2020 -
This project seeks to create a comprehensive digital archive of New Letters magazine, which has been published at the University of Missouri - Kansas City since 1934, and is one of the oldest and best-regarded literary journals in the country. No digital archive of the magazine yet exists. We seek support to begin the process of preserving this rich literary history in a digital format that will be made free and accessible to the public.
New Letters has published the work of some of the most significant authors in American history, such as J. D. Salinger, e. e. cummings, Marianne Moore, Pearl S. Buck, Edgar Lee Masters, and May Sarton. The magazine established a standard of excellence in its early years, and has maintained its reputation over many decades. Work from the journal is regularly included in the "Best American Poetry" and "Best American Essays" anthologies, published annually by Houghton Mifflin, and considered among the most influential authorities on creative work published in American literary magazines. Most notably, in 2008, New Letters won the National Magazine Award in Editing, the industry's highest honor. Helping to fund an accessible digital archive of New Letters would enhance and preserve a resource that been central to UMKC's identity, and our national literary landscape, for eighty-six years.
This project is in its very initial phases. Elements of the archive will be posted here as they emerge. For current issues of the magazine, please visit the New Letters website at https://www.newletters.org.
Jeff Rydberg-Cox
Department of English
College of Arts & Sciences
School of Computing and Engineering
University of Missouri-Kansas City
Christie Hodgen
Department of English
College of Arts & Sciences
University of Missouri-Kansas City