TYR offers readers a digital space to read and contemplate


For more than two centuries, Yale magazine has published works by some of the most notable writers and poets of their time, from Virginia Woolf and Thomas Mann to Louise Glück and Cathy Park Hong. But until recently, the journal didn’t do what many others in the literary world have done: fully dive into the digital realm.

Last month, America’s oldest “little magazine” took the plunge by launching a new website that captures the literary quality of the quarterly print edition, while adding new layers that deliver a richer reading experience.

Readers will find the types of content in digital format that have always distinguished the print edition – works of fiction and poetry by established and emerging writers alongside edgy essays and reviews. They will also discover new content exclusive to the Web, such as audio recordings of poets reading their work; and video editing of readings, interviews, conversations, etc. In addition, the new “TYR” also features popular “gems” from the newspaper’s archives, according to its editor, Meghan O’Rourke.

While a TYR website has been around for several years, it was mostly limited to an online version of the print edition. (And until recently, readers had to access the pieces as PDF files.) O’Rourke, the acclaimed poet, memorial and critic who took over as editorial director of The Yale Review in 2019, said the news digital incarnation of the journal brings it into the 21st century.

When I got on board we did a survey of our readership which told us what we had already guessed – that to a very large extent people were reading digitally, ”she said. “Some read both digitally and on paper, but only 6% of our respondents read exclusively on paper. (Yale Journal will continue to be published quarterly in its print form.)

It has been exciting for our team to have this incredible opportunity to bring The Yale Review into the 21st century publishing landscape in order to reach a new generation of readers and writers online.

Since its founding as The Christian Spectator in 1819 (later renamed The New Englander in 1843 before taking its current name in 1911), The Yale Review has distinguished itself as a journal of literature and ideas. O’Rourke said his biggest hope for this new incarnation of TYR is that she “feels necessary and relevant to all readers, including those who may not have known him before.”

The reinvention of a digital TYR included thoughtful website design.

We’ve intentionally built a really organized space that’s not full of flashy pop-ups and other hijackings, ”O’Rourke said. “We wanted to provide a beautiful, calm and contemplative experience for our readers while providing them with the convenience of being able to read on their phones when they are in line or when they are at their computer during a lunch break, for example. “

While the online format is new, TYR will continue to focus on its traditional mission, O’Rourke said. “We are committed to publishing writers who are at the center of the excitement and excitement of literature today, bringing in novice writers and established voices, and publishing their work in conversation with each other. others, ”she said. “We are committed to reaching out to writers who embody TYR’s tradition of beautiful writing that goes hand in hand with powerful thinking.”

Currently featured on the site is a conversation between award-winning novelist Rachel Cushner and Caleb Smith; new fiction by the prolific Joyce Carol Oates; poetry of Sally Wen Mao and Natasha Rao; testing Rizvana Bradley, Madhu H. Kaza, and Ratik Asokan; and one dialogue between Elif Batuman and Ama Codjoe about their failed book club, and how to decide when to stop reading a book, to give just a small sample. (Typically, the website will be updated two to three times a week, with a publication hiatus in August.)

TYR’s regular offerings now include “TYR Talks,” a series of in-person and Zoom events that premiered in fall 2020 (his first event was a reading from Terrance Hayes, in conversation with O’Rourke), “Poem of the Week,” and “The Moment,” an exploration of a current political, cultural or social issue or topic. For example, last year TYR featured on its website “The Pandemic Files,” a collection of literary and critical writings and international dispatches that explored the early days of the global COVID-19 crisis. Future offerings will also include regular essays and possibly a book club that enables reader engagement.

We want TYR to be a site for an incredible range of creative literature at its best, alongside urgent and timely review, ”said O’Rourke. “It’s important for us to publish work of great depth – work that pushes aesthetic and intellectual boundaries – but we also want a spirit of play and curiosity.”

In the first month since the launch of the new site, TYR had 52,000 readers; 80% of them were new visitors to the site.

We are really excited about the website as a supplement to the print newspaper. We’re not going to ditch the print newspaper: we believe in print and love print! But we’re more than excited to have this other medium with which to connect readers and with which to think and experience form in a whole new way.

TYR is currently available for free reading online, as part of the Journal’s educational mission. Print journal subscriptions are available (and help support the website and continued existence of the journal). TYR memberships are also offered; members receive a one-year membership, early access to events such as the “TYR Talks” series and a TYR tote bag. Memberships support the journal as well as internships for undergraduate and graduate students at Yale interested in a career in publishing.


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