Alaska Quarterly Review continues to garner international attention

The Alaska Quarterly Review (AQR) continues to prove itself as one of the nation's best literary magazines.

AQR, published by the University of Alaska Anchorage, was informed recently that an essay in the current spring and summer 2009 issue will be featured on BBC's "The Naked Scientists: Science Radio and Naked Science Podcasts." Earlier this year, Editor Ronald Spatz and former Associate Editor Richard Chiappone were featured on the BBC's radio program "The Verb." Last year, Radio National of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation featured AQR and Spatz in a major segment on "The Book Show."

AQR was also recently notified that a poem originally published in AQR's spring and summer 2008 edition has been selected for inclusion in The Best American Poetry 2009 by Series Editor David Lehman and Guest Editor David Wagoner. The winning poem, "A Blind Astronomer in the Age of Stars," is by Pattiann Rogers. The Best American Poetry 2009 will be published by Scribner on Sept. 22, 2009. Additionally, a poem by Sam Green, originally published in that same issue of AQR, was awarded a Pushcart Prize and will be published in the 2009 Pushcart Prize: The Best of the Small Presses, distributed by W.W. Norton.

Here are several additional 2008-2009 accolades and reviews of AQR:

• Poetry Daily featured the poem "Heel" by Nance Van Winckel, originally published in the fall and winter 2008 issue of AQR.
• Former Poet Laureate of the United States (2004-2006), Ted Kooser, has selected the poem "Winter Melon" by Jane Hirshfield, first published in the fall and winter 2008 issue of AQR, for American Life in Poetry.
• Poets & Writers Magazine (May/June 2009) print edition features a special literary magazine section that mentions AQR and quotes Editor Spatz.

Two 2008 reviews online:

• "Mind Exercises" at The Review Review
• Literary Magazine Reviews at New Pages.com