Iron Horse Literary Review

In 1999, Texas Tech University founded Iron Horse Literary Review in order to bring the literary arts to West Texas, which did not, at the time, have a national print venue for creative writing. We wanted an inexpensive way to bring America’s most respected poets, storytellers, and essayists to serious readers living in the remote panhandle. And that’s what we did.Our early contributors included Kim Barnes, Frederick Busch, Robert Olen Butler, Li-Young Lee, Barry Lopez, Lee Martin, Bobby Ann Mason, Stanley Plumly, Pattiann Rogers, Scott Russell Sanders, Ruth Stone, Leslie Ullman, David Wagoner, and many others.

Too, we wanted to raise the critical opinion of so-called “regional” writers. Regional literature is not solely restricted to cowboy stories or rural settings, though many writers address such matters. But like all skillful stories and poems, regional ones offer artistry, shaping the specific into universal meaning. Unfortunately, many southwestern writers have difficulty placing their works in publications that also publish renowned literary writers. At Iron Horse, we hoped to juxtapose regional writers next to the headliners, thereby increasing the attention our nearby artists received.

In January 2008, Iron Horse Literary Review began publishing six issues a year. Instead of the traditional, ho-hum two issues per year, we began releasing five slim issues and a summer-read, double issue. Our subscribers receive the best fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and photography we can find, packaged in beautiful books, every August, October, December, February, April, and June!

When we began publishing six issues, we also slightly altered our original mission: not only do we continue to feature our nation’s most established writers and to highlight relatively unknown regional writers who deserve critical attention, but now we also spend a great deal of time ferreting out those up-and-coming writers who keep poetry, fiction, and nonfiction new, challenging the boundaries of what the literary arts can accomplish.

Our recent contributors have included high profile writers like Ron Carlson, Kelly Cherry, Percival Everett, Phillip Gerard, Bob Hicok, Mark Jarman, David St. John, Maurice Manning, Andrew Miller, Pamela Painter, Molly Peacock, Maura Stanton, Melanie Rae Thon, Afaa Michael Weaver, and others; and up-and-coming writers like Curtis Bauer, Nicky Beer, Laura M. Gilbert, Toni Jensen, Kevin McFadden, Erika Meitner, Caki Wilkinson, and Kevin Wilson.

Note: This journal has multiple reading periods throughout the year. Be sure to check the guidelines before you submit.