The five winners of the fifth annual Whiting Literary Magazine Prizes have been announced, taking home a combined total of $144,000 in funding. The prizes, which are administered by the Whiting Foundation, have been awarded since 2018 to a total of 23 literary magazines to honor their "excellence in publishing, advocacy for writers, and a unique contribution to the strength of the overall literary community."
This year's winners, with citations, are as follows:
Zyzzyva, based in San Francisco, is "a stalwart West Coast publication with national reach, an exquisitely curated reading experience, and top-notch design."
- Medium-Budget Print Prize Winner ($150,000-$500,000 budget)
- Total prize: $60,000
Bennington Review, based in Bennington, VT, is "a visually stunning journal with an imaginative and sophisticated vision that offers hands-on experience to the next generation of editors."
- Small-Budget Print Prize Winner (under $150,000 budget)
- Total prize: $30,000
American Chordata, based in Brooklyn, is a budding independent magazine full of thought-provoking interplay between text and visual art—a careful assemblage of young writers and artists alongside recognized talents.
- Print Development Grantee (under $50,000 budget)
- Total prize: $15,000
Apogee Journal, based in New York City, is "an incubator for multicultural writers with a finger on the pulse of the literary landscape and an established reputation for publishing stellar up-and-comers."
- Digital Prize Winner (under $500,000 budget)
- Total prize: $19,500
Electric Literature, based in Brooklyn, is "a buzzing concourse for news and ideas publishing compelling essays, short stories with insightful context, and incisive critical coverage of the literary world."
- Digital Prize Winner (under $500,000 budget)
- Total prize: $19,500
Support for all prize winners unfolds over three years. Each magazine will also receive time with an expert fundraising consultant and other professional development support throughout the year. Applications for next year's awards will open in the fall.