Originally a student-run quarterly, Shenandoah has evolved into a biannual literary journal. Since 2018, the magazine has been edited by current English professor Beth Staples.[1] According to Shenandoah's mission statement, the magazine aims to showcase diverse voices because "reading through the perspective of another person, persona, or character is one of the ways we practice empathy, expand our understanding of the world, and experience new levels of awareness."[2]
Shenandoah was founded in 1949[3] by a group of Washington and Lee University faculty members, including English professor Samuel Ashley Brown, who published the fiction and poetry of undergraduates including Tom Wolfe. In the 1950s Thomas H. Carter became one of the founding student editors. During his tenure the Shenandoah corresponded with E. E. Cummings, William Carlos Williams, William Faulkner, Ezra Pound and many other Southern writers and the Shenandoah grew in stature and national prominence. From the 1960s to the 1980s, W&L faculty member James Boatwright expanded the journal and published occasional theme issues, including a 35th anniversary anthology. In 1995, R. T. Smith was selected as the first full-time editor of the journal. In 2018 after twenty-three years as editor, R. T. Smith retired, and Beth Staples took over as editor of the magazine. [1] Today, the magazine publishes biannually in the spring and fall.
Shenandoah is funded and supported by Washington and Lee University through the Office of the Dean of the College and is located in Mattingly House on W&L's campus. The magazine maintains a board of university advisors who offer guidance and advice, and the current editor maintains an intern program in which undergraduate students work for the journal and learn the craft of editing as an academic course in the English Department.
Since moving away from print in 2011, the magazine can now be found online in its entirety.[4]
Fellowships and Contest
In the past, Shenandoah has hosted several prestigious annual contests: the James Boatwright III Prize for Poetry, the Goodheart Prize for Fiction, the Thomas H. Carter Prize for the Essay, and the Shenandoah/Glasgow Prize for Emerging Writers. Presently, Shenandoah host the Graybeal-Gowan Prize for Virginia Writers. [5] In 2021, Shenandoah launched a fellowship for BIPOC editors. Through a competitive application process, the magazine selects one fellow for each issue to aid in the selection of fiction, non-fiction, poems, or comics.[6]
