The Toad Suck Review, published annually by the Department of Writing in the College of Fine Arts and Communication has been named one of “the10 best literary magazines launched in 2011” by the Library Journal.
This recognition for excellence at the international level will be officially announced in the May 1 issue.
Steve Black’s “Best Magazines 2011” feature focuses on the recently released second issue from 2012, which is honored for being “a solid choice for collections of contemporary literature.”
Black’s review of UCA’s literary journal also states, “The Review publishes a mix of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, translations, and reviews, and it leans toward the experimental without veering into excessively weird . . . [and is] unique enough to distinguish itself from the crowd of literary journals while still being accessible.”
Asked what this award means for the Toad Suck Review, Editor in Chief Mark Spitzer said: “It means that our vision is visionary, and it helps to further establish UCA as an innovative leader in the literary arts — not just in Central Arkansas, but in the evolving literary landscape of the country and beyond. We are blown away.”
The Toad Suck Review was also recognized by the avant-garde &Now Awards. Three award-winning Jack Collom poems from TSR #1 will be reprinted in the upcoming anthology, The &Now Awards: The Best Innovative Writing, published by Lake Forest College Press in Illinois, distributed by Northwestern University Press.
A recent NewPages.com review of TSR #2 remarks, “It is rare . . . to blatantly praise a literary magazine for all its glory; however, this issue of Toad Suck Review is an incredible read. The stories are diverse, fun, edgy, comical and really push the limits. Toad Suck Review is daring.”
In the letters section of the current issue of TSR, Associate Editor John Vanderslice notes, “like our former incarnation, the Exquisite Corpse Annual, we pay in infamy. And contributor copies. For more on our editorial policy, see our guidelines at toadsuckreview.org.”
TSR #1 (“the transitional issue”) features a one-act play by legendary poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and also includes work by Xaviera Hollander, Kevin Brockmeier, Jack Hirschman, Lyn Lifshin and many other established and emerging writers. TSR #2 includes prose by the iconic Charles Bukowski and Amiri Baraka, as well as artwork by Shepard Fairey and a diverse array of famous and notorious names. The next issue, due out in February 2013, will publish a “lost work” by the renowned eco-author Edward Abbey, as well as “critical intel” from the Pulitzer Prize-winning Gary Snyder and Beat poet Lew Welch. Spitzer notes that TSR #3 will boast “a cutting-edge 3D cover and include 3D glasses.”
Ordering info for the Toad Suck Review can be found at www.toadsuckreview.org. Copies are also available at bookstores in Conway and Little Rock and through various online booksellers. The Toad Suck Review will have discount copies, back issues, and t-shirts for sale at its Toad Suck Daze booth in Conway, May 4-6. For more information, contact the Toad at (501) 450-3339 or email toadsuckreview@gmail.com.
