September 2021

“Sculpting” the Magazine: A Fresh Approach at KR

As our 2021 submissions period opened this month (see story below), the Kenyon Review introduced some major changes in the editorial process. We’ll still publish six issues of the magazine a year, filled with outstanding poetry, fiction, essays, and plays. But in the year ahead, by collaborating with guest editors and by putting forth themed issues, we hope to enrich the creative exploration that brings writers and readers together. “Starting in 2022, we will take a more collaborative, intentional approach to each issue,” said Editor Nicole Terez Dutton. “KR will reserve a significant portion of each issue for work that extends beyond the purview of guest edited or themed folios. We’re excited to offer a few more choices to our authors, and our hope is that this will go a long way toward helping us produce more carefully curated volumes of work.”

Supporting this new approach will be a team of staff editors, editors at large, and consulting and contributing editors, some of them new to the KR masthead. We have also refined the KR Associates Program that trains scores of Kenyon College students every year and engages them in the work of reading submissions under the supervision of editors. Now, in addition to reading assigned submissions individually and attending larger training sessions, the associates will meet in small editorial groups, with different members leading discussions about particular pieces—an experience that should help the students hone their editorial skills and better prepare for careers in publishing.

“All of these changes aim to increase collaboration and to advance a spirit of experimentation and openness,” said Dutton. “We look at the magazine as a space where we think together, a space where we can explore profoundly important questions from many angles, imagining broadly, diving deeply.”

Submissions Period Runs through September 30

Our 2021 submissions period opened on September 1 and runs through the end of the month. In addition to inviting general submissions, we hope that writers will consider two themed issues that we have planned for 2022, one focused on work and one on climate. In submitting, writers will have the option of identifying their work for general consideration or for one of the themed issues. Later this fall, guest editors will seek submissions for other special issues. Keep an eye on our social media channels for more information. As usual, we accept submissions online through our Submittable portal, although we allow for some exceptions. For more detailed information about submissions this year, click here.

Read the Sept/Oct Issue!

In the poem “Uncorrected Vision,” Linda Gregerson evokes both the anesthetic sensation of a “floating interim” and the hard edges of a “world exclusively in focus” as a way of recalling childhood trauma. In the story “The Perfumer,” Heather Bourbeau spins the hypnotic tale of a woman who “could name three thousand scents blindfolded” and who customizes perfumes for clients based on their deepest fears. These are just two of the wonders to be found in the new issue of the Kenyon Review, which is now available. The Sept/Oct issue also includes the winners of the 2021 Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers. Subscribe or order a print or digital copy today!

Kenyon Review Out Loud

We continue to supplement every print issue with recordings of our authors reading their work. KR Out Loud offers another kind of intimacy—poetry and prose weaving their spell through voice. Listen here.

Why We Chose It

BY MISHA RAI, CONSULTING EDITOR

“Skip Outs” by Marcela Fuentes, appears in the Sept/Oct 2021 issue of the Kenyon Review.

Historical fiction engenders in its readers a particular kind of sweet sorrow that comes from the condition of being aware of world events before the protagonist or characters within the narrative are. Such is the case in “Skip Outs,” an excerpt from Marcela Fuentes’s beautiful coming-of-age novel. Set in 1992, in cities on either side of the Mexico-United States border, the story follows Lulu, her bandmates Jorge, Olmec, and Ernie—the boy she “messed around with and (I) didn’t fall in love” with—as well as César Ruiz Allen (the other boy she has a strong connection with) and her best friend Marina, with whom she shares “two incontrovertible musical intersections”: Metallica and their love for the ill-fated artista Selena. Read the rest of Why We Chose It.

Developmental Editing Fellows Named

We are pleased to announce the winners of the inaugural Kenyon Review Developmental Editing Fellowships for Emerging Writers. We received an exceptionally strong pool of more than 500 applicants, so selecting winners was not an easy task. We chose fellows in three genres: In fiction, winner Jane Walton will work with Geeta Kothari; in nonfiction: winner Emily Stoddard will work with Jerald Walker; and in poetry Allison Albino will work with Brandon Som. These writers will receive one-on-one mentorship over a period of four months. Click here to learn more about the winners and developmental editors.

Reading Series Returns

September brings two very exciting readings to Kenyon, both of them hybrid events, accessible online via Zoom as well as in-person on campus. The noted translator-editor-writer-scholar Kareem James Abu-Zeid will read on the Kenyon campus on Thursday, September 23, at 4:30 p.m. EDT. And on Thursday, September 30, we’ll hear from our new KR fellows: Elinam Agbo, the fellow in prose, and Cristina Correa, the poetry fellow. This event will begin at 8:00 p.m. EDT. For more information, including campus locations and Zoom links, see the Reading Series page on the KR website..

A Scholarship and Memories Honoring Nancy Zafris

For all who wish to join us in honoring the memory of writer and long-time KR workshop instructor Nancy Zafris: we invite you to contribute to the Nancy Zafris Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship will cover the full tuition for a participant in a fiction session of the Writers Workshop. To donate, click here.

We also asked several colleagues and former students of Nancy to share their thoughts and memories. Find them here.

SEPTEMBER 2021 
CONTENTS
A Fresh Approach

Submission Period
Sept/Oct 2021
KR Out Loud
Why We Chose It
Fellowships Announced
Reading Series
In Memoriam: Nancy Zafris

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