Little Magazine

The Quest was founded in the fall of 1965 by Alexis Levitin. The original editorial staff and board comprised--like Levitin--graduate students at Columbia University. Levitin created a literary magazine which attempted to avoid a narrowly-defined focus and to encourage good writing from contributors of many viewpoints. We expect (read the magazine's entry in the Directory of Little Magazines) of the artist not only a well-wrought structure, but, within it, a creative and meaningful reflection upon the essential truths of our existence as well.

After Levitin left New York in 1968 for a teaching position at Dartmouth, most of the work of editing the magazine was carried on by David Hartwell and Tom Beeler. This led to the purchase of the magazine from Levitin by Hartwell and Beeler in late 1969. Hartwell and Beeler had never liked the name Quest and renamed it The Little Magazine, under which title the magazine first appeared with the spring 1970 issue. Of the new title Beeler later wrote no harm in a little cockiness when you are regenerating a literary periodical.

After Beeler's departure in 1971 the principal burden of continuing the magazine was borne by David Hartwell, working with a constantly-changing cast of editors and editorial board members.

Throughout its twenty-one year life The Quest and The Little Magazine published new poetry and short fiction from--in the main--younger American writers. Circulation never rose much above a thousand, even with national distribution by Bernhard DeBoer, and in the face of steeply rising production costs publication became increasingly irregular in the late 1970s. By the end of the 1970s Hartwell was heavily involved in science fiction editing but was able to continue publication with the help of the volunteer editorial board. Eventually the end came, and with the appearance of v. 15, no. 3/4 in 1987 The Little Magazine ceased publication.

An account of the founding and early years of The Quest and The Little Magazine was given by Thomas T. Beeler ( Looking backward: memoirs of The Little Magazine, 1965-1971 ) in the publication's final issue.