''Midwestern Gothic'' was an American literary magazine based in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

and

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Founded in 2010 by Robert James Russell and Jeff Pfaller, ''Midwestern Gothic'' published fiction, essays, poetry, and photography. In 2013, ''Midwestern Gothic'' expanded into a book division, MG Press. From 2014 to 2016, in partnership with the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

's Residential College, they hosted an annual literary festival called Voices of the Middle West ''Midwestern Gothic'' also ran frequent interviews with influential Midwestern authors and poets, such as Charles Baxter, Matt Bell,

Marianne Boruch Marianne Boruch (born June 19, 1950) is an American poet whose published work also includes essays on poetry, sometimes in relation to other fields (music, visual art, ornithology, medicine, aviation, etc.) and a memoir about a hitchhiking trip t ...

Peter Ho Davies Peter Ho Davies (born 30 August 1966), is a contemporary British writer of Welsh and Chinese descent. Biography Born and raised in Coventry, England, Davies was a pupil at King Henry VIII School. He studied physics at Manchester University and ...

Stuart Dybek Stuart Dybek (born April 10, 1942) is an American writer of fiction and poetry. Biography Dybek, a second-generation Polish American, was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Chicago's Little Village and Pilsen neighborhoods in the 1950s ...

Alice Friman Alice Friman (born October 20, 1933) is an American poet. She has taught at a number of universities and helped to found the Indiana Writers' Center. She is Professor Emerita at the University of Indianapolis, and was poet-in-residence at Georgia ...

V.V. Ganeshananthan V. V. Ganeshananthan (born 1980) is an American fiction writer, essayist, and journalist. Her work has appeared in many leading newspapers and journals, including ''Granta'', ''The Atlantic Monthly'', and ''The Washington Post''. Ganeshananthan ...

Thomas McGuane Thomas Francis McGuane III (born December 11, 1939) is an American writer. His work includes ten novels, short fiction and screenplays, as well as three collections of essays devoted to his life in the outdoors. He is a member of the American A ...

. As of December 2021, ''Midwestern Gothic'' and MG Press closed permanently.

''Midwestern Gothic'' (literary journal)

''Midwestern Gothic'' published fiction, essays, poetry, and photography, and was dedicated to painting a portrait of the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

by writers who lived there or who had just passed through. It was also distinguished from many other literary magazines by actively seeking work from previously unpublished writers in addition to established ones. Published authors included

Nick Arvin Nick Arvin is an American engineer and writer. Early life and education Arvin was born in North Carolina and raised in Michigan. He graduated from the University of Michigan and Stanford University with degrees in mechanical engineering. He is al ...

, Frank Bill, Aaron Burch,

Bonnie Jo Campbell Bonnie Jo Campbell (born September 14, 1962) is an American novelist and short story writer. Her most recent work is ''The Waters (novel), The Waters'', published with W. W. Norton and Company. Life and work Campbell was born in Kalamazoo, Mich ...

Roxane Gay Roxane Gay (born October 15, 1974) is an American writer, professor, editor, and social commentator. Gay is the author of ''The New York Times'' best-selling essay collection ''Bad Feminist'' (2014), as well as the short story collection ''Ayiti ...

, Amorek Huey, Lindsay Hunter, Keith Taylor, Anne Valente, Jeff Vande Zande, Marcus Wicker.

Staff

* Co-founder/Managing Editor: Robert James Russell * Co-founder/Managing Editor: Jeff Pfaller * Poetry Editor: Christina Olson * Digital Marketing Director: Allison Reck * Assistant Editor: Lauren Crawford * Assistant Editor: Giuliana Eggleston * Assistant Editor: Rachel Hurwitz

MG Press

Founded in 2013, MG Press was an extension of the literary journal ''Midwestern Gothic'', focusing on Midwestern authors and their work.

Books published

*VanBaale, Kali. ''The Space Between'' (2018). *Prushinskaya, Anna. ''A Woman Is a Woman Until She Is a Mother'' (2017). *Lesmeister, Keith. ''We Could’ve Been Happy Here'' (2017). * Shonkwiler, Eric. ''8th Street Power & Light'' (2016). * VanBaale, Kali. ''The Good Divide'' (2016). * McCarthy, John. ''Ghost County'' (2016). * ''Tell Me How It Was: An Anthology of Imagined Michigan Histories''. (2015). * Babcock, Julie. ''Autoplay'' (2014). * Shonkwiler, Eric. ''Above All Men'' (2014). * Carpenter, Scott Dominic. ''This Jealous Earth: Stories'' (2013).

References

{{reflist

External links