History

The American Poetry Review was founded in 1972 by Stephen Berg in Philadelphia. It had no capital but significant support in the national poetry community. In its first four years it developed efficient, inexpensive production methods and a distribution network combining newsstands, bookstores, and subscriptions that made it the most widely circulated poetry magazine ever, with subscribers in 55 countries. In 1977 the magazine began small salaries for the editors and staff and small payments to authors.

1973: "In its short life, APR has already established itself as the most stimulating and representative periodical in its field....It is obviously edited out of a genuine love and enthusiasm for poetry rather than the promotion of any specific school or clique."

-- Stanley Kunitz

1973: "...The American Poetry Review is the brightest and most interesting new literary magazine that has come to my attention in many years. [It] is...of the greatest use to all who care for the arts."

-- Alfred Kazin

In the 1970's the magazine established a reputation for publishing a broad range of material -- interviews, literary essays and essays on social issues, translations, regular columns, fiction, reviews, and poetry (more of its pages are devoted to poetry than to any other kind of writing) -- by the most distinguished authors, by writers working in new forms of contemporary literature, by younger poets now at the center of American poetry, and by writers from other cultures.

1975: "What a treat! a...magazine that is energetic, assertive, brash, serious, bursting with conviction....Every issue of APR contains some beauty and a lot of life."

--Stanley Kauffmann

1976: "...every library interested in contemporary poetry should subscribe."

--Choice Magazine

1978: "...the best introduction to contemporary American poetry."

--Times Literary Supplement

From 1978 to 1989 the magazine's finances stabilized with gradual increases in every area of its budget and increases in circulation. During this period, there was steady support from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Dietrich Foundation, all of whom continue to support APR. In addition, over 180 individuals make annual donations to the magazine ranging from $2 to $3,000.

1983: "If anyone is interested in the constant change and development of American poetry, and the variety of attempts and achievements, there is no better place to look than The American Poetry Review."

--Robert Penn Warren

1986: "[APR] renews our sense that poetry is urgent, the emergency room of our culture where night and day give way to meticulous and powerful attention."

--Cynthia Ozick

In 1990 the three editor-publishers, Stephen Berg, David Bonanno, and Arthur Vogelsang, felt that the magazine's potential had been only partially tapped. Expansion of the board of directors was the first step toward realizing the goals of creating an endowment to perpetuate the magazine's existence, increasing circulation, bringing salaries up to publishing industry standards, and awarding prizes and authors' payments befitting the international reputation of our writers.

From 1993 to 1996, marketing grants from the Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Foundation made extensive subscription-raising activities possible, and allowed plans for growth that were formerly dependent on donated income from the fledgling board of directors. A three-year grant from the NEA's Advancement Program provided a bridge of support until new continuing levels of earned and donated income were achieved.

Many of APR's goals were reached. Authors' payments and prizes more than doubled from 1990 to 1996. Subscription income increased 50%. The board of directors grew from the three editors to sixteen total members.

In the current arts funding climate, the magazine is challenged to maintain or improve upon levels of direct mail marketing, authors' payments, and staff salaries.

1986: "The American Poetry Review, founded in Philadelphia in 1972, began a revolution in poetry in America comparable only to that begun by Harriet Monroe's Poetry in 1912. Sharing the vision of Walt Whitman, it has brought the spirit of excellence and democracy in poetry, through the directness of a tabloid newspaper, to the largest poetry audience ever gathered in America."

--Patricia Willis, The Rosenbach Museum and Library

1990: "With the July/August 1989 issue, the editors of The American Poetry Review celebrate their 100th number. The distinctive 50-page tabloid format has been around since 1972. It is as well known for objective criticism as for the splendid examples of ongoing poetry...if your library is not a subscriber, there can't be a poet or poetry lover within sonnet distance."

--Bill Katz, Library Journal

With the help of its larger, active board of directors, the organization has begun to develop activities beyond publishing the magazine. These include:

• The American Poetry Review/Honickman First Book Prize, now in its sixth year of production;
• the Philly Edition, an all-poetry supplement published and distributed for free in the Philadelphia Weekly;
• the Distinguished Poets' Residencies program in Philadelphia;
• and the establishment of this web site, built in-house by Teresa Leo and Elizabeth Scanlon, which makes sample features of each issue available to a worldwide audience.

Fundraising events such as the 2002 online literary auction are critical activities for the magazine's near future and for the establishment of an endowment.

Since 1972 we have continued uninterrupted publication of The American Poetry Review, and have included the work of over 1,500 writers, among whom there are nine Nobel Prize laureates and thirty-three Pulitzer Prize winners. We feel that our tradition of diversity and excellence continues.

Become a Friend

Your donation is tax-deductible and we are grateful for donations of any size. In thanks for your contribution this year we are offering Bob Hicok's Insomnia Diary or Donald Revell's Pennyweight Windows, the winners of APR's 2005 Jerome J. Shestack Poetry Prizes, as well as our own anthology, The Body Electric: America's Best Poetry from The American Poetry Review (W.W. Norton, paperback, $22.50).

For $100 or more, you get Hicok or Revell.

For $500 or more, you get all three books.

Thank you very much for your help.

The Editors

PRINT OUT AND COMPLETE THE FORM BELOW, ENCLOSE YOUR CHECK, AND MAIL TODAY!

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A copy of the official registration and financial information may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll free, within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.