Prairie Schooner :: NewPages Guide to Literary Magazines

Prairie Schooner

Publisher’s Description: Prairie Schooner, a national literary quarterly published with the support of the English Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska Press, is home to the best fiction, poetry, essays, and reviews being published today by beginning, mid-career, and established writers.

To celebrate Prairie Schooner’s tenth birthday, associate editor Maurice Johnson wrote in 1937: "Like other little magazines, the Schooner was not published for money's sake, paid nothing for contributions, and sought to print the work of new writers not yet accepted by the wealthy, policy-bound periodicals. Unlike most little magazines, the Schooner has been long-lived. . . and it has published the early work of more than twenty writers whose subsequent appearances in print have brought them general recognition."

Johnson’s vision has been upheld in Prairie Schooner’s more than eighty years of publication, and the modest figure of twenty writers has swelled to hundreds of authors who got their start at Prairie Schooner. The magazine has presented work by Pulitzer Prize winners, Nobel laureates, National Endowment for the Arts recipients, and Guggenheim Fellows. Work first published in Prairie Schooner has been reprinted or cited in the Pushcart Prize anthologies and many volumes of the Best American series.

Recent issues:

This Special Irish Issue (85.4, Winter 2011) is an excellent on-the-ground snapshot of Irish writing today, guest edited by Stephen Behrendt. Read new poetry by on-the-rise and established writers like Patrick Chapman, Theo Dorgan, Mary O’Donnell, Micheal O’Siadhail, Michael O’Dea, and more. William Wall contributes an excerpt from his forthcoming book. Other fiction on offer includes work by Aiden O’Reilly, Andrew Fox, Kathleen Murray, and a Pushcart Prize-nominated story by Nuala Ni Chonchuir. There is even a play by Thomas Lynch. Plus, don’t miss the final segment—a clever review by Timothy Webb of The Penguin Book of Irish Poetry.

This issue (85.3, Fall 2011) marks the first under the direction of Prairie Schooner’s new Editor-in-Chief, Kwame Dawes! Featured in its pages is lively poetry by Desirée Alvarez, Alice Friman, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Linda Pastan, Floyd Skloot, David Wagoner, and many others. Nancy McCabe’s poignant essay “Threads” examines the triumphs and struggles of child adoption, and an essay by Bethany Maile considers her love-hate relationship with guns. You don’t want to miss all of the surprises in Nancy Zafris’s story about a hotel staff worker. Plus, several reviews follow, including one of Vivian Shipley’s new book.

This issue (85.2, Summer 2011) features new poetry by David Kirby, Adrienne Su, Floyd Skloot, Jeanne Murray Walker, Donald Platt, and more. There's a treat from Terese Svoboda: an excerpt from her forthcoming novel (look for it soon from the University of Nebraska Press). Other fiction includes Owen King's story on a day that accelerates from bad to worse, and book prize winner K. L. Cook's story of two brothers coming together after their own horrible day. An essay by Dr. Vanda celebrates giving children second chances. And several reviews suggest books to keep you reading all summer long!