Editor Interview: The Fourth River

Writing of nature & place

Ecotone, Pleiades, Tin House, Kestrel, 4AM, The Kenyon Review, Electric Literature, Hayden's Ferry, Prairie Schooner, The Missouri Review, Black Warrior Review, The Colorado Review, Terrain.org

In no particular order: Scott Russell Sanders, Barbara Hurd, Terrance Hayes, Eula Biss, Mark Doty, Jane Hirschfield

I'd say the sheer quality of our contributors. In addition to our hard-working editorial staff, there's an entire practicum dedicated to finding the best writers out there, whether they're established professionals or up-and-coming talent.
Also, The Fourth River is used to both support and promote a creative writing program dedicated to innovative community programs such as Chatham's award-winning Words Without Walls prison writing program and our annual Bridges festival.

We live in a country where people ignore things. If our citizenry can ignore a failed court system, widespread corruption, and poverty, they're going to ignore your stories, essays, and poems. I'm sorry, but it's true. What we, as writers, need to do is to create art that is unignorable. That's compelling and brave and beautiful. Stories, essays, and poems that can't be brushed aside.
I'm not saying that you need to send me stories about strippers or explosions. I think some of the most memorable stories I've read have been quietly compelling. I'm thinking of Joyce Carol Oates' "How I Contemplated the World..." or Stuart Dybek's "Pet Milk." That said, I also love George Saunders' "Sea Oak" and Robert Olen Butler's "Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot." Anything by Aimee Bender.
Good work will find a home. I think you have to believe that if you're a writer. Submit your best work (preferably to us), and it will find a home faster.

As fiction editor, I was really impressed by Abby Geni's "Fire Blight" and Meghan Perry's "Another Ocean," which are two stories we just published. I was also impressed by how nice and smart both writers were. Complete professionals.
"Fire Blight" gave me a glimpse of familiar landscapes (both physical and emotional), but in a way that I'd never seen before. There's also a wildness to the image at the end that's both unexpected and completely logical.
"Another Ocean" is an honest, almost searingly sad story. It's a solid, classic narrative, like an Amish table or something. Readers a hundred years from now will enjoy it, maybe even more than I did.

People misspell my name a lot. I become "Robert Tune" or "Robert Tuna" or "Aubrey Hirsch" at least once a semester. I don't mind, but it probably turns off the practicum readers.
There is no need to pitch a short story to a literary journal. Pitches shrink or distort a story, and never in a flattering way.

I care a medium amount about cover letters. Cover letters are important in figuring out how professional the writer is.
Previous publication credits mean little to me. It's all about the particular piece you've sent us.

It really depends. I teach at two different universities, so sometimes I have more time to read stories than others. I'm a writer, too, so out of respect for my peers, I do try to read stories the whole way through. That said, especially if a piece is riddled with typos or is otherwise amateurish, I can usually tell after a few paragraphs. I think any competent editor can, if I'm honest.

Every submission we get is read carefully and at least twice. Sometimes, I work with an author on edits before accepting a story for publication, but not always. I've published several stories exactly as they were sent to us.
Due to time constraints, I'll usually only work with a writer on a story if it's 90% publishable or if the changes I'm proposing are minor or superficial.

It varies pretty wildly. Every few days, I sit in my office and access the Submittable queue and look through the rejections. If I see a catchy title or an interesting first paragraph, I'll sometimes read the story through--not because I distrust the readers but more because I'd hope an editor would do the same with my work.
I spend a little more time on the actual "accepted" stories. I generally print them out and read them at home. I try to live with the stories for awhile and think about them when I'm jogging or on the bus. If the characters are compelling enough, sometimes they'll pop into my head at unexpected moments during the day.
I wish I had something more exciting to say here. Sometimes, I'll read submissions before starting on my own work, or before grading papers. We allow simultaneous submissions, so I kind of hate the idea of another journal discovering a great writer before we do.