Clifford Garstang's Blog, page 57
December 31, 2014
The New Yorker — fiction commentary to resume
In early 2014, I gave up my weekly “review” of the New Yorker fiction. I wasn’t loving the stories, and I received one particularly nasty comment on a post that was disheartening. Now, though, on the last day of the year, I regret that decision. Reading the New Yorker’s weekly fiction is a good way to keep up with what writers are doing, and so what if other readers don’t appreciate my comments. I’m doing it mostly for me. (No offense.)
So, I have resolved to resume my weekly commentary on the New Yorker fiction. Not only will I read and blog about each story going forward, beginning with the January 5 issue, I’ll also attempt to get caught up on the 2014 stories I missed.
I hope that these posts will attract readers who also would like to discuss these stories. I don’t like being called names, but I look forward to hearing what you all have to say.
December 30, 2014
2014 — My Year in Reading
70. That’s how many books I read this year. Goodreads has this handy tool that allows you to set a reading goal and then measure your progress. My goal for the year was 80, so I have fallen far short. But still, 70 is a lot of books.
(If I never buy another book, at that rate it will take me something like 20 years to read all of the unread books I have in my house, so while 70 seems like a lot, it’s not, really.)
Looking at the list of what I’ve read (Goodreads helps with that, too), I see that I read quite an eclectic mix of things. Lots of fiction of course, aided by my role this year as a judge for the Library of Virginia Literary Award for Fiction, but I usually read loads of fiction anyway. I facilitate a chapter of Reading Liberally, so I usually read a “political” book once a month. And I was in a spiritual book club–since disbanded–so I was reading books in that genre for the first part of the year, but I’m drawn to those generally, also, so I kept reading them even after the club fizzled.
I don’t like all the “Best of 2014 Lists” I see because they aren’t comprehensive. The New York Times includes only those books they reviewed, bloggers obviously only include those books they’ve read, and so on, so they aren’t really “Best of” anything except the Best of What We Actually Read. I could do that, but instead let me just mention some of the highlights.
In fiction, I really liked Colum McCann’s TransAtlantic: A Novel. Like his masterpiece Let the Great World Spin, this one consists of separate narrative threads woven together, but with the added dimension of time, as they span 150 years. I’m a fan, and was predisposed to like this, but the book did not disappoint. I also really liked Elizabeth Strout’s The Burgess Boys: A Novel, a book about siblings from a town in Maine, but also a story about refugees (both literal and metaphoric). The book didn’t have quite the impact that Strout’s Olive Kitteridge did in terms of awards and readership, but I think it’s actually a better book.
Other fiction (novels and story collections) I liked (more or less in the order in which I read them) and recommend:
The Biology of Luck by Jacob Appel
Haints by Clint McCown
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Out of Peel Tree by Laura Long
The Assembler of Parts by Raoul Wientzen
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The Last First Day by Carrie Brown
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
Guests on Earth by Lee Smith
Seeing Red by Kathryn Erskine
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
The Hundred-Year House by Rebecca Makkai
The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren
In nonfiction it’s harder to pick my favorites, but one standout for me was Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan. As a skeptic anyway, I’m drawn to narratives that use facts and logic to make sense from legend, and that’s what this book does. The other standout for the year is probably Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America’s Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941 by Lynne Olsen. I don’t read a lot of history, but this was fascinating, and Olsen’s style is very engaging. I’ll read more by her, certainly.
Some other nonfiction titles that impressed:
American Hipster by Hilary Holladay
The Good Soldiers by David Finkel
Townie by Andre Dubus III
Dust to Dust by Benjamin Busch
Whistling Vivaldi by Claude M. Steele
Why I Read by Wendy Lesser.
It was a good year in reading. I’ve decided on a goal for 2015 of 72 books–that’s just 6 per month–and I’ve already got a few underway. What did you read this year?
December 29, 2014
The Problem of Knowledge by A.J. Ayer
The Problem of Knowledge by A.J. Ayer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I read a portion of this book in college and decided it was time I read the whole thing. It’s an important work in the field of epistemology, but not particularly readable. Still, Ayer was a major 20th Century philosopher and I’ve always been drawn to his work. Not this book, so much, but still it gave me a lot to think about.
December 25, 2014
Goodreads Book Giveaway!
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Prime Number Magazine Editors’ Selections Vol. 4
by Clifford Garstang
Giveaway ends January 24, 2015.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
December 24, 2014
Happy Holidays!
Merry Whatever!
I grew up in a home that celebrated Christmas, at least in the commercial sense of the holiday. Although my mother displayed a Nativity scene, I don’t remember much emphasis on Jesus. It was mostly about the presents. And the food.
I decided long ago, however, that Christmas wasn’t for me. I abandoned any pretense of being a Christian, and my disdain for Christian hypocrisy has grown. (Not that hypocrisy is universal among Christian, but it’s common enough that it leaves a bad taste in the mouth of non-Christians.) So I don’t send cards. I don’t give gifts. I don’t say “Merry Christmas!” I’m not Scrooge, exactly, but I just don’t celebrate this particular holiday. (I also don’t decorate, although I used to, so I’ve got some ornaments and lights if you want them.)
Still, the proximity of the holiday to the Winter Solstice and to New Year’s Day creates an opportunity for reflection and renewal. I’ve got my list of resolutions, like most people, and this is the perfect time to put them into practice.
One of those resolutions is to resume regular blogging. I’ve been a slackard of late. I blame the novel I’m working on. And all the other things I’m doing. But along with reading more literary journals and books, plus resuming my study of Chinese, I resolve to be a better blogger in 2015.
In the meantime, enjoy your celebrations!
November 13, 2014
2015 Pushcart Prize Ranking of Literary Magazines — Nonfiction
Below is the 2015 Pushcart Prize Ranking of Literary Magazines for NONFICTION.
For information about my annual magazine rankings and my methodology, go here.
Go here for POETRY and FICTION rankings.
The big news: Not much change at the top, but Tin House moves into the Top Ten. (With the inclusion of the 2014 rankings for comparison, you can see other movements in the list.)
If you find these lists useful, please make a donation by clicking on the link below. Or—even better—buy one of my books (from any source you like, including Amazon.com: In an Uncharted Country and What the Zhang Boys Know).
2015
Magazine
2014
2015 Score
1
Georgia Review
1
75
2
Orion
2
73
3
Sun
3
58
4
New Letters
8
42
5
Agni
4
40
6
American Scholar
10
35
7
Iowa Review
6
34
7
Tin House
13
34
9
Ploughshares
8
33
9
Threepenny Review
6
33
11
Conjunctions
11
29
11
Gettysburg Review
5
29
13
Missouri Review
11
28
14
Fourth Genre
14
25
15
Southern Review
16
23
16
Boulevard
18
21
16
River Teeth
15
21
18
Paris Review
19
19
19
Kenyon Review
19
18
19
n+1
21
18
19
Virginia Quarterly Review
23
18
22
Antioch Review
23
17
22
Ecotone
27
17
22
Image
23
17
22
Salmagundi
16
17
22
Shenandoah
21
17
27
Colorado Review
27
15
28
Creative Nonfiction
23
12
28
Raritan
29
12
30
Harvard Review
30
11
30
Poetry
30
11
30
Third Coast
30
11
33
Great River Review
36
10
33
Republic of Letters
36
10
35
Brain, Child
41
9
35
Five Points
36
9
35
Michigan Quarterly Review
36
9
35
Ninth Letter
41
9
35
Southwest Review
36
9
35
Speakeasy ©
30
9
35
TriQuarterly
43
9
35
Yale Review
70
9
43
Bellevue Literary Review
30
8
43
Hudson Review
43
8
43
Hunger Mountain
43
8
46
American Poetry Review
46
7
46
Blackbird
46
7
46
Northwest Review
46
7
46
The Journal
46
7
46
Water-Stone Review
46
7
51
Granta
52
6
51
North Dakota Quarterly
52
6
51
Oregon Humanities
60
6
51
Passages North
52
6
51
Pinch
52
6
51
Sweet
52
6
51
The Point
52
6
58
American Circus
60
5
58
Arts & Letters
60
5
58
Believer
46
5
58
Fugue
60
5
58
In Character ©
60
5
58
New England Review
52
5
58
New Orleans Review
5
58
Pleiades
60
5
58
Ruminate
60
5
58
Seattle Review
60
5
58
Sewanee Review
70
5
58
Tusculum
60
5
58
Witness
30
5
58
Radio Silence
5
72
Alaska Quarterly Review
70
4
72
Massachusetts Review
60
4
72
Narrative
76
4
72
Normal School
86
4
72
North American Review
70
4
72
Parnassus
70
4
72
Point, The
76
4
72
World Literature Today
70
4
72
ZYZZYVA
52
4
81
Alimentum
76
3
81
Boston Review
86
3
81
Brick
86
3
81
Cimarron Review
76
3
81
Florida Review
76
3
81
Gulf Coast
76
3
81
Kyoto Journal
76
3
81
Lapham’s Quarterly
76
3
81
Los Angeles Review
76
3
90
A Public Space
86
2
90
American Athenaeum
110
2
90
Asian American Writers Workshop
86
2
90
Bellevue Literary Press
86
2
90
Bellingham Review
86
2
90
Chautauqua
86
2
90
Columbia Review
86
2
90
Connecticut Review
86
2
90
Fiction International
76
2
90
Hotel Amerika
86
2
90
Malahat Review
86
2
90
Manoa
86
2
90
McSweeney’s
86
2
90
Memoir
86
2
90
Milkweed Editions – Press
86
2
90
New Ohio Review
110
2
90
Oxford American
86
2
90
PMS
86
2
90
Post Road
86
2
90
Provincetown Arts
86
2
90
Santa Monica Review
86
2
90
Subtropics
86
2
90
Writers Chronicle
86
2
90
Broad Street
2
114
42 Opus
110
1
114
American Interest
110
1
114
American Short Fiction
110
1
114
Another Chicago Magazine
110
1
114
Arts Fuse
110
1
114
Asia Literary Review
110
1
114
Baffler
110
1
114
Bat City
110
1
114
Black Pearls
110
1
114
Blood Orange Review
110
1
114
Bookforum
110
1
114
Callaloo
110
1
114
Camera Obscura
110
1
114
Canteen
110
1
114
Chicago Review
1
114
Dart Society
110
1
114
Diagram
110
1
114
Divide ?
110
1
114
Europa Editions
110
1
114
Event
110
1
114
Fiction
110
1
114
Fifth Wednesday
1
114
Five Chapters
110
1
114
Free Inquiry
110
1
114
FreshYarn.com
110
1
114
Graywolf Press
110
1
114
Haystack Mountain
110
1
114
Healing Muse
110
1
114
High Country News
110
1
114
High Desert Journal
110
1
114
Hollins Critic
110
1
114
Hub City Press
110
1
114
Idaho Review
110
1
114
Iron Horse Literary Review
110
1
114
Literary Review
110
1
114
Make ?
110
1
114
Marginalia ©
110
1
114
Meridian
110
1
114
Minnesota Review
110
1
114
Mount Hope
110
1
114
Natural Bridge
1
114
New Haven Review
110
1
114
Noon
110
1
114
On the Page
110
1
114
Ontario Review ©
110
1
114
Open City
110
1
114
Open Spaces
110
1
114
Oregon Quarterly
110
1
114
Other Voices ©
110
1
114
Packinghouse Review
110
1
114
Palo Alto Review ?
110
1
114
Portland Magazine
110
1
114
Prism
110
1
114
Relief
110
1
114
River City Publishing
110
1
114
River Styx
86
1
114
Rosebud
110
1
114
Rumpus
110
1
114
Seneca Review
110
1
114
SN Review
110
1
114
Southampton Review
110
1
114
Stone Canoe
110
1
114
Stranger
110
1
114
Tiferet
110
1
114
Tupelo Press
110
1
114
Under the Sun
110
1
114
University of Michigan Press
110
1
114
Vocabula Bound
110
1
114
Wag’s Revue
110
1
114
Weber Studies
110
1
114
Western Humanities Review
110
1
114
Willow Springs
110
1
114
Delmarva Review
1
114
Wilson Quarterly
1
114
Tavern Books
1
2015 Pushcart Prize Ranking of Literary Magazines — Fiction
Below is the 2015 Pushcart Prize Ranking of Literary Magazines for FICTION.
For information about my annual magazine rankings and my methodology, go here.
Go here for POETRY and NONFICTION rankings. [Links will be live when those lists are posted.]
The big news: Conjunctions has displaced Ploughshares at the top of the heap. (With the inclusion of the 2014 rankings for comparison, you can see other movements in the list.)
If you find these lists useful, please make a donation by clicking on the link below. Or—even better—buy one of my books (from any source you like, including Amazon.com: In an Uncharted Country and What the Zhang Boys Know).
2015
Magazine
2014
2015 Score
1
Conjunctions
2
80
2
One Story
5
68
2
Ploughshares
1
68
4
Southern Review
4
64
5
Tin House
3
60
6
Paris Review
6
54
7
A Public Space
8
49
7
Zoetrope: All Story
7
49
9
Kenyon Review
10
45
10
Threepenny Review
9
43
11
Noon
12
42
12
McSweeney’s
13
39
13
Georgia Review
11
35
13
Gettysburg Review
14
35
13
Missouri Review
16
35
16
Iowa Review
18
30
16
Virginia Quarterly Review
18
30
18
American Short Fiction
25
29
18
New Letters
18
29
18
Sun
25
29
21
Agni
21
28
21
Ecotone
29
28
21
New England Review
15
28
24
Ontario Review ©
17
27
25
Boulevard
22
25
26
Narrative
28
24
27
Antioch Review
25
22
28
Epoch
24
21
28
Mississippi Review
29
21
28
Shenandoah
23
21
31
Five Points
29
20
31
Glimmer Train
36
20
31
ZYZZYVA
41
20
34
Bellevue Literary Review
32
19
34
Colorado Review
36
19
36
Crazyhorse
42
17
36
Michigan Quarterly Review
39
17
36
Witness
32
17
39
Idaho Review
45
16
39
Image
50
16
39
StoryQuarterly
32
16
39
TriQuarterly
32
16
43
Prairie Schooner
38
14
44
Yale Review
42
13
45
American Scholar
45
11
45
Third Coast
48
11
45
Willow Springs
44
11
48
Cincinnati Review
48
10
48
Hudson Review
39
10
50
Alaska Quarterly Review
45
9
50
Little Star
53
9
50
Oxford American
50
9
53
Post Road
52
8
54
Granta
66
7
54
J Journal
53
7
54
Manoa
53
7
54
New Orleans Review
59
7
54
Pen America
53
7
54
Sonora Review
59
7
60
Chelsea ©
53
6
60
Florida Review
59
6
60
Massachusetts Review
59
6
60
Southwest Review
77
6
60
Speakeasy ©
53
6
60
Water-Stone Review
59
6
66
Beloit Fiction
77
5
66
Black Renaissance Noire
66
5
66
Harvard Review
66
5
66
Hopkins Review
77
5
66
Indiana Review
59
5
66
Mid American Review
66
5
66
Ninth Letter
77
5
66
Pinch
66
5
66
Pleiades
66
5
66
Raritan
66
5
66
Univ. of Georgia Press
66
5
66
Wigleaf
66
5
66
Ruminate
5
79
Caribbean Writer
66
4
79
Fiction
77
4
79
Gulf Coast
87
4
79
New York Tyrant
77
4
79
Sewanee Review
77
4
84
Akashic Books
99
3
84
Another Chicago Magazine
87
3
84
Appalachian Heritage
87
3
84
BkMk Press
87
3
84
Blackbird
87
3
84
Brooklyn Rail
99
3
84
Event
87
3
84
Fiction International
77
3
84
Fourteen Hills
87
3
84
North American Review
77
3
84
Northwest Review
87
3
84
Notre Dame Review
87
3
84
Other Voices ©
87
3
84
Redivider
99
3
84
Western Humanities Review
87
3
99
[sic]
99
2
99
American Letters & Commentary
99
2
99
At Length
99
2
99
Baltimore Review
131
2
99
Black Warrior Review
77
2
99
Boston Review
99
2
99
Brooklyn Review
99
2
99
Calyx
99
2
99
Carve
99
2
99
Chautauqua
99
2
99
Cimarron Review
99
2
99
Columbia Review
99
2
99
Crab Orchard Review
99
2
99
Cutbank
131
2
99
Electric Literature
99
2
99
Faultline
99
2
99
Fifth Wednesday
99
2
99
Inkwell
99
2
99
Paper Street © (?)
99
2
99
Passages North
99
2
99
Press 53
99
2
99
Recommended Reading
99
2
99
River Styx
87
2
99
Southampton Review
99
2
99
Sou’wester
99
2
99
The Journal
99
2
99
Turnrow
99
2
99
West Branch
99
2
99
World Literature Today
131
2
99
Black Clock
2
129
Amazon Shorts ©
131
1
129
Anomalous
131
1
129
Antietam Review ©
131
1
129
Artful Dodge
131
1
129
Arts & Letters
131
1
129
Asian American Literary Review
131
1
129
Austin State University Press
131
1
129
Ballyhoo Stories
131
1
129
Bamboo Ridge
131
1
129
Bellingham Review
131
1
129
Blue Earth Review
131
1
129
Blue Mesa Review
131
1
129
Bomb
131
1
129
Brain, Child
131
1
129
Briar Cliff Review
99
1
129
Callaloo
131
1
129
Carpe Articulum
131
1
129
Chariton Review
131
1
129
Chattahoochee Review
131
1
129
Collagist
131
1
129
Common, The
131
1
129
Confrontation
99
1
129
Consequence Magazine
131
1
129
Contemporary West
131
1
129
Copper Nickel
131
1
129
Crab Creek Review
131
1
129
Daedalus
99
1
129
Dalkey Archive Press
131
1
129
Dogwood
131
1
129
Dos Passos Review
131
1
129
Dossier Journal
131
1
129
Eggemoggin Reach Review (?)
131
1
129
Enizagram
131
1
129
Epiphany
131
1
129
Exile
131
1
129
failbetter.com
99
1
129
Five Chapters
131
1
129
Folio
131
1
129
Freight Stories
131
1
129
Gray’s Sporting Journal
131
1
129
Graywolf Press
131
1
129
Grist
131
1
129
Healing Muse
131
1
129
Hotel Amerika
131
1
129
Hunger Mountain
131
1
129
Isotope ©
131
1
129
Jabberwock Review
131
1
129
John Daniel & Co.
131
1
129
Kelsey Review
131
1
129
King’s English ©
131
1
129
Kweli
131
1
129
Lake Effect
131
1
129
Laughing Fire Press
131
1
129
Laurel Review
131
1
129
Little Fiction
131
1
129
Maggid ©
131
1
129
Margin (?)
131
1
129
McSweeney’s Books
131
1
129
Minnesota Review
131
1
129
Momotombo Press
131
1
129
Mythium
131
1
129
n+1
131
1
129
Natural Bridge
1
129
New Ohio Review
131
1
129
News from the Republic of Letters
59
1
129
Nimrod
131
1
129
Normal School
131
1
129
North Carolina Literary Review
131
1
129
Open City
131
1
129
Orion
131
1
129
Outpost 19
131
1
129
Pear Noir
131
1
129
Pearl
131
1
129
Pegasus Books
131
1
129
Per Contra
131
1
129
Phoebe
131
1
129
Prism
131
1
129
Puckerbush Press ©
131
1
129
Puerto del Sol
131
1
129
Quarter After Eight
131
1
129
Quarterly West
131
1
129
Quick Fiction ©
131
1
129
Relief
131
1
129
Rivendell ©
131
1
129
Rosebud
131
1
129
Salamander
131
1
129
Salt Hill
131
1
129
Sarabande Books
131
1
129
Seems
131
1
129
Slice
131
1
129
Smoke Long Quarterly
131
1
129
South Carolina Review
131
1
129
Southern California Review
131
1
129
Spork
131
1
129
Stolen Time Press (?)
131
1
129
Stone Canoe
131
1
129
Subtropics
131
1
129
Sycamore Review
131
1
129
Texas Review
131
1
129
Tiferet
131
1
129
Timber Creek Review (?)
99
1
129
Transformation (?)
131
1
129
Underground Voices
131
1
129
Upstreet
131
1
129
War, Literature and The Arts
131
1
129
Joyland
1
129
Chicago Quarterly
1
129
Cleaver
1
129
Memorious
1
129
Santa Monica Review
1
129
Texas Review Press
1
129
Juked
1
129
Seneca Review
1
129
Malahat Review
1
129
Lumina
1
2015 Pushcart Prize Ranking of Literary Magazines
It is time for the much-anticipated updating of my literary magazine rankings. It is my hope that you will find the rankings to be useful.
I began this effort several years ago. I had decided to take a tiered approach to submitting short stories to magazines, but it was difficult to decide how to tier the magazines. By tiering, I mean that I wanted to submit to magazines that were roughly equal in reputation and quality, so that if one accepted a piece (Tin House, say) it wouldn’t rip my heart out to withdraw it from other magazines in the same tier (One Story, say). If on the other hand I had received an acceptance from an unknown magazine, it would kill me to have to withdraw from Ploughshares if I had made the mistake of submitting to both at the same time.
So I came up with this simple system. I would rank magazines based solely on the number of Pushcart Prizes and Special Mentions the magazines had won over a ten year period. I chose the Pushcart Prize instead of the Best American series or the O. Henry Prize because it seems somewhat more transparent–magazine editors nominate in all genres, and the prizes and special mentions go to all kinds of small magazines (although online journals are still mostly ignored, which is a drawback.). I opted for a ten-year period because reputations don’t develop over night, and it seemed to me that magazines do need to earn their places on the list with consistency over the years. Some have argued that ten years is too long. They may be right. (I’ve experimented with using a five-year period, but for now I’m sticking with ten.) It may also be of interest to readers that the ranking is based on a very simple formula that awards a point for each Special Mention received and then multiple points for each Pushcart Prize received. Thus a magazine with one point on the list has received one Special Mention in the last ten years, but a magazine with a higher total will have received either multiple Special Mentions or a combination of Prizes and Special Mentions.
Some people argue that the whole ranking thing is silly. If that’s how you feel, you are invited to ignore the whole thing. I’ve heard from lots of people who refer to the rankings regularly, however, so I am certain that lots of people find it useful. As long as that is the case, I’ll keep doing them.
Something I haven’t mentioned before, but probably should have: I am in no way affiliated with the Pushcart Press that organizes the prizes and publishes the anthology each year. In fact, I don’t think they know I exist. I do these rankings without their input or permission. Also, I don’t get paid to do this. I do, however, accept donations via the handy PayPal buttons that you will see along with the lists. No pressure or guilt associated with the donations, but some people have been generous and I do appreciate it.
The lists (in Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction) will be posted today and tomorrow. I welcome feedback–broken links or whatever–in the comment section or by email to info@cliffordgarstang.com.
November 12, 2014
2015 Pushcart Prize Ranking of Literary Magazines — Poetry
Below is the 2015 Pushcart Prize Ranking of Literary Magazines for POETRY.
For information about my annual magazine rankings and my methodology, go here.
Go here for FICTION and NONFICTION rankings.
The big news: Kenyon Review has displaced Poetry at the top of the heap. (With the inclusion of the 2014 rankings for comparison, you can see other movements in the list.)
If you find these lists useful, please make a donation by clicking on the link below. Or—even better—buy one of my books (from any source you like, including Amazon.com: In an Uncharted Country and What the Zhang Boys Know).
2015
Magazine
2014
2015 Score
1
Kenyon Review
2
94
2
Poetry
1
92
3
Ploughshares
4
63
4
American Poetry Review
3
62
5
Threepenny Review
5
55
6
New England Review
7
47
7
Georgia Review
5
38
8
Field
10
37
9
Gettysburg Review
12
33
9
Virginia Quarterly Review
8
33
11
BOA Editions
12
28
12
Poetry Review
14
27
12
TriQuarterly
14
27
14
Tin House
16
26
15
Five Points
11
25
16
Agni
22
23
16
Cincinnati Review
17
23
16
Southern Review
9
23
19
Alice James Books
18
21
19
Yale Review
19
21
21
New Ohio Review
19
20
21
Sugar House Review
26
20
23
Michigan Quarterly Review
21
19
24
Blackbird
24
17
24
Rattle
31
17
26
Smartish Pace
34
16
26
Spillway
34
16
28
Poetry Northwest
26
15
28
The Journal
26
15
28
Water-Stone Review
26
15
31
Copper Canyon Press
53
14
32
Hudson Review
26
13
32
Paris Review
56
13
34
Runes ©
31
12
35
American Scholar
23
11
35
Canary
34
11
35
Lake Effect
34
11
35
New American Writing
34
11
35
Tupelo Press
67
11
40
Alaska Quarterly Review
41
10
40
Cue Editions
41
10
40
Ecotone
41
10
40
Great River Review
41
10
40
Green Mountains Review
41
10
40
Literary Imagination
41
10
40
Notre Dame Review
41
10
40
Orion
41
10
40
River Styx
41
10
40
Shenandoah
34
10
40
West Branch
41
10
51
Image
53
9
52
Crazyhorse
53
8
52
Iowa Review
56
8
52
Massachusetts Review
56
8
52
Ninth Letter
60
8
56
5 a.m.
60
7
56
Four Way Books
161
7
56
New Letters
31
7
56
Salamander
60
7
56
Sun
67
7
56
Wave Books
60
7
62
Atlanta Review
67
6
62
Barrow Street
34
6
62
Bloom
67
6
62
Chautauqua
67
6
62
Cimarron Review
67
6
62
Crowd © (?)
67
6
62
Epoch
67
6
62
Gulf Coast
67
6
62
Hotel Amerika
56
6
62
Indiana Review
89
6
62
jubilat
168
6
62
Lana Turner
168
6
62
Little Patuxent Review
67
6
62
Little Star
168
6
62
Missouri Review
67
6
62
New Criterion
67
6
62
North American Review
60
6
62
Paterson Literary Review
67
6
62
Perugia Press
67
6
62
Poetry International
67
6
62
Sixth Finch
89
6
62
Subtropics
67
6
62
Willow Springs
67
6
62
ZYZZYVA
67
6
86
Anhinga Press
89
5
86
Arroyo Literary Review
89
5
86
Assaracus
89
5
86
Blueline
89
5
86
Boston Review
168
5
86
Briar Cliff Review
89
5
86
Café Review
89
5
86
Chattahoochee Review
89
5
86
Collagist
89
5
86
Colorado Review
89
5
86
Court Green
89
5
86
Curbstone Press
89
5
86
Cypher Books
89
5
86
Denver Quarterly
89
5
86
Dogwood
89
5
86
Dunes Review
89
5
86
Eastern Wash. Univ. Press ©
89
5
86
Eleven Eleven
89
5
86
Epiphany
89
5
86
Fifth Wednesday
89
5
86
Five Fingers Review
89
5
86
Forklift Ohio
89
5
86
Graywolf Press
89
5
86
Harbour Publishing
89
5
86
Harvard Review
67
5
86
Hollyridge Press
89
5
86
Hunger Mountain
89
5
86
Ibbetson Street
89
5
86
Laurel Poetry Collective
89
5
86
Lyric (?)
89
5
86
Manhattan Review
89
5
86
Margie ©
89
5
86
Meridian
89
5
86
Muzzle Magazine
89
5
86
National Poetry Review
89
5
86
Nebraska Poets Calendar
89
5
86
New Issues Poetry and Prose
67
5
86
New Orleans Review
89
5
86
New South Books
89
5
86
New Verse News
89
5
86
OCHO
89
5
86
Parnassus: Poetry in Review
89
5
86
Pebble Lake Review
89
5
86
Pilot Light
89
5
86
Pleasure Boat Studio
89
5
86
Poems & Plays
67
5
86
Poetry Atlanta Press
89
5
86
Quiddity
89
5
86
Rivendell ©
41
5
86
Snake Nation Review
89
5
86
Southern Indiana Review
89
5
86
Southern Poetry Review
24
5
86
Spork
89
5
86
Think Journal
89
5
86
Third Coast
89
5
86
Tikkun
89
5
86
Toadlily Press
89
5
86
Treelight Books
89
5
86
Utah State University Press
89
5
86
Vallum: Contemporary Poetry
89
5
86
Verse Wisconsin
89
5
86
World Literature Today
89
5
86
Yes, Yes Books
89
5
86
Zone 3
89
5
86
Account
5
86
Granta
5
86
Malahat Review
5
86
Brick
5
86
Awl
5
155
Beloit Poetry Journal
156
4
155
Southwest Review
156
4
155
University of Pittsburgh Press
156
4
158
Raritan
156
3
159
Autumn House
161
2
159
Birdfeast
168
2
159
Boulevard
160
2
159
Connecticut Review
60
2
159
Greensboro Review
161
2
159
Healing Muse
161
2
159
New South
168
2
159
Pinch
161
2
159
Pleiades
67
2
159
Prairie Schooner
161
2
169
A Public Space
168
1
169
Able Muse
168
1
169
Airlie Press
168
1
169
Barefoot Muse
168
1
169
Bat City
168
1
169
Believer
168
1
169
Bellevue Literary Review
168
1
169
Black Warrior Review
168
1
169
Blue Earth Review
168
1
169
Callaloo
168
1
169
Calyx
168
1
169
Cardinal Points
168
1
169
Columbia Poetry Review
168
1
169
Crab Creek Review
168
1
169
Drunken Boat
168
1
169
Eleventh Muse
168
1
169
Evansville Review
168
1
169
Examined Life
168
1
169
Fort Hemlock Press
168
1
169
Free Lunch ©
168
1
169
Frostproof Review ©
168
1
169
Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review
168
1
169
Hanging Loose
168
1
169
Harpur Palate
168
1
169
Haven Chronicles (?)
168
1
169
Hayden’s Ferry
168
1
169
Hollins Critic
168
1
169
Hopkins Review
168
1
169
InDigest
168
1
169
Iron Horse Literary Review
1
169
Kentuckians for the Commonwealth
168
1
169
Leaping Dog Press
168
1
169
Live Mag!
168
1
169
Long Island Quarterly
168
1
169
Lost Hills Books
168
1
169
Main Street Rag
168
1
169
Make
168
1
169
McSweeney’s
168
1
169
MS.
168
1
169
Natural Bridge
168
1
169
New Delta Review
168
1
169
New Haven Review
168
1
169
New Madrid
168
1
169
Nimrod
168
1
169
Normal School
168
1
169
November 3rd Club
168
1
169
Omnidawn Publishing
168
1
169
Paper Street © (?)
168
1
169
Pearl
168
1
169
Persea Books
168
1
169
Phoebe
168
1
169
PMS
161
1
169
Poet Lore
168
1
169
Poetry 180
168
1
169
Poetry Flash
168
1
169
Quarterly West
168
1
169
Rhino
168
1
169
Salmagundi
168
1
169
Sarabande Books
60
1
169
Seattle Review
168
1
169
Sentence
168
1
169
Silk Road
168
1
169
Sink Review
168
1
169
Speakeasy ©
168
1
169
Specs
168
1
169
Spoon River Review
168
1
169
Upstreet
168
1
169
Valparaiso Poetry Review
168
1
169
Verse Magazine
168
1
169
Wordcraft of Oregon
168
1
169
Xantippe (?)
168
1
169
Zephyr Press
168
1
169
Solstice
1
169
Paris American
1
169
Poem-a-Day
1
169
Clockhouse
1
169
Construction
1
169
Codex
1
November 5, 2014
2015 Pushcart Prize Literary Magazine Rankings
For the past several years I have done a ranking of literary magazines (in Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry) based on the numbers of Pushcart Prizes and Special Mentions received over a ten year period. This year will be no different. I am expecting to receive my copy of this year’s volume in about a week and will do my best to do the new rankings as quickly as possible, probably a genre per day for three days.
So, please be patient! the 2015 rankings are on their way!
