Plowshares
| Plowshares | |
|---|---|
|
|
| description | Literary magazine |
| First edition | September 1971 |
| Frequency of publication | three times a year |
| Sold edition | 6000 copies |
| Editor-in-chief | Ladette Randolph |
| editor | changing |
| Web link | www.pshares.org |
| ISSN |
0048-4474 |
Plowshares [ plaʊʃɛɚs ] ( de .: Pflugscharen ) is one of the most renowned and influential American literary magazines . It is published at Emerson College and contains poems, short stories, essays and occasional reviews.
history
The founding of the magazine goes back to several meetings in 1970 between DeWitt Henry (* 1941) and Peter O'Malley in the Irish pub The Plow and Stars in Cambridge , Massachusetts . Henry wrote in English - graduate student at the Harvard University in his dissertation on William Shakespeare . During his undergraduate studies at Amherst College , he had already published a smaller literary magazine. O'Malley had immigrated from Ireland , studied law at Dublin University and later music at Berklee College of Music and Harvard University, and was now the bartender and co-owner of the pub. Both discussed the literary scene in nearby Boston , which they found unsatisfactory. Dissatisfied with the available publications, they decided to publish their own literature magazine together with friends and acquaintances. Since they were aware that they would not be able to agree on a content orientation, they established the principle of rotation for the post of editor . The first issue appeared in September 1971.
Until 1988 the magazine was completely independent; then she moved to the premises of Emerson College in downtown Boston and the editors received their salaries from the college. A final merger of the two institutions did not take place until 2008, however. From 1989 Don Lee coined as editor-in-chief Plowshares , in 2008 Ladette Randolph replaced him .
mode
Plowshares quickly became a reservoir and springboard for talented writers. Among other John Irving , Russell Banks , Mona Simpson , Tim O'Brien , Robert Pinsky and Edward P. Jones , published in the journal their first or at least early works.
The special thing about the magazine is its composition in terms of both personnel and content. Three editions appear per year - in April and December each with poetry and prose, in August exclusively with prose. Each of them is about 200 pages long. The editorial team consists essentially of undergraduate and postgraduate students studying for the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing college . The chief editor-in-chief, who mostly works as a lecturer, is responsible for public relations, an overview of the budget and the selection of guest editors to oversee the spring and summer editions.
Literary works can be submitted by anyone. Every year around 11,000 texts are received in this way. Published authors receive $ 25 per page, 50 for a front page, and a maximum of $ 250 with two printed copies and a free annual subscription. The members of the editorial team then make a selection and submit a shortlist to the guest editor . About half of their respective editions are available to them for works and authors of their choice, while the other half is kept free for public submissions. Famous guest editors - including Nobel Prize winners and Pulitzer Prize winners, winners of the National Book Award and MacArthur and Guggenheim scholarship holders - have so far included Seamus Heaney , Colm Tóibín (April 2011), Elizabeth Strout (April 2010), and Derek Walcott (April 1987), Raymond Carver (December 1983), Tobias Wolff (August 1992), Sherman Alexie (December 2000), Lorrie Moore (August 1998), Yusef Komunyakaa (April 1997), Rita Dove (April 1990), Fred Viebahn ( April 1990), Mary Gordon (August 1997), Paul Muldoon (April 2000), James Alan McPherson (August 2008), Philip Levine (December 1988), Alice Hoffman (August 2003), Joy Harjo (December 2004), Donald Hall ( August 1982 / August 2001), Charles Simic (August 1986), Andrea Barrett (August 2007) and Richard Ford (August 1996). After their work, all former guest editors are so-called advisory editors. This approach ensures a wide diversity of literary styles and preferences and is intended to present the readers with the greatest possible range.
Since the 2013/2014 winter edition, the winter edition has been designed solely with texts from the editorial team. The reason given by editor-in-chief Ladette Randolph was that in addition to the students, distinguished writers of all literary genres were also represented.
Others
Since 2012, longer prose texts have been published online nine times a year in the Plowshares Solo series . They can be called up in digital formats using the e-book readers Amazon Kindle , NOOK , Kobo and the iPad . Every October the texts of the previous year appear as a print edition in the anthology Plowshares Solos Omnibus . The possibility of digital-first publications was created because, over the years, longer texts were often submitted which, due to the limited space, could not be printed in the regular magazines. In addition, there was a desire within the readership for longer, stringent stories. Fictional and non-fictional submissions between 7,000 and 25,000 words in length - stories, essays and novels - are accepted for the Solo series .
Plowshares also awards two smaller literary prizes. The best published short story (Category: Fiction) or the best published poem (Category: Poetry) of a year has been awarded the Cohen Award , endowed with 600 US dollars , and financed by long-term sponsors Denise and Mel Cohen, since 1986 . The John C. Zacharis First Book Award , which has been presented in 1991, is named after a former President of Emerson College . It is awarded - with an annual alternation of poetry and prose - the best debut book by an author published in the magazine and is endowed with 1500 US dollars. There is also the annual Emerging Writer's Contest , in which as yet unknown and previously unpublished authors can submit texts in the three genres of poetry, fiction and nonfiction. In each of the three categories, the winner receives 1000 euros and is published in the magazine.
Awards
Between 1997 and 2003 more contributions were made Plowshares in the year of Houghton Mifflin moved anthology The Best American Short Stories added, as for any other literary magazine in the decade before. The same applies to the selection for the Pushcart Prize anthologies. Other awards the magazine received include:
- 1990: Grant from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund
- 1999: Grant of $ 125,000 from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund
- 2001: Grant of $ 22,125 from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund
- 2007: Commonwealth Award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council