Boston Review - History

History

Boston Review was founded as New Boston Review in 1975. A quarterly devoted to literature and the arts, the magazine was started by a group that included Juan Alonso, Richard Burgin, and Anita Silvey. In 1976, after the departure of some of the founding editors, the publication was co-edited by Juan Alonso and Gail Pool, and then by Gail Pool and Lorna Condon. In the late seventies, it switched from quarterly to bimonthly publication. In 1980, Arthur Rosenthal became publisher of the magazine, which was renamed Boston Review and edited by Nick Bromell. Succeeding editors were Mark Silk and then Margaret Ann Roth, who remained until 1991.

During the eighties, the focus of the magazine broadened and during the nineties became more politically oriented, while maintaining a strong profile in both fiction and poetry.

Joshua Cohen replaced Roth in 1991, and has been editor since then. The full text Boston Review has been available online since 1995. Since 1996, twenty-six books have been published based on articles and forums that originally appeared in the Boston Review. Since 2006, MIT Press has been publishing a "Boston Review Books" series.

Deborah Chasman joined the magazine as co-editor in 2001. Pulitzer-prize winner Junot Díaz is the current fiction editor; Timothy Donnelly and Benjamin Paloff are the poetry editors; and Neil Gordon is the literary editor. Simon Waxman is the managing editor and art director.

In 2010, Boston Review switched from black and white tabloid to glossy, all-color format. The same year, it was the recipient of Utne Reader magazine's Utne Independent Press Award for Best Writing.