Announcing Portico

A new literary quarterly from the publisher of First Things

I have been waiting some time to announce this very good news and am thrilled to finally do so this morning. I am starting a new print literary quarterly with the Institute on Religion and Public Life (the publisher of First Things) called Portico. The first issue will ship April 2nd. Our goal is simply to publish the best writing we can.

The quarterly will avoid politics. This doesn’t mean that it will ignore the political element many works contain, but it does mean that it will not allow political ideas—whether of the right or the left—to supplant artistic or literary ones. This is precisely what has happened at many once prestigious literary publications, and it has had a devastating effect on cultural discourse.

Portico will plot a different course. It will take faith seriously and have a high view of tradition and freedom of expression. It will be a conservative publication in this sense. But it will publish a wide variety of writers, religious or not, conservative or not, since what matters is the writing itself.

This first issue contains new work by Brian Brodeur, Randy Boyagoda, Morri Creech, Boris Dralyuk, Stuart Dybek, Dana Gioia, Dominic Green, Jason Guriel, Mark Helprin, Alan Jacobs, Alexander Larman, Amit Majmudar, Victoria Moul, Francesca Peacock, Aaron Poochigian, Robert B. Shaw, A. E. Stallings, Barton Swaim, Nadya Williams, Ryan Wilson, and Christian Wiman.

Each issue will feature original artwork. It will be printed on 7x10 pages. The print publication was designed by James Reyman of New York. The website was designed and built by Beck & Stone.

I wouldn’t have been able to start this publication without the support of five donors. I also wouldn’t have been able to start it without you. The success of this newsletter has shown that there is a real appetite for writing of the highest quality on books and arts, and my hope is to build on Prufrock’s success to create something that will last for many years and develop new talent.

Prufrock will continue, but as literary publications—and book sections—have closed or turned away from regular readers, it has become increasingly evident that we need more than a useful newsletter. We need new print publications.

You can help Portico be a success, first, by subscribing—and as soon as possible. The more early subscribers we get, the greater our chance of long-term success. As an added incentive, all paid Prufrock subscribers (present and future) will receive a $20 discount on a first-year subscription to Portico. (If you haven’t received a code by the time you read this, please send me a note.)

You can also donate. Quality writing is expensive. Original artwork is expensive. Paper is expensive. If you are able to make a tax-deductible donation to help keep the yearly subscription price reasonable (because life is also expensive), please consider doing so.

The arts have always needed patrons. Perhaps now is your time to be one. Individuals who give will be invited to join special events. You will also have my heartfelt thanks.

You can tell others about Portico. Share this post on X or Facebook. Send it to friends and family. Follow us on X and Facebook and Instagram. Take out a subscription for someone else. Prufrock grew by word-of-mouth. Portico can, too.

Finally, if you are a writer, pitch me or send me your best work. I have a pretty good rolodex, but I can’t contact everyone at once, and I don’t know who might be sitting on a gem ready to be shared with others.

Thanks for reading.