The Delmarva Review

Today we feature The Delmarva Review. Wilson Wyatt (also a brand new board member of The Writer's Center) is the founder of the journal and also chairman of its editorial board.

Can you tell us a little about The Delmarva Review?

The Delmarva Review publishes an annual selection of the best new prose and poetry by emerging and established writers in the region. However, we welcome all writers, everywhere. Good writing should have no boundaries.

Of the 52 authors we have published in the first two issues, most are from the Chesapeake and Delmarva region, but they have come from 10 states, the District of Columbia and four foreign countries, thanks to the Internet. We are pleased that several of our writers are among the instructors at The Writer’s Center.

When several of us founded the Review, just over two years ago, we wanted to create a new, quality print venue to publish distinctive, excellent writing from the region. Our focus was to expand publishing opportunities for writers at a time when other print publications were diminishing. There are more writers today than ever, with fewer opportunities to be published in print.

The publisher and primary sponsor of the Review is the Eastern Shore Writers’ Association, a nonprofit organization of writers from across the tri-state Delmarva Peninsula. The publication has also been supported by public literary arts grants.

What makes Delmarva Unique?

The region, its culture and people are unique. Many fine writers have found a home here. Some area known and many are aspiring to be heard. They represent the talented new voices of the region. The Delmarva Review hopes to discover these voices and showcase their work.

This large geographic region contains the Chesapeake Bay, the historic Eastern Shore, the rural countryside of the Delmarva Peninsula, the coastal beaches of Atlantic Ocean, and the strong influence of the populous area from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore and Wilmington.

We publish the work of authors outside of these boundaries, with the hope that their writing will inspire the work of new regional writers. We also select at least one featured writer in each issue, and we publish short reviews of selected regional books.

Another unique feature is that we are relatively new, now entering our third edition. While the submission process is increasingly competitive for quality work, we maintain respect for all writers. If a submission has excellence but may need some minor editing, we will work with the author.

Tell us more about how the Review selects work.

A small, hands-on editorial board develops each issue. As the chairman, I oversee the overall operations, but each board member participates equally in the publication process.

The editor is Linda Fritz, a former editor with Sunset publications. She selects the final fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry to complete each issue. We have a number of experienced readers who see all submissions and recommend work to the editor. The editorial board agrees to all final content.

Melanie Rigney, former editor of Writer’s Digest magazine, is copyeditor for the next issue. John Elsberg, editor of Bogg literary journal, is responsible for overseeing poetry submissions. Dr. Margot Miller oversees the fiction readers. Author Kate Blackwell, a former instructor at The Writer’s Center, advises the board on both fiction and nonfiction. Essayist George Merrill oversees nonfiction submissions. Novelist Mala Burt is our managing editor. Our design editor is artist Laura Ambler. All are passionate, dedicated volunteers. All of us have experience as published writers.