This page presents a comparison of several academic literary journals that publish electronic as well as print versions. Links to a number of these journals are provided above. An annotated listing of these journals and links to other zine lists are presented on a separate resource page. Links to electronic pages are included in several sections. Print publications quoted are listed in a Works Cited section. Links are provided to electronic citations.
The World Wide Web, electronic literacy and hypertext are often portrayed by supporters as well as detractors as revolutionary. The Web is generally described in frontier or pioneering terms and hypertext is touted as a technology that will set the linear, hierarchical, canonical establishment on its ear. The libertarian--or in some cases simply lawless--philosophy of the hacker culture and the free-for-all mentality of some MUDs and MOOs described in Wired Women (edited by Lynn Cherney and Elizabeth Reba Weiss) seem emblematic of the more esoteric (but equally chaotic) electronic literacy/critical theories described in Jay David Bolter's Writing Space or Sven Birkerts' The Gutenberg Elegies. But, as Bolter points out, there is room for diversity.
Within the hypertextual libraries that are now being assembled, individual intellectual communities can retreat into their subnetworks and operate with as much or as little connection to each other as they desire. These communities may be large or small. Contemporary art, music, and literature have divided into several tiny elites and several huge popular movements, while most of the liberal arts are now pursued by relatively small groups of professionals (Bolter 235).
One such community is the small but growing group of academic literary journal editors who have decided to publish electronic versions of their magazine. While virtually every major university English department publishes a literary journal of some sort, fewer than 20 of these journals produce electronic versions. Ironically, the universities, which are the vanguard of Post Modernism, Deconstruction and other non-traditional literary theory, are producing some of the most traditional and conservative of the electronic journals.
In an environment lauded by Bolter as an "aesthetic supermarket" (235), academic journal editors have eschewed most of the bells and whistles of Web design, resisted much of the lure of interactive hypertext and clung tenaciously to their role as gatekeeper of literary standards. Some editors, in fact, view their Web pages as little more than a medium in which to advertise their print journals. The Chicago Review, founded in 1946 by the Division of the Humanities at the University of Chicago, has one of the most spare Web sites. The review publishes poetry, fiction, review and essays in its print edition. Although the extensive table of contests is posted on the Web site, only one story and two poems can be accessed on-line. The print circulation is 2,500 (Martin 85). The Web site does include information on subscriptions, manuscript submission, back issues, retail distribution and advertising rates. An extensive section of notes on journal contributors is also presented, but there are no links to authors who are not affiliated with the University of Chicago. The review's editorial stance is one echoed by most literary journals: selectivity. Writers who submit work to the review are expected to conform to the editors' requirements and standards. Simultaneous submissions are not encouraged and manuscripts must be typed, double-spaced. Pages must be numbered and follow the Chicago Manual of Style for citations. Electronic submissions are not accepted. "We publish high-quality poetry. About 50 percent of the work we select is unsolicited; the remainder is solicited from poets whose work we admire," poetry editor Angela Sorby told Poet's Market (Martin 85). Poet's Market describes the editors' taste as a preference for lyric free verse some of it leaning toward avant-garde and some quite accessible--with emphasis on voice and content (depicting tense or intriguing topics or situations (Martin 85). Writers can expect to wait about three months to hear if their submissions have been accepted. Only about 50 of the 1,500 poems submitted annually are published (Martin 85).
Web publishing narrows the field even further, with only two poems out of the 21 in the latest quarterly print edition available on-line. The selections offered on the Web are presented simply as a scroll of text under the Chicago Review logo. The text is fixed with no opportunity for reader interactivity. There are no links to authors' e-mail or home pages in the selected works. Readers may browse from one section to another in the review, but the presentation deviates little from traditional print, and, in fact, offers even fewer options and less flexibility. All sections point toward the print version. Print advertising rates are listed, as are print distributors, but the possibility of electronic advertising is not mentioned. Although most print journals have exchange advertising with other academic journals, the Chicago Review does not even link to other electronic journals. Only one graphic, a black and white photo on the home page, is included. A bullet list of contents is the most sophisticated design element. The site does not invite exploration.
Design can even deter visitors, as is the case for the Dominion Review site. This newbie site offered by Old Dominion University presents a frustrating home page of unmarked and unrecognizable drawings that link to pages for information, interviews, poetry or fiction. There is no way to tell where the picture will lead until it is linked. This blind search revealed only three poems and three stories.
The Sewanee Review seems the most blatantly promotional of the academic literary e-journals. Although this review presents a fine selection of poetry and graphics and promises more prose, the emphasis at this stage seems to be on promotion. Published by the University of the South, the review offers to link the titles of books it reviews to advertisers' promotional pages. Advertisers are also offered a three-month posting on the Web site if they purchase a full-page print ad.
None of the electronic journals reviewed have ventured into interactive hyperfiction or audio and about one third serve primarily as teasers for the print journals. The editors of The Journal, published twice a year by the Ohio State University Department of English, also see their Web site as primarily a promotional device. The first on-line edition was posted this winter by the graduate student poetry editor, who had expressed an interest in developing a Web site. Asked about the advantages and constraints of electronic and print publishing and the future of print, Poetry Editor Kathy Fagan replied
Yes, we did think there was an advantage in online publishing, mainly in terms of audience development. The disadvantage is, as far as I can tell, the same old complaint: it's NOT a book, magazine, text with which one can have intimate physical contact. I don't think we'll ever go online exclusively, unless OSU kills print budget, and no I don't think the presence of literature online means the end of the printed text. I do worry a little about the "art of the book" getting annihilated, but in terms of literary loss, I don't see much.
Fiction Editor Michelle Herman expressed similar sentiments:
As I see the "advantages" of e-publication, they have mostly to do with novelty. I myself hate to read anything on a computer screen, and mistrust what's there, since it's so much easier to "publish" this way than in print. I'm generalizing, of course. But I can't imagine replacing--or even allowing alongside equally--print with electronic . . . I certainly don't plan to have the magazine go on-line entirely; I certainly don't foresee the end of print journals . . .
Submissions to The Journal, founded in 1972, are read by graduate and undergraduate volunteers who weed through the slush pile and by the graduate and faculty poetry and fiction editors. About 4,000 poems are submitted annually and about 200 are published in a press run of about 1,500 (Martin 197). Three poems, two short stories and one non-fiction piece from the Fall/Winter edition were posted to the Web site. When deciding which selections to include, the editors considered "readability & length & pizzazz-level," Fagan said. Herman added:
The decision about who to include on-line was made instinctively and fast, but I did consider level of "difficulty"--making the assumption that lighter stuff would work better on a screen. So you see I'm not exactly a great advocate of the new system . . .
Another new electronic journal that now offers only a sampling of the print version is The Cream City Review. This journal, published semi-annually by students in the University of Wisconsin English Department, is billed as "under construction" but shows a great deal of promise. The editors write on the site description:
For the time being, the Cream City Review proper is published on paper and sold through snail mail subscriptions and old-fashioned bookstores. These web pages are designed to give you a mere glimpse of what our journal is all about.
According to the site information, the print journal averages about 250 pages and is distributed through bookstores and to university and public libraries The editors told Poet's Market that they strive for "variety--vitality!" The review has a press run of 2,000 and 400 subscriptions (Martin 107). Electronic submissions are not accepted, but the site promises a call for Web art (submitted via snail mail). The home page includes the review's logo set on a background of a stonewall, full-color reproduction of the print cover art, an index and a linked e-mail address. The sites for fiction, non-fiction, contests and current editors are still under construction and the format for the current issue is plain, but there is an attractive archive that lists a few poems and stories and displays teaser quotes from the stories. Although far from competing with the print version, the electronic Cream City Review seems likely to grow into an interesting site.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the three most sophisticated Web sites are produced by three of the more sophisticated print journals: The Mississippi Review, The Missouri Review and FUGUE. All three sites offer generous amounts of prose and poetry, dozens of internal and external links, snazzy graphics and attractive overall design. FUGUE, published by MFA students at the University of Idaho, is a small, but ambitious site. Unlike most electronic journals, FUGUE is designed by a professional design company. The latest edition requires a browser enabled for frames, HTML 3.2, and JavaScript. FUGUE is probably read by more people on-line than in print. Since June 28, 1995, 2,740 have visited the Web site, while the print run is only 200 with a subscription list of 30 to 50 (Martin 152). Although small and committed to presentation of a variety of literary styles including experimental and meta-fiction, FUGUE maintains literary standards. Writers can expect to wait twelve weeks to hear about submissions. Simultaneous submissions and previously published work are not accepted. According to the Web guidelines:
Each submission is read by several staff members who critique it, then pass it on to the executive editor and staff advisor for final decisions. Based upon the overall critique of the staff, the executive editor and staff advisor will make the final decision as to what will be accepted for publication in an upcoming issue.
Perhaps the most progressive academic e-journal is The Missouri Review, founded in 1978 at the University of Missouri. The review proclaims its mission on its home page as "to discover and nurture the most talented new writers of prose and poetry in America and to showcase their work in a beautifully designed journal." That mission has been carried over from print to electronic publishing. The electronic version is, if anything, more attractive than the print version. The home page is set up in three frames, but can be view without frames. A small vertical frame on the left of the screen displays a button menu for the Foreword, Feature, Poetry, Fiction, Essays and Interviews. Links to Reviews, Our Staff, FAQ, Subscribe, Links and No Frames are listed below the button menu. An animated Mayan scribe "types" at the top of the menu. According to the FAQ, the drawing represents the artist and creativity and the "laptop" on which the scribe appears to be typing is actually a scribe's desk constructed of wood and parchment.
The Missouri Review takes a strong stand in its FAQ on editorial standards on the Web.
Selectiveness is an important issue when it comes to addressing any kind of WWW publishing. A comparison might be made to the user who is able to print out his own newletters or "literary magazines" with a good printer and some ingenuity as far as design and layout. Because he is able to produce some that looks un-amatuerish, is the material in his publication worth anything?
The Missouri Review also has links to three newsgroups, three resource sites and several literary zines and sites such as Web Del Sol and the Virtual Town Public Library. In addition to the FAQ column, the review offers a handy e-mailbag submission form as well as a linked e-mail address and friendly photos of the staff. The staff is also compiling a data base on every writer whose work has ever appeared in The Missouri Review. The page has been visited by 10, 450.
The Mississippi Review, published by the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi, also presents a polished Web site that includes back e-issues from 1995 to the present, an extensive link list to zines, authors' home pages, writers' organizations, workshops, computers, film, video, bookstores, arts, culture, reviews and graphics. The site has received numerous awards including GNN's Best of the Web in literature and Site of the Year from Net Magazine. It is listed as in the top five percent of all Web sites by Lycos and Point Communications, as an "Ultimate Site" by Planet Earth, a four-star site by Magellan and a Gold Site by Net Guide. These awards evidently have brought The Mississippi Review to the attention of Web surfers who have brought the number of visitors to 46,942--a number far exceeding the expectations of any academic print journal.
As shown by the latter three journals, Web success seems to depend
less on reliance on current electronic/critical theories about
the death of print and/or traditional literature, than on professional-looking
design and presentation, and interesting content. The journals
considered to be at the forefront of the print publishing world
seem likely to be poised to move into the forefront of the electronic
publishing world. It seems probable that the major journals will
eventually refine their sites and add more features, such as audio
and animation. Some, such as FUGUE, which are already
invested in multimedia presentations and experimental fiction,
will doubtless include more interactive hypertext, but it seems
clear that there is a comfortable niche for the gatekeepers of
literary standards. If the academy builds a good site, they will
come.
Bolter, Jay David. Writing Space: The Computer, Hypertext and the History of Writing.
Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1991.
Martin, Christine, ed. 1995 Poet's Market. Cincinnati:
Writer's Digest Books, 1995.
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