Lit Mag Reading Club Chat: Cincinnati Review, Fall 2022

Q & A with Lisa Ampleman, Editor of Cincinnati Review

An all-new editor interview is freshly in the books!

Today I had the fun of speaking once again with Lisa Ampleman, Editor of Cincinnati Review. “Since its inception in 2003, The Cincinnati Review has published many promising new and emerging writers as well as Pulitzer Prize winners and Guggenheim and MacArthur fellows.”

As this was part of our Lit Mag Reading Club, we got to take a close look at the editorial decisions guiding the work published here. As it turned out, the Gen-X commonalities among pieces that I noticed in this issue was not something the editors were fully conscious of.

However, the editors do think about how the pieces in an issue will speak to one another. As Lisa explained, when a rejection comes from this magazine stating the submitted work was not a “right fit” for the journal, it is often meant literally, as similar work might have already been accepted. The takeaway message for writers: Keep trying this magazine. Do not give up if your work doesn’t make the cut.

Indeed, in this conversation we also got to hear from contributor Matt Young, whose story “Allt Detta Kan Vara Vårt” appears here. Young submitted to this magazine multiple times before this piece was accepted.

As for his experience working with the team at Cincinnati Review, he had nothing but wonderful things to say and described the process as among his best. Matt also shared what I thought were some truly interesting insights into the world of war-themed literary magazines, and why he, as a veteran whose story here is about the trauma of war, chose to submit to this particular journal.

Lisa and I also talked craft. I confessed that I sometimes find writing short story endings to be a rather punishing experience. And when I’m enjoying reading a great short story, disappointment can feel inevitable, as I simply don’t want the story to end. It was in this context that we analyzed Julia Ridley Smith’s short story “Flown.” Through discussion, I found new insights into the story I hadn’t had upon initial reading. Lisa also shared her own thoughts on possibilities available to writers for short story endings, and how a story’s title might do added work in lending narrative meaning.

Is this particular issue of the magazine typical of the kind of work that Cincinnati Review seeks to publish? With several funny stories in this issue, how important is humor to these editors? How does the cover art relate to the journal’s literary contents? What do the editors look for in their MiCRo series for work published online? Is there an ideal time of the month to send submissions, once they open? What should writers be on the lookout for in their work before submitting to this magazine?

For answers to all these questions and more, you will have to join the Lit Mag Reading Club by becoming a paying subscriber (you know you want to! It’s just 14 cents a day!)…and then watch the video.

Cincinnati Review will open for MiCRo submissions in a few days (April 1st) and regular submissions in May. Their reading periods are in May, September and December.

To everyone who came out to participate today, thanks for tuning in! Feel free to join the conversation over here about this issue, anytime.

And, of course, thank you to Lisa for taking the time to share insights into the making of another lovely little lit mag.

Happy viewing!