Discipline Literary magazine Edited by Ladette Randolph Frequency Tri-annually | Language English Publication history 1971 (1971)-present | |
Publisher Emerson College (United States) | ||
Ploughshares is an American literary magazine established in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, Ploughshares has been based at Emerson College in the heart of Boston. Published in January, April and July in quality paperback, each issue is guest-edited by a prominent writer who explores personal visions, aesthetics, and literary circles. Guest editors have been the recipients of Nobel and Pulitzer prizes, National Book Awards, MacArthur and Guggenheim fellowships, and numerous other honors. The editor-in-chief is Ladette Randolph.
Contents
Ploughshares literary magazine office tour april 2012
History
In 1970 DeWitt Henry, a Harvard Ph.D. student, and Peter O'Malley, an Irish expatriate, joined together at the Plough and Stars pub to fill a void they felt existed in the literary scene in Boston. Neither one was happy with what was currently being published, and, with their friends and followers, decided to create their own literary magazine. Realizing that they and their supporters would never be able to agree on a specific editorial outlook for the magazine, the co-founders decided that the position of editor would be a rotating one. Since then, Ploughshares has been edited by a different author for every issue, giving the magazine a unique and constantly changing voice. The first issue was published in September 1971.
The magazine soon became recognized as a beacon for talented new writers. Some of the writers whose first or early works have appeared in Ploughshares are Thomas Lux, John Irving, Raymond Carver, Russell Banks, Sue Miller, Mona Simpson, Ethan Canin, Tim O'Brien, Sherman Alexie, Robert Pinsky, David Foster Wallace, and Jayne Anne Phillips. In later years it has gone on to publish some of the leading voices in contemporary literature, including Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, Grace Paley, Sharon Olds, Jack Gilbert, Mark Strand, Jennifer Egan, Lydia Davis, ZZ Packer, John Ashbery, Annie Proulx, Ann Beattie, Gordon Lish, Louise Glück, Haruki Murakami, Amy Hempel, Joy Williams, Mark Doty and Alice Munro.
In 1989, Ploughshares became affiliated with Emerson College. Author Don Lee took the reins as Editor-in-Chief, and would serve in that position until 2007.
In 1990, Ploughshares received the first of three large grants from the Wallace–Reader's Digest Funds, and thereafter came rapid growth, state-of-the-art computers, a new design, and aggressive marketing campaigns.
In 2008, Ladette Randolph replaced Don Lee as Editor-in-Chief. The quality of the magazine's content remains the same, though its appearance has changed to reflect its firm place in today's literary world.
Ploughshares has had more selections in The Best American Short Stories than any other literary journal in the past ten years. In the past several years, it has had more stories published in The Pushcart Prize anthology than any other publication, and the magazine continues to be considered one of the most prestigious in the country.
Awards and recognition
Cohen Awards
For a list of past winners, see Cohen Awards.
Each year, Ploughshares honors the best short story and poem published in the journal with the Cohen Awards, which are sponsored by their longtime patrons Denise and Mel Cohen. Finalists are nominated by staff editors, and the winners are selected by the advisory editors. Each winner receives a cash prize of $600.
John C. Zacharis First Book Award
For a list of past winners, see John C. Zacharis First Book Award
Named after Emerson College's former president, the John C. Zacharis First Book Award was instituted in 1991 to honor the best debut book by a Ploughshares writer. The award alternates annually between poetry and fiction and carries a cash prize of $1,500 to the winning author.