Oxford American
Encyclopedia
The Oxford American is an American
quarterly literary magazine
"dedicated to featuring the very best in Southern writing while documenting the complexity and vitality of the American South."
, by editor Marc Smirnoff (born July 11, 1963). Smirnoff, a native of Mill Valley, California
, a suburb of San Francisco, arrived in Oxford after his BMW
sedan broke down in the midst of a cross-country excursion in late 1987. While waiting for the car to be repaired, he secured a job at the independent Oxford bookstore Square Books.
At the bookstore, he met writers who passed through on author tours and local authors like John Grisham
, Larry Brown
, Barry Hannah
, and Willie Morris
. Smirnoff thus decided that the South needed a general interest magazine like The Atlantic Monthly
or The New Yorker
which focused on regional writers and culture. Smirnoff then began an in-depth study of the history of magazines in America at the University of Mississippi
main library and read back issues of American general interest magazines.
The name "Oxford American" is a play on The American Mercury
, H. L. Mencken
's general interest magazine which Smirnoff long admired. Once he decided to start the magazine, Smirnoff wrote letters to American writers like John Updike
, Richard Ford
, Charles Bukowski
, and William Steig
to ask for contributions to the magazine. As a result, many writers donated work to the debut issue without requiring payment. Financed entirely through credit cards, donations from Smirnoff's friends and family, the magazine's debut issue was published on Saturday,March 14, 1992. The cover of the first issue featured a fire-engine red cover with white text and a "photo-realistic" painting by Oxford painter Glennray Tutor
of an abandoned gasoline pump. Three more issues were published, including one featuring previously unpublished photographs by Eudora Welty
. The magazine then ceased publication in mid-1994 for lack of funding.
The magazine has ceased publication several times but is currently published.
secured financing to bring the magazine back into publication. The magazine had a new look and was printed on coated paper stock with a higher page count and new advertisers. Although the magazine had a successful following, it was still not a successful business venture and in September 2001 stopped publication for a second time.
The magazine began its third incarnation in late 2002 and was headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas
. The magazine was published in conjunction with the AtHome, Inc., group of magazines. Due to insufficient advertising revenue, it again stopped publication in late 2003.
in Conway, Arkansas
, assumed the role as publisher and the magazine began publication once again in December 2004 as a quarterly. The magazine's editorial offices are on the first floor of Main Hall on the university grounds.
The magazine has won several National Magazine Awards and is noted for its annual Southern music issue, which includes a complimentary CD. It has also featured previously unpublished work by William Faulkner
. The current staff includes Warwick Sabin
as Publisher, Smirnoff as Editor, Carol Ann Fitzgerald as Managing Editor, and a revolving staff of interns.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
quarterly literary magazine
Literary magazine
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...
"dedicated to featuring the very best in Southern writing while documenting the complexity and vitality of the American South."
First publication
The magazine began in late 1989 in Oxford, MississippiOxford, Mississippi
Oxford is a city in, and the county seat of, Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1835, it was named after the British university city of Oxford in hopes of having the state university located there, which it did successfully attract....
, by editor Marc Smirnoff (born July 11, 1963). Smirnoff, a native of Mill Valley, California
Mill Valley, California
Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge. The population was 13,903 at the 2010 census.Mill Valley is located on the western and northern shores of Richardson Bay...
, a suburb of San Francisco, arrived in Oxford after his BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
sedan broke down in the midst of a cross-country excursion in late 1987. While waiting for the car to be repaired, he secured a job at the independent Oxford bookstore Square Books.
At the bookstore, he met writers who passed through on author tours and local authors like John Grisham
John Grisham
John Ray Grisham, Jr. is an American lawyer and author, best known for his popular legal thrillers.John Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University before attending the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981 and practiced criminal law for about a decade...
, Larry Brown
Larry Brown (author)
Larry Brown was an American novelist, non-fiction and short story writer. He was a winner of numerous awards including the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters award for fiction, the Lila Wallace-Readers Digest Award, and Mississippi's Governor's Award For Excellence in the Arts...
, Barry Hannah
Barry Hannah
Howard Barry Hannah was an American novelist and short story writer from Mississippi.The author of eight novels and five short story collections , Hannah worked with notable American editors and publishers such as Gordon Lish, Seymour Lawrence, and Morgan Entrekin...
, and Willie Morris
Willie Morris
William Weaks "Willie" Morris , was an American writer and editor born in Jackson, Mississippi, though his family later moved to Yazoo City, Mississippi, which he immortalized in his works of prose. Morris' trademark was his lyrical prose style and reflections on the American South, particularly...
. Smirnoff thus decided that the South needed a general interest magazine like The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
or The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
which focused on regional writers and culture. Smirnoff then began an in-depth study of the history of magazines in America at the University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
main library and read back issues of American general interest magazines.
The name "Oxford American" is a play on The American Mercury
The American Mercury
The American Mercury was an American magazine published from 1924 to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine featured writing by some of the most important writers in the United States through the 1920s and 1930s...
, H. L. Mencken
H. L. Mencken
Henry Louis "H. L." Mencken was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, acerbic critic of American life and culture, and a scholar of American English. Known as the "Sage of Baltimore", he is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the...
's general interest magazine which Smirnoff long admired. Once he decided to start the magazine, Smirnoff wrote letters to American writers like John Updike
John Updike
John Hoyer Updike was an American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic....
, Richard Ford
Richard Ford
Richard Ford is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel The Sportswriter and its sequels, Independence Day and The Lay of the Land, and the short story collection Rock Springs, which contains several widely anthologized stories.-Early...
, Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski
Henry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles...
, and William Steig
William Steig
William Steig was a prolific American cartoonist, sculptor and, later in life, an author of popular children's literature...
to ask for contributions to the magazine. As a result, many writers donated work to the debut issue without requiring payment. Financed entirely through credit cards, donations from Smirnoff's friends and family, the magazine's debut issue was published on Saturday,March 14, 1992. The cover of the first issue featured a fire-engine red cover with white text and a "photo-realistic" painting by Oxford painter Glennray Tutor
Glennray Tutor
Glennray Tutor is an American painter who is known for his photorealistic paintings. He is considered to be part of the Photorealism art movement. His paintings are immersed with bright colors, nostalgic items, metaphor, and with a complete focus on detail...
of an abandoned gasoline pump. Three more issues were published, including one featuring previously unpublished photographs by Eudora Welty
Eudora Welty
Eudora Alice Welty was an American author of short stories and novels about the American South. Her novel The Optimist's Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous awards. She was the first living author to have her works published...
. The magazine then ceased publication in mid-1994 for lack of funding.
The magazine has ceased publication several times but is currently published.
Second and third publication
In April 1995, author and Oxford resident John GrishamJohn Grisham
John Ray Grisham, Jr. is an American lawyer and author, best known for his popular legal thrillers.John Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University before attending the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981 and practiced criminal law for about a decade...
secured financing to bring the magazine back into publication. The magazine had a new look and was printed on coated paper stock with a higher page count and new advertisers. Although the magazine had a successful following, it was still not a successful business venture and in September 2001 stopped publication for a second time.
The magazine began its third incarnation in late 2002 and was headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
. The magazine was published in conjunction with the AtHome, Inc., group of magazines. Due to insufficient advertising revenue, it again stopped publication in late 2003.
Present incarnation
After $500,000 in financing was secured, the University of Central ArkansasUniversity of Central Arkansas
The University of Central Arkansas is a state-run institution located in the city of Conway, the seat of Faulkner County, north of Little Rock and is the fourth largest university by enrollment in the U.S. state of Arkansas, and the third largest college system in the state. The school is most...
in Conway, Arkansas
Conway, Arkansas
Conway is the county seat of Faulkner County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 58,908 at the 2010 census, making Conway the seventh most populous city in Arkansas. It is a principal city of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area which had...
, assumed the role as publisher and the magazine began publication once again in December 2004 as a quarterly. The magazine's editorial offices are on the first floor of Main Hall on the university grounds.
The magazine has won several National Magazine Awards and is noted for its annual Southern music issue, which includes a complimentary CD. It has also featured previously unpublished work by William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
. The current staff includes Warwick Sabin
Warwick Sabin
Warwick Sabin is publisher of the Oxford American magazine. In 2009 he was named to the FOLIO:40, a list of the 40 most influential people in the national magazine industry. - Early life :Warwick Sabin was born in New York, NY...
as Publisher, Smirnoff as Editor, Carol Ann Fitzgerald as Managing Editor, and a revolving staff of interns.