The Sewanee Review: The revival of Tennessee’s storied literary magazine

Tennessee is home to the nation’s oldest continuously published quarterly: the Sewanee Review. After 43 years under the same editor, the literary magazine — which had once published the work of Southern writers like Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty and William Faulkner — had fallen into a slump.

But, in 2016, Nashville-based writer Adam Ross took over as editor. Since then, the review has seen a revival. Ross has brought the previously print-only journal into the digital age — it now has a website, an Instagram, a podcast — and has published the work of contemporary literary giants.

In this episode, we hear from the review’s editorial staff and a recently published writer about the review’s history and the value of a literary magazines, plus excerpts from pieces published in the review itself.

This episode was produced by Cynthia Abrams.

Guests

• Adam Ross, editor of the Sewanee Review
• Kanak Kapur, writer and graduate of Vanderbilt’s MFA program
• Luke Gair, associate editor of the Sewanee Review
• Brighid Griffin, assistant editor of the Sewanee Review
• Kate Bailey, editorial assistant of the Sewanee Review

Further reading

• “Long Sleeves” by Kanak Kapur (the Sewanee Review)
• “Why I Don’t Wait” by Vievee Francis (the Sewanee Review)
• “Omnivore” by Vievee Francis (the Sewanee Review)
• “Till It and Keep It” by Carrie R. Moore (the Sewanee Review)
• “Mongo Two” by Daniela Garvue (the Sewanee Review)
• New Life for a 125-Year-Old Literary Journal (The New York Times)