Since 1990, the American Literary Review has been published through the Department of English at the University of North Texas. In 2013, we moved online. In the spring of 2022, ALR became fully graduate-student-run. Our format and staff changed, but our mission to publish high-quality writing and visual art remained the same.

This mission also entails welcoming authors of varying experience. From the journal’s inception, we have made a point of publishing poetry, fiction, and nonfiction by writers at all stages of their careers. We revel in the opportunity to be a promising writer’s first publication, just as we relish the chance to publish writers with multiple books.

We feature poems, stories, essays, reviews, and interviews that reflect the diverse tradition of writers living in the United States and abroad. We aim to expand the notion of what constitutes American literature. We welcome work that speaks to American place, culture, history, and future, among other subjects.  

We seek work that challenges the reader’s imagination through fresh language and precise imagery. We want writing that reveals the nuances and complexities of human experience, that surprises and moves us. We are particularly interested in writing that speaks to underrepresented and historically disadvantaged communities in the United States, including Black and Indigenous people of color, disabled communities, 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, Latine communities, and intersections thereof. Including such a diversity of perspectives in our journal is essential to our mission of expanding the breadth of American literature.

Some contributors whose work we feel embodies these ideals include Marcia Aldrich, Bethany Ball, Jericho Brown, Denise Duhamel, Rebecca Faust, Robin Gow, K. Iver, Laura Kasischke, Jhumpa Lahiri, Wayne Miller, Michael Nye, Jericho Parms, Carl Phillips, Roger Reeves, sam sax, Ira Sukrungruang, and Pimone Triplett.

Readers:

Nadiya Berhe, Rachel Blum, Christina Guy, Luke Hampton, Wesley Junker, Russell Kliebert, Bradley Murff, Judy Selim, Alexis Soto, Jennifer Taylor, Gretchen Walsh, Laura Yeck