The University Review was founded in 1934 at the University of Kansas City, a small, private school that later became part of the
University of Missouri system. In its first two years, the periodical published a discussion on "Art and Social Struggle," including contributions from
Thomas Hart Benton and
Diego Rivera, a story by
Vance Randolph, a poem by
Edgar Lee Masters, and a personal note from
Pearl S. Buck. Starting with the Spring 1938 issue, Alexander P. Cappon became editor and remained in that post for the next 33 years. In 1944 the magazine's name was changed to
The University of Kansas City Review. In that time the magazine published work by
May Sarton,
J.D. Salinger,
E.E. Cummings,
Marianne Moore,
May Swenson,
James T. Farrell,
Kenneth Rexroth. Ray published work by
Robert Bly,
Cyrus Colter,
Anselm Hollo,
Joyce Carol Oates,
Richard Hugo,
Robert Peters and
Josephine Jacobsen. He also took the helm of
New Letters on the Air and the magazine's affiliate book imprint,
BkMk Press. During his tenure, the magazine tripled its yearly circulation to 12,000, making it one of the top-read literary publications in the country. Stewart also oversaw an increase in the variety of material at the magazine. During this period, the magazine published writers such as
Brian Doyle,
Quincy Troupe,
Daniel Woodrell,
Sherman Alexie,
Sergio Troncoso,
Marilyn Hacker,
Maxine Kumin and
Charlotte Holmes.
New Letters on the Air In 1977, editor David Ray and his wife, Judy, began the audio literature program
New Letters on the Air, a half-hour radio program featuring writers reading from their work and talking about it. The show was also heard internationally and was available as a podcast. It was distributed by
PRX. Citing its budget crisis, the University of Missouri discontinued funding for
New Letters on the Air and
BkMk Press in 2020. It also incorporated
New Letters into its English department. ==New Letters Literary Awards==