Ploughshares

Ploughshares [ plaʊʃɛɚs ] ( en.: plowshares ) is one of the most prestigious and influential American literary magazines. It is published at Emerson College and includes poetry, short stories, essays, and occasionally also reviews.

History

The founding of the magazine goes on a series of meetings in 1970 by DeWitt Henry ( b. 1941 ) and Peter O'Malley in the Irish pub, The Plough and Stars in Cambridge, Massachusetts, back. Henry wrote as an English Ph.D. student at Harvard University on his dissertation on William Shakespeare. During his undergraduate studies at Amherst College, he had already published a small literary magazine. O'Malley had immigrated from Ireland, and had studied at the University College Dublin Law Later at Berklee College of Music and at the Harvard University Music and was now bartender and co- owner of the pub. Both discussed the literary scene of the near Boston, which they felt to be unsatisfactory. Dissatisfied with the available publication they decided to publish together with friends and acquaintances own literary magazine. As they were aware, would not be able to agree on a substantive orientation, they established the principle of rotation for the post of editor. The first issue was published in September 1971.

By 1988, the magazine was completely independent; then she moved to the premises of Emerson College in downtown Boston and also the editors received their salary from now on from college. A final merger of the two institutions was however only in 2008. Starting from 1989 coined Don Lee as chief editor Ploughshares, 2008 Ladette Randolph took over from him.

Mode

Already very quickly was Ploughshares as a reservoir and a springboard for literary talents. Among others, 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 feature of the magazine is its both human and substantive compilation. Published each year, three issues - in April and December respectively with poetry and prose, in August with prose. Each of them has a circumference of about 200 pages. The editorial board consists mainly of students and Postgraduate students of the College 's degree program for Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. The task of the most active as a lecturer chief editor is the public relations, the overview of the budget and the selection of the guest editors.

Between 1 June and 15 January may be submitted by anyone literary works. Every year in this way an approximately 11,000 texts. Published authors will receive U.S. $ 25 per page, 50 printed for a title page and a maximum of $ 250 with two copies and a free one year subscription. The editorial board members then make a selection and place the guest editor of a shortlist before. This is about half of its respective output of works and authors of his choice available, while the other half is kept for public submissions. Famous guest editors - among them Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize winner, winner of the National Book Award and MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellows - were to perform among others Seamus Heaney, Colm Tóibín (April 2011), Elizabeth Strout (April 2010), 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 Viehbahn ( 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 working all former guest editors are regarded as so-called Advisory Editor. This approach ensures a wide diversity of literary styles and preferences and to provide the readers the größtmögleiche bandwidth.

According to the current editor in chief Randolph For the future it is planned, one edition per year to make alone with texts of the editors. After all, even distinguished writers of all literary genres are represented in this addition to the students.

Ploughshares also awards two smaller literary prizes. The best published short story (Category: Fiction ) and the best published poem (Category: Poetry ) a year, since 1986 with the Cohen Awards doped with 600 U.S. dollars, named and financed by the long -term supporters Denise and Mel Cohen, excellent. According to a former president of Emerson College, has been awarded since 1991 John C. Zacharis First Book Award is named. He is - in the annual exchange of poetry and prose - the best first book by an author published in the magazine received and is worth $ 1,500.

Awards

More posts from Ploughshares in which displaced annually by Houghton Mifflin anthology The Best American Short Stories were recorded between 1997 and 2003 than from any other literary magazine in the decade before. The same applies to selection for the Pushcart Prize anthologies. Other accolades received by the journal include: