''New Letters'', the name it has been published under since 1970, is one of the oldest literary magazines in the United States and continues to publish award-winning poems and fiction. The magazine is based in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

History and editors

''The University Review'' was founded in 1934 at the University of Kansas City, a small, private school that later became part of the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

system. In its first two years, the periodical published a discussion on "Art and Social Struggle", including contributions from Thomas Hart Benton and

Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...

, a story by

Vance Randolph Vance Randolph (February 23, 1892 – November 1, 1980) was a folklorist who studied the folklore of the Ozarks in particular. He wrote a number of books on the Ozarks, as well as ''Little Blue Books'' and juvenile fiction. Early life Randolph ...

, a poem by

Edgar Lee Masters Edgar Lee Masters (August 23, 1868 – March 5, 1950) was an American attorney, poet, biographer, and dramatist. He is the author of ''Spoon River Anthology'', ''The New Star Chamber and Other Essays'', ''Songs and Satires'', ''The Great V ...

, and a personal note from

Pearl S. Buck Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (June 26, 1892 – March 6, 1973) was an American writer and novelist. She is best known for ''The Good Earth'' a bestselling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, Pulitze ...

.Letters'' history Web page
at the ''New Letters'' Web site, accessed February 5, 2007 Starting with the Spring 1938 issue, Alexander P. Cappon became editor and remained in that post for the next 33 years. In 1944 the magazine's name was changed to ''The University of Kansas City Review''. In that time the magazine published work by

May Sarton May Sarton was the pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton (May 3, 1912 – July 16, 1995), a Belgian-American poet, novelist and memoirist. Although her best work is strongly personalised with erotic female imagery, she resisted the label of ‘lesbi ...

J.D. Salinger Jerome David Salinger (; January 1, 1919 January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel ''The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger got his start in 1940, before serving in World War II, by publishing several short stories in ''S ...

E.E. Cummings Edward Estlin Cummings, who was also known as E. E. Cummings, e. e. cummings and e e cummings (October 14, 1894 - September 3, 1962), was an American poet, painter, essayist, author and playwright. He wrote approximately 2,900 poems, two autobi ...

Marianne Moore Marianne Craig Moore (November 15, 1887 – February 5, 1972) was an American modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. Her poetry is noted for formal innovation, precise diction, irony, and wit. Early life Moore was born in Kirkwood, ...

May Swenson Anna Thilda May "May" Swenson (May 28, 1913 – December 4, 1989) was an American poet and playwright. Harold Bloom considered her one of the most important and original poets of the 20th century. The first child of Margaret and Dan Arthur Sw ...

James T. Farrell James Thomas Farrell (February 27, 1904 – August 22, 1979) was an American novelist, short-story writer and poet. He is most remembered for the ''Studs Lonigan'' trilogy, which was made into a film in 1960 and a television series in 1979. B ...

Kenneth Rexroth Kenneth Charles Marion Rexroth (1905–1982) was an American poet, translator, and critical essayist. He is regarded as a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance, and paved the groundwork for the movement. Although he did not consider h ...

. In 1971, David Ray took over as editor and the magazine's name was changed again, this time to ''New Letters''. Ray published work by

Robert Bly Robert Elwood Bly (December 23, 1926 – November 21, 2021) was an American poet, essayist, activist and leader of the mythopoetic men's movement. His best-known prose book is '' Iron John: A Book About Men'' (1990), which spent 62 weeks on ' ...

Cyrus Colter Cyrus Colter (January 8, 1910 – April 15, 2002) was an American author. Trained as a lawyer and during an extended career in public service, he began writing short stories at aged 50. He joined the faculty at Northwestern University in the 1970 ...

Anselm Hollo Anselm Paul Alexis Hollo (12 April 1934 – 29 January 2013) was a Finnish poet and translator. He lived in the United States from 1967 until his death in January 2013. Hollo published more than forty titles of poetry in the United Kingdom and ...

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. Her novels '' Bla ...

Richard Hugo Richard Hugo (December 21, 1923 – October 22, 1982), born Richard Franklin Hogan, was an American poet. Although some critics regard Hugo as primarily a regionalist, his work resonates broadly across place and time. A portion of Hugo's work re ...

, Robert Peters and

Josephine Jacobsen Josephine Jacobsen (19 August 1908 – 9 July 2003) was a Canadian-born American poet, short story writer, essayist, and critic. She was appointed the twenty-first Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1971. In 1997, sh ...

. In 1986, James McKinley became editor, and under his editorship the magazine published new work by

Amiri Baraka Amiri Baraka (born Everett Leroy Jones; October 7, 1934 – January 9, 2014), previously known as LeRoi Jones and Imamu Amear Baraka, was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays and music criticism. He was the author of numerous bo ...

, Thomas Berger, former President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

Annie Dillard Annie Dillard (born April 30, 1945) is an American author, best known for her narrative prose in both fiction and non-fiction. She has published works of poetry, essays, prose, and literary criticism, as well as two novels and one memoir. Her 19 ...

Tess Gallagher Tess Gallagher (born 1943) is an American poet, essayist, and short story writer. Among her many honors were a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts award, Maxine Cu ...

William Gass William Howard Gass (July 30, 1924 – December 6, 2017) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, critic, and philosophy professor. He wrote three novels, three collections of short stories, a collection of novellas, and seven vol ...

Charles Simic Dušan Simić ( sr-cyr, Душан Симић, ; born May 9, 1938), known as Charles Simic, is a Serbian American poet and former co-poetry editor of the ''Paris Review''. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1990 for ''The World Doesn't ...

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth ...

, and

Miller Williams Stanley Miller Williams (April 8, 1930January 1, 2015) was an American contemporary poet, as well as a translator and editor. He produced over 25 books and won several awards for his poetry. His accomplishments were chronicled in ''Arkansas Biog ...

. Robert Stewart took over the post of editor-in-chief for ''New Letters'', ''New Letters on the Air'', and their affiliate,

BkMk Press BkMk Press is an independent literary press formerly affiliated with the University of Missouri-Kansas City, that publishes full-length collections of poetry, fiction, and essays. Founded in 1971 by Dan Jaffe, it had been a part of UMKC's College ...

in September 2002. Since becoming editor, the magazine has published such writers as Brian Doyle,

Quincy Troupe Quincy Thomas Troupe, Jr. (born July 22, 1939) is an American poet, editor, journalist and professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego, in La Jolla, California. He is best known as the biographer of Miles Davis, the jazz music ...

, Daniel Woodrell,

Sherman Alexie Sherman Joseph Alexie Jr. (born October 7, 1966) is a Spokane- Coeur d'Alene-Native American novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and filmmaker. His writings draw on his experiences as an Indigenous American with ancestry from se ...

Sergio Troncoso Sergio Troncoso (born 1961) is an American author of short story, short stories, essays and novels. He often writes about the United States-Mexico border, working-class immigrants, families and fatherhood, philosophy in literature, and crossing c ...

Marilyn Hacker Marilyn Hacker (born November 27, 1942) is an American poet, translator and critic. She is Professor of English emerita at the City College of New York. Her books of poetry include ''Presentation Piece'' (1974), which won the National Book Award, ...

Maxine Kumin Maxine Kumin (June 6, 1925 – February 6, 2014) was an American poet and author. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1981–1982. Biography Early years Maxine Kumin was born Maxine Winokur on June ...

and

Charlotte Holmes Charlotte Louise Holmes (born 29 September 1988) is an England, English TV host, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss England, Miss England 2012 and represented her country at Miss World 2012. She placed fourth on ''Britain ...

. ''New Letters'' won the

National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

for the essay on May 1, 2008 at Lincoln Center in New York. The essay "I Am Joe's Prostate" by Thomas E. Kennedy appears in Volume 73, Issue 4.

''New Letters on the Air''

In 1977, editor David Ray and his wife, Judy, began the audio literature program ''New Letters on the Air'', a half-hour radio program featuring writers reading from their work and talking about it. Rebekah Presson produced and hosted the show for many years until 1996 when Angela Elam took over. The program is now the longest continuously-running national literary radio series, having broadcast more than 1,200 programs. The show is now heard on radio stations worldwide, and is available to even more listeners as a podcast. It is distributed by PRX.

New Letters Literary Awards

The New Letters Literary Awards program was begun in 1986. It consists of prizes for poetry, essays and short stories:Home page
''New Letters'' Web site, accessed February 5, 2007 * New Letters Poetry Prize — $1,500 for the best group of three to six poems * Dorothy Churchill Cappon Essay Prize — $1,500 for the best essay * Alexander Patterson Cappon Fiction Prize — $1,500 for the best short story

References

External links

''New Letters'' website

''New Letters'' literary awards web page

the air/ ''New Letters On the Air'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Letters Poetry magazines published in the United States Quarterly magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1934 University of Missouri–Kansas City Magazines published in Missouri 1934 establishments in Missouri

History and editors

''New Letters on the Air''

New Letters Literary Awards

See also

References

External links