Reed Magazine

The earliest student published literary collection to be published by students of the California State Normal School (now San José State University), was a pamphlet in 1867 named The Acorn. Several literary journals followed The Acorn, including The Class Paper from 1880-82, The Normal Index from 1885-91, and The Normal Pennant from 1898-1909. The schools English department published The Quill from 1925 to 1931 and El Portal from 1932 to 1941.  After World War II, in 1948, The Reed Literary Magazine was first published by Pegasus, a literary society at San Jose State, with assistance from the schools Associated Student Body. Its name was later shortened to just Reed Magazine.^[3][4] Reed Magazine claims 1867 as the beginning of its heritage through these prior publications.^[5]

There is some dispute about the origin of the journal's name, the magazine currently claims that it honors James F. Reed, a survivor of the Donner Party and prominent local citizen who donated the land that would become San Jose States' campus.^[5] While others, including the magazine itself at various points, say that name of Reed was derived from a quote by French enlightenment thinker Blaise Pascal:^[6][7]

Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature; but he is a thinking reed.... All our dignity consists in thought. By it we elevate ourselves, and not by space and time, which we can never fill. Let us make it our task, then, to think well: here is the principle of morality.

Reed Magazine has published pieces by Pulitzer Prize winner William Finnegan, U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass, PEN/Faulkner winner T. C. Boyle, and National Book Award winner Ursula K. Le Guin.^[8]

• The transition of numbering copies of Reed Magazine from Issue 70 instead to Issue 150 in 2017 was because the literary journal was celebrating its 150th anniversary.
  • The last copy to use the term "volume" was Reed Magazine 66.
  • After that, the magazine was labeled as "A literary Mosaic since 1867" for a couple years.

• List of literary magazines