Reviews and essays, to be effective, would have to shun academic thinking and prose, and above all, embrace the diverse voices of democratic pluralism.

Our literary profile has been defined by a passion for disinterested, wide-ranging, incisive commentary—and lilting prose; a poet's reputation has never guaranteed a favorable or negative review.

"[1] Contributors of essays to the magazine included David Barber, Sven Birkerts, Hayden Carruth, Guy Davenport, Mary Karr, Wayne Koestenbaum, Seamus Heaney, Adrienne Rich, Helen Vendler, Eric Ormsby, and Marjorie Perloff.

[citation needed] In a piece in the Wall Street Journal (July 2007), Willard Spiegelman compared the fates of Parnassus and Poetry magazine, which had been heavily endowed by a bequest from Ruth Lilly.

Because of this essay, another donor came to the rescue, anonymously, and gave Leibowitz enough money to keep the journal afloat for two more big issues, through Volume 32 (2010).