The first issue of The Warwick Review, a quarterly magazine published by the Writing Program at the University of Warwick, appeared in March 2007. The journal has maintained a high standard and a commendable variety ever since. Like previous issues, the March 2009 edition is divided into sections that focus on certain kinds of writing, or certain places from which writing has emerged.

The opening section, ‘Reading America’, begins with a review by Nick Lawrence that makes a strong case for Paul Auster’s dislocated and disrupted recent novel, Man in the Dark. It is followed by a diverse series of reflections by various writers on what they see as cultural priorities and prospects for Americans under President Obama.