Fourth Genre: Explorations in NonfictionFounding Editor Co-Editor (with David Cooper) From the inaugural issue's Editor's Notes: Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction, is devoted to publishing notable, innovative work in nonfiction. The title reflects our intention to give nonfiction its due as a literary genre -- to give writers of the fourth genre a showcase for their work and to give our readers a place to find the liveliest and most creative works in the form. Given the genre's flexibility and expansiveness, Fourth Genre welcomes a variety of works--ranging from personal essays and memoirs to literary journalism and personal criticism. The editors invite works that are lyrical, self-interrogative, meditative, and reflective, as well as expository, analytical, exploratory, or whimsical. In short, we encourage submissions across the full spectrum of the fourth genre. The journal encourages a writer-to-reader conversation, one that explores the markers and boundaries of literary/ In addition to contemporary nonfiction, Fourth Genre features interviews with prominent nonfiction writers, roundtable discussions of topical genre issues, short-shorts, mini-essays by selected photographers and visual artists, comments on the form,and reviews and capsule summaries of current books. Michael Steinberg and David Cooper Editors Selected Reviews and Comments: Selected Exerpts Literary Magazine Review, Spring/ “A journal equal to Prairie Schooner or Missouri Review.” “Readers (and writers) who care about current writing in the United States should know about this wonderful journal.” “A landmark in the world of writing.” “Fourth Genre” is filled with stories that must be told, stories which enlighten, stories that make us better for the experience of having shared in the telling.” “The pieces of nonfiction in Fourth Genre are about journeys, inward and outward and the people and sights which are recorded and told with brilliant and sparkling detail in writing which rises with luminosity from the page.” TEXT Vol. 3, No. 2 Oct. 1999 "Fourth Genre is impressive in the balance and variety of content it maintains, keeping reader interest throughout and preventing any 'nonfiction overload'". www.msupress.msu.edu/ |
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