Publication Venue Assignment

The Kenyon Review is published by Kenyon College, which is a small, private liberal arts college in Ohio. It publishes quarterly, both online and in print. Editor David Lynn said, “What we publish in print in The Kenyon Review, on the one hand, and electronically in KROnline, on the other, will be different in tone and timeliness, and will probably speak to different audiences as well. Nevertheless, it’s our mission to offer a great variety of literature all held to the highest of standards.” The website makes it clear that the online magazine and the printed magazine are quite different, and that it is important for submitters to be familiar with the tone of both – while a submission may not be appropriate for the online form, it may be perfect for the print version, and vice versa. Editor Lynn continued, “Our standards are high. We ask, ‘Does this poem or story or essay offer surprise and delight? Does it seem fresh, necessary, startling? Does the author–young or not so young, someone of established distinction or a talent as yet undiscovered–display a mastery of language, especially as necessary to this particular piece?’”

Through reading Lynn’s blogs and notes throughout the site, it is obvious that The Kenyon Review is a labor of love for all of its “employees” – the graduate students and professors who meticulously read every submission. Because of this, the magazine will only accept high quality works. It takes itself very seriously. In one blog, Lynn mentions that several national literary magazines have closed down recently, and the tone of the essay reflects how utterly important he feels his magazine and others are to our culture. (Admittedly, it reflects a kind of special arrogance and self-importance you can only find and small, private liberal arts colleges, specifically in English departments.)

This magazine is printed for avid readers, for sure. It has a liberal background, but is neither heavily political nor particularly politically correct. It can be a place for serious reflection, candid stories, or humorous tales. Most of the selections I read seemed a bit morose, to be honest, focusing on people who are down on their luck, marginalized, or experiencing discrimination of one kind or another. Several stories focused on the difficulty people of other cultures have becoming part of American society, the concept of “the Other”, and other similar social issues. While not explicitly stated on the submissions page, it seems as though KROnline is interested in stories which discuss social justice issues. Writing about domestic violence, political unrest, Occupy Wall Street, or things along those lines would probably be welcome here.

KROnline does not seem to have a preference for form – some pieces are segmented or experimental, while others follow traditional storytelling techniques. Since they publish many forms of literature, there is no set standard for form. All of the stories have a distinct artistry to them, however. They are descriptive and flowing works, which often leave out explicit details (aka Dr. Chandler’s “aboutness”,) and force the reader to consider their purpose. Some of the pieces are so artistic that I still don’t know what they were about or why they were published (except for that the writing was lovely and visual.) The length of the pieces also varies quite a bit. Some seem to creep up to the very edge of the maximum page count, while others are quite short. For KROnline, the submissions are chosen on quality, not quantity. 

Handout – The Kenyon Review

Compiled by Jen Helmstaedter

Website: http://www.kenyonreview.org/

Reading Dates

·         The reading period begins September 15 and ends January 15. Review of submissions takes up to four months.

·         All work must be submitted through the online submissions system. No mail or email submissions are ever considered.

Manuscript Requirements

·         The Kenyon Review considers short fiction and essays (up to 7,500 words), poetry (up to 6 poems), plays (up to 20 pages), excerpts from larger works (up to 20 pages), and translations of poetry and short prose. Translations must be accompanied by the work in the original language. The translator is responsible for the author’s permission to use his or her material.

·         The Kenyon Review does not consider work that has been previously published, unsolicited reviews, or unsolicited interviews.

Number of essays accepted per publication

·         Writers may submit no more than two pieces per genre per reading period. If writers submit more than two pieces, only the first two will be read. The Kenyon review does consider simultaneous submissions.

·         You may submit your piece to The Kenyon Review and other publications simultaneously, but you must withdraw your piece if it is accepted elsewhere.

Pay

·         Payment for accepted work is made upon publication. Authors retain their copyrights and will receive a contract upon acceptance. The website does not state the amount of any payments.

Other information

·         All submitted work is considered for both The Kenyon Review and KROnline.

·         Works submitted to The Kenyon Review follow the Chicago Manual of Style (15th Edition) and Webster’s Eleventh New Collegiate Dictionary. Authors planning to use end notes and/or citations should download the citation style guidelines before submitting manuscripts. The Kenyon Review accepts the following file formats: .DOC (Microsoft Word); .PDF (Adobe Acrobat); .RTF (Rich Text Format); .TXT (Microsoft Wordpad and Notepad, Apple TextEdit).