Slant: A Journal of Poetry

Slant: A Journal of Poetry is a semiannual publication of the Department of English at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) in Conway (Faulkner County). The title comes from a line of an Emily Dickinson poem: “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant.”

Slant was founded by Richard Hudson, a faculty member in the Department of English who served as the journal’s first editor. The first issue was published in the summer of 1987 and was dedicated to famed Arkansas poet Lily Peter, “for her long and continuing encouragement of the Arts and the Creative Spirit in Arkansas.” Robert Lowery, then director of the University of Central Arkansas Press, served as a consultant, and the list of advisors included such luminaries as Arkansas’s own C. D. Wright and Gwendolyn Brooks of Chicago, who was the first African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize. Initially, the University of Central Arkansas Press published Slant.

Hudson served as editor until 1993, to be succeeded by Jim Fowler, who remained editor until 2018. Beginning with the Spring 2023 issue, Slant inaugurated a prize named after the first two editors, the Hudson-Fowler Prize for Poetry, which consists of a cash award of $500 to a recipient chosen by the journal editors.

In 2018, the journal began the process of moving to an exclusively online platform under faculty member Sonya Fritz, and in 2022, Michael Blanchard assumed editorial duties. In 2023, the Department of English merged with the Department of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures, and Cultures to form the School of Language and Literature at UCA. The advisory committee of Slant likewise expanded, as did its scope, which includes more international poets and poetry in translation.

For additional information:
Slant: A Journal of Poetry. https://slantpoetryjournal.wordpress.com/ (accessed December 6, 2024).

Slant: A Journal of Poetry. University of Central Arkansas Archives. Torreyson Library. University of Central Arkansas, Conway, Arkansas. Online at https://uca.edu/archives/slant/ (accessed December 6, 2024).

Staff of the CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas