Gulf Coast (Literary Journal)
Encyclopedia
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts is a literary magazine from Houston, Texas
. Founded in 1986 by Donald Barthelme
and Philip Lopate, Gulf Coast was envisioned as an intersection between the literary and visual arts communities. As a result, Gulf Coast has partnered with the University of Houston's Creative Writing Program, the Museum of Fine Arts-Houston, and the Menil Collection
to showcase some of the most important literary and artistic talents in the United States. Faculty editors past and present include Mark Doty
(1999–2005), Claudia Rankine
, (2006) and Nick Flynn
(2007–present).
Publishing poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. In 2007 alone, Heather McHugh chose David Shumate's "Drawing Jesus," which first appeared in Gulf Coast, for The Best American Poetry 2007, and Stephen King
listed Peter Bognanni's "The Body Eternal" and Sandra Novack
's "Memphis," again premiering in Gulf Coast, among the 100 Distinguished Stories in The Best American Short Stories 2007. In 2006, authors who were published by Gulf Coast early in their careers went on to win the Yale Younger Poets Award, the APR/Honickman Prize, the National Poetry Series, and the Juniper Prize. Gulf Coast featured artists Robyn O’Neil and Amy Blakemore have been featured in the prestigious Whitney Biennial
.
, the University of Houston's undergraduate literary journal.
In the early ’90s, Gulf Coast partnered with Brazos Bookstore to establish the Gulf Coast Reading Series. This annual series features the student talent in the University of Houston's Creative Writing Program.
In 2003, Gulf Coast joined with the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses
(CLMP) and the National Endowment for the Arts
for an inaugural Literary Magazine and Small Press Fair. The annual event now features readings and panel discussions on the state of literary publishing. Aspiring writers can also meet with Gulf Coast editors to discuss their own creative work.
, Dorothea Lasky
, D. A. Powell
, Quintan Ana Wikswo, Phillip Lopate
, Michael Parker
, and 2010 Winner of the Donald Barthelme Prize for Short Prose; Lillian-Yvonne Bertram, and many more.
The issue also includes some types of literary work that the journal has not published before, including panel comics by Lydia Conklin, and marginal illustrations by a Houston-based collective called the Sketch Klubb. The Issue also includes a nostalgic Essay by co-founder, Phillip Lopate
on William Hazlitt
.
Editor
Managing Editor
Business Manager
Fiction Editors
Nonfiction Editors
Online Editor
Poetry Editors
Reviews & Interviews Editor
In 1986, the name Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts premiered. After some experimenting, the journal found its dimensions and, eventually, its audience. The journal has since moved beyond the student body of the University of Houston and into the larger world. The readership of the print journal currently exceeds 2,500, with more and more coming to our ever-expanding website. The print journal comes out each April and October.
Gulf Coast is still student-run. The journal seeks to promote and publish quality literature in our local and national communities while simultaneously teaching excellence in literary publishing to graduate and undergraduate students. Being committed to providing a variety of literary approaches and voices, all of the editorial positions are two-year terms, thus ensuring a regular turnover in the specific personality and style of the journal.
In addition, Gulf Coast differs from many other literary journals in its commitment to exploring the visual arts. Each issue features two artists, along with short essays on the work from our art editor.
, Eavan Boland
, Terrance Hayes
, Susan Howe
, Antonya Nelson
, and Natasha Trethewey
.
.
Since 2008, the Houston Indie Book Festival has steadily expanded from a small gathering of local booksellers and artists to a full-scale regional event featuring dozens of local exhibitors and attracting hundreds of visitors throughout the day. The event has grown to include a day-long reading series, children's events, musical acts, and, for the first time ever in 2012, informational panel discussions organized by HIBF exhibitors and local readers, writers, and publishers.
For the past two years, the event has been held on the Menil Lawn to accommodate the growing number of exhibitors and visitors; the 2011 festival received an estimated 2,500 visitors throughout the day. Marketing and promotion for the event included coverage in the Houston Press, media sponsorship from Houston Public Radio, interviews on 91.7 KFPT, e-newsletters, as well as distribution of postcards and posters. The event's website, http://indiebookfest.org, sees as many as 3,000 unique visitors per month.
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. Founded in 1986 by Donald Barthelme
Donald Barthelme
Donald Barthelme was an American author known for his playful, postmodernist style of short fiction. Barthelme also worked as a newspaper reporter for the Houston Post, managing editor of Location magazine, director of the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston , co-founder of Fiction Donald...
and Philip Lopate, Gulf Coast was envisioned as an intersection between the literary and visual arts communities. As a result, Gulf Coast has partnered with the University of Houston's Creative Writing Program, the Museum of Fine Arts-Houston, and the Menil Collection
Menil Collection
The Menil Collection, located in Houston refers either to a museum that houses the private art collection of founders John de Menil and Dominique de Menil, or to the collection itself...
to showcase some of the most important literary and artistic talents in the United States. Faculty editors past and present include Mark Doty
Mark Doty
Mark Doty is an American poet and memoirist.-Biography:He was born in Maryville, Tennessee, earned his Bachelor of Arts from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and received his Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Goddard College in Vermont.In 1989, his partner Wally Roberts tested...
(1999–2005), Claudia Rankine
Claudia Rankine
Claudia Rankine is an American poet and playwright born in 1963 and raised in Kingston, Jamaica and New York City. She has taught at Case Western Reserve University, Barnard College, University of Georgia, and in the writing program at the University of Houston. As of 2011, Rankine is the Henry G...
, (2006) and Nick Flynn
Nick Flynn
Nick Flynn is an American writer, playwright, and poet. His most recent publication is a play, Alice Invents a Little Game and Alice Always Wins...
(2007–present).
Publishing poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. In 2007 alone, Heather McHugh chose David Shumate's "Drawing Jesus," which first appeared in Gulf Coast, for The Best American Poetry 2007, and Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
listed Peter Bognanni's "The Body Eternal" and Sandra Novack
Sandra Novack
Sandra Novack is an American writer of a novel and short stories. Her debut novel, Precious, was a Booklist Top 10 First Novels of 2009....
's "Memphis," again premiering in Gulf Coast, among the 100 Distinguished Stories in The Best American Short Stories 2007. In 2006, authors who were published by Gulf Coast early in their careers went on to win the Yale Younger Poets Award, the APR/Honickman Prize, the National Poetry Series, and the Juniper Prize. Gulf Coast featured artists Robyn O’Neil and Amy Blakemore have been featured in the prestigious Whitney Biennial
Whitney Biennial
The Whitney Biennial is a biennale exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, USA. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932, the first biennial was in 1973...
.
The Gulf Coast Community
Over time, Gulf Coast has expanded its educational role by developing internship and editorial assistantship programs, a blog managed by MFA and Doctoral students at the University of Houston, as well as by mentoring Glass MountainGlass Mountain (journal)
Glass Mountain is a peer-reviewed undergraduate literary journal at the University of Houston that was established in 2006. The title is an allusion to a short story with the same title by Donald Barthelme. The journal is one of few that publishes poetry, fiction, non-fiction and art from a pool of...
, the University of Houston's undergraduate literary journal.
In the early ’90s, Gulf Coast partnered with Brazos Bookstore to establish the Gulf Coast Reading Series. This annual series features the student talent in the University of Houston's Creative Writing Program.
In 2003, Gulf Coast joined with the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses
Council of Literary Magazines and Presses
The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses is an American organization of independent literary publishers and magazines. It was founded in 1967 by Robie Macauley, Reed Whittemore ; Jules Chametzky ; George Plimpton ; and William Phillips as the...
(CLMP) and the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
for an inaugural Literary Magazine and Small Press Fair. The annual event now features readings and panel discussions on the state of literary publishing. Aspiring writers can also meet with Gulf Coast editors to discuss their own creative work.
Summer/Fall 2011 Issue
The Summer/Fall 2011 is Gulf Coast's 25th Anniversary issue. In addition to a color art retrospective that looks back on famous artists such as Michael Ray Charles, Rackstraw Downes, Amy Blackmore, and others who have all contributed work to previous issues of Gulf Coast, the issue also features writing by Aracelis Girmay, Yusef KomunyakaaYusef Komunyakaa
Yusef Komunyakaa is an American poet who currently teaches at New York University and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, for Neon Vernacular and the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He also received the Ruth Lilly...
, Dorothea Lasky
Dorothea Lasky
Dorothea Lasky is an American poet. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri on March 27, 1978. Lasky earned her BA in Classics and Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis. She earned her MFA in Poetry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst's MFA Program for Poets & Writers, and her Ed.M...
, D. A. Powell
D. A. Powell
-Life and career:Powell lived in various places growing up, then graduated high school from Lindhurst High School in Linda, California. He then worked in a number of jobs before eventually settling in Santa Rosa, California, where he attended Sonoma State University. He earned a bachelor's degree...
, Quintan Ana Wikswo, Phillip Lopate
Phillip Lopate
Doctor Phillip Lopate is an American film critic, essayist, fiction writer, poet, and teacher. He is the younger brother of radio host Leonard Lopate.-Early life and education:...
, Michael Parker
Michael Parker
Michael Parker or Mike Parker may refer to:*Michael Parker , former U.S. congressman from Mississippi*Michael Parker , private secretary to the Duke of Edinburgh, 1947–1957...
, and 2010 Winner of the Donald Barthelme Prize for Short Prose; Lillian-Yvonne Bertram, and many more.
The issue also includes some types of literary work that the journal has not published before, including panel comics by Lydia Conklin, and marginal illustrations by a Houston-based collective called the Sketch Klubb. The Issue also includes a nostalgic Essay by co-founder, Phillip Lopate
Phillip Lopate
Doctor Phillip Lopate is an American film critic, essayist, fiction writer, poet, and teacher. He is the younger brother of radio host Leonard Lopate.-Early life and education:...
on William Hazlitt
William Hazlitt
William Hazlitt was an English writer, remembered for his humanistic essays and literary criticism, and as a grammarian and philosopher. He is now considered one of the great critics and essayists of the English language, placed in the company of Samuel Johnson and George Orwell. Yet his work is...
.
Masthead
Faculty Editor- Nick FlynnNick FlynnNick Flynn is an American writer, playwright, and poet. His most recent publication is a play, Alice Invents a Little Game and Alice Always Wins...
Editor
- Ian Stansel
Managing Editor
- Rebecca Wadlinger
Business Manager
- Sasha Khalifeh
Fiction Editors
- Christine Ha
- Eric Howerton
- Ed Porter
Nonfiction Editors
- Thea Lim
- Meggie Monahan
Online Editor
- Will Donnelly
Poetry Editors
- Joshua Gottieb-Miller
- Karyha McGlynn
- Janine Joseph
Reviews & Interviews Editor
- Justine Post
Gulf Coast Contributors
- Agha Shahid AliAgha Shahid AliAgha Shahid Ali was a Kashmiri American poet...
- John AshberyJohn AshberyJohn Lawrence Ashbery is an American poet. He has published more than twenty volumes of poetry and won nearly every major American award for poetry, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his collection Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. But Ashbery's work still proves controversial...
- Mary Jo BangMary Jo Bang-Life:She grew up in Ferguson, Missouri. She graduated from Northwestern University, in Sociology, from the Polytechnic of Central London, and from Columbia University, with an M.F.A. She teaches at Washington University in St...
- Rick BassRick BassRick Bass is an American writer and an environmental activist.-Life:Bass was born in Fort Worth, Texas, U.S., the son of a geologist, and he studied petroleum geology at Utah State University. He grew up in Houston, and started writing short stories on his lunch breaks while working as a petroleum...
- Sara Batkie
- Charles BaxterCharles BaxterCharles Baxter is an American author of fiction, nonfiction and poetry.-Life:Baxter was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to John and Mary Barber Baxter. He graduated from Macalester College in Saint Paul, and taught high school in Pinconning, Michigan, for a year. In 1974 he received his Ph.D...
- Ann BeattieAnn BeattieAnn Beattie is an American short story writer and novelist. She has received an award for excellence from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and a PEN/Bernard Malamud Award for excellence in the short story form. Her work has been compared to that of Alice Adams, J.D. Salinger,...
- Joshua Beckham
- Cal Bedient
- Matt BellMatt BellMatthew Elwin Bell is a professional race car driver. Bell was born in Mountain View, California. Although Bell grew up in Los Altos, California, he attended Mountain View High School from which he graduated in 2004. After graduation, he pursued transportation design at the Academy of Art...
- Eavan BolandEavan Boland-Biography:Boland's father, Frederick Boland, was a career diplomat and her mother, Frances Kelly, was a noted post-expressionist painter. She was born in Dublin in 1944. At the age of six, Boland's father was appointed Irish Ambassador to the United Kingdom; the family followed him to London,...
- Sarah Shun-Lien BynumSarah Shun-lien BynumSarah Shun-lien Bynum is an American writer.She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter and teaches writing and literature at UC San Diego. Bynum is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop...
- Anne CarsonAnne CarsonAnne Carson is a Canadian poet, essayist, translator and professor of Classics. Carson lived in Montreal for several years and taught at McGill University, the University of Michigan, and at Princeton University from 1980-1987....
- Jennifer Chang
- Amy ClampittAmy Clampitt-Life:Amy Clampitt was born on June 15, 1920 of Quaker parents, and brought up in New Providence, Iowa. In the American Academy of Arts and Letters and at nearby Grinnell College she began a study of English literature that eventually led her to poetry. She graduated from Grinnell College, and from...
- Mark Z. DanielewskiMark Z. DanielewskiMark Z. Danielewski, born March 5, 1966 in New York City, New York, is an American author, best known for his debut novel House of Leaves...
- Mahmoud DarwishMahmoud DarwishMahmoud Darwish was a Palestinian poet and author who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded as the Palestinian national poet...
- Timothy DonnellyTimothy DonnellyTimothy Donnelly is an American poet. He earned his BA from The Johns Hopkins University and his MFA in Poetry from Columbia University's MFA Program for Poets & Writers...
- Cornelius EadyCornelius EadyCornelius Eady is an American poet focusing largely on matters of race and society, particularly the trials of the African-American race in the United States. His poetry often centers around jazz and blues, family life, violence, and societal problems stemming from questions of race and class...
- Nick FlynnNick FlynnNick Flynn is an American writer, playwright, and poet. His most recent publication is a play, Alice Invents a Little Game and Alice Always Wins...
- Nancy Geyer
- Aracelis Girmay
- Mark HallidayMark HallidayMark Halliday is a noted American poet, professor and critic. He is author of five collections of poetry, most recently Keep This Forever...
- Barry HannahBarry HannahHoward Barry Hannah was an American novelist and short story writer from Mississippi.The author of eight novels and five short story collections , Hannah worked with notable American editors and publishers such as Gordon Lish, Seymour Lawrence, and Morgan Entrekin...
- Michael S. HarperMichael S. HarperMichael Steven Harper is an American poet from Brooklyn, who was the Poet Laureate of Rhode Island from 1988 to 1993. He has published ten books of poetry, two of which, "Dear John, Dear Coltrane" and "Images of Kin" , have been nominated for the National Book Award. A great deal of his poetry...
- Matthea HarveyMatthea HarveyMatthea Harvey is a contemporary American poet, writer and professor. She has published three collections, most recently, Modern Life , which earned her the 2009 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and was a finalist for the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award, and a New York Times Notable Book...
- John Hawkes
- Terrance HayesTerrance HayesTerrance Hayes is a prize-winning American poet. His recent poetry collection Lighthead won the National Book Award for Poetry...
- Seamus HeaneySeamus HeaneySeamus Heaney is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer. He lives in Dublin. Heaney has received the Nobel Prize in Literature , the Golden Wreath of Poetry , T. S. Eliot Prize and two Whitbread prizes...
- Bob HicokBob Hicok-Life:Hicok is an associate professor of creative writing at Virginia Tech. He is from Michigan and before teaching owned and ran a successful automotive die design business...
- Oscar HijuelosOscar HijuelosOscar Jerome Hijuelos is an American novelist. He is the first Hispanic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.- Early life and career :...
- Brenda HillmanBrenda HillmanBrenda Hillman , is an American poet. She was educated at Pomona College, and received her M.F.A. at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She is the Olivia Filippi Professor of Poetry at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, California...
- Alan HollinghurstAlan HollinghurstAlan Hollinghurst is a British novelist, and winner of the 2004 Man Booker Prize for The Line of Beauty.-Biography:Hollinghurst was born on 26 May 1954 in Stroud, Gloucestershire, the only child of James Hollinghurst, a bank manager, and his wife, Elizabeth...
- Richard HowardRichard HowardRichard Howard is an American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and translator. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and is a graduate of Columbia University, where he studied under Mark Van Doren, and where he now teaches...
- Bret Anthony JohnstonBret Anthony JohnstonBret Anthony Johnston is an American author best known for his multi-award winning debut story collection, Corpus Christi: Stories. He is also the editor of the bestselling Naming the World and Other Exercises for the Creative Writer.-Career:...
- Kenneth KochKenneth KochKenneth Koch was an American poet, playwright, and professor, active from the 1950s until his death at age 77...
- Yusef KomunyakaaYusef KomunyakaaYusef Komunyakaa is an American poet who currently teaches at New York University and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, for Neon Vernacular and the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He also received the Ruth Lilly...
- Rattawut Lapcharoensap
- Dorothea LaskyDorothea LaskyDorothea Lasky is an American poet. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri on March 27, 1978. Lasky earned her BA in Classics and Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis. She earned her MFA in Poetry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst's MFA Program for Poets & Writers, and her Ed.M...
- Dorianna Laux
- Timothy LiuTimothy LiuTimothy Liu is an American poet and the author of such books as Bending the Mind Around the Dream's Blown Fuse, For Dust Thou Art, Of Thee I Sing, Hard Evidence, Say Goodnight, Burnt Offerings and Vox Angelica. He is also the editor of Word of Mouth: An Anthology of Gay American Poetry...
- Phillip LopatePhillip LopateDoctor Phillip Lopate is an American film critic, essayist, fiction writer, poet, and teacher. He is the younger brother of radio host Leonard Lopate.-Early life and education:...
- Sabrina Orah Mark
- Heather McHughHeather McHugh-Life:Heather McHugh, a poet, translator, and educator, was born in San Diego, California, to Canadian parents, John Laurence, a marine biologist, and Eileen Francesca . They raised McHugh in Gloucester Point, Virginia. There, her father directed the marine biological laboratory on the York River...
- Joyelle McSweeneyJoyelle McSweeneyJoyelle McSweeney is a poet, critic, and professor at the University of Notre Dame. Her books include Nylund, the Sarcographer , as well as Flet, The Red Bird, and The Commandrine and Other Poems, the latter three published by Fence Books...
- Daniel MendelsohnDaniel Mendelsohn-Life and career:Mendelsohn was born on Long Island. He graduated with a B. A. in Classics from the University of Virginia, which he attended from 1978 to 1982 as an Echols Scholar, and received his M. A. and Ph. D. in Classics from Princeton University, where he was a Mellon Fellow in the...
- Ben Mirov
- Rusty MorrisonRusty MorrisonRusty Morrison is an American poet and publisher. She received a BA in English from Mills College in Oakland, California, an MFA in Creative Writing from Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California, and an MA in Education from California State University, San Francisco...
- Paul MuldoonPaul MuldoonPaul Muldoon is an Irish poet. He has published over thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. He held the post of Oxford Professor of Poetry from 1999 - 2004. At Princeton University he is both the Howard G. B. Clark ’21 Professor in the Humanities and...
- Sandra NovackSandra NovackSandra Novack is an American writer of a novel and short stories. Her debut novel, Precious, was a Booklist Top 10 First Novels of 2009....
- Naomi Shihab NyeNaomi Shihab NyeNaomi Shihab Nye is a poet, songwriter, and novelist. She was born to a Palestinian father and American mother. Although she regards herself as a "wandering poet", she refers to San Antonio as her home.-Career:...
- Meghan O'RourkeMeghan O'RourkeMeghan O'Rourke is an American poet, critic, and a contributing writer for the online magazine Slate. She is a graduate of Yale. O'Rourke was formerly a fiction editor at The New Yorker and from 2005-2010 was poetry co-editor at The Paris Review...
- Grace PaleyGrace PaleyGrace Paley was an American-Jewish short story writer, poet, and political activist.-Biography:Grace Paley was born in the Bronx to Isaac and Manya Ridnyik Goodside, who anglicized the family name from Gutseit on immigrating from Ukraine. Her father was a doctor. The family spoke Russian and...
- Michael ParkerMichael ParkerMichael Parker or Mike Parker may refer to:*Michael Parker , former U.S. congressman from Mississippi*Michael Parker , private secretary to the Duke of Edinburgh, 1947–1957...
- Benjamin PercyBenjamin PercyBenjamin Percy is a contemporary American writer.- Biography :Percy was born on March 28, 1979 in Eugene, Oregon, and in his early life lived briefly in Hawaii...
- Carl PhillipsCarl PhillipsCarl Phillips is an American writer and poet. He is a Professor of English and of African and Afro-American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis....
- Robert PinskyRobert PinskyRobert Pinsky is an American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. From 1997 to 2000, he served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Pinsky is the author of nineteen books, most of which are collections of his own poetry...
- D. A. PowellD. A. Powell-Life and career:Powell lived in various places growing up, then graduated high school from Lindhurst High School in Linda, California. He then worked in a number of jobs before eventually settling in Santa Rosa, California, where he attended Sonoma State University. He earned a bachelor's degree...
- Melissa PritchardMelissa PritchardMelissa Pritchard is an American short story writer, novelist, essayist, and journalist.-Life:Melissa Pritchard was born on December 12 in San Mateo, California. She grew up in San Mateo, Burlingame and Menlo Park and attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart High School in Atherton, California...
- Imad RahmanImad RahmanImad Rahman is a Pakistani American fiction writer whose first short story collection was published in 2004.-Biography:A native of Karachi, Pakistan who immigrated to the United States at age 18 to attend college, Rahman was an assistant professor of English at Kansas State University, and, as of...
- Matthew RohrerMatthew RohrerMatthew Rohrer is an American poet.Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Rohrer was raised in Oklahoma. He earned a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a Master of Fine Arts degree in poetry from the University of Iowa.His first book of poetry, A Hummock in the Malookas , was selected by Mary Oliver...
- 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...
- Zachary Schomburg
- Ntozake ShangeNtozake ShangeNtozake Shange born October 18, 1948, is an American playwright, and poet. As a self proclaimed black feminist, much of the content of her work addresses issues relating to race and feminism....
- David ShieldsDavid ShieldsDavid Shields is an American author of non-fiction, fiction, and works that resist generic classification. His latest book is Reality Hunger: A Manifesto...
- Susan SontagSusan SontagSusan Sontag was an American author, literary theorist, feminist and political activist whose works include On Photography and Against Interpretation.-Life:...
- Mark StrandMark StrandMark Strand is an American poet, essayist, and translator. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1990. Since 2005, he has been a professor of English at Columbia University.- Biography :...
- Natasha TretheweyNatasha TretheweyNatasha 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...
- John UpdikeJohn UpdikeJohn Hoyer Updike was an American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic....
- Karen VolkmanKaren Volkman-Life:She was educated at New College of Florida, Syracuse University, and the University of Houston.Her poems have appeared in anthologies including The Best American Poetry, and The Pushcart Prize XXVII....
- Quintan Ana Wikswo
- Franz WrightFranz Wright-Background:Wright graduated from Oberlin College in 1977. He and his father James Wright are the only parent/child pair to have won the Pulitzer Prize in the same category....
- C. Dale YoungC. Dale YoungC. Dale Young is an American poet and writer, physician, editor and educator.-Life:Young writes and publishes poetry and short stories, practices medicine full-time, edits poetry for New England Review, and teaches in the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers...
- Dean YoungDean Young (poet)Dean Young is a contemporary American poet in the poetic lineage of John Ashbery, Frank O'Hara, and Kenneth Koch. Often cited as a second-generation New York School poet, Young also derives influence and inspiration from the work of André Breton, Paul Éluard, and the other French Surrealist poets,...
- Robert Clark YoungRobert Clark YoungRobert Clark Young is an American author of novels, essays, short stories and journalism. Recurring themes in Young's fiction include the relation between alcoholism, the abuse of power, and institutional dysfunction in American life, while his nonfiction has recently focused on eldercare topics...
- Matthew ZapruderMatthew ZapruderMatthew Zapruder is an American poet, editor, translator, and professor. His second poetry collection, The Pajamaist , won the 2007 William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America, and was chosen by Library Journal as one of the top ten poetry volumes of 2006...
History
The journal spent its nascent years (1983–1985) as Domestic Crude, a name that nodded to the major industry of the Houston area. It was a 64-page (magazine-formatted) student-run publication, with editorial advising coming from Mr. Lopate, who also contributed work to the first issues.In 1986, the name Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts premiered. After some experimenting, the journal found its dimensions and, eventually, its audience. The journal has since moved beyond the student body of the University of Houston and into the larger world. The readership of the print journal currently exceeds 2,500, with more and more coming to our ever-expanding website. The print journal comes out each April and October.
Gulf Coast is still student-run. The journal seeks to promote and publish quality literature in our local and national communities while simultaneously teaching excellence in literary publishing to graduate and undergraduate students. Being committed to providing a variety of literary approaches and voices, all of the editorial positions are two-year terms, thus ensuring a regular turnover in the specific personality and style of the journal.
In addition, Gulf Coast differs from many other literary journals in its commitment to exploring the visual arts. Each issue features two artists, along with short essays on the work from our art editor.
The Gulf Coast Prize
Each year, the magazine presents the Gulf Coast Prizes in Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction. Outside judges name the winners, who each receive a $1,500 honorarium and are published in the magazine's Winter/Spring issue; two runners-up in each genre will each receive a $250 second prize. Past judges for the prizes include Eula BissEula Biss
Eula Biss is an American non-fiction writer.She won the Carl Sandburg Literary Award, Rona Jaffe Writers' Award, the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize, the Pushcart Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle Award.She is a Guggenheim Fellow....
, Eavan Boland
Eavan Boland
-Biography:Boland's father, Frederick Boland, was a career diplomat and her mother, Frances Kelly, was a noted post-expressionist painter. She was born in Dublin in 1944. At the age of six, Boland's father was appointed Irish Ambassador to the United Kingdom; the family followed him to London,...
, Terrance Hayes
Terrance Hayes
Terrance Hayes is a prize-winning American poet. His recent poetry collection Lighthead won the National Book Award for Poetry...
, Susan Howe
Susan Howe
Susan Howe is a American poet, scholar, essayist and critic, who has been closely associated with the Language poets, among others poetry movements. Her work is often classified as Postmodern because it expands traditional notions of genre...
, Antonya Nelson
Antonya Nelson
Antonya Nelson is an American author and teacher of creative writing who writes primarily short stories.-Life and education:Antonya Nelson was born January 6, 1961 in Wichita, Kansas....
, and 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...
.
The Barthelme Prize
Gulf Coast also awards the annual Donald Barthelme Prize for Short Prose which awards $1,000 and publication to one prose poem, micro-essay, or short story of five hundred words or less. The Barthelme Prize was inaugurated by editors emeriti Sean Bishop and Laurie Cedilnik in 2008. Past judges for the Barthelme Prize include Beckian Fritz Goldberg and Mary RobisonMary Robison
Mary Cennamo Robison is an American short story writer and novelist. She has published four collections of stories, and four novels, including her 2001 novel Why Did I Ever, winner of the 2001 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for fiction. Her most recent novel, released in 2009, is One D.O.A., One...
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The Houston Indie Book Fest
The Houston Indie Book Fest is one of Gulf Coast's major community events. Hosted by NANO Fiction and Gulf Coast through a collaboration with The Menil Collection, and the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses. The event is completely free and open to the public and remains the only one of its kind in the Houston and Austin areas, featuring a variety of nationally-distributed literary journals and small-press books alongside local booksellers, book and magazine publishers, small presses, literary organizations, and writers.Since 2008, the Houston Indie Book Festival has steadily expanded from a small gathering of local booksellers and artists to a full-scale regional event featuring dozens of local exhibitors and attracting hundreds of visitors throughout the day. The event has grown to include a day-long reading series, children's events, musical acts, and, for the first time ever in 2012, informational panel discussions organized by HIBF exhibitors and local readers, writers, and publishers.
For the past two years, the event has been held on the Menil Lawn to accommodate the growing number of exhibitors and visitors; the 2011 festival received an estimated 2,500 visitors throughout the day. Marketing and promotion for the event included coverage in the Houston Press, media sponsorship from Houston Public Radio, interviews on 91.7 KFPT, e-newsletters, as well as distribution of postcards and posters. The event's website, http://indiebookfest.org, sees as many as 3,000 unique visitors per month.