Support keeps flowing for Chariton Review

Immense piles of envelopes, packages of papers and copies of the Chariton Review are strewn across a small office. Somewhere among the clutter, Jim Barnes, professor of comparative literature and writer in residence, hunches over his desk, examining and editing the submitted papers that have accumulated from the past two weeks.

"The stacks of papers and envelopes that are sitting on my floor are due to be looked at before I die. Hopefully this week. Not that I die this week, but that they are read this week," Barnes said.

The stacks of papers and envelopes are an accumulation of submissions for the Chariton Review, a literary publication Barnes edits.

Barnes said he does not solicit submissions. He said the reputation of the publication gives him all the submissions he can handle. It is published twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall.

It consists of about 100 pages of short stories, poems, essays and translations, all of which Barnes must read and edit at some point.

"I will not publish anything that I do not like," Barnes said. "I do not know everything that I like ... I don't care who wrote it. It could be Shakespeare, and I still wouldn't publish it if I didn't like it."

Barnes said the University's budget cutbacks have threatened the Chariton Review severely.

The division budget gave the Chariton Review $5,000 a year for printing, but Heinz Woehlk, the head of the division of language and literature, cut the funding earlier this year. However, Chariton Review supporters, including teachers, students, submitters and subscribers, applied pressure, and the division gave the money back.

 Woehlk said everything in the division goes under consideration for budget cuts, not just the Chariton Review. The division has cut several things from the budget already, such as operating expenses and a children's reading program.

Woehlk said the decision to cut the Chariton Review out of the budget was never a final decision.

"The final decision was that we will continue to support the Chariton Review," he said.

David Partenheimer, professor of English, is one of the many supporters of the Chariton Review. He said he recognizes the review's importance and value to the University, not just because of the publicity and prestige that it brings to Truman, but also because of its importance to the many people who are dedicated to making it what it is through their involvement and dedication in the publication process.

"To discourage Jim Barnes from continuing his operation for a few thousand dollars is unfair to him, unfair to students and unfair to the institution," Partenheimer said. "It doesn't make sense to try to take care of such a big shortfall in the budget by cutting a thousand here and a thousand there. Even if you were to cut 100 Chariton Reviews, you still wouldn't have enough money. I am pleased, though, that the institution has rethought the situation and has restored the money."

Barnes has taught at Truman for 33 years. In 1975, his officemate, Andrew Grossbardt, who was an assistant professor of English at the time, established the Chariton Review.

Grossbardt was dissatisfied with naming the publication something typical from the University, so the review was named after the Chariton River, which is just west of Kirksville. During the final stages of the second issue of the review, Grossbardt left the University with the intentions of returning after a year. He never returned, however, and the head of the division of language and literature determined that Barnes would take over the review.

In addition to his teaching and editorial duties, Barnes is the author of hundreds of published poems, fiction and translations. He was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry by the University of Illinois Press for his book "Paris." Barnes earned a Fulbright Award in 1993 and 1994 to study in Switzerland.     

"I'm not sure what being a writer in residence means, except that I work harder than most everybody else," Barnes said. "What I write comes from my experience. When I say experience ... it's a whole simulation of all kinds of stuff. I try to live with all my senses going. I try not to drift through life."

Barnes attended Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant as an undergraduate student. He majored in English, French and drama and minored in German and journalism. He attended the University of Arkansas as a graduate student and obtained his master's degree and doctorate in comparative literature.

"I like the fact that I was allowed to write and teach and develop my writing and teaching in the way that I wanted to ... and in return I have given the University not just 33 years of service, but I think that I have helped put them on the literary map with the 12 books that I have published," Barnes said.