Volume 1

One would imagine that central Massachusetts, with its rich literary background and long history, might have spawned its own review at least a century ago. But the typical Worcester book-lover seems still to regard the hub of his/her universe as being forty miles distant. As “American scholars” in the Emersonian tradition, we declare our independence of that attitude, and of cultural imperialists North, South, and West as well.

So our effort is one of both asserting and correcting area provincialisms. Several leading contemporary artists (including S. N. Behrman, Stanley Kunitz, Elizabeth Bishop, and the late Charles Olson) spent their early years in Worcester; a number of others live now in the immediate vicinity. In an effort to emphasize and encourage the literary tradition they established, we devote a number of these pages to previously unpublished writers. The prose statements by established poets were prepared especially for the Worcester Poetry Festival over the past two years, and are reprinted here with the kind permission of those visiting poets.

We intend that the Worcester Review serve as a forum for familiar and new voices, alert to what is speculative and original in form as well as content. And we look forward to a continuing conversation with those of you who share these concerns.