Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Forerunner

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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…

124 words

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 19 March 2024.]

825 The Forerunner 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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