About River Styx

River Styx began in the early 1970s when a group of poets and musicians began reading and jamming together in various St. Louis apartments. The first issue of River Styx Magazine, printed on a lithographic press and hand-collated, hit the streets a few years later in 1975. Both the magazine and the readings were characterized by energy, accessibility, humor, wit, and a spirit of inclusiveness. In the 37 years that followed, the readings took place each month at Duff's Restaurant in St. Louis, often packed to capacity, and River Styx magazine bloomed into an international, award-winning journal of poetry, fiction, essays, interviews and art. The magazine has consistently been one of the first to publish some of the most important writers of our time, from U.S. Poet Laureates (Howard Nemerov, Mona Van Duyn, Rita Dove, Robert Hass and Ted Kooser), to Pulitzer Prize-Winners (Yusef Komunyakaa), to Nobel Laureates (Derek Walcott and Czeslaw Milosz). In September 2012, the reading series moved to the Tavern of Fine Arts, where its playful yet dedicated spirit continues.

River Styx has been included in many editions of The Best American Poetry, Best New Poets, New Stories from the South, and Pushcart Prize anthologies. The magazine itself has won several Stanley Hanks Prizes, awards from Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines as well as grants and support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Missouri Arts Council, Regional Arts Commission, Missouri Humanities Council, and Arts and Education. This website samples recent work from River Styx's rich tradition.

The magazine publishes three issues a year, one of which is typically a themed issue. Past themed issues include "History and the Perfect Past," "Sweet Dreams and Bad Sex," "Games," and "Circles of Hell." River Styx magazine also devotes several pages of each issue to such diverse visual artists as Billy Renkl, Daniela Rossell, Lynda Frese, Emmet Gowan, John Slaughter, Patte Loper, Birney Imes, Virginia Beahan and Laura McPhee, Deborah Luster, Dana Moore, Benedict Fernandez, and Frank Shaw.

Obviously, this site is a small sample of River Styx and can't do justice to its decades-long history. It can, however, reflect the spirit of River Styx—lively, compelling, humorous, casual, formal, diverse, exciting, and, after 38 years, still fresh. We hope you'll consider subscribing to the magazine. Or drop in one Monday night at the Tavern of Fine Arts in St. Louis for a cup of coffee or glass of wine—and a taste of poetry.

River Styx is grateful for the financial assistance provided by the following organizations: