Maine Review
What's different about the Maine Review now that it's under different leadership?
Former Editor and Publisher Margot and Robert Kelley built a strong foundation for The Maine Review, allowing the new editorial team to institute sweeping changes in short order. The Maine Review (MeR) is now a triannual, online publication produced by Maine Review Publications, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. We’ve reaffirmed our commitment to paying writers but we’ve made our publication free to all, with no subscription fee. We believe that economic hardship should never pose a barrier to enjoying or participating in the arts, and we are passionate about making contemporary literature accessible to readers and writers of all incomes.
What are you most excited about for the future of the MR?
We’re currently developing an editorial internship, which we will pilot late summer. The internship will offer practical experience for people interested in joining the literary magazine community, either by working with an existing journal or by starting their own. MeR is strictly non-competitive and we believe that collaboration between writers and publishers encourages a vigorous artistic community.
What are some highlights in the current issue?
We’re excited to share the work of Robert Vivian, whose recent title “All I Feel is Rivers” was listed as a “new and noteworthy” book by The New York Times. We’re also pleased to share the work of Maine-based writers Ryan Harper and Dawn Potter in issue 6.1, and Erica Kent as our first Embody feature. We’ve published several emerging writers, including Mateo Perez Lara, Hyten Davidson, Justin Li, Jennifer Lang, and Sacha Bissonnette, alongside established writers such as Dennis Hinrichsen, Natasha Sajé, and M.G. Stephens.
You have a big group of readers and editors involved in the MeR. How do you organize and empower the staff while also giving the magazine a distinctive feel or aesthetic in a world filled with literary magazines?
We believe The Maine Review will continue to be identified as a home for quality contemporary literature, though we do not seek to be too narrowly confined by a prescribed aesthetic. Our staff readers advocate for work of exceptional merit that they believe should reach a larger audience. Our editors—seeing the wisdom in fostering a literary home defined by advocacy and our readers’ passion for championing a range of voices—are willing to take risks and create space for innovative work. As a result, we publish work that is alive in familiar moments, and work that transports readers to unfamiliar territory, work that touches on both timely and eternal truths. If anything defines our aesthetic, it is the passion of our staff and our commitment to keeping contemporary literature accessible.
The Maine Review