Contemporary Literature: Fiftieth Anniversary

Contemporary Literature's Fiftieth Anniversary This year marks Contemporary Literature's fiftieth year of publication. Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature was begun by graduate students in the Department of English at the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1960. L. S. Dembo, a scholar of modernist poetry, became editor of the journal in 1966 and shortened its title two years later. During his twenty-four years as editor, Larry's dedication to all that is exciting in modern and contemporary literature helped the journal to attain the international readership and large subscription base that he and the associate editors (Cyrena N. Pondrom, Betsy Draine, Phillip Herring, Jay Clayton, and Thomas Schaub) sought for it. At Larry's retirement in 1990, Thomas Schaub took over as editor and narrowed the parameters for submissions to work on post-World War II literature in English. The journal continued to publish interviews with established and emerging authors, articles featuring a diversity of critical practices, and reviews of scholarly books. Throughout the next two decades, Tom and the associate editors (Richard Begam, Lynn Keller, Rafael Pérez-Torres, Robert S. Baker, Jacques Lezra, and Rebecca L. Walkowitz) kept Contemporary Literature at the forefront of its field as a forum for discussing the issues animating the range of contemporary literary studies. In 2009, the leadership of the journal shifted to an editorial collective shared by Lynn Keller (poetry), Thomas Schaub (American fiction and drama), and Rebecca Walkowitz (British and Anglophone fiction and drama). The three co-editors work closely with six new associate editors: Alan Golding, Matthew Hart, Amy Hungerford, John Marx, Sean McCann, and Adalaide Morris.

Mary Mekemson, the managing editor, has been the journal's anchor for twenty-two years; Eileen R. Ewing has adeptly handled office matters for thirteen years.

The Lawrence Dembo Prize

In honor of its fiftieth year, Contemporary Literature has inaugurated the annual Lawrence Dembo Prize, to be awarded to the best essay published in Contemporary Literature in the preceding volume year. The recipient will be announced in a full-page notice in the journal's print and digital editions and will receive a $250 honorarium.

Graham Swift

Nancy Richards Wolfing