Publisher’s Note

Martin J. Blaser, M.D.

This issue marks the 10th anniversary of the first publication of the BLR. The BLR began as an idea about the importance of narrative in medicine, and about the shaping of experience through literature. 

In early 2000, I returned to NYU, my alma mater, to serve as the Chair of the Department of Medicine. I had long thought about developing a journal about the medical experience from different viewpoints including the stories of patients, nurses, doctors, loved ones—and estranged loved ones—among others. The medical context is rich and has provided substrate for earlier generations of writers.

The Department of Medicine had a long tradition of literature with such fine essayists as Lewis Thomas, Gerald Weissmann, and Jerome Lowenstein. I proposed my idea to Dr. Lowenstein, and he agreed to serve as an editor. Then Dr. Sandra Kammerman said that I must meet Dr. Danielle Ofri, a young physician in the department who already was an inspired writer. We immediately hit it off, and with Drs. Lowenstein and Ofri, and Ronna Wineberg (fiction), Donna Baier Stein (poetry), and Roxanna Font (poetry), we had our founding nucleus of editors. Within a short time, Dr. Ofri’s enthusiasm, commitment, and intelligence led to her becoming the Editor-in-Chief. In her foreword in this issue, Dr. Ofri recounts more of the early events through our first issue in 2001.

These last 10 years have been a whirlwind of activity, with authors vying for publication, and readers and editors judging and polishing the work. We receive so many fine contributions that we can only accept a fraction of those submitted. However, our editors are both conscientious and kind, often suggesting ways to improve the excellent work that we have no room to publish, and treating all submissions with respect. We have had contests since 2006 that have drawn thousands of submissions, and have been judged by many of the leading lights in contemporary American literature.

Judges of the Bellevue Literary Review annual prizes

	Poetry	Fiction	Nonfiction
2006	Edward Hirsch	Ray Gonzalez	Abraham Verghese
2007	Rafael Campo	Amy Hempel	Sherwin Nuland
2008	Marie Howe	Rick Moody	Richard Selzer
2009	Naomi Shihab Nye	Rosellen Brown	Natalie Angier
2010	Tony Hoagland	Gail Godwin	Phillip Lopate
2011	Marie Ponsot	Andre Dubus III	Jerome Groopman
2012	Cornelius Eady	Francine Prose	Susan Orlean

The prizes have been sponsored by great friends of the BLR who have become patrons of literature.  

Poetry

2006-2008 Magliocco Prize for Poetry

2009-present Marica and Jan Vilcek Prize for Poetry (endowed)

Fiction

2006-present Goldenberg Prize for Fiction

Nonfiction

2006-2008 Bellevue Literary Review Prize for Nonfiction, sponsored by the Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation, Inc.

2009-2010 Carter V. Cooper Memorial Prize for Nonfiction

2011-present Burns Archive Prize for Nonfiction

In 2008, a new activity in the Department of Medicine, the Bellevue Literary Press (founded by Dr. Jerome Lowenstein), published our first anthology, The Best of the Bellevue Literary Review, annotated with a study guide for teaching about medical humanism.

Each year, we have had two remarkable public readings in Bellevue, now always in the rotunda. Amid the cacophony of a busy hospital in action, our readers have delighted community audiences with the humor, power, and pathos of their work.

All in all, our performance and impact have far exceeded my own goals in 2000.

Ultimately, the BLR is a celebration of people, and we have been fortunate to have many who have been committed to our success. I am pleased that our three Founding Editors, Jerome Lowenstein, Danielle Ofri, and Ronna Wineberg, have continued to the present. They have been the rudder that keeps us on course. Over the years, they have been joined by Donna Baier Stein, Roxanna Font, and Frances Richey, and now Corie Feiner and Suzanne McConnell. In every organization like the BLR, there often is one person who is the glue holding everything together. For the past eight years, that person has been Stacy Bodziak, our Managing Editor, who is prodigious in her accomplishments, yet maintains equanimity and grace despite all odds. 

We also have had many interns—high school and college students, as well as graduates—who while learning the life of the journal, helped us immeasurably.

Since its founding, the BLR has had many supporters—individuals, families, foundations, and governmental agencies. We list these in each issue, and I am pleased to thank the National Endowment for the Arts for their support of the current issue. 

Finally, on this wonderful anniversary, I am pleased to again thank our authors, editors, staff, donors, bookstores, and the reading public for their support and faith in the enterprise. The BLR is alive and well, growing into its second decade. The best is yet to come!