The following is part of an interview series:
PRINT LITERARY JOURNALS in conversation with BENNINGTON REVIEW

via email in Spring 2019

JUSTIN SHEA

Ninth Letter's Fall/Winter 14.2 issue, along with the amazing pieces of poetry and prose, has visually stunning pages of artwork sprinkled throughout. What is the process for choosing those pieces of artwork, and is the art’s interaction with pieces of poetry or prose in the edition taken into account in that process?

JODEE STANLEY

All the visual art in Ninth Letter is created by the art students who work on the design of the journal, and it’s created specifically for the issue in which it appears. The artists and designers read all the material for the issue and meet with the editors to discuss the stories, poems, and essays. The whole design of each issue is inspired by the writing within, and the visuals are created to illuminate and interact with the words, creating (we hope) a singular kind of reading experience for our audience.

JUSTIN SHEA

Students seem to play an important role in both the design and editing process for Ninth Letter. How much does the style and nature of work published in the magazine change based on the views of the particular class of students working on Ninth Letter at any time?

JODEE STANLEY

Ninth Letter has always aimed to publish a wide range of styles and voices, and also to push the boundaries of print design in new directions—so we consider the rotation of students on both the editorial side and the design side an important part of maintaining our journal’s identity.

JUSTIN SHEA

Ninth Letter recently released its first ever audio version of a web edition through SoundCloud. What impact does Ninth Letter wish for this venture into a new medium, and where did this decision—to offer the web edition in audio form—stem from?

JODEE STANLEY

We launched our web edition in 2013 with the idea that the web provides a broad platform for variety in publishing, and we wanted to take advantage of that. Not only does having an audio version increase our accessibility, it also gives our audience a new way to engage with the work we publish. We had published audio versions of individual pieces before, but the web editor for that issue, Michael Hurley, came up with the idea of doing an entire issue with audio as well as text, and we were thrilled with how it turned out and how both the authors and the audience responded.

JUSTIN SHEA

Each issue of Ninth Letter features a “Where We’re At” section where members of the editorial team write about different locations they’ve experienced throughout the midwestern United States. How important of a role does place play, specifically the Midwest, when it comes to making editorial decisions?

JODEE STANLEY

We don’t limit our general selections to Midwest authors or setting, nor do we prioritize them over others, but we are inherently proud of our connection to the midwestern region, and specifically to our parent institution, the University of Illinois. We never want our readers to forget that Ninth Letter is an example of the kind of literary quality that this part of the country produces, so we decided to make sure that in every issue we made an overt connection to the Midwest.

JUSTIN SHEA

Finally, what do you think distinguishes Ninth Letter from other literary magazines currently in publication?

JODEE STANLEY

The most obvious answer is, of course, our approach to print design. But beyond that, I think that Ninth Letter is recognized by readers as a journal that does publish a wide range of writing—there is no one kind of “Ninth Letter story” or “Ninth Letter poem.” We also make a strong effort to publish new voices, resisting the idea that we must publish high-profile writers all the time, or publish only from a small pool of recognizable names, in order to attract a readership.

JUSTIN SHEA is a senior at Bennington College studying literature, politics, and public action.

JODEE STANLEY is the editor and fiction editor of Ninth Letter.