From the Editors: H. R. Stoneback and the Shawangunk Review, 1989-2021
The English Graduate Review began as a small-scale publication of the English department in 1989. Following on the first Graduate Symposium, the slim, stapled volume included essays from the cohort of MA students who presented at that inaugural event, “A Tribute to Irving Howe.” Very much a document of the print technologies of its time, the cover looks as though it was produced in Print Shop, a basic graphic design program of the 1980s; the text and layout are simple (although by the standards 1989, not inelegant: desktop publishing had only recently made type styles such as Times New Roman accessible). The volume signaled its ambitions in other ways, however: read the NOTES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS section and you will see calls for papers for regional academic conferences, national and international fellowship and publication prizes, and even the opportunity to participate in the making of a PBS documentary.
That vision was the founding editor’s, H. R. Stoneback. He wanted the volume to include not only “the best papers submitted by the graduate students enrolled in this program,” but also to inspire students to think beyond the walls and grounds of this campus. With each issue these ambitions became realities: the Graduate Symposium would grow to include the words of world-renowned scholars and authors: Robert Penn Warren, Joyce Johnson, Helen Vendler, Happy Traum, and last year’s Symposium speaker, the author Matt Bell. There have been sections devoted to international symposia, contributions from award-winning poets, original songs and ballads, and, yes, many essays representing the best work of our students over the decades. Ask any of them and they could likely produce for you a copy of the issue(s) where their work was published.
Today the Shawangunk Review (as it was renamed in 1998) is available as a digital publication with a worldwide readership. You can now read all back issues online, including that first volume. The journal is a lasting memorial to Harry Stoneback, who saw the volume through thirty editions. For this issue, we have compiled remembrances from each of the co-editors who collaborated with Harry over the years on the Review. They share stories, their favorite issues and contributions, and appreciations for this now indelible part of our campus culture.
