Students, staff and visitors are undoubtedly familiar with the yellow siding of Finn House, situated across the street from the English cottages and watching over cars as they drive up the Hill. Inside, though, is a literary magazine of national repute, bringing writers and artists to campus and expanding Kenyon’s reach beyond the borders of Ohio — founded in 1939, The Kenyon Review recently celebrated its 85th birthday. This National Poetry Month, the Collegian is looking back on the history of the publication, from its earliest submissions to its bustling present full of literature and community. 

The magazine was first dreamed up in the late 1930s by Roberta Teale Swartz Chalmers, wife of former College president Gordon Keith Chalmers (the couple lends their namesake to Chalmers Library). After noticing that the United States didn’t have a quarterly literary review comparable to those being published in the United Kingdom at the time, Swartz Chalmers pushed her husband to establish one at Kenyon when he was elected president in 1937. The Nobel prize-winning poet Robert Frost encouraged Chalmers to tap fellow poet John Crowe Ransom (of Ransom Hall fame) as the magazine’s first editor. Ransom’s literary renown proved a significant boon for the College, with poet and alumnus Robert Lowell ’40 (Lowell House, anyone?) transferring to Kenyon from Harvard in order to study with Ransom.

The Kenyon Review is first mentioned in the Collegian in two articles from Sept. 19, 1938. Tucked into a column on the front page, the headline “Introductory Issue of Kenyon Review Out In December” told readers that the first issue of the magazine, “a quarterly devoted exclusively to arts and letters,” would have Ransom as editor and was already accumulating material for the first issue. The Collegian also explained that “the new magazine is heavily subsidized by pledges from trustees and others. There is already on hand enough money to pay for the magazine’s first year.” The second article, headlined, “Two Newly Appointed To Faculty Bring Total of New Men to Nine,” noted that Norman W. Johnson had been appointed to the role of instructor of English and would be “in charge of the office of The Kenyon Review” as secretary. 

In a fall 2018 retrospective on The Kenyon Review, the Alumni Bulletin highlighted the fact that the publication had always faced financial worries. During the World War II years, Ransom reportedly worried that the magazine would have to be discontinued. This was avoided when it instead absorbed another floundering literary magazine — The Southern Review, based at Louisiana State University. After working tirelessly for over 20 years to keep the magazine up and running, Ransom handed over the reins to Robie Macauley ’41 in 1959, stating, “Now I can get a good night’s sleep for the first time in years.”

According to the Alumni Bulletin, Macauley had worked for the Counter Intelligence Corps during WWII and turned down a career with the Central Intelligence Agency to head up The Kenyon Review — at least, we think he turned it down. In the Alumni Bulletin article, former College Historian and Keeper of Kenyoniana Thomas Stamp ’73 explained that there has been some speculation that Macauley may have continued to work for the CIA during his tenure as editor: “We don’t have any actual proof, but there’s a lot of suggestion that he was involved. The CIA was working with lots of different publications to get them into the Eastern Bloc especially in the hope that they had influence.” Potential CIA connections notwithstanding, Macauley’s leadership saw the Review publish works by Joyce Carol Oates, Thomas Pynchon and Sylvia Plath. He left the magazine in 1967 to edit Playboy.

Following his departure, The Kenyon Review faced what was arguably its most significant period of peril. The College was experiencing significant financial hardship in the late 1960s (a situation which was remedied in part by allowing women to enroll in the Coordinate College in 1969 and later the College itself in 1973). In an Oct. 16, 1969, staff editorial, Collegian editors argued: “It seems obvious that in at least two areas — The Kenyon Review and athletics — Kenyon’s present budget allocations need careful reexamination.” It continues, “Regardless of any literary value The Kenyon Review may have, its contribution to the education of Kenyon students does not seem to justify a $40,000 expenditure. Either [The Kenyon Review] should become a significant part of the educational process at Kenyon actively involving students and faculty or it should be abandoned.” On Dec. 4 of the same year, the front page of the Collegian exclaimed, “Kenyon Review Ordered to Suspend Publication.” 

The magazine remained out of print until 1979, when two former members of the English faculty, Ronald Sharp and Frederick Turner, brought it back as a “New Series.” However, the Review’s financial woes did not abate — in the early 1990s, a budget deficit of $300,000 led the Board of Trustees to reinstate former editor David Lynn ’76 to return and attempt to improve the magazine’s money troubles. Lynn was ultimately successful, transforming the organization into a full blown artistic community in addition to a print publication and tapping former Collegian editor-in-chief and founder of Bloomberg News Matthew Winkler ’77 (see: Winkler Hall) to serve as chair of The Kenyon Review’s Board of Trustees.

In recent years, The Kenyon Review has continued to expand its outreach both on and off campus, with the popular Associates program giving students an opportunity to read and vote on submissions and summer workshops for young writers bringing the next generation of literary talent to Gambier. Having overcome its early challenges, the magazine is happily thriving in Finn House and beyond.