Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Forerunner

Denise Knight (SUNY, Cortland)

Ed. by Emory Elliott, University of California, Riverside
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.3: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Early Twentieth-century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

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Periodicals

Dates

First circulation or publication 1909 - 1916

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poem collection
Story Collection

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In print from 1909 to 1916,

The Forerunner

was self-published by Charlotte Perkins Gilman after American author and editor Theodore Dreiser advised her to “consider more what the editors want” since her social reform writing did not appeal to the masses. Rejecting Dreiser's advice, Gilman instead decided to write what she pleased by publishing her own twenty-eight-page monthly magazine. Written entirely by Gilman,

The Forerunner

sold for ten cents an issue or a dollar a year and featured short fiction, serialized novels, essays, articles, book reviews, and poems. At its apex,

The Forerunner

had nearly 1,500 subscribers from all of the United States and from Europe, India, and Australia. The cost of publishing

The Forerunner

, however, became prohibitive, and the magazine was…

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Citation: Knight, Denise. "The Forerunner". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 January 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=825, accessed 21 November 2024.]

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Forerunner

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