''The Bloomsbury Review'' (''TBR'') was a nationally distributed literary magazine founded by Thomas Auer (1953–2003) in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

in 1980. It focused on small, regional, university, and international presses, as well as "smaller" titles from large publishers. Authors

Tony Hillerman Anthony Grove Hillerman (May 27, 1925 – October 26, 2008) was an American author of detective novels and nonfiction works, best known for his mystery novels featuring Navajo Nation Police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Several of his work ...

Wallace Stegner Wallace Earle Stegner (February 18, 1909 – April 13, 1993) was an American novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and historian, often called "The Dean of Western Writers". He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U.S. National Book ...

and

Clarissa Pinkola Estes ''Clarissa; or, The History of a Young Lady: Comprehending the Most Important Concerns of Private Life. And Particularly Shewing, the Distresses that May Attend the Misconduct Both of Parents and Children, In Relation to Marriage'' is an epist ...

have praised it. The magazine received an award for excellence in the arts from the Denver mayor's office in 2008. It was published by Owaissa Communications Company, Inc. and in 2010 had a total circulation of 50,000, including 10,000 paid subscribers. Tom's sister, Marilyn Auer, was the magazine's last publisher and editor. Although it
website
was still live as of February, 2022, ''The Bloomsbury Review'' ceased operation in 2014.Gonzalez, Ray. Personal Email Correspondence. February 8, 2022

History

''The Bloomsbury Review'' started as a newsletter for Bloomsbury Books & Pool near the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

in 1978. It was named after the

Bloomsbury Group The Bloomsbury Group—or Bloomsbury Set—was a group of associated English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the first half of the 20th century, including Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster and Lytton Strac ...

of writers, philosophers and artists who lived in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

during the 20th century. The first issue, published in May 1978, was a folded 12” x 16” 4-page promotional handout. The cover story was a short piece about the Bloomsbury Group, and the featured review was on "Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case" by

Allen Weinstein Allen Weinstein (September 1, 1937 – June 18, 2015) was an American historian, educator, and federal official who served in several different offices. He was, under the Reagan administration, cofounder of the National Endowment for Democracy in ...

. It was written by Tom Auer. By 1980, the newsletter had become a full-fledged magazine. "At that time, now the early 1980s, there were few decent publications about books. Most newspapers had either little or lousy book coverage, and the few general-interest magazines that made room for book reviews tended to cover the same best-selling titles and big-name authors," Auer wrote in an essay published in ''TBR's'' 20th anniversary issue. Most attention was focused on the major book reviews out of New York, he wrote. "But they tended to neglect books by western writers, small presses, university presses, regional publishers, first novels, poetry, and other titles that wouldn’t be promoted much with advertising in their pages. Most of the U.S. was on the wrong side of the Hudson River, it seemed." ''TBR'', Auer wrote, would focus on those neglected books and publishers.

Masthead

Partial masthead, as of July 2010

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief in absentia: Tom Auer
Publisher/Editor: Marilyn Auer
Art Director: Chuck McCoy
Poetry Editor: Ray González
Associate Editor/Arts Editor: Lori D. Kranz
Assistant Editors: Pennie Magee, Dawn W. Petersen
Director of Marketing: David M. Perkins
Bloomsbrarian & Contributing Editor: Kathleen Cain
Resident Cantadora (Keeper of the Old Stories) & Contributing Editor:

Clarissa Pinkola Estés Clarissa Pinkola Estés (born January 27, 1945) is a first-generation American writer and Jungian psychoanalyst. She is the author of '' Women Who Run with the Wolves'' (1992), which remained on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list for 145 wee ...

, Ph.D.
Resident Dada Beatnik & Contributing Editor
Janet Coleman
br /> Southern Correspondent: Glenda Burnside
Roustabout: Michael Auer
Contributing Editor Emerita: Patricia J. Wagner
Distribution Assistant: E.J. Ricciardi
House Accordionist: Steven C. Ballinger
Secret Agent: James R. Hepworth
Champion & Slayer of Great Beasts:

Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...

Notes and sources

External links

''The Bloomsbury Review'' official site (defunct)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloomsbury Review, The Literary magazines published in the United States Quarterly magazines published in the United States Book review magazines Magazines established in 1980 Magazines published in Colorado Mass media in Denver