2006 - A Look Back: Literary Journals

As always, in 2006 the EWN tried to focus some attention on literary journals, frequently having a post titled - Source of Lit:  (insert journal name here).

These posts concentrated on a new issue of whatever journal's name was inserted, often mentioning an EWN published within, or an excellent story, poem, essay or review I'd read within.  Over the course of the year, there were 46 such posts, along with another dozen or so where I specifically linked to an EWN author being published (use Elizabeth Ellen as a suitable example as many were of her work) without doing a full Source of Lit post.

Through these 46 posts, 37 different journals were looked at, with Hobart receiving the most attention with peeks at three of their issues (one from the past, one current and one web based).

I'd have to say my favorite journals, the ones that cause me to drop what I'm doing when they arrive via booksellers, the USPS, or online, would be:

Hobart, Storyglossia, Kenyon Review, Other Voices, One Story, Oxford American and Absinthe:  New European Literature.

A few others are right there on the precipice of joining those:  Salt Flats Annual, Redivider, Orchid, Idaho Review, Ontario Review, Indiana Review and Georgia Review all come to mind.  Plus MAR and Third Coast!

Comments

[Rachel Cantor]

A belated comment: I don't see a link to Ninth Letter on your site. A great magazine (full disclosure: they've published my work)--beautiful and cutting edge. Also, their website is quite interesting. Check it out!

[aaron]

Seconded. Ninth Letter is maybe my favorite journal at the moment. In the top 5, definitely.

[Dan Wickett]

Rectified!

[Carol Novack]

Another belated comment. I don't see these excellent (from my perspective, of course) print magazines listed: American Letters & Commentary, Anenome Sidecar, Fairy Tale Review, First Intensity, and Notre Dame Review. NDR is great because it publishes an online mag that complements its print mag.

And now, what of all the fine online journals? I can think of quite a few (aside from my own, of course :-)) that are among my favoite journals, both print and online. Maybe you have a separate section on favorite onliners? If so, please excuse the oversight. Among my favorites are 5_trope, (Segue, which you list), Big Bridge, Born, Diagram, Tarpaulin Sky, Octopus, Action Yes, Del Sol Review, La Petite Zine, Unlikely Stories, Konundrum Engine, and Milk.

[Gbanabom Hallowell]

The Mabayla Review (ISSN: 1934-399X) is an online journal published four times a year. Each issue offers a wide range of fiction, poetry, social essays, translations, interviews, and book reviews alongside photographs that focus on Sierra Leone’s literary tradition and issues of social justice and the writing life in general from new, up-and-coming, and established Sierra Leone and guest writers. We invite submissions (unsolicited, throughout the year) of previously unpublished works and published works solicited. Alongside our main feature of quality essays on social justice, fiction and poetry, we also publish artwork, short dramas, and occasional writing contests. We particularly encourage English translations of Sierra Leone’s fiction, poetry, and essays, written in the country’s many rich local languages from throughout the country for the attention of our TMR readers. We will endeavor to publish materials written in Sierra Leonean languages.

Who We Are

We are a peer-review electronic journal devoted to publishing essays on social justice, art, creative non-fiction, short fiction narratives, poetry, interviews, book reviews, criticism, theory, and social and political commentary by Sierra Leoneans arising out of Sierra Leonean life wherever we are. The journal was founded in 2006 and is published quarterly in February, May, August, and November. We welcome submissions from guest writers.

Mission

The journal aims to provide a forum for and stimulate an appreciation for contemporary Sierra Leonean issues of social justice, creative arts and letters; the Sierra Leonean personality; Sierra Leonean indigenous languages and Sierra Leonean English; progressive politics; gender equality; African identity; the environment; and ethnic and cultural diversity. The journal maintains a commitment to publishing writings and art of social, literary and cultural integrity in language and thought: committed to the idea of inspired renewal, even as the sea (Rokel) herself seeks continual, creative regeneration.