History & Mission
As founding editor Alissa Wilkinson put it, The Curator was designed to be
aggressively omnivorous, which would merrily ignore the established periodical wisdom of “timeliness” and simply go after culture in an exuberant, wide-ranging celebration of the best things humans make and do.
Over the years, though five editors have come and gone, though The Curator has sometimes slowed its publication schedule, and sometimes ceased outright, the mission has remained the same: to celebrate the best things humans make and do.
The poet John Hollander said that for verse to be considered poetry, there has to have something ulterior about it. We value writing that through its attention and perception helps us see that ulteriority in a thing, which helps make it somehow more than it is, or appears to be. In other words, we’re aiming for writing that does what Marianne Moore says she does when she buys pictures:
of whatever sort [the picture is] is,
it must be “lit with piercing glances into the life of things”;
it must acknowledge the spiritual forces which have made it.
Our Writers & Editors
We publish emerging and established writers. To again quote founding editor Alissa Wilkinson, “The Curator has thrived on cultivating individual voices. [Our] offerings are almost exclusively driven by the delight and interest of its contributors.”
Our editors are all volunteers who believe in the mission of the Curator and are experts in their field. Our staff is the heart of the Curator—they’re the reason it’s still going today, 12 years since its original launch.
Get Involved with The Curator
Share a favorite post with a friend. Donate to our ongoing work (all of our editors and writers are volunteers! And we do appreciate a good cup of coffee, which is just about the cost of a perfect donation to show your love). Follow us on Facebook or Twitter. You can even write for us! We’re always on the lookout for emerging talent.