"Dead Mag Walking"

The Hall of American Literary Magazine Closures

It takes a lot of work to start, and sustain, a literary magazine.  The staff of Sensations Magazine knows this first-hand, by having published one or more issues per year for 20 years. 

Why do literary magazines shut down?  Lack or loss of funding, and/or loss of subscribers or advertisers, are the main and most obvious reasons.  But in some cases, editors decide to focus their time on their own writing projects, or on other publishing ventures.  In other cases, the publication has fulfilled its artistic goals and editors' original intentions, and has nothing further to contribute to American letters.

Gone - for whatever reason - but not forgotten, here are the American literary magazines (and websites) that have closed down during the 20 years that Sensations Magazine has remained in operation: