We only have a few stops left on our Litmag Roadmap road trip! This month’s post brings us to Massachusetts. Let’s join Rebecca Paredes on a tour through this New England state’s literary institutions below!
From Louisa May Alcott to W.E.B. Du Bois, Massachusetts is rich with literary history. Boston was the nation’s publishing center in the 19th century, which opened the door for writers, poets, and readers to foster a strong and vibrant literary community. Today, Massachusetts is home to a range of independent bookshops, publishers, coffee shops, and, of course, literary magazines. On this stop of our road trip, we’ll visit a few of them.
AGNI
Founded in 1972, AGNI is known for publishing important new writers early in their careers. Several contributors have gone on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature, the National Book Award, and the PEN/Faulkner Award. The publication publishes a biannual print edition and publishes online throughout the year. AGNI publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, particularly “dynamic voices that address our common reality.”
Boston Review
Boston Review began in 1975 as New Boston Review, a quarterly devoted to literature and the arts. Today, Boston Review is an independent and nonprofit “magazine of ideas” that publishes fiction and poetry, in addition to criticism, politics, and book reviews. From their About page: “By fostering the open and engaged exchange of ideas essential to a flourishing democracy, we aim to create an egalitarian public sphere that models pluralism of thought.” Boston Review publishes in print four times per year and online throughout the year.
The Emerson Review
The Emerson Review is a literary magazine edited by undergraduates at Emerson College. The magazine publishes one annual print edition and accepts fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art. The submission portal is open from August 1 to February 1.
The Harvard Advocate
Founded in 1866, The Harvard Advocate is the oldest continuously published collegiate literary magazine in the United States. Past contributors include e.e. cummings, Jack Kerouac, and Tom Wolfe. The quarterly magazine publishes art, fiction, poetry, and prose. Submissions from the Harvard community are preferred, although outside contributors are also considered.
The Massachusetts Review
The Massachusetts Review was founded in 1959 by a group of professors from several colleges in Massachusetts. Since then, the quarterly print publication has been recognized as one of the top 10 literary journals (2008, Boston Globe). The Massachusetts Review publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and submissions from BIPOC writers are accepted year-round with no fee.
Meat for Tea: The Valley Review
Founded by Elizabeth MacDuffie and Alexandra Wagman, Meat for Tea: The Valley Review is a non-academic affiliated magazine committed to recognizing and featuring the work of the artists, writers, and musicians living in western Massachusetts and beyond. The magazine publishes a print edition four times per year and accepts fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art.
Pangyrus
Pangyrus is a literary magazine “dedicated to art, ideas, and making culture thrive.” The magazine’s distinctive name is a portmanteau of pangea (the world continent) and gyrus (the folds on the cerebral cortex of the brain). Pangyrus publishes two to three times online per week and releases two print editions per year. The magazine accepts fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art, as well as opinion pieces and reviews.
Ploughshares
Ploughshares is an award-winning literary journal based at Emerson College. Established in 1971, Ploughshares publishes a quarterly print publication and daily online posts. Each year, two of the journal’s print issues are guest-edited by prominent authors. The other two issues are a mix of poetry and prose and long-form prose, edited by staff editors. Ploughshares accepts fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
Post Road
Post Road publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, and theatre. The literary magazine was established in New York City in 1999, then partnered with Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2006. Today, Post Road is published biannually by Boston College and publishes online throughout the year. Stories, essays, and poems from the Post Road have been included in Pushcart Prize anthologies, received honorable mentions for the O. Henry Prize, and been selected for Best American Essays, among other recognitions.
Salamander
Founded in 1992, Salamander is a literary organization that publishes a biannual magazine of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and works in translation. Salamander is housed and published from Suffolk University’s English Department in Boston. Work from the magazine has been reprinted and anthologized in The Best American Short Stories, The O.Henry Prize Stories, and The Pushcart Prize Anthology, among other publications.
Soundings East
Soundings East is the literary journal of Salem State University. Founded in 1973, the journal is dedicated to publishing high-quality poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. It is edited by undergraduate creative students, but accepts submissions from general public. Soundings East publishes one print edition annually.
The Worcester Review
The Worcester Review is a print literary journal published by the Worcester County Poetry Association (WCPA), a nonprofit organization to promote the writing arts. Since 1972, the journal has published literary fiction and poetry by new and established writers, as well as critical commentary on aspects of Central Massachusetts literary culture and history.
by Rebecca Paredes