"We're Looking for the Work that Really Matters." A Chat with Jim Hicks & Britt Rusert, Editors of Massachusetts Review
"Our mission was to publish diversity from the start."
Hallo! I come with tidings of our last interview this month, freshly wrapped.
Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Jim Hicks and Britt Rusert, outgoing Editor and new Executive Editor, respectively, of The Massachusetts Review.
In these uncertain times, the Massachusetts Review promotes social justice and equality, along with great art. Committed to aesthetic excellence as well as public engagement, MR publishes literature and art to provoke debate, inspire action, and expand our understanding of the world around us.
Founded in 1959 by a group of professors from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst College, Mount Holyoke, and Smith, the Massachusetts Review is one of the nation’s leading literary magazines, distinctive in joining the highest level of artistic concern with pressing public issues…
A 200-page quarterly of fiction, poetry, essays, and the visual arts by both emerging talents and established authors, including Pulitzer and Nobel prizewinners, special issues have covered women’s rights, civil rights, and Caribbean, Canadian, and Latin American literatures.
In today’s conversation Jim took us through the history of the magazine and his own involvement with it. “Massachusetts Review and I were born on the same day.” The magazine was founded by critic and writer Jules Chametzky, who was also one of the founding members of CLMP (The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses). The magazine has always sought to engage with current issues and provide a home for voices that might not appear in mainstream publishing. “Our mission was to publish diversity from the start.”
As the journal has a mission tethered to social justice, I asked how the editors view the journal as a kind of historical archive. Jim said that when he reflects on the magazine’s long history, it is “amazing what titles came before us.” The stakes can also feel high, as he considers the journal’s past editors and asks, “Is this the work they would have done?”
The magazine accepts work through general submissions and also solicits some pieces for their annual theme issues, which are guest-edited. The next theme will be incarcerated writers and their families. Massachusetts Review receives about 1,500 prose submissions per year.
As new Executive Editor, Britt is most excited by “writing that leaps off the page.” She favors work that “captures her attention quickly.” She is also open to work that draws from the fantasy and sci-fi genres. The magazine is currently receiving a lot of horror submissions, so if your writing has a horror bent, perhaps keep that in mind when submitting.
Submission periods vary. Check the site for more information.
They are also open to bringing people on as readers. If you are interested, email Britt at massrev@external.umass.edu.
What additional types of writing specifically would Britt like to see more of? What advice do these editors have for writers who want to write about politics in a way that is affecting and strong? How open are these editors to viewpoints that differ from their own? What one piece from the spring issue was especially moving and why?
For all that and more, dear friends, you will have to tune in!
To everyone who came out today, thank you for showing up. Your faces are the sweet rays of golden sun on my soggy rainy May day.
And, of course, thank you to Jim and Britt for taking the time to take us behind the scenes of another little magazine.
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