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“The Mississippi Review is so filled with interesting writing that I go into Overwhelm Mode and have to make myself breathe slowly as I turn the pages.”
           --Ann Beattie

“. . . the Mississippi Review has become one of the most innovative and indispensable literary magazines on the American scene. Today graphically daring magazines are common, but back in the dark ages of the eighties, when every literary magazine looked exactly the same, (MR) was pushing the envelope with startling, punchy covers and innovative typography, not to mention prose and poetry that challenged and alarmed and delighted and took us aback.”
          --David Leavitt

“The Mississippi Review inspires me as a writer and as an editor.”
          --Diane Williams

“Hats off to MR on its 30th birthday!”
          --John Barth

Mississippi Review

MR has been said to be among the finest literary magazines of the moment. Here are some of our recent print issues, including: a "new fiction" issue featuring T.C. Boyle, Rick Moody, Tao Lin, John Barth, Mary Grimm, and others; Julia Johnson's prose poem issue; Ken Foster's "Location-Dislocation" issue; our "Politics & Religion" issue, including pieces by Bill Moyers, Noam Chomsky, Michael Lerner; a short fiction issue edited by Rick Moody; a special omnibus issue on Hamlet guest edited by the poet David Berry; an issue on the poets of the New York School, edited in by poet Angela Ball; several of our annual Mississippi Review Prize issues, selected by writers such as the late Veronica Geng, Thom Jones, Padgett Powell, and Lucie Brock-Broido. Over the years we have cultivated an irredeemably disheveled look, especially in our cover design, which produces a somewhat inconsistent appearance that from time to time we regret profoundly. But in the content department we regret very little. Mississippi Review is always a lively magazine, always offbeat, perhaps a bit ahead of the curve, if there is still a curve, a reading utensil that is not readily pigeonholed.

The magazine has published and continues to publish National Book Award winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, National Book Critics Circle winners as well as new writers just beginning their publishing careers. The magazine has been recognized with Pushcart Prize winners and pieces republished in Best American Short Stories and Best American Poetry. It’s a magazine that Ray Carver, who was an occasional contributor, described as “one of the most remarkable and indispensable literary journals of our time.” Long-time Southern writer David Madden commented that “Mississippi Review has become a vital and significant publication, as good as any, and right here in the South, right there in Mississippi.” And the Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Charles Simic, himself a contributor to MR, said, “Mississippi Review is probably one of the best magazines in the country.” Finally, the late John Hawkes, former head of the writing program at Brown University and a remarkable writer and prize winner in his own right, said, “Yours is among the truly sustaining literary publications in the country today.”

Mississippi Review Prize issues

Every year we run a national contest in fiction and poetry.  The Mississippi Review Prize offers awards of $1000 for the winning story and the winning poem(s). The contest begins in April each year and the deadline for submission is October each year. Winners and finalists (usually two or three dozen stories and poems) are published in print editions of Mississippi Review. The competition is open to all U.S. writers except current or former students and employees of USM. For details of the current contest, click Mississippi Review Prize.

Mississippireview.com

Mississippreview.com is among the oldest and most popular literary magazines on the Web. It was established in early 1995 as a site for the publication of literary writing. Drawing on Mississippi Review archives, and on fresh material from well known writers as well as emerging talent, the online version of MR shares some of its content with the print magazine. As of 2008, the magazine has more than fifteen hundred stories and poems online, work by such writers as Thom Jones, Ben Marcus, Francine Prose, Padgett Powell, Barry Hannah, Tom Drury, Elizabeth Gilbert, Rick Bass, Ben Neihart, and from newer writers like Brian Oberkirch, Michael Dermansky, Courtney Eldridge, David Ryan, Laurie O'Brien, Jaime Clarke, Stacey Richter, Susan Hubbard, Larry French. It is a magazine that was recently referenced in Writer’s Digest as the fifth most important and influential on-line publication. Art enough to strangle you, so take it easy.

Back Issues

Get these issues of Mississippi Review direct from the magazine offices. New fiction, poetry, essays, and interviews of and by interesting young writers. Contact rief@mississippireview.com to order, or call 601-266-5600. All back issues are $9 plus shipping and are currently in stock (in limited quantities). First class postage is $2.00 per issue.