The ''Yale Literary Magazine'', founded in 1836, is a student literary magazine that publishes

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

, fiction, and visual art by

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

s twice per

academic year An academic year, or school year, is a period that schools, colleges and university, universities use to measure the duration of studies for a given educational level. Academic years are often divided into academic terms. Students attend classe ...

. Notable alumni featured in the magazine while students include Susan Choi,

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1930, he became the first author from the United States (and the first from the America ...

, Meghan O'Rourke,

ZZ Packer Zuwena "ZZ" Packer (born January 12, 1973) is an American writer, primarily of works of short fiction. She is the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award, a Whiting Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her book ''Drinking Coffee El ...

, Max Ritvo, Sarah Sze, and

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'', and a U. ...

. In 2025, the magazine's editor-in-chief is Uma Arengo. Along with ''The Columbia Review'', the magazine claims to be the oldest student literary magazine in the United States. This contention is based on differing interpretations of publication continuity - ''Columbia Review'' traces its origins back to the now-defunct ''Literary Monthly'', which published its first issue in 1815. In 1936, the magazine published a centennial issue featuring several alumni authors, including

Stephen Vincent Benét Stephen Vincent Benét ( ; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He wrote a book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, '' John Brown's Body'', published in 1928, for which he receive ...

, William Lyon Phelps, and

Gifford Pinchot Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsyl ...

. In 1978, the then-bankrupt magazine was purchased by alumnus Andrei Navrozov, but it was returned to student control in 1985 after

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

won a lawsuit and ordered Navrozov to cease using the Yale name. The magazine publishes one issue per semester, and awards the annual Francis Bergen Memorial prize to a student author."Prizes by Department or Subject"
''Yale Office of the Secretary and Vice President for University Life'', September 29, 2022 The spring 2020 issue was released online to accommodate the results of the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In recent years, the magazine has conducted and published interviews with high-profile twentieth and twenty-first-century literary figures such as Junot Diaz, who won the

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...

Art Spiegelman Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman ( ; born February 15, 1948), professionally known as Art Spiegelman, is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazin ...

, who won a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

for his graphic novel memoir '' Maus'', and Paul Muldoon, the poetry editor for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

,'' who won a

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. The award came five years after the first Pulitzers were awarded in other categories; Joseph Pulitzer's will had not ment ...

Editors

, circa 1820 * Albert Mathews (better known as Paul Siogvolk), circa 1842 * Homer Sprague, circa 1848

References

External links

Opinion piece in the ''New York Times''
Biannual magazines published in the United States Poetry magazines published in the United States Student magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1836 Magazines published in Connecticut Mass media in New Haven, Connecticut Yale University publications {{US-lit-mag-stub