Sport Literate (SL)

Sprung from the 12th floor of Columbia College Chicago in 1995, Sport Literate, is a literary journal focusing on “honest reflections on life’s leisurely diversions.” A subsidiary of Pint-Size Publications, a nonprofit, SL first published a slight, kelly green covered issue stapled down the middle and printed at a Michigan Avenue copy shop. But the idea of considering sport stories as something deeper than journalism, of illuminating the common experience of life beyond the daily grind to something literary and thought-provoking, had staying power. Chicago’s New City, in a “best of edition,” called us “the best attempt be a fledgling literary magazine to find its niche” back in the early days. And we’re still here.

SL has bulked into a perfect-bound magazine published yearly (sometimes twice a year) and has been supported by subscribers and 19 consecutive grants from the Illinois Arts Council. Our issues and authors have garnered awards and recognition in anthologies such as The Best American Sports Writing and The Best American Essays. We remain, we think, the nation’s lone literary magazine examining sports through the lens of creative nonfiction. The poets are likely telling the truth, too, in spite of whatever poetic license works with their verse.

We read elements of story in all sport, but are less interested in the final score than in figuring out why we play in the first place. Through memories, dialogue recast, and real-life characters rendered as accurately as possible on the page, our poets and writers tell true tales artistically. Our definition of sport is broad, literary excellence is our only criterion, and our loyalties lie with a story unforgettably told.

Country of Publication & Year Established

United States

Established in 1995

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