What's "New" in New American Writing?
Are the contents "new" to the magazine's subscribers? Probably not.
"New" to the magzine's contributing writers? Probably not.
"New" to avid readers of contemporary poetry? Perhaps.
"New" to local university poets Robert Wrigley, Ron McFarland, Alex Kuo...? Perhaps.
"New" to their creative writing students? Probably.
"New" to their colleagues in the local English departments? Probably so.
"New" to my high school students? Decidedly so.
"New"? If their audience aim is broad, there's something to the name. I'll give them that.
The title, though, still seems a bit presumptuous, the reach of the contents too short, too tame to be new.
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