the journal’s purpose as “a full-service forum for readers, writers, critics, and scholars of the prose poem tradition…critical and scholarly essays, translations, occasional interviews, a bibliography of recent criticism…and our ‘Views and Reviews’ section where you can vent your most dearly held opinions…Sentence will have the widest scope.” Continue reading “Sentence – 2003”

Blue Collar Review – Winter 2003-04

What Blue Collar Review succeeds in doing, I think, is putting a human face on nearly every problem you’ve seen on the nightly news in recent years. War, layoffs, violence, crap jobs, bad schools: these are the subjects of the poetry published here. I have to be honest: not every piece is very well crafted, but what some poems lack in skill they make up for in conviction. As I write this, the U.S. is attempting damage control on the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, and Mike Maggio’s “Collateral Damage” is an impressive litany of mind-numbing public apology snippets that certainly fits this situation as well. An excerpt: “(we swear on our mothers) / (we swear on the flag) / (we swear on the bible) / (we swear on the corporation) / (we’re sorry).” Amy E. Oliver’s “Professional Chef,” about what really goes on in restaurant kitchens, took me back to my waitress years (“the sick onion grease stench” indeed!), and I admired the quiet dignity of Jeff Vande Zande’s “Losing Work,” about a laid-off man fearing loss of respect by his family yet finding support from his wife. If you like poetry by and for the people, you’ll want to pick up a copy of this magazine. [Blue Collar Review, Partisan Press, P.O. Box 11417, Norfolk, VA 23517. E-mail: [email protected]. Single issue $5. http://www.Partisanpress.org] – JQG Continue reading “Blue Collar Review – Winter 2003-04”

Swink – 2004

My background for loving art is completely pop-music based, so of course some aspect of me is eternally High Fidelity bound to rank and list and award and order all that I read. It is in this vein that I have to be completely, over-the-top hyperbolic and reverent and honest: Swink is certainly the best new literary magazine of the year, and if the last few years hadn’t been so great (One Story, Land-Grant College Review, further back to McSweeneys and Tin House) this journal would take the prize for best in a few years. Continue reading “Swink – 2004”

Call: Review – 2004

Clearly I can’t claim that Call is, as well, the best damn debut of the year, but an argument can and should be made that: 1. It’s very, very good, with some brilliant work within (this means you T. R. Hummer); 2. All this neighing about the poor state of the literary condition seem, if not exaggerated, then at least nonsensical: if Call and Swink can both debut, we’re all fine. Continue reading “Call: Review – 2004”

Oyez Review – Winter 2003/2004

This is a very fine literary journal. It has solid, considered and considerable writing throughout, the presentation is clean, there’s a great section of photography in the middle, there’s a good balance of poetry and prose, there’s no one single style to force an analysis of what type of writing is being championed. It’s good. There are some pushes, too, of course, into stranger and murkier corners. Continue reading “Oyez Review – Winter 2003/2004”

CALYX – Winter 2004

In this issue of the feminist (and I use that term in the best possible way) journal Calyx, fertility, childbirth and motherhood are recurrent themes, in pieces such as the poems “Your Underwear Showing,” “Womb of Womanhood,” “Rags of the Moon” and prose pieces “Rest Stop” and “Forfeiting Motherhood.” Continue reading “CALYX – Winter 2004”

Northwest Review – 2004

This issue of the Eugene, Oregon-based Northwest Review is heavy on short fiction and light on poetry, which I, as a poet with poetry-advocacy issues, must disapprove of. However, the fiction and essays are quite lively, including Michael Mattes’ wonderful “Miles and Miles” about a frustrated comic book artist attending a wedding in Chicago. Continue reading “Northwest Review – 2004”

Fence – Fall/Winter 2003-2004

For a magazine justly famous for pioneering the way for experimental verse, Fence displays a surprisingly delicate balance of avant-garde and traditional work, with poets ranging from Mary Ruefle to Nancy Kuhl to Ray DiPalma. So, those of you who shun the hip pyrotechnics of the cutting edge, do not be scared away; see as evidence these opening lines from the wonderful “Mr. Mann Finds a Photograph of Daedalus”: “He had always believed the old stories. / Wolves in the forest. Children eating / candy houses. The savage etiquette / of queens . . . ” Continue reading “Fence – Fall/Winter 2003-2004”

Beloit Poetry Journal – Spring 2004

Beloit Poetry Journal excels at showcasing fresh voices with original and sometimes difficult things to say. They never exhibit the mediocre or merely pleasant, and I think that is a particularly trustworthy (and brave) stance for a journal’s editors. The dark side of sexuality and language is explored in this issue of the predictably good Beloit Poetry Journal, in poems like the exceedingly creepy “Molester” by Jeff Crandall and the delicate but heart-wrenching “Helen Keller Dying in Her Sleep” by Julianna Baggott. Continue reading “Beloit Poetry Journal – Spring 2004”

Shenandoah – Winter 2003

Reliably excellent, Shenandoah delivers in this issue all that you expect – big names, solid writing, earnest essays – an overall package flavored with its slight regional tang. However, let it not be said that Shenandoah clings to the “merely” regional, as writers from farther afield – including, in this issue, Marvin Bell, David Wagoner, and Mary Oliver – crop up on a regular basis. In this issue, besides the usual offerings, you’ll find the AWP Intro Journals Project Award winners in fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Continue reading “Shenandoah – Winter 2003”