The Chattahoochee Review (TCR) is a literary journal published by Georgia State University Perimeter College. A leading voice in southern literature, TCR also represents writers from around the globe, employing an artistic mission of “Exporting the South. Importing the World.”
Courtesy of The Chattahoochee Review
TCR advocates writers from the Southeast, especially Georgia, including Walter Griffin, Anthony Grooms, Terry Kay, Judson Mitcham, Marion Montgomery, and Natasha Trethewey. The publication’s staff not only cosponsors the Townsend Prize for Fiction but also works to foster a literary community centered in Atlanta and north Georgia. Despite its regional emphasis, inclusiveness is an important principle of TCR, which features writers from all over the nation and the world. The journal has also achieved a national reputation for publishing both new writers and established writers.
In 2003 TCR received the Governor’s Award in the Humanities. In her letter of nomination, Wanda Yancey Rodwell, a member of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, observed that TCR “is more than a nationally ranked literary quarterly. It is a cultural organization based on the idea of building community in Georgia among established and emerging writers, as well as educating the public about their work and literary values. . . . The Review’s inclusive approach in its sponsorship of literary readings, symposia, and cultural programs has built a sense of trust in which diverse groups participate in discussion and debate.”
Courtesy of The Chattahoochee Review
The journal was founded in 1981 by Lamar York, a professor of English. In 1997 Lawrence Hetrick succeeded York as editor. Under their editorships, TCR published several single-author issues highlighting the work of important regional writers. A 1988 issue was devoted to the work of southern author and Agrarian Andrew Lytle. In the same year another issue was devoted to publishing Once upon a Time in Atlanta, a memoir written by Georgia native Raymond Andrews and illustrated by his brother Benny Andrews. Entire issues have also been devoted to poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. A more typical issue includes a collection of stories, poetry, essays, and reviews.
Anna Schachner assumed the editorship of the journal in 2011, and TCR began publishing a special-focus double issue in the fall/winter. Special-focus themes have included “The South,” “Ireland,” “The Animal,” and “Skin.” The single issue published each spring features the winners of the journal’s annual Lamar York Prize for fiction and nonfiction. TCR sponsors and organizes many literary events at Georgia State, including the annual TCR Guest Author Series and “Writing the Veteran Experience” workshops. Many college faculty also participate in the journal’s Classroom Adoption Program, which provides free issues of TCR to Georgia State students, as well as access to podcasts with writers and lecturers. TCR also offers a limited number of internships to students each semester.
Courtesy of The Chattahoochee Review
Works first published in the TCR have been reprinted in New Stories from the South, Pushcart Prize Anthology, Anthology of Magazine Verse and Yearbook of American Poetry, Best American Mystery Stories, and Utne Reader.
