The American Voice was founded by Frederick Smock and Sallie Bingham while they were both part-time teachers at the University of Louisville.
When the two started discussing making a literary journal, they initially thought of naming it "Other Voices," to represent the Latin Americans, regionalists, women, and other minority writers they liked.
When their friend Frank MacShane suggested they locate the journal more centrally by calling it "The American Voice," Smock and Bingham adopted the title immediately.
Some of the well-known writers The American Voice published include: Marge Piercy, Wendell Berry, Jorge Louis Borges, Elaine Equi, Isabel Allende, Fenton Johnson, Kay Boyle, Joyce Carol Oates, Reynolds Price, Anne Firor Scott, Jo Carson, Doris Grumbach, Paula Gunn Allen, Robin Morgan, Minnie Bruce Pratt, and Joy Harjo.
[2] The founding editors' primary goal was to promote marginalized writers who could not publish through literary establishments—especially those who were denied access to mainstream journals.