Welcome to the Best American Essays Newsletter
I'm honored and elated to be taking the helm of Best American Essays, which was launched and edited by the incomparable Robert Atwan (read an interview in Assay with Mr. Atwan here). The debut issue of Best American Essays—featuring essays appearing in the periodical literature in 1985—was published in 1986 and was guest edited by Elizabeth Hardwick.
Along with updates about the Best American Essays series and announcements of readings and appearances by guest editors and contributors to the most recent volume, this newsletter will feature the following sections:
CLOSEreading: A column about work in the periodical literature by former Best American Essays series editor Robert Atwan.
Dispatches: Essayists writing in languages other than English or from places other than North America.
Essay, Memoir, Autobiography: Notes on forms (definitions, history, teaching).
The Essayist’s Calendar: A celebration of (mostly) American essayists, when they began or ended and what they wrote in between
Featured: A monthly showcase of online essays (including video and audio essays), Substack newsletters, and print anthologies of essays.
First Published As: A time capsule collecting well-known essays which first appeared in the periodical literature.
Interviews: Conversations with essayists.
Reviews: Of long-form essays and essay collections by single or multiple authors.
Interested in contributing or recommending an outstanding essay you’ve recently read online? Please note the following guidelines:
Dispatches: This section is devoted to discovering essayists—both historical and contemporary—whose work was originally written in a language other than English or who are from places other than North America. Please submit a 250-word description of the writer and the writer’s work, which should include the language or country of origin, translation history (if any), and links to any online resources connected to the writer. Images are also welcome, but please ensure that they are in the public domain.
Essaying the Essay: What is an essay? How does one teach the literary essay? How has the essay evolved over time? Please submit an essay of 1,000 words or less.
Featured: Please nominate one online essay by another writer or one anthology of essays. The work must be published in the current calendar year. Please include full publication information (i.e., URL, name and date of publication for online material; publisher, date of publication for print material).
First Published As: Many collected and oft-anthologized essays first appeared in periodicals. For example, James Baldwin’s “Notes of a Native Son” was first published (under the title “Me and My House”) in the November 1955 issue of Harper’s. Please submit a 250-500 word essay about one such particular essay, paying attention to the periodical’s focus, the socio-historical context, the quality of timelessness that such essays possess, and any notes on publication.
Interviews: Please pitch your interview idea prior to interviewing. Interviews can be in any format: print, audio (10 minutes), or video (10 minutes).
Reviews: Please pitch your review idea prior to submitting a review. We are looking for reviews of long-form essays (often book length) or anthologies of essays.
To submit to Dispatches, Essaying, Featured, First Published As, or to pitch an interview or review, please email me at bestamericanessayseditor@gmail.com.
For Best American Essays submission guidelines, please click here. And please note that these guidelines are subject to change.