In 2010, TriQuarterly magazine will switch to an online format, the literary journal’s official blog, TriQuarterly To-Day, reported. The change comes after Northwestern University Press, the journal’s publisher, reaffirmed its commitment to publishing and disseminating scholarly writing. Under the plan, TriQuarterly will merge into the School of Continuing Studies Creative Writing program, where writers such as Stuart Dybek, Aleksander Hemon, Mary Kinzie, Alex Kotlowitz, and Ed Roberson teach. Acquisitions, editorial, and design will be handled by the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program; technical support will be provided by Northwestern University Information Technology staff. Solicitation and publication of external writers will continue at the journal, which will be available free on the Web. “This move will align publishing efforts more closely with the University’s academic enterprise while at the same time expanding electronic dissemination and public access to the wonderful literature and essays that are published in TriQuarterly,” said Sarah Pritchard, the Charles Deering McCormick University Librarian. “Scholarly publishing is increasingly moving to open access, allowing greater distribution of academic work. This reflects that trend and allows the journal editors to take advantage of the multimedia capabilities offered through online publishing.”

The Chronicle of Higher Education, in an October 9 article, reported the dismay felt when members of the literary magazine community heard the news and learned that the journal’s editor, Susan Firestone Hahn, and its associate editor, Ian Morris, will not continue when the journal moves online. Mr. Morris broke the news in an e-mail to the Council of Literary Magazine and Presses, said the council’s executive director, Jeffrey Lependorf. “This has been very shocking news to the community,” he said. “This doesn’t feel like the passing of the torch; it feels like the extinguishing of the flame.” Despite Pritchard’s view that an online presence will increase readership and allow the journal to take the next step in its growth, this “is something that’s entirely new and doesn’t have any relationship with the beloved print journal,” Lependorf said. “In this, I’m very, very sad to say, TriQuarterly appears to be done. It’s a little shocking that the university has made this decision.” According to Lependorf, Hahn and Morris are “two of the very best” editors of their kind. “What a lot of us are troubled by here is that the editorial vision of the magazine hasn’t been given the weight that it has earned. It doesn’t mean that a student-run magazine can’t be excellent, but it’s a different animal.”