About The Malahat Review

The Malahat Review

The Malahat Review is a Canadian quarterly literary magazine published by the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia. Established in 1967, it is one of the country's oldest continuously publishing literary journals, featuring contemporary Canadian and international poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction alongside reviews of recently published Canadian literature. Publishing in The Malahat has been described as a rite of passage for Canadian writers — the journal published Yann Martel's first short story fourteen years before his Booker Prize win — and it has won more National Magazine Awards than any other literary journal in the country. The current editor is Iain Higgins, and the magazine carries the ISSN 0025-1216.

Overview

The Malahat Review appears four times a year, publishing new work by emerging and established writers of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction from Canada and abroad, with reviews of Canadian books rounding out each issue. Its paid subscription base is 88 percent Canadian, with libraries accounting for 16 percent of paid subscriptions, and it circulates locally, regionally, and nationally throughout Canada and in sixteen other countries. The magazine is published by the Faculties of Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of Victoria, overseen by an advisory board and staffed by the editor, an assistant editor, a marketing and circulation manager, a webmaster, and a Work Study student, with a volunteer editorial committee divided into three boards — poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction — all chaired by the editor, and Department of Writing internship students completing the staff structure.

The journal's mandate is to increase the audience for and add prestige to Canadian writing, and it seeks to balance a serious and playful tone while celebrating literature. Work first published in The Malahat Review has gone on to earn 19 gold and 13 silver medals at the National Magazine Awards along with 65 honourable mentions; the journal has been named Magazine of the Year three times by the Western Magazine Awards; and its contributors have received the Writers' Trust/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize eight times, the Pushcart Prize, and the PEN/O. Henry Prize. Stories by Malahat writers have won the M&S Journey Prize six times, and the 2000 Malahat Review Novella Prize winner The Deep by Mary Swan won an O. Henry Award, as did Marilyn Harris's debut short story Icarus Again, published in the April 1967 issue.

History

The Malahat Review was founded in 1967 at the University of Victoria by Robin Skelton and John Peter, then professors in the university's Department of English. Skelton, a well-known poet and the founding chair of UVic's creative writing department, was its first editor. Initially carrying the subtitle "An International Magazine of Life and Letters," the journal at first reflected Skelton and Peter's backgrounds and connections in the international literary community — the first edition was a cosmopolitan collection including a selection of previously unpublished letters by D.H. Lawrence. The Faculty of Humanities has supported the journal throughout its history, with the Faculty of Fine Arts providing additional funding in recent years.

Skelton edited the magazine from 1971 to 1983, and it was thereafter edited by Constance Rooke, Derk Wynand, Marlene Cookshaw, and John Barton, who served as editor from 2004 to 2018. The magazine initially reflected Skelton's interest in European and international literature but has focused on Canadian fiction, poetry, and book reviews since 1983; creative non-fiction was added as a genre in 2007. Iain Higgins — a poet, translator, and scholar whose books include the poetry collection Then Again and the academic study Writing East: The "Travels" of Sir John Mandeville — became editor after an interim period under Micaela Maftei, with the university describing its stewardship of the journal as holding it "in trust."

Across its history, The Malahat has been a springboard for major careers. It was the first magazine to publish a short story by Yann Martel — "Mister Ali and the Barrelmaker" in 1988 — and Martel later wrote, "Without The Malahat Review, I wouldn't be the writer I am now." In 1977 the journal dedicated an entire issue to Margaret Atwood's work before she became internationally known, and poets such as Michael Ondaatje, Dionne Brand, Lorna Crozier, and Patricia Young have frequently graced its pages. The journal celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017–2018 with an anniversary edition launched at Munro's Books in Victoria, featuring two previously unpublished poems by P.K. Page and creative non-fiction from painter Emily Carr, alongside a limited-edition monograph, The Malahat Review at Fifty: Canada's Iconic Literary Magazine, produced by UVic Libraries with archival material from UVic Special Collections.

Content

Each quarterly issue offers poetry, short fiction, and creative non-fiction, plus reviews of new Canadian books. The magazine publishes work by both emerging and established writers, and its editors have long emphasized literary risk and range in their selections — seeking submissions that stand out for originality and craft, and investing in mentorship of new voices. The journal runs four annual contests, and contest winners have gone on to win National Magazine Awards and Journey Prizes and to secure book contracts.

Among the contests, the Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize is the flagship: an annual award named for Constance Rooke (1942–2008), the magazine's editor for a decade who later became president of the University of Winnipeg and of PEN Canada. The 2025 prize went to Hayden Park for "The First Law of Adoptee Physics," chosen by judge Siavash Saadlou — a $1,250 award with publication in the spring 2026 issue, the journal's 234th.

The magazine's review section provides perceptive critical commentary on Canadian literature, and its pages have historically included essays on literature and the visual arts. Interviews and special features appear from time to time, and themed issues — such as the 1977 Atwood issue — have marked turning points in Canadian literary history. Most recently, at the 2025 National Magazine Awards, the journal received Honourable Mentions in the Personal Journalism category.

Coverage & Audience

The Malahat Review is a national literary magazine with a Victoria base, read by writers, academics, students, librarians, and serious readers of Canadian literature across Canada and in sixteen other countries. Its audience includes the Canadian writing community itself — for whom publication in its pages remains a mark of arrival — as well as the libraries that make up a significant share of its subscription base. The journal's contests, internship program with UVic's Department of Writing, and public launch events connect it to emerging writers and to the literary life of Victoria and British Columbia.

The journal's paid subscription base, 88 percent Canadian, reflects a readership deeply invested in the country's literature, while its circulation in sixteen other countries gives Canadian writing an international shop window. For contributors, the magazine's contest program and its record of launching careers — from Martel to Atwood to Ondaatje — make it one of the most sought-after publication credits in Canadian letters.

Ownership

The Malahat Review is published by the University of Victoria, through its Faculties of Humanities and Fine Arts, and overseen by an advisory board. It operates as a university-based literary journal rather than a commercial title, with funding from the university supplemented by subscriptions, grants, and contest revenues. The current editor is Iain Higgins.

Digital Presence

The magazine's website, malahatreview.ca, publishes information about current and back issues, submission guidelines, contests, and subscriptions, extending the quarterly's reach beyond print. Its history is documented in its Wikipedia entry, in University of Victoria news coverage of its 50th anniversary and editorial transitions, and in interviews with its editors — including a BC Creates conversation with Iain Higgins on the journal's evolving editorial direction, its embrace of literary risk, and the curatorial process behind each issue.