The Missouri Review

The Missouri Review
Title	The Missouri Review
Editor	Andrew Grossbart
Category	Literary magazine
Frequency	Quarterly
Publisher	University of Missouri
Firstdate	1978
Country	United States
Based	Columbia, Missouri
Language	English

The Missouri Review is a quarterly American literary magazine founded in 1978 and published in Columbia, Missouri. The journal has specialized in contemporary fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, and has been associated with a number of major writers, awards, and academic institutions. Its pages have connected emerging voices with established figures from North America and beyond, and its contributors have been recognized by prizes, anthologies, and national programs.

History

The magazine was established in 1978 by a group of writers and editors at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri seeking a venue comparable to journals like The Paris Review, The Kenyon Review, Ploughshares, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic (American magazine). Early editorial leadership cultivated relationships with writers connected to University of Iowa, Stanford University, Harvard University, Yale University, and Brown University, and the magazine soon published work by contributors associated with institutions such as Rutgers University, University of Michigan, University of California, Berkeley, and Columbia University. Over the decades editorial direction has shifted with successive editors who maintained ties to festivals and conferences like the Association of Writers & Writing Programs and the Library of Congress National Book Festival. The journal weathered changes in the magazine market that affected publications like The Paris Review and Granta while expanding digital initiatives and outreach influenced by grants from organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts and partnerships with regional arts councils.

Mission and Editorial Focus

The magazine’s stated mission emphasizes showcasing short fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction from both established and emerging writers, aiming to present work comparable in scope to pieces found in The New Yorker, The Atlantic (American magazine), Harper's Magazine, The New Republic, and The Nation (U.S. magazine). Editors have sought a balance between formal innovation and narrative clarity, soliciting submissions from writers linked to programs like the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Stanford University Creative Writing Program, NYU Creative Writing Program, Wesleyan University, and University of Virginia. The editorial approach has included solicited portfolios, themed issues, and collaborations with literary organizations including PEN America, Poets & Writers, The Academy of American Poets, and regional festivals such as Brooklyn Book Festival and Miami Book Fair International.

Notable Contributors and Works

The magazine has printed work by many prominent writers whose careers intersect with institutions and awards: contributors affiliated with Pulitzer Prize winners, National Book Award finalists, and MacArthur Fellowship recipients. Authors published in its pages include writers linked to Toni Morrison-era conversations, scholars from Princeton University, alumni of Iowa Writers' Workshop such as those associated with Raymond Carver-influenced lineages, and poets connected to Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop traditions. Specific contributors have ties to literary figures and institutions such as Alice Munro, Philip Roth, John Updike, Louise Erdrich, Seamus Heaney, Billy Collins, Mary Oliver, Joyce Carol Oates, Don DeLillo, Annie Proulx, Richard Ford, Jhumpa Lahiri, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, George Saunders, Zadie Smith, Kazuo Ishiguro, Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Stephen King, Paul Muldoon, Terrance Hayes, Diane Seuss, Junot Díaz, Ocean Vuong, Roxane Gay, Edwidge Danticat, Lorrie Moore, Michael Chabon, Cormac McCarthy, Billy Collins, Louise Glück, Rita Dove, Claudia Rankine, Eileen Myles, Anna Badkhen, Jhumpa Lahiri, Nicole Krauss, Colson Whitehead, Saeed Jones, Rachel Kushner, Graham Swift, Marilynne Robinson, Sally Rooney, Yaa Gyasi, Ben Marcus, Kelly Link, Sarah Waters, Ravi Shankar (note: musical collaborator contexts), and other internationally recognized creators. Many pieces have later been anthologized in collections like Best American Short Stories, Best American Essays, and Best American Poetry.

Awards and Prizes

The magazine administers and presents or is associated with awards that spotlight creative work; its contributors frequently become finalists or winners of honors such as the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, Whiting Awards, Guggenheim Fellowship, MacArthur Fellowship, PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel, O. Henry Prize, and Pushcart Prize. Individual pieces published in the journal have been selected for reprint in annual anthologies and competitions like The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Essays, The Best American Poetry, and the O. Henry Awards.

Publication and Distribution

Published quarterly in print with an expanding online presence, the journal distributes through subscriptions and academic networks connected to libraries at University of Missouri, Columbia University, New York Public Library, Library of Congress, and major research institutions. The magazine’s mail and digital distribution channels align with periodicals sold at independent bookstores participating in events like IndieBound and featured at book fairs including Frankfurt Book Fair, London Book Fair, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, and regional literary festivals. Institutional holdings and indexing in library catalogs facilitate access to readers, scholars, and students in programs at University of Iowa, New York University, University of Michigan, and beyond.

Criticism and Reception

Critical reception has been mixed-to-positive across literary reviews and media outlets such as The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Atlantic (American magazine), and The New Yorker. Supporters praise its role in discovering talent and publishing exemplary work reprinted in notable anthologies; critics have debated editorial choices in relation to broader conversations in venues like Granta and n+1 about diversity, institutional influence, and literary trends. The journal’s stature within American letters places it in ongoing dialogues with publications and organizations including The Paris Review, Ploughshares, Tin House, Fence Magazine, Boston Review, and the Association of Writers & Writing Programs.

Category:Literary magazines of the United States