About CRB
The Cleveland Review of Books is a journal of criticism in many forms. We publish reviews, essays, interviews, and experiments in critical writing. We also publish fiction, poetry, and excerpts of titles from small and independent publishers.
Founded in 2018 to fill a perceived gap in regional criticism, we showcase Midwestern writers and concerns alongside, and in dialogue with, writing from around the world. As cities on bodies of water have historically been hubs for the flow of goods and commerce, we view ourselves—a publication based in a city on a lake—as a metaphorical port of call for cultural exchange. In a landscape where American writing and publishing has become concentrated on the coasts, we stake a claim for literary modes and responses that challenge this arrangement, along with its conventions and assumptions.
Editorially, we commit to criticism as a creative practice and a literature unto itself, embracing its formal and expressive potential. We prioritize ambitious authors, presses, and artists over our own house style, and take inventive writers seriously regardless of their age or credentials. We question established paradigms of professionalism, seriousness, and respectability, paying minimal deference to time, fashion, or the market. There is always something else out there and our aim is to always be something else: not just a journal of criticism, but a journal of what criticism can be.
For guidelines on submitting to CRB, see pitches and submissions.
To support our work, consider purchasing a print issue, becoming a subscriber, or making a tax-deductible donation.
Contact Us
For general inquiries, introductions, publicity
For pitches and submissions
Publisher
Editor-in-Chief
Masthead
Publisher
Billy Lennon
Editor-in-Chief
Zach Peckham
Managing Editor
Brianna Di Monda
Editors
Michael Credico
Morgan Forde
Robert Gittings
Philip Harris
Alana Pockros
Fiction Editor
Helen Rouner
Poetry Editor
Alyssa Perry
Art Director
Angelo Maneage
Editor-at-Large
Jacob Bruggeman
Contributing Writers
Kenneth Alyass
Michael Dango
Taylor Dorell
Tim Gill
Emiliano Gomez
Emma Heath
Leo Kim
Hannah Kinney-Kobre
Dani Lamorte
Dante LaRiccia
Thomas Mira y Lopez
Charlotte Rosen
Cary Stough
Bailey Trela
Carlos Valladares
Bekah Waalkes
Christian Wessels
Evan Williams
Nicky Yeager
Contributing Editors
Ali Black
Pauline Cochran
J. David
Eli Schoop
Michael Stenovec
RA Washington
Advisory Board
Jed Deppman (in memoriam)
Lee Fallon
Patrick Kabat
Zach Savich
Claire Solomon
Matt Weinkam
Supporters
The Cleveland Review of Books has been generously supported by these organizations and individuals:
The George Gund Foundation
The Lennon Family
The Gittings Family
Anonymous
Robert Kozar
Thomas Van Nortwick
Jeremy Wang-Iverson
And these beautiful subscribers:
Abbey Stone
Abigail Oswald
Adie Steckel
Alexandra Malkin
Betsy Grossman
Cameron Martin
Carmen Mitchell
Charlie Dulik
Chris McCaffery
Christopher Ramos
Christopher Urban
Connie Schultz
Conor Bracken
Dan Sturman
David Hoinski
David Wallace
DeSales Harrison
Henry Ilnicky
Ian Blaustein
John Burroughs
John Hay
Joshua Wagner
Katrin Rouner
Kristi Murray
Kyle Marbut
Lauren Cerand
LeeAnn Hollister
Mary Maxson
Michael Bierut
Peter Beatty
Reyna LaRiccia
Robb Schiller
Robert Brooker
Roy Scranton
Sam Klage
Sam Stoloff
Samuel Klein
Scott Gloden
Scott Waalkes
The Gernert Company
Thomas Ruan
Tom Bowden
Tyler Richard
Westlake Porter Public Library
Yuni Chang
THANK YOU