Since its founding in 1975, Boston Review has been deeply committed to poetry and fiction, featuring some of the most innovative and distinguished voices of our time. Reflecting this, we are initiating an ambitious new program that promises a deeper integration of fine arts with our democratic mission. We are happy to announce Arts in Society, a radical revisioning that combines and expands upon our creative writing programs.

Arts in Society brings our previously siloed poetry and fiction—along with cultural criticism and belles lettres—into a common project. It focuses on how the arts—including the visual arts, theater, dance, and film—can speak directly to the most pressing political and civic concerns, including racism, inequality, poverty, demagoguery, sex- and gender-based violence, a disempowered electorate, and a collapsing natural world.

Arts in Society is helmed by Boston Review’s Managing Editor and now Arts Editor, Adam McGee, and two new contributing editors: Pulitzer-nominated poet Evie Shockley (on leave until fall 2019), and National Poetry Series–winning poet and novelist Ed Pavlić. Additional contributing editors will be announced in coming months.

With the debut of Arts in Society, we are also adopting a new social justice–oriented model for our poetry and fiction contests. Click here to learn more.

In fall 2019, Arts in Society will complete its first major project, a special print issue of Boston Review titled Allies. Through original poetry, fiction, and cultural criticism from renowned writers and newcomers, Allies will offer indispensable insights into issues of trust, bridge-building, difference, and betrayal. Drawing on the prophetic power of the imagination to conjure both the possible dangers and life-giving possibilities of alliances—be they political or private—Allies will be indispensable reading for our times.

Please make sure that you follow Boston Review’s mailing list, Facebook, and Twitter so that you don’t miss additional announcements in coming months about Arts in Society, and join us as we embark on an exciting new leg of our journey.