The ''Virginia Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letter ...

that was established in 1925 by

James Southall Wilson James Southall Wilson (1880–1963) was an author, University of Virginia professor, and founder of the ''Virginia Quarterly Review''. He organized the 1931 Southern Writers Conference. His wife, Julia Tyler, was the granddaughter of President ...

, at the request of

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

president E. A. Alderman. This ''"National Journal of Literature and Discussion"'' includes

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

book reviews __NOTOC__ A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is merely described (summary review) or analyzed based on content, style, and merit. A book review may be a primary source, opinion piece, summary review or scholarly revie ...

essays An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

, and

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

History

In 1915, President Alderman announced his intentions to create a university publication that would be "an organ of liberal opinion": He appealed to financial backers of the university for financial contributions, and over the next nine years an endowment was raised to fund the publication while it became established. Alderman announced the establishment of ''The Virginia Quarterly Review'' in the fall of 1924, saying it would provide: The inaugural issue was released in the spring of 1925, and the 160-page volume featured writing by Gamaliel Bradford,

Archibald Henderson Archibald Henderson (January 21, 1783 – January 6, 1859) was the longest-serving Commandant of the Marine Corps, serving from 1820 to 1859. His name is learned by all recruits at Marine recruit training (Boot Camp) as the "Grand old man of th ...

Luigi Pirandello Luigi Pirandello (; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power ...

Witter Bynner Harold Witter Bynner (August 10, 1881 – June 1, 1968), also known by the pen name Emanuel Morgan, was an American poet and translator. He was known for his long residence in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and association with other literary figures the ...

William Cabell Bruce William Cabell Bruce (March 12, 1860May 9, 1946) was an American politician and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who represented the State of Maryland in the United States Senate from 1923 to 1929. Background Bruce was born in Charlotte County, ...

, among two dozen other notable, mostly southern, writers.

Editors

The following persons have been

editors-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the magazine: *

1925-1931 * Stringfellow Barr 1931-1937 * Lambert Davis 1937-1938 * Lawrence Lee 1938-1942 * Archibald Bolling Shepperson 1942 * Charlotte Kohler 1942-1974 *

Staige D. Blackford Staige Davis Blackford Jr. (1931–2003) was an American journalist who subsequently edited the ''Virginia Quarterly Review'' (VQR) for nearly three decades. He worked to end racial segregation and to promote racial harmony, particularly in his ...

1974-2003 *

Ted Genoways Ted Genoways (born April 13, 1972) is an American journalist and author. He is a contributing writer at '' Mother Jones'' and ''The New Republic'', and an editor-at-large at ''Pacific Standard''. His books include ''This Blessed Earth'' and ''T ...

2003-2012 * Donovan Webster 2012 * W. Ralph Eubanks 2013–2015 * Paul Reyes 2016–present

Awards

Since 2005, the magazine has been nominated for twenty-eight

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 ...

s. In addition to six wins for General Excellence (2006), Fiction (2006), Single-Topic Issue (2008), News Reporting in the Digital Medium (2010), Fiction (2011), and Multimedia Package (2011), the magazine received nominations for Reporting, Essays, Reviews and Criticism, Photography, and Photojournalism. In 2012, Maisie Crow's video "Half-Lives," produced for the ''VQR'' website, received the

Overseas Press Club Award The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...

for Best Use of Online Video. The video also received second place in the

World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization is known for holding an annual press photography contest. Since 2011, World Press Photo has organized a ...

Multimedia Contest and third place in the

Pictures of the Year International Pictures of the Year International (POYi) is a professional development program for visual journalists run on a non-profit basis by the Missouri School of Journalism's Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. POYi began as an annual competition f ...

competition for Long Form Multimedia Story. Since 2006, the magazine has received ''

Utne Reader ''Utne Reader'' (also known as ''Utne'') ( ) is a digital digest that collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment, generally from alternative media sources including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music, and ...

'' magazine's Utne Independent Press Award for General Excellence (2009) and International Coverage (2010).

Morrissey suicide and temporary publication suspension

During July 2010 managing editor Kevin Morrissey repeatedly complained to university officials about editor Ted Genoways' treatment of him. On July 30, 2010, Morrissey shot himself, after first calling 911 to report his own shooting. Press reports accused Genoways of harassing and bullying Morrissey. Genoways denied the bullying and in an August 1 e-mail to ''VQR'' writers said he did not "feel responsible" for Morrissey's death. After staffers had completed most work on the ''VQR'' Fall issue to be published in Morrissey's memory, in August 2010 Genoways took charge of the issue.Spencer, Hawe
"Genoways Takes Charge, ''VQR'' Staffers Pull Names"
''The Hook'', August 24, 2010. Staffers removed their names from the masthead in protest, and subsequently the entire staff resigned. National and local media devoted extensive coverage to the situation and the conflicting accounts of what happened. A documentary titled "What Killed Kevin" revisited Genoways' relationship with Morrissey and the time leading up to the suicide. New university president

Teresa Sullivan Teresa Ann "Terry" Sullivan (born July 9, 1949) is an American sociology professor and university administrator. She was the Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs of Michigan State University from October 2019 to June ...

called for a "thorough review" of both financial and managerial practices at the magazine. In the meantime the university had put the Winter issue of ''VQR'' "on hold," to "let the internal review progress." The university later stated that it was cancelling the Winter issue, and stated it might publish a "bonus issue" at some future date, or reimburse subscribers for the cancelled issue. After completing its investigation, in a controversial report published October 20, 2010, the university concluded that, because there were "no specific allegations of bullying or harassment" prior to Mr. Morrissey's death, the university would not fire Mr. Genoways—and Mr. Genoways wrote in an e-mail to the ''New York Times'' that he would be "remaining on as editor." The university stated its intent to reorganize ''VQR'' under a new reporting structure, bring its finances under outside supervision, and revise "how employees report roblemsand receive assistance." Despite the temporary suspension, ''VQR'' never skipped an issue and resumed publication in late January 2011, marking "the start of its 87th year of continuous publication." In December 2011, about fourteen months after one newspaper said "the award-winning ''Virginia Quartlerly Review'' might have appeared on the verge of extinction," the university announced it was hiring a new publisher and a new deputy editor; Mr. Genoways remained as editor. In April 2012 Genoways resigned, saying: "I look back on my nine years as editor with pride, but I also hope that the new staff will not feel in any way encumbered by that legacy."

Continuation under new staff

In 2013, ''VQR'' named W. Ralph Eubanks, then director of publishing at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

, as its ninth editor. He joined a new publisher, deputy editor, web editor, and assistant editor on the new staff. For its issues under his directorship, ''VQR'' received numerous awards, including a

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

as well as selections for the Best American Science Writing anthology and the Best American Travel Writing anthology. Nevertheless, Eubanks was ousted in 2015 following a dispute with the university.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Virginia Quarterly Review, The 1925 establishments in Virginia Albemarle County, Virginia Literary magazines published in the United States Quarterly magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1925 Magazines published in Virginia Mass media in Charlottesville, Virginia University of Virginia