Announcing the winners of the 2021 Whiting Literary Magazine Prizes.
Today, the Whiting Foundation announced the five print and digital winners for its fourth annual Literary Magazine Prizes, which seek to acknowledge, reward and encourage the publications that are actively nurturing the writers who tell the public, through their art, what is important. This year, the five winners were chosen from a pool of one hundred applicants through two intensive rounds of review by anonymous judges. As well as the financial awards, awardees will receive expert advising and professional development support over the next three years.
“After a year in which life was largely lived pinned down at home, it was an astonishment and relief to see the profound engagement with fresh, startling points of view in these truly winning magazines,” said Courtney Hodell, Director of Literary Programs. “They look outward toward the world and inward toward our most fundamental experiences.”
The winners, and their statements in response to the prize, are below.
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The Massachusetts Review ($60,000)
The Massachusetts Review is honored to receive the Whiting Literary Magazine Prize, honoring attentive and daring editorship in a time when the literary arts have been overshadowed by political and social strife. To be recognized by such an important organization validates our six decades of work, and, more importantly, celebrates our daring, thoughtful, and essential writers, poets, and artists.
Bellevue Literary Review ($30,000)
Receiving the Whiting Literary Magazine Prize during this pandemic year is an incredible honor for Bellevue Literary Review, since BLR’s focus is on health, illness and healing. The vulnerability of illness is now part of daily life in an unprecedented manner; support from the Whiting Foundation will invigorate our work at the intersection of healthcare and the arts. –Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief
The Arkansas International ($15,000)
Since 2016, the Arkansas International has grown as an innovative space for both emerging and established writers. The Whiting Award Literary Magazine Prize will grant us the resources to explore new territories, including expanding our readership, raising honorariums, and much more. We’re also excited to grow both our local and international presence via in-person and virtual events. The Arkansas International can serve as a connection between the Northwest Arkansas community and writers
from all over the world.
Latin American Literature Today ($30,000)
Latin American Literature Today is honored to receive the Whiting Literary Magazine Prize and profoundly grateful for the Whiting Foundation’s support. We look forward to putting this backing to good use for the benefit of Latin American writers and the translators who bring their writing to the world. The award will be instrumental in our efforts to gain Latin American literature the recognition it deserves among U.S. and international readers.
Full Stop ($9,000)
The Whiting Literary Magazine Prize will make it possible for Full Stop to pursue new projects, to strengthen old ones, and, most importantly, to pay more writers to spend time thinking about contemporary small press literature. We’re especially excited to be able to launch our new Full Stop Editorial Fellows program, to produce new episodes of the Full Stop Podcast, and to put out new issues of the Full Stop Quarterly. We appreciate the Whiting Foundation for supporting Full Stop and valuing criticism in today’s literary culture.
