Literary Journals and Writing

Where do the stories come from that are featured in anthologies like Best American or the O. Henry Prize Stories? How does the fiction in the Paris Review compare to that of Prairie Schooner? How is Tin House fundamentally different from Ploughshares? And who gets published in literary journals to begin with? If questions like these are on your mind, this might be the workshop for you. Students will read various literary journals, both online and in print format, as a way not only of discovering the sources of mainstream fiction collections but also of discovering new voices. In terms of writing, this workshop will be held in a traditional format, wherein students deliver their work a week in advance of the workshop and write up formal critiques of the fiction of their fellow writers. There will be writing exercises in addition to weekly readings of journals and critical essays. Literary journals can be sources of great reading and inspiration; becoming familiar with them might help you figure out where your own fiction might one day find a home.