Fogarty plucks out an index card and shows it to me. Until a recent conversion to tracking such data electronically, the card catalog contains one index card for every hopeful writer who has submitted a story, poem or essay to The Antioch Review since Fogarty took the helm as editor in 1977—thousands upon thousands of such cards.
This card, like its numerous brethren, bears the writer’s name, dates and titles of each submission, and several notes, ranging from ‘no,’ to ‘shows promise,’ and the like. This writer happens to be Aimee Bender, who eventually earned a ‘yes,’ and went on to publish a collection of short stories, which was a New York Times Notable Book of 1998, and several novels, as well as win two Pushcart Prizes.
This is but one example of writers’ journeys including The Antioch Review. The magazine’s first issue was in Spring, 1941, launched by a small group of college faculty who were, to quote Fogarty’s history of the review from its website (antiochcollege.org_antioch-review), “faced with a world where fascism and communism were on the march and they sought to establish a political forum from which the voice of liberalism could be heard.”
In the 71 years since that first issue, the magazine has become one of the longest continually published literary journals in the United States. Now, says Fogarty, the review’s editorial vision is “to surprise people” with excellent writing, to, as he puts it, publish the best words in the best order, whether in the form of stories, essays, or poetry.
It’s a mission with a purity of spirit that has enabled the review to bring excellent, often ground-breaking, work to its readers. In 1945, the review published “Richard Wright’s Blues” by Ralph Ellison; the 1950s saw works by writers including Sylvia Plath and Philip Levine; in 1966, Joyce Carol Oates published in The Antioch Review. In 1973, the review went through—and survived—a financial and management crisis; Fogarty took the editorial helm in 1977, publishing authors such as T. Coraghessan Boyle, Raymond Carver—and yes, eventually, Aimee Bender—and many more.
Such literary depth has garnered awards for both the review and its editor. The Antioch Review was a finalist for National Magazine Awards three years in a row—2009-2011—alongside bigger magazines such as The New Yorker and The Paris Review. Fogarty, himself a writer and editor of eight books, was a recipient of the PEN/American Center Nora Magid lifetime achievement award for magazine editing in 2003.
Fogarty is ably assisted by Muriel Keyes, Assistant Editor since 2004, in managing submissions. They estimate the review receives 4,000 stories, 1,500 essays, and says Keyes, “too many poems to count,” every year.
Volunteer readers initially review story submissions down to what Fogarty calls a ‘manageable amount’ for him to read; however, he reads all the essays himself. Judith Hall, author of four poetry collections, an National Endowment for the Arts award winner, reviews and selects poetry, assisted by a group of volunteer poetry readers.
Other assistants include Jane Hill Baker, Production Editor and David Battle, Design Editor; both of them have been with the review since 1975. A display of Battle’s bright (in both color and wit), wise and sometimes wry illustrations and covers were featured in a show called “Art Up Front” at the Springfield Museum of Art. 2008
Both Fogarty and Keyes were upbeat about the future of the review, published quarterly, even in an era that supposedly shrugs off reading while revering technology. When I asked if the magazine will remain a print publication, they answered—simultaneously and enthusiastically—“Yes!”
However, they’re both pleased that the review will be also be available starting in January 2013 via JSTOR (www.jstor.org), a not for profit service that creates digital copies of academic journals and publications, thus making The Antioch Review more readily available to major international libraries and readers who prefer to receive journals digitally.
But still … as Fogarty walks me out after our interview, we can’t resist admiring that wooden card catalog, a reminder to honor the literary past while striving to continue bringing literature—stories, poems, essays—to future readers.
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