Blackbird: an online journal of literature and the arts
Encyclopedia
Blackbird is an online journal
of literature and the arts based in the United States
that posts two issues a year, May 1 and November 1. During the six month run of an issue, additional content appears as "featured" content. Previous issues are archived online in their entirety.
. The journal's reading period for poetry and fiction closes between April 15 and September 15. Unsolicited reviews, plays, and art work are not considered.
in partnership with New Virginia Review, Inc., a nonprofit literary arts organization based in Richmond, Virginia
. Its founding editors included Gregory Donovan, Mary Flinn, William Tester, M.A. Keller and Jeff Lodge. The journal is staffed by employees of the two sponsoring organizations as well as by interns and volunteers.
, Sheila Pepe, and Karina Peisajovich. A piece for voices by New York playwright Romulus Linney
appeared in the inaugural 2002 issue. Norman Dubie
's book of poetry, The Spirit Tablets of Goa Lake, appeared serially across three issues spanning 2002-2003. The journal has published work by recent Pulitzer Prize
winning poets Natasha Trethewey
and Claudia Emerson
.
international archive.
Blackbird received AP Wire coverage for its publication of a previously unpublished sonnet of Sylvia Plath
in their Fall 2006 issue. Entitled Ennui, the poem was composed during Plath's early years at Smith College
.
Ron Antonucci, in the Library Journal
, describes Blackbird it as "one of the most successful, well-assembled online literary magazines available... it is graphically attractive and has attracted writers of stature such as . . . Reginald Shepherd and Gerald Stern
."
Blackbird was named as the "best online publication" of 2007 by storySouth. The same year, Blackbird was awarded the Million Writers Award by storySouth by having seven stories selected as “notable stories of the year.”
Electronic journal
Electronic journals, also known as ejournals, e-journals, and electronic serials, are scholarly journals or intellectual magazines that can be accessed via electronic transmission. In practice, this means that they are usually published on the Web...
of literature and the arts based in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
that posts two issues a year, May 1 and November 1. During the six month run of an issue, additional content appears as "featured" content. Previous issues are archived online in their entirety.
Background
Blackbird publishes fiction, poetry, plays, interviews, reviews, and art by both new and established writers and artists. The journal frequently includes streaming audio and video content, including readings, interviews, and art lectures. Each fall issue forefronts work by, and about, the late Larry LevisLarry Levis
Larry Patrick Levis was an American poet.-Youth and Education:Larry Levis was born the son of a grape grower; he grew up driving a tractor, picking grapes, and pruning vines of Selma, California, a small fruit-growing town in the San Joaquin Valley...
. The journal's reading period for poetry and fiction closes between April 15 and September 15. Unsolicited reviews, plays, and art work are not considered.
Publisher
Blackbird is published jointly by the Creative Writing Program of the Department of English at Virginia Commonwealth UniversityVirginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
in partnership with New Virginia Review, Inc., a nonprofit literary arts organization based in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. Its founding editors included Gregory Donovan, Mary Flinn, William Tester, M.A. Keller and Jeff Lodge. The journal is staffed by employees of the two sponsoring organizations as well as by interns and volunteers.
Content
Artists whose lectures or documentations of process or installations appear in Blackbird include Mark Harris, Richard RothRichard Roth
Richard Roth is an American journalist, a CNN correspondent who covers the United Nations and was the host of Diplomatic License , a weekly program that was devoted to United Nations affairs. Roth is a CNN "original" — one of the first employees when the network launched in 1980...
, Sheila Pepe, and Karina Peisajovich. A piece for voices by New York playwright Romulus Linney
Romulus Linney (playwright)
Romulus Zachariah Linney IV was an American playwright and professor.-Life and career:Linney was born in Philadelphia, the son of Maitland Clabaugh and Romulus Zachariah Linney III. His great-grandfather was Republican Congressman Romulus Zachariah Linney. Linney was raised in Boone, North...
appeared in the inaugural 2002 issue. Norman Dubie
Norman Dubie
Norman Dubie is an American poet.-Life:He is the author of more than eighteen books, often assuming historical personae in his works...
's book of poetry, The Spirit Tablets of Goa Lake, appeared serially across three issues spanning 2002-2003. The journal has published work by recent Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winning poets Natasha Trethewey
Natasha Trethewey
Natasha Trethewey is an American poet who won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for her 2006 collection, Native Guard.Trethewey was born in Gulfport, Mississippi. She earned the A.B. in English from the University of Georgia, an M.A. in poetry from Hollins University, and an M.F.A. in poetry from...
and Claudia Emerson
Claudia Emerson
Claudia Emerson is an American poet who won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her collection Late Wife.-Background:...
.
Poetry
- Henry Hart
- Jeanne LarsenJeanne LarsenJeanne Larsen is a poet, novelist, translator, and essayist. Much of her work shows the growing influence of Buddhist perspectives on U.S. literature. This includes not only the poetry and creative nonfiction, but also the novels in her Avalokiteśvara trilogy.-Biography:Larsen grew up on U.S. Army...
- Khaled MattawaKhaled MattawaKhaled Mattawa is a Libyan poet, and a renowned Arab-American writer, he is also a leading literary translator, focusing on translating Arabic poetry into English...
- Irene McKinneyIrene McKinneyIrene McKinney is an American poet and editor, and has served as the Poet Laureate of the State of West Virginia since 1993.-Published Poetry Collections:*Unthinkable: Collected Poems 1976-2004...
- Ron SmithRon Smith (American poet)Ron Smith is an American poet and the first writer-in-residence at the St. Christopher's School in Richmond, Virginia.He is the author of Running Again in Hollywood Cemetery and Moon Road. Together with Elizabeth Seydel Morgan, he was one of the first two winners of the Carole Weinstein Poetry...
- Gerald SternGerald SternGerald Stern is an American poet. His work became widely recognized after the 1977 publication of Lucky Life, which was that year's Lamont Poetry Selection, and of a series of essays on writing poetry in American Poetry Review. He has subsequently been given many prestigious awards for his...
- Bruce WeiglBruce WeiglBruce Weigl is an American contemporary poet who teaches at Lorain County Community College. Weigl enlisted in the United States Army shortly after his 18th birthday and spent three years in the service. He served in the Vietnam War from December 1967 to December 1968 and received the Bronze Star...
- Eleanor Ross TaylorEleanor Ross TaylorEleanor Ross Taylor is an American poet who has published six collections from 1960 to 2009. Her work received little recognition until 1998, but since then has received several of the major poetry prizes...
- Tomaž ŠalamunTomaz SalamunTomaž Šalamun is a Slovenian poet. He was born in 1941 in Zagreb, Croatia, and raised in Koper, Slovenia. He has published 39 collections of poetry in his native Slovenian language. Šalamun spent two years at the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop in the 1970s and has lived for periods of time in...
- Lynda HullLynda HullLynda Hull was a United States poet. She had published two collections of poetry when she died in a car accident in 1994. A third, The Only World , was published posthumously by her husband, the poet David Wojahn, and was a finalist for the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award...
- Wyn CooperWyn Cooper-Background:Cooper was raised in Michigan and later attended the University of Utah and Hollins College.He has taught at the University of Utah, Bennington College, Marlboro College, and at The Frost Place Festival of Poetry. His most recent book is Chaos is the New Calm -Background:Cooper was...
- Judith Ortiz CoferJudith Ortiz CoferJudith Ortiz Cofer is a Puerto Rican author. Her work spans a range of literary genres including poetry, short stories, autobiography, essays, and Young-adult fiction.-Early years:...
- Bruce BondBruce BondBruce Bond is a poet, editor for American Literary Review , and an English professor at the University of North Texas.His poetry has been featured in a variety of literary publications, such as: The Paris Review, The New Republic, The Georgia Review, The Yale Review, The Harvard Review, and Poetry,...
Fiction
- Kelly CherryKelly CherryKelly Cherry is an author, poet, and the Poet Laureate of Virginia,. A resident of Halifax, Virginia, she was named the state's Poet Laureate by Governor Bob McDonnell in July 2010...
Spring 2011 On Familiar Terms - George GarrettGeorge Garrett (poet)George Palmer Garrett. was an American poet and novelist. He was the Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2002 to 2006. His novels include The Finished Man, Double Vision, and the Elizabethan Trilogy, composed of Death of the Fox, The Succession, and Entered from the Sun...
Spring 2008 Thanksgiving - Molly GilesMolly GilesMolly Giles is a short story writer and professor at the University of Arkansas. She formerly taught at San Francisco State University. She is the author of Creek Walk and Other Stories published in 1997 and the novel Iron Shoes published in 2000...
- Peter Matthew Hillsman TaylorPeter Matthew Hillsman TaylorFor other people named Peter Taylor, see Peter Taylor.Peter Matthew Hillsman Taylor was a U.S. author and writer.-Biography:...
- David HuddleDavid HuddleDavid Ross Huddle is an American writer and professor. His most recent book is Glory River: Poems...
- Lee SmithLee Smith (author)Lee Smith is an American fiction author who typically incorporates much of her home roots in the Southeastern United States in her works of literature. She has received many writing awards, such as the O. Henry Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Fiction, and the North...
Non-fiction
- Christopher Taylor Buckley
- Kelly CherryKelly CherryKelly Cherry is an author, poet, and the Poet Laureate of Virginia,. A resident of Halifax, Virginia, she was named the state's Poet Laureate by Governor Bob McDonnell in July 2010...
Spring 2008 The Achievement of George GarrettGeorge Garrett (poet)George Palmer Garrett. was an American poet and novelist. He was the Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2002 to 2006. His novels include The Finished Man, Double Vision, and the Elizabethan Trilogy, composed of Death of the Fox, The Succession, and Entered from the Sun...
Readings
- David Baker reading on November 28, 2007
- Philip Levine reading on September 23, 2004
- Tomaž Šalamun reading on February 13, 2008
- Natash Trethewey reading from The Native Guard in February 2006
- Charles Wright reading on November 6, 2007
- Lee Smith reading on November 15, 2006
Recognition
Blackbird was one of the first literary journals to be included in the LOCKSSLOCKSS
The LOCKSS project, under the auspices of Stanford University, develops and supports an open source system allowing libraries to collect, preserve and provide their readers with access to material published on the Web. The system attempts to replicate the way libraries do this for material...
international archive.
Blackbird received AP Wire coverage for its publication of a previously unpublished sonnet of Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
in their Fall 2006 issue. Entitled Ennui, the poem was composed during Plath's early years at Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
.
Ron Antonucci, in the Library Journal
Library Journal
Library Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
, describes Blackbird it as "one of the most successful, well-assembled online literary magazines available... it is graphically attractive and has attracted writers of stature such as . . . Reginald Shepherd and Gerald Stern
Gerald Stern
Gerald Stern is an American poet. His work became widely recognized after the 1977 publication of Lucky Life, which was that year's Lamont Poetry Selection, and of a series of essays on writing poetry in American Poetry Review. He has subsequently been given many prestigious awards for his...
."
Blackbird was named as the "best online publication" of 2007 by storySouth. The same year, Blackbird was awarded the Million Writers Award by storySouth by having seven stories selected as “notable stories of the year.”