It might not yet be on par with the Paris Review or The Iowa Review, but The Ninth Letter has shown how an upstart bi-yearly literary magazine can play the field in order to find the best work possible. A collaboration between the English department and the School of Art and Design, the two-year-old magazine is aimed at bridging the sometimes disparate realms of art and literature.

While its cache among writers and artists is certainly not as great as some of its peers, the magazine has still been able to lure such well-renowned names as McSweeney’s founder and University alumnus Dave Eggers, Life of Pi author Yann Martel and the Pakistani artist Shazia Sikander, among others.

In addition, it has also won various awards including the “Certificate of Typographic Excellence” from the Type Directors Club and “The Best New Literary Journal” from the Council of Editors of Learned Journals.

Bringing together these artists and writers, acclaimed in their fields, underscores the larger ideal of the magazine, collaboration.

“The true guiding force behind this magazine,” managing editor Jodee Stanley said “is the commitment to collaboration which influences the selection of content as well as the design process.”

At first glance the reader cannot help but notice how much Stanley’s statements reflect in the overall presentation. Eschewing traditional design aesthetics, the magazine itself is a work of art, placing text amongst paintings and photographs, and including ever inventive cover designs (the Fall/Winter 2004 edition included detachable trading cards for each writer and artist represented).

Sometimes these choices can overwhelm and agitate the reader, (especially Dada-like moments such as when a piece was copied onto microfilm and set in an envelope within the magazine) but if appreciated on their own terms can be very rewarding.

“No other journal in the country is doing what we’re doing in terms of graphic design, and that alone has garnered us a lot of attention,” Stanley said.

These differences are also seen in the material, which often lends itself to a very post-modern sensibility.

“Our goal is to publish content that pushes the envelope in some way . Many magazines look for a particular type of story or poem; Ninth Letter wants to avoid any narrow categorizations,” Stanley said.

Graduate students are also intimately involved in the editing of the magazine, and their naturally fresh ideas obviously have helped put it where it is now.

Jacqueline May, a candidate for a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts in Creative Writing, got involved with the magazine through the Creative Writing Program.

“As Creative Writing MFA students, we can get class credit for working at the magazine for one semester. After that, I applied for the one-semester position as assistant fiction editor. I really enjoy working at (Ninth Letter),” May said.

She also added that the direction the magazine seems to be headed in a good direction.

“It hasn’t been around that long, and it’s already gotten a lot of recognition and seems likely to keep doing so,” May said.

Joseph Ledoux, former assistant editor, said Ninth Letter has won many national awards and accolades. Ledoux, who has since left the University, had nothing but praise for the magazine and Stanley calling her “very knowledgeable.”

This environment has so far been conducive to producing work that has aptly reflected the University and its tradition in the form, particularly with the magazine Accent, a famous journal that published some of Flannery O’Connor’s first stories.

“A publication like Ninth Letter, one that’s winning national recognition in both the literary and design communities,” Stanley said, “is a perfect example of UIUC’s commitment to excellence in the arts and humanities, as well as.to cross-campus collaboration.”