About

BFR editors selling Issue 2 on Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley (1982).

About Us

The Berkeley Fiction Review is a UC Berkeley undergraduate, student-run publication. We look for innovative short fiction that plays with form and content, as well as traditionally constructed stories with fresh voices and original ideas. We invite submissions of previously unpublished short stories year-round and publish annually.

We nominate to O. Henry, Best American Short Stories, and Pushcart prizes.

History

The Berkeley Fiction Review is one of several descendants of UC Berkeley’s Occident literary journal, which was published from 1881 to the 1960s. Established in 1981 by Julia Littleton, Jenne Mowry, Joe Sciallo, and Paul Wedderien, BFR is now UC Berkeley’s oldest prose journal.

In 2012, the Berkeley Fiction Review was named “Best Literary Publication” on campus by the Associated Students of the University of California.

DeCal

Our DeCal class takes place during both semesters of the school year. Members of the class read submissions for the journal and discuss them in class.

Over the course of the semester we will determine qualities of a good story, as well as learn about the publishing process. The class is graded pass/not pass, and can be taken for 1-2 units. No experience is necessary; all Berkeley students are welcome. We also welcome auditors.

Berkeley students interested in enrolling in our DeCal class can check out our listing here!

Meet Our Team

The Berkeley Fiction Review has two to four managing editors, who oversee a large team of assistant editors divided into multiple departments: Administration, Publicity, Distributions, and Magazine. Our design staff create graphics and visuals for our journal. Our staff writers write content for our online magazine ranging from book reviews, personal essays, and commentary pieces.

Managing Editors

Lead Editors

Assistant Editors

Design Staff

Staff Writers

Notable Contributors

Ellen Akins
Jacob Appel
Tamsen Armstrong
Peter Bichsel
Charles Bukowski
Amina Cain
Virginia Cerenio
John Michael Cummings
Kenneth J. Emberly
Will Eno
Seamus Deane
Mark Dery
Jürgen Fauth
Sergey Gandlevsky
Alisa J. Golden

DeWitt Henry
Michael A. Hollister
Sherril Jaffe
G. Davies Jandrey
Neil Jordan
Paul Kafka
Perri Klass
Jeanne M. Leib
Karin Lin-Greenberg
B.K. Loren
Scott Malcomson
Valerie Miner
John Montague
Jess Mowry
Álvaro Mutis

Scott Nagele
Claudia Nogueira
Joyce Carol Oates
Dmitri Prigov
Lev Rubinshteyn
Olga Sedakova
Hal Sirowitz
W. A. Smith
Elena Shvarts
Julia Vinograd
Gerald Vizenor
Glen Weldon
Nellie Wong