The Kenyon Review

What The Kenyon Review does

The Kenyon Review is a nonprofit literary arts organization founded in 1939 by John Crowe Ransom at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. It publishes a quarterly international literary journal — currently Vol. XLVIII, with the Winter 2026 issue released — featuring fiction, poetry, nonfiction, translations, and book reviews from established and emerging writers worldwide. The organization operates from Finn House on the Kenyon College campus and maintains a 63-person staff.

Its product surface extends well beyond the journal. It runs Adult Writers Workshops and Young Writers Workshops in both residential (on-campus) and online formats, administers Kenyon Review Fellowships including a Developmental Editing Fellowship for Emerging Writers, and conducts annual contests including the Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers, the Poetry Contest, the Nonfiction Contest, and the Fiction Contest. A newly digitized archive dating to 1939 features works by Nobel laureates and Pulitzer Prize winners and is bundled into subscription access.

Revenue is generated through a diversified set of streams: print-plus-digital annual subscriptions, digital-only subscriptions (monthly from $3.99 or annual), single-issue sales ($20 for current, $10-$15 for historical), workshop tuition, and tax-deductible donations. Distribution is direct-to-consumer globally through the KR Store on kenyonreview.org, with quarterly print delivery via postal mail and immediate digital access for online subscribers. The underlying technology is a standard WordPress/WooCommerce publication platform; there is no proprietary AI or developer-facing API. The organization serves literary readers, adult writers seeking craft development, talented high school students, and submitting writers seeking publication pathways.

Name

The Kenyon Review

Legal name

The Kenyon Review

Website

https://kenyonreview.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1939

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Kenyon Review is a 1939-founded nonprofit literary arts organization at Kenyon College that publishes a quarterly international journal of literature, runs writing workshops and fellowships for adults and high school students, and operates annual contests and a digitized historical archive.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Literary journal publishing

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (513120)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPAJABAC

Academic & Scholarly Journals Publishing (Peer-Reviewed)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/Educational & Academic Publishing (Textbooks, Scholarly, STM)

SECONDARYEDAGAFAE

Humanities & Arts Scholarly Publishing

Education/Educational Publishing & Learning Content/Academic & Scholarly Publishing (Journals, Monographs)

Keywords

• Literary journal publishing
• Writing workshops
• Literary contests
• Literary fiction poetry
• Arts education programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Gambier

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Print-plus-digital subscriptions: Annual subscriptions including four print issues delivered quarterly plus full digital archive access. Primary revenue stream for the nonprofit literary arts organization.
2. Digital-only subscriptions: Monthly or annual digital-only subscriptions providing immediate access to latest issues and complete archive.
3. Single issues: Individual print issues sold at $20.00 for current issues, with historical issues ranging from $10.00-$15.00.
4. Workshop programs: Residential and online writing workshops for adult writers and young writers (high school students). Tuition-based educational programs.
5. Donations: Tax-deductible contributions supporting the nonprofit literary arts organization.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Kenyon Review publishes an international quarterly literary journal of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, translations, and reviews, distributed via annual print-plus-digital and digital-only subscriptions and individual single-issue sales. It supplements the journal with tuition-based residential and online writing workshops for adult writers and high school students, fellowships for emerging writers, and annual contests including the Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers, the Poetry Contest, the Fiction Contest, and the Nonfiction Contest.

Product overview

The Kenyon Review is a literary arts organization centered on its flagship publication, the quarterly Kenyon Review Journal (Vol. XLVIII), published in March, June, September, and December at Kenyon College since 1939. The organization offers print-plus-digital and digital-only subscriptions to the journal plus full digital archive access. Supporting the literary community, it runs Adult Writers Workshops (residential and online), Young Writers Workshops for high school students, and Kenyon Review Fellowships. It operates annual contests including the Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers (November), Nonfiction Contest (December), Fiction Contest (January), and Poetry Contest. Single issues and back issues are available for purchase through the KR Store.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Kenyon Review Award for Literary Achievement: Annual award recognizing literary achievement
• Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers
• Kenyon Review Poetry Contest
• Kenyon Review Nonfiction Contest
• Kenyon Review Short Fiction Contest
• Adult Writers Workshop
• Young Writers Workshop
• Kenyon Review Fellowship
• Emerging Writers Fellowship

Products and services

• The Kenyon Review Journal An international literary journal published quarterly (March, June, September, December) at Kenyon College, featuring poetry, fiction, nonfiction, translations, reviews, and art from established and emerging writers worldwide.
• Print-plus-digital Subscriptions Annual subscription bundle including four print issues of the Kenyon Review journal delivered quarterly plus full access to the digital archive, for individual readers worldwide.
• Digital-only Subscriptions Monthly or annual digital-only subscription providing immediate access to the latest issues of the Kenyon Review and the complete digital archive, starting at $3.99/month.
• Adult Writers Workshops Tuition-based residential and online writing workshop programs for adult writers at every stage of their writing journey.
• Young Writers Workshops Residential and online writing workshop programs for talented high school students to join a literary community, stretch their talents, and challenge themselves alongside passionate peers.
• Kenyon Review Fellowship Program Fellowship program supporting emerging writers, including the Kenyon Review Fellowship and the Emerging Writers (Developmental Editing) Fellowship.
• Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers Annual poetry contest held in November for young writers, awarding outstanding youth poetry submissions with publication in the Kenyon Review.
• Poetry Contest Annual poetry contest for poets, with winners selected by guest judges and published in the Kenyon Review.
• Fiction Contest Annual short fiction contest held in January, with winners selected by guest judges and published in the Kenyon Review.
• Nonfiction Contest Annual nonfiction writing contest held in December, with winners selected by guest judges and published in the Kenyon Review.
• Single Issues Individual Kenyon Review journal issues available for one-time purchase through the KR Store, including current issues at $20.00 and historical issues (2018-2022) ranging from $10.00-$15.00.
• Digital Archive A newly digitized archive of Kenyon Review content dating back to its founding in 1939, featuring curated special collections (Writers Reading Writers, Translation, Nobel Prize Winners) and works by Nobel laureates and Pulitzer Prize winners.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Tin House: Literary magazine and book publisher paired with the Tin House Summer Workshop, directly paralleling The Kenyon Review's combination of quarterly publication, workshop programming, and literary community building.
• Granta: Leading literary magazine featuring fiction, poetry, and nonfiction from established and emerging writers. Comparable subscription model, quarterly publication cadence, and reputation-based curatorial approach to The Kenyon Review.
• The Paris Review: Prestigious quarterly literary journal featuring fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and craft essays, with a similar publishing model to The Kenyon Review including emerging-writer programs and a global literary brand built over decades.
• The Sewanee Review: Oldest continuously published literary quarterly in the United States, university-affiliated (University of the South). Directly comparable to The Kenyon Review in age, prestige, and literary journal model.
• Ploughshares: Literary journal published quarterly at Emerson College, featuring poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Operates a similar guest-editor model, contest programs, and literary community focus as The Kenyon Review.
• American Short Fiction: Nonprofit literary journal focused on short fiction with strong workshop and community engagement components. Operates in the same nonprofit literary arts space with quarterly publication and educational programming.
• The Iowa Review: University-affiliated literary journal from the University of Iowa publishing fiction, poetry, and nonfiction quarterly. Directly parallels Kenyon Review's academic-affiliated literary journal model and contest ecosystem.
• Sewanee Writers' Conference: Premier residential writers' conference held at the University of the South. Directly comparable to The Kenyon Review's Young Writers and Adult Writers Workshops in residential programming for serious writers.

Broad incumbents

• The Atlantic: Major literary and current-affairs magazine with significant fiction, poetry, and literary nonfiction coverage. Larger scale and broader audience, but operates in adjacent literary publishing and subscription space.
• The New Yorker: Iconic weekly literary magazine with overlapping coverage of fiction, poetry, and literary nonfiction. Much larger scale and broader audience but addresses the same literary reader demographic with stronger commercial reach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kenyonreview
• Facebookfacebook.com/kenyonreview
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-kenyon-review

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Kenyon Review