WRIT Magazine
Published annually from 1970 to 1995
ISSN 0316-3768; 6 x 9"; sewn binding
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Links to headings on this page: History and MissionToday, with a Look Back The Current Issue, WRIT 27 Ordering WRIT 27 and Back Issues Links to other pages: Back Issues ListCumulative Author and Translator Index to WRIT 1-27 History and MissionWRIT was founded in 1970 by Roger Greenwald; in editing WRIT 1-5 he was aided by various co-editors, and in editing WRIT 7-13 by various assistants. With WRIT 14, Richard Lush became Associate Editor, to remain in that position from then on. When WRIT was founded, there were very few English-language literary magazines in Canada that showed any interest in publishing translations. There was also no creative literary journal of international or even national scope being published at Canada’s largest university, the University of Toronto. Moreover, many writers of innovative or demanding fiction and poetry had great difficulty getting published. Thanks mainly to the commitment of enlightened people at Innis College and the support of the Ontario Arts Council, WRIT was able to address that situation. Its aim was to maintain high standards of writing and editing while giving all writers a chance—without regard to their countries of origin or residence, their race, their sex, their political affiliation, or their previous condition of celebrity! The mission was the traditional one of the little magazine: to publish mainly unestablished writers so that they might reach an audience; and to publish established writers from elsewhere so that they might reach a wider audience, and so that both readers and writers might benefit from a broader acquaintance with some of the world’s literature. A Look Back (from the vantage of the final issue)WRIT remained true to its mission. It consistently published the work of writers who were appearing in print for the first time; the work of many writers who had not yet published books; and the work of writers from many different countries. Two special issues, WRIT 14 & 18, were devoted entirely to translations, and starting with WRIT 19, each issue presented at least one author in translation. We are proud to have published the work of such established Canadian writers as Leon Rooke and Josef Škvorecký; to have given pages in several issues to unduly neglected writers, such as Charles Douglas (Canada) and Joel Sloman (U.S.), two of the finest poets we know of among those now writing in English; and to have given first or early publication to writers like Anne Michaels (debut in WRIT 11), who went on to achieve well-deserved acclaim for her poetry, and Steven Hayward (in WRIT 26), who will no doubt do the same for his stories. There are many others we could name. The Final Issue, WRIT 27WRIT 27, our 25th-anniversary issue, was the largest one we ever published (158 pages). It was also the final issue of the magazine. It therefore contains, in addition to an index to WRIT 26 & 27, a cumulative index to authors and translators for the entire run of the magazine, WRIT 1-27. We would like our readers to know that WRIT did not cease publication because of a shortage of funds, but mainly because of increasing pressure of work on the editors. We believe we finished the run with one of our strongest issues ever—and one of the handsomest, thanks to the color image by Karl Vigelius on the cover. Here’s what’s inside: CONTENTSOrdering WRIT 27 and Back IssuesWRIT 27 costs CAD $15 in Canada and USD $15 elsewhere (postage included). Updated February 2000 |