On numerous occasions, works from The Oxford American have been selected to appear in nationally acclaimed anthologies, such as Best American Sports Writing, Best American Short Stories, New Stories from the South, The O. Henry Prize Stories, The Pushcart Prize, and Best Food Writing, among others.
The magazine has also won an array of highly coveted and prestigious awards, including:
In bestowing this pinnacle honor, the Utne judges called The Oxford American “the most intelligent voice on Southern life published in America today.”
The ASME (American Society of Magazine Editors) Awards are considered the Academy Awards of the magazine industry, so we were especially pleased to win this honor for our Southern Music Issue. We beat out some fierce competition (winners in other categories included Harper's magazine and Atlantic Monthly). The ASME judges remarked:
“In its special issue on Southern music, The Oxford American achieved what every single-topic issue should. A memorable encounter with a subject that forever changes your understanding of it. Inventive, surprising, and elegant, this issue had the judges raving…and subscribing.”
A repeat triumph for our annual Southern Music Issue, which we won by beating out Rolling Stone and National Geographic, among others. This time, the ASME judges decreed:
“Like the bluegrass artist who bends his notes in all the right places, The Oxford American finds perfect pitch in its annual Southern music issue.”
Utne, a national magazine that annually selects the best of the independent press from over 1,500 publications, nominated The Oxford American in three categories (General Excellence, Best Writing, and Best Cultural & Social Coverage), and awarded us the prize for Best Writing. Utne editor David Schimke wrote:
“Given that the media landscape is increasingly dominated by the shrill, the shallow, and the corporate-owned, it's a comfort to know that there are still independent outlets such as The Oxford American that care about groundbreaking journalism, telling engaging stories, and publishing thought-provoking prose.”
“The Oxford American may be the liveliest literary magazine in America, and 2007 will bring its 9th annual ‘Southern music’ issue. The CDs are so smart and eclectic they probably belong in the Smithsonian.”
—The New York Times
“Endearing and polished…thoughtful, surprising…. It vaults into the upper tiers of American magazines.”
—Washington Post
“One of the brightest periodicals to appear on the American literary scene. A fabulous…magazine of passionate, quirky writing about the South.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Not only has Smirnoff found the Southern voice, but he’s provided a wonderful platform to make it heard. Each issue of The Oxford American introduces a roster of eccentric but endearing characters. A sort of Southern version of The New Yorker.”
—USA Today
“…founding editor Marc Smirnoff has a snake charmer’s talent for packing his vivacious, chicken-fried New Yorker with work by big shots.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“An Eclectic Mix…A Welcome Fix.”
—The Boston Globe
“The Oxford American is the poster child for quality writing in a world that often celebrates the frivolous and irrelevant and, often enough, the obscene.... It’s so good you’ll end up memorizing lines.”
—Arkansas Democrat Gazette
“Elegantly Designed—This Is Fresh, Original Writing, A Pleasure To Read.”
—The New Orleans Times-Picayune
“I'm always telling you that certain movies, Broadway plays, popular singers, current books and a few TV shows, are so wonderful and worth your while and ‘not to be missed’—well, now I'm telling you about a magazine that really is!”
—Liz Smith, New York Post
“Impressive.”
—The Associated Press
“The South’s Answer To The Atlantic Monthly.”
—Jackson Clarion-Ledger
“Intelligent, Sophisticated, Bold, Sparky…. The OA Succeeds.”
—The Charlotte Observer
“The editorial content remains impeccable. The artwork is a perfect complement to the magazine's sometimes quirky, never predictable prose.”
—Mediaweek
“At a time when culturalists warn that the South has lost its singular personality, that it suffers from regional sameness, The Oxford Americanpresents a compelling argument otherwise.”
—Miami Herald
“The Oxford American is that rarest of books—glossy, literary, hip…. It's kind of like Harper's with hospitality.”
—Mediabistro
“I really like the magazine. It's very cool.”
—Tom Petty
“Deals with the contemporary South with real intellectual substance.”
—Charles Reagan Wilson, director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, as quoted by the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Jan. 2003
