''River Styx'' is a literary and visual arts magazine produced in St. Louis, Missouri, and published by Big River Association. It is the oldest literary journal in St. Louis, Missouri.

Early years

''River Styx'' was founded in St Louis, Missouri in 1975, but its history reaches even farther into the past. In the late 1960s, poets and musicians would gather after poetry readings to read their own writing and the work of poets they admired. These sessions evolved into the ''River Styx Poets'' radio program, which ran from 1970-1973. Regulars on the show included founding editors Michael and Jan Castro, Danny Spell, and Marvin Hohman. The magazine has always prided itself on its multicultural approach to publishing and reading series. Early contributors to the magazine included David Meltzer, Jerome Rothenberg, Maurice Kenny, Joy Harjo, Terri McMillan, and Quincy Troupe. The magazine included interviews with

Ntozake Shange Ntozake Shange ( ;
FilmReference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018. October 18, 1948 – October 27, 2018 ...

Gary Snyder Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate ...

Gabriel Garcia Marquez In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his Monochrome photography, black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association ...

Robert Bly Robert Elwood Bly (December 23, 1926 – November 21, 2021) was an American poet, essayist, activist and leader of the mythopoetic men's movement. His best-known prose book is '' Iron John: A Book About Men'' (1990), which spent 62 weeks on ...

John Barth John Simmons Barth (; May 27, 1930 – April 2, 2024) was an American writer best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. His most highly regarded and influential works were published in the 1960s, and include '' The Sot-Weed Facto ...

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist and editor. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically accl ...

, and

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

. ''River Styx'' magazine is produced by the literary organization River Styx (originally Big River Association), incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in 1975 with Michael Castro as president. The organization also produces literary readings and other events, online and in-person. Michael Castro directed the reading series for more than twenty years, with one year stints by Jan Castro, Peter Carlos, Ann Haubrich, and Jan Rothschild. Events included music by

Willie Mae Ford Smith Willie Mae Ford Smith (June 23, 1904 – February 2, 1994) was an American musician and Christian evangelist instrumental in the development and spread of gospel music in the United States. She grew up singing with her family, joining a quartet ...

James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (né Jones; August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer and civil rights activist who garnered acclaim for his essays, novels, plays, and poems. His 1953 novel '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'' has been ranked ...

, the

World Saxophone Quartet The World Saxophone Quartet was an American jazz ensemble founded in 1977, incorporating elements of free jazz, R&B, funk and South African jazz into their music. The original members were Julius Hemphill (alto and soprano saxophone, flute), ...

, and

St. Louis Symphony The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is the second-oldest professional symphony o ...

musicians Catherine Lehr, Manuel Ramos, and Rich O'Donnell. Local artists from St. Louis attended, as did visiting writers

Breyten Breytenbach Breyten Breytenbach (; 16 September 193924 November 2024) was a South African writer, poet, and painter. He became internationally well-known as a dissident poet and vocal critic of South Africa under apartheid, and as a political prisoner of ...

Dennis Brutus Dennis Vincent Brutus (28 November 1924 – 26 December 2009) was a South African activist, educator, journalist and poet best known for his campaign to have South Africa banned from the Olympic Games due to its racial policy of apartheid. ...

Carolyn Forche Carolyn is a female given name, a variant of Caroline. Other spellings include Carolin, Karolyn, Carolyne, Carolynn or Carolynne. Caroline itself is one of the feminine forms of Charles. List of notable people *Carolyn Bennett (born 1950), ...

, W.S. Merwin,

Adrienne Rich Adrienne Cecile Rich ( ; May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "the ...

, and

Derek Walcott Sir Derek Alton Walcott OM (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem '' Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as ...

. Special editions by Arthur Brown and

William H. Gass William Howard Gass (July 30, 1924 – December 6, 2017) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, critic, and philosophy professor. He wrote three novels, three collections of short stories, a collection of novellas, and seven vol ...

were produced in the 1980s. In 1995 Richard Newman became editor-in-chief. After Michael Castro left the organization in 2000, Newman became director of the River Styx Poetry Series. In 1986 Jan Castro received the Editors Award for ''River Styx'' from CCLM (Coordinating Council for Literary Magazines, now CLMP).

21st Century River Styx

Due to financial challenges and internal disputes over how the organization should be managed, ''River Styx'' shut down briefly in 2022. The magazine and its parent organization were revived in 2023 by Deborah Taffa, who took over as editor-in-chief, and Bryan Castille, who became managing editor. The magazine relaunched as a primarily online journal in June 2023. The editorial staff includes Fiction and Multimedia Editor Christa Fraser, Creative Nonfiction Editor Carla Crujido, and Poetry Editors Danielle Wheeler and Micah Bateman. In December 2023 it was announced that ''River Styx'' would resume publishing a print edition. The magazine devotes space in each issue to visual artists. Past artists published in the magazine have been Michael Corr, Alejandro Romero, Lynda Frese, Emmet Gowan, John Slaughter, Patte Loper, Birney Imes, Virginia Beahan, Laura McPhee, Deborah Luster, Dana Moore, Benedict Fernandez, Frank Shaw, Sarah Lorentz, Philip Harris, Mary Laube, and Mary F. Coates.

Awards

The magazine has won several Stanley Hanks Prizes, awards from the Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines, and grants and support from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

Missouri Arts Council The Missouri Arts Council is a division of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. The Council is funded through the Missouri General Assembly, Missouri Cultural Trust, and National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts ( ...

, Regional Arts Commission, Missouri Humanities Council, and the Arts and Education Council. Its poems and stories have appeared in the ''Best American Poetry'' and ''New Stories from the South'' anthologies, ''Best New Poets'', and ''The Pushcart Prizes: Best of the Small Presses''.

Contributors

The magazine has published work by

Jacob M. Appel Jacob M. Appel (born February 21, 1973) is an American polymath, author, bioethicist, physician, lawyer, and social critic.Nagamatsu, Sequoia "A Few Words with the Ubiquitous Jacob M. Appel" ''Prince Mincer'' Journal http://primemincer.com/ con ...

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...

Richard Burgin Richard Burgin (October 11, 1892 – April 29, 1981) was a Polish-American violinist, best known as associate conductor and the concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO). Early life Burgin was born in Siedlce, Poland, and first p ...

Amy Clampitt Amy Clampitt (June 15, 1920 – September 10, 1994) was an American poet and author. Life Clampitt was born on June 15, 1920, of Quaker parents, and brought up in New Providence, Iowa. At nearby Grinnell College and later in the American Academy ...

Robert Creeley Robert White Creeley (May 21, 1926 – March 30, 2005) was an American poet and author of more than 60 books. He is associated with the Black Mountain poets, although his verse aesthetic diverged from that school. Creeley was close with Charle ...

Rita Dove Rita Frances Dove (born August 28, 1952) is an American poet and essayist. From 1993 to 1995, she served as United States Poet Laureate, Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have bee ...

Stephen Dunn Stephen Elliot Dunn (June 24, 1939June 24, 2021) was an American poet and educator who authored twenty-one collections of poetry. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his 2000 collection, ''Different Hours,'' and received an Academy Award i ...

Clayton Eshleman Clayton Eshleman (June 1, 1935 – January 29 or 30, 2021) was an American poet, translator and editor, noted in particular for his translations of César Vallejo and his studies of cave painting and the Paleolithic imagination. Eshleman's work ha ...

, Martín Espada,

Albert Goldbarth Albert Goldbarth (born January 31, 1948) is an American poet. He has won the National Book Critics Circle award for "Saving Lives" (2001) and "Heaven and Earth: A Cosmology" (1991), the only poet to receive the honor two times. He also won the Mar ...

Donald Hall Donald Andrew Hall Jr. (September 20, 1928 – June 23, 2018) was an American poet, writer, editor, and literary critic. He was the author of more than 50 books across several genres from children's literature, biography, memoir, essays, and inc ...

Robert Hass Robert L. Hass (born March 1, 1941) is an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. He won the 2007 National Book Award John Hollander John Hollander (October 28, 1929 – August 17, 2013) was an American poet and literary critic. At the time of his death, he was Sterling Professor Emeritus of English at Yale University, having previously taught at Connecticut College, Hunter C ...

, Jane Ellen Ibur, Rodney Jones,

Yusef Komunyakaa Yusef Komunyakaa (born James William Brown; April 29, 1941) is an American poet who teaches at New York University and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, for '' ...

Ted Kooser Theodore J. Kooser (born April 25, 1939) is an American poet. He won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2005. He served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 to 2006. Kooser was one of the first poets laureate ...

, Maxine Kumin,

Li-Young Lee Li-Young Lee (李立揚, pinyin: Lǐ Lìyáng) (born August 19, 1957) is an American poet. He was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Chinese parents. His maternal great-grandfather was Yuan Shikai, China's first Republican President, who attempted t ...

Czesław Miłosz Czesław Miłosz ( , , ; 30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. He primarily wrote his poetry in Polish language, Polish. Regarded as one of the great poets of the ...

Thylias Moss Thylias Moss (born February 27, 1954, in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American poet, writer, experimental filmmaker, sound artist and playwright of African-American, Native American, and European heritage. Her poetry has been published in a number of ...

Howard Nemerov Howard Nemerov (February 29, 1920 – July 5, 1991) was an American poet. Nemerov was the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor of English and Distinguished Poet in Residence at Washington University in St. Louis. He was twice ...

Sharon Olds Sharon Olds (born November 19, 1942) is an American poet. She won the first San Francisco Poetry Center Award in 1980, the 1984 National Book Critics Circle Award, and the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

Octavio Paz Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...

, Molly Peacock,

Carl Phillips Carl Phillips (born 23 July 1959) is an American writer and poet. He is a professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis. In 2023, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his '' Then the War: And Selected Poems, 2007-2020.'' ...

, Adrienne Rich,

Jerome Rothenberg Jerome Rothenberg (December 11, 1931 – April 21, 2024) was an American poet, translator and anthologist, noted for his work in the fields of ethnopoetics and performance poetry. Rothenberg co-founded the method of ethnopoetics with Dennis T ...

, Alan Shapiro,

Ntozake Shange Ntozake Shange ( ;
FilmReference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018. October 18, 1948 – October 27, 2018 ...

Charles Simic Dušan Simić ( sr-cyr, Душан Симић, ; May 9, 1938 – January 9, 2023), known as Charles Simic, was a Serbian American poet and poetry co-editor of ''The Paris Review''. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1990 for '' The W ...

, George Singleton,

Susan Sontag Susan Lee Sontag (; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, critic, and public intellectual. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on "Camp", Notes on 'Ca ...

, William Stafford,

May Swenson Anna Thilda May "May" Swenson (May 28, 1913 – December 4, 1989) was an American poet and playwright. Harold Bloom considered her one of the most important and original poets of the 20th century. Born to Margaret and Dan Arthur Swenson, she ...

Arthur Sze Arthur Sze (; ; born December 1, 1950) is an American poet, translator, and professor. Since 1972, he has published ten collections of poetry. Sze's ninth collection ''Compass Rose'' (2014) was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Sz ...

Wisława Szymborska Maria Wisława Anna SzymborskaVioletta Szostagazeta.pl, 9 February 2012. ostęp 11 February 2012 (; 2 July 1923 – 1 February 2012) was a Polish people, Polish poet, essayist, translator, and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Liter ...

Mona Van Duyn Mona Jane Van Duyn (May 9, 1921 – December 2, 2004) was an American poet. She was appointed United States Poet Laureate in 1992. Biography Early years Van Duyn was born May 9, 1921, in Waterloo, Iowa."Van Duyn, Mona (1921–2004)." '' Dictio ...

, Derek Walcott, Katy Chrisler, Jodi Johnson, Fortunato Salazar, Anca Fodor, Claire Walla, Lise Balk King, Gregory Brown, Parastoo Geranmayeh, Darien Gee, C3 Crew, Rajiv Mohabir, Justin Cox, Daniel Ruiz, Charlene Logan, Alyssa Perry, Mark Neely, Mark Mayer, Becky Kennedy, Mitchell Glazier, Meera Rohit Kumbhani, Robert Nazar Arjoyan, James Crews, Jake Fournier, Jane Wong, Katya Apekina, and Sarah Viren."Tale of Two Richards" ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' October 9, 2005.

Staff

*Editor: Lori Baker Martin *Managing Editor: Bryan Castille *Founding Editor: Michael Castro *Editor Emeritus: Deborah Taffa *Nonfiction Editor: Claire Walla *Poetry Editor: Danielle Wheeler

References

{{Reflist

External links

River Styx MagazineRiver Styx staff, local writers anticipate magazine's 100th issue
1975 establishments in Missouri Biannual magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1975 Magazines published in St. Louis Poetry magazines published in the United States