Useful Journals for American Lit. Research?

[Grunty DaGnome]

Ok, I know most of the talk on here is acceptance/decision related at this point, but I thought I'd start a thread where those of you who have had success could offer some tips for those of us who didn't.

Everyone seems to agree that the writing sample is key, and refining an interest that is a current hot topic seems to be the recipe for success, even if still a fairly vague recipe. Since my area of interest is American Literature, I'm curious to know if there are good journals in this subfield I can puruse other than the obvious [American Literature, American Literary Realism, American Literary History]. Of course, all side discussions about non- American topics that offer good advice about lesser known, useful resources are welcome!

Edited March 3, 2012 by Grunty DaGnome

[CoffeeInBed]

Are you interested in modern or early/19th American? I ask because there is a major difference in the amount of competition between the two--both at the level of PhD applicantion and job seeking.

[jywayne]

Well, there's obviously a lot of individual author journals for us. The Faulkner Journal, Hemingway Review, F Scott Fitzgerald Review, Steinbeck Review. Then there's the Southwestern review if you're into American West stuff. The others you listed are of course the big dogs.

[Grunty DaGnome]

I'm interested in 19th century American. Is that the field with more competition or less?

[NowMoreSerious]

I'm interested in 19th century American. Is that the field with more competition or less?

I'm also into 19th century American, and I will bet you anything he means that 19c has less competition, numbers-wise. The competition is pretty fierce though.

[Grunty DaGnome]

I'm also into 19th century American, and I will bet you anything he means that 19c has less competition, numbers-wise. The competition is pretty fierce though.

Based on my 0/8 acceptances, yes.

[NowMoreSerious]

Based on my 0/8 acceptances, yes.

Rough about the 0/8.

You and I will both be applying this coming fall for 2013 then. Here's to good luck for both of us!

[Kiseki]

I'm into 19th century American literature as well. I really like the "Legacy" journal put out by the Society for the Study of American Women Writers (SSAWW). Of course this journal is for women writers so if you're interested in that, take a look. They also have a website and yearly conferences. http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/ssaww/index.html

[CoffeeInBed]

I'd stay away from the author-centric ones. Not that they are bad, but because they deal with a niche interest and use an outdated model (the author-centered model) they don't tend to be representative of mainstream academic interests. Of course there are exceptions--I'm speaking super broadly.

And for early/19th American, a lot of very good work happens in interdisciplinary journals like The Journal of the Early Republic and the William and Mary Quarterly.

[Grunty DaGnome]

I'd stay away from the author-centric ones. Not that they are bad, but because they deal with a niche interest and use an outdated model (the author-centered model) they don't tend to be representative of mainstream academic interests. Of course there are exceptions--I'm speaking super broadly.

And for early/19th American, a lot of very good work happens in interdisciplinary journals like The Journal of the Early Republic and the William and Mary Quarterly.

Great tip, thanks! I'll check out those interdisciplinary journals.