River Styx began in the early 1970's 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. That playful yet dedicated spirit survives today.
The readings now take place each month at Duff's Restaurant in St. Louis, often packed to capacity, while River Styx Magazine has 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).		Both new and established writers from River Styx are regularly included in the Best American Poetry 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, at least one of which is a themed issue. Past themed issues include "History and the Perfect Past," "Sweet Dreams and Bad Sex,"and-- most recently-- the monster issue. Selections of this site are updated continually. Besides offering some of the best literature anywhere on the web, this site also features some of the magazine's exciting artwork-- a few full-color covers as well as some black and white photos and drawings. River Styx magazine has always devoted several pages each issue to such diverse artists as Lynda Frese, Emmet Gowan, John Slaughter, Patte Loper, Birney Imes, Virginia Beahan and Laura McPhee, Deborah Luster, Dana Moore, Benedict Fernandez, and Frank Shaw -- to name only a few of the most recent.

Obviously, this site is a small sample of River Styx and can't do justice to its 30-year history. It can, however, reflect the spirit of River Styx-- lively, compelling, humorous, casual, formal, diverse, exciting, and, after 25 years, still fresh. Look for River Styx in a bookstore near you. Better yet, subscribe. Or drop in one Monday night at Duff's restaurant in St. Louis for a cup of coffee or a pint of beer-- and a taste of poetry.