Join a conversation 200 years in the making. At The Yale Review, we believe in the power of connecting great minds across disciplines, backgrounds, and generations. As a renowned journal of literature and ideas, TYR has been privileged to publish both established names and rising literary talent, including Virginia Woolf, Robert Lowell, Thomas Mann, Bayard Rustin, Louise Glück, Adrienne Rich, José Ortega y Gassett, Joyce Carol Oates, James Merrill, Cathy Park Hong, Sheila Heti, Garth Greenwell, and Namwali Serpell. Today, TYR continues to evolve under our executive editor Meghan O’Rourke, an acclaimed poet, memoirist, and critic.
O’Rourke ushered TYR into its third century of publication by relaunching the magazine in May 2021 as a print and digital publication, with a website that features original content as well as gems from TYR's incomparable archive. TYR remains committed to a tradition of editorial excellence and painstaking curation, a site where readers can discover new literature by the best writers of our era alongside engaged, passionate criticism that is beautifully written and powerfully thought.
Since its founding as The Christian Spectator in 1819, TYR has undergone many changes, becoming The New Englander in 1843 and taking on its current name in 1892. Its modern incarnation was established in 1911; over the past century its focus has shifted with each new editor, evolving from a journal of economics into a journal of literature and ideas. Throughout its illustrious history, though, it has continued to honor a tradition of excellence and intellectual adventure.
The founding editor of the modern TYR was the literary critic Wilbur Cross. Subsequent editors have included Helen MacAfee, David Morris Potter, Paul Pickrel, John J.E. Palmer, Kai Erikson, Penelope Laurans, Harold Augenbraum, and the poet and librettist J. D. McClatchy. Each editor built upon the journal’s rich heritage and continued to broaden its reach.
Under O'Rourke's leadership, TYR aims to discover a new generation of writers and thinkers. Committed to nurturing cross-disciplinary conversations, and pushing boundaries, we are proud to maintain our tradition as a forum for the dynamic exchange of ideas. In 2024 The Yale Review received the General Excellence Award in Literature, Science and Politics from the American Society of Magazine Editors.
The editors of The Yale Review are indebted to our donors for their sustained and generous support. Donate to The Yale Review.
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