''swamp pink'' (formerly, from 1960 to 2022, ''Crazyhorse'') is an American

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

that publishes fiction, poetry, and essays. Since 1960, ''swamp pink'' has published many of the finest voices in literature, including

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 Tar ...

Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He published his first collection of stories, '' Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?'', in 1976. His breakout collection, '' What We Talk About ...

, and

Jorie Graham Jorie Graham (; born May 9, 1950) is an American poet. The Poetry Foundation called Graham "one of the most celebrated poets of the American post-war generation." She replaced poet Seamus Heaney as Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at H ...

History

Poet Thomas McGrath founded ''Crazyhorse'' in Los Angeles in 1960, and he served as the managing editor for the early years of the journal's publication. During the 1970s, the journal was helmed by several editors, including Deb and Edith Wylder who brought the journal to

Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level an ...

in Kentucky. This was a time of great change for the new, single-named journal (''Crazyhorse''), and in addition to its original emphasis on poetry, the editors began to publish short fiction and critical essays. By the late 70s,

and James Galvin had become the journal's poetry editors, Joe Ashby Porter the fiction editor, and the journal had become known as one of the most respected in the country. In 1981, Crazyhorse moved to the

University of Arkansas at Little Rock The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA Little Rock, UALR) is a Public university, public research university in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. Established as Little Rock Junior College by the Little Rock School District in 1927, the ...

, where it would stay until 2001. David Wojahn served as the poetry editor until 1986, when he was replaced by Ralph Burns, but he eventually returned after a two-year absence to work alongside poetry co-editors Lynda Hull and Dean Young. During this time, David Jauss served as fiction editor and Dennis Vannatta as criticism editor. In 2001, after having served as sole editor of the journal for several years, Ralph Burns, through mutual friend Jauss, contacted

Bret Lott Bret Lott (born October 8, 1958) is the ''The New York Times, New York Times'' author and professor of English at the College of Charleston. He is ''Crazyhorse (magazine), Crazyhorse'' magazine's nonfiction editor and leads a study abroad progr ...

at the College of Charleston to see if the College would be interested in taking over the journal due to its financial troubles at the University of Arkansas. The journal found a new home in Charleston, where its reputation as a first-class venue of new writing continues to grow. Currently, the journal is edited by the College of Charleston Creative Writing faculty, and its work has been reprinted in the '' Best American Poetry'', '' Best American Short Stories'', '' Best American Nonrequired Reading'', and

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 ...

annual anthologies.

Name change

From 1960 to 2022 the magazine published under the name ''Crazyhorse'' after

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...

chief

Crazy Horse Crazy Horse ( , ; – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota people, Lakota war leader of the Oglala band. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by White Americans, White American settlers on Nativ ...

. In 2022 the editors of the magazine issued a statement of forthcoming changes condemning the name as an act of exploitation as the magazine was unaffiliated with the Lakota people, and announcing that the magazine would be rebranding. Since 2023, the magazine has been titled ''swamp pink'',Lit Magazine Changes Exploitative Name
‘’Poets & Writers’’. Retrieved 25 July 2024. after a lily native to the Carolinas where the magazine is currently based.

Publication

Publication and prizes

''swamp pink'' is published twice yearly by the Department of English and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the

College of Charleston The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th-oldest institution of higher lea ...

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

. The current editors are

(non-fiction), Emily Rosko (poetry), Anthony Varallo (fiction), and managing editor Jonathan Bohr Heinen. The magazine also sponsors the Lynda Hull Memorial Poetry Prize and the ''swamp pink'' Fiction Prize, awarding $2,000 and publication for a single piece of writing in each genre. Past fiction prize judges have included

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 nonfiction. Her novels ''Black ...

, Jaimy Gordon,

Ann Patchett Ann Patchett (born December 2, 1963) is an American author. She received the 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction in the same year, for her novel ''Bel Canto (novel), Bel Canto''. Patchett's othe ...

Ha Jin Jin Xuefei (; born February 21, 1956) is a Chinese American poet and novelist who uses the pen name Ha Jin (). The name ''Ha'' comes from his favorite city, Harbin. His poetry is associated with the Misty Poetry movement. Early life, educatio ...

, and Charles Baxter, and past poetry prize judges have included

Carl Phillips Carl Phillips (born 23 July 1959) is an American writer and poet. He is a professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis. In 2023, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his '' Then the War: And Selected Poems, 2007-2020.'' ...

, Billy Collins,

Marvin Bell Marvin Hartley Bell (August 3, 1937 – December 14, 2020) was an American poet and teacher who was the first Poet Laureate of the state of Iowa. Early life and education Bell was raised in Center Moriches on Long Island. He served in the ...

, and Mary Ruefle.

Accolades

In 1987, ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'' ranked ''swamp pink'' among the top twenty magazines that publish poetry in the United States. In 1990, ''

Writer's Digest ''Writer's Digest'' is an American magazine aimed at beginning and established writers. It contains interviews, market listings, calls for manuscripts, and how-to articles. History ''Writer's Digest'' was first published in December 1920 und ...

'' named it one of the fifty most influential magazines publishing fiction.

Contributors

Contributors have included

John Ashbery John Lawrence Ashbery (July 28, 1927 – September 3, 2017) was an American poet and art critic. Ashbery is considered the most influential American poet of his time. Oxford University literary critic John Bayley wrote that Ashbery "sounded, in ...

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 ...

, Lee K. Abbott, Philip F. Deaver, Stacie Cassarino,

W. P. Kinsella William Patrick Kinsella (May 25, 1935September 16, 2016) was a Canadian novelist and short story writer, known for his novel '' Shoeless Joe'' (1982), which was adapted into the movie '' Field of Dreams'' in 1989. His work often concerned bas ...

Richard Wilbur Richard Purdy Wilbur (March 1, 1921 – October 14, 2017) was an American poet and literary translator. One of the foremost poets, along with his friend Anthony Hecht, of the World War II generation, Wilbur's work, often employing rhyme, and c ...

, James Wright,

Carolyn Forché Carolyn Forché (born April 28, 1950) is an American poet, editor, professor, translator, and human rights advocate. She has received many awards for her literary work. Biography Forché was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Michael Joseph and Louise ...

Charles Simic Dušan Simić ( sr-cyr, Душан Симић, ; May 9, 1938 – January 9, 2023), known as Charles Simic, was a Serbian American poet and poetry co-editor of ''The Paris Review''. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1990 for '' The W ...

, Charles Wright, Billy Collins,

Galway Kinnell Galway Mills Kinnell (February 1, 1927 – October 28, 2014) was an American poet. His dark poetry emphasized scenes and experiences in threatening, ego-less natural environments. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his 1982 collection, ''Se ...

, James Tate, and Franz Wright.

References

* *

External links

''Crazyhorse'' website
{{College of Charleston Poetry magazines published in the United States Biannual magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1960 Magazines published in California Magazines published in Arkansas College of Charleston Magazines published in South Carolina Mass media in Charleston, South Carolina 1960 establishments in California