'In 1986 Stratis Haviaras, then Curator of the Woodberry Poetry Room of the Harvard College Library, founded a quarterly periodical called Erato. The purpose of this publication was to publicize the activities of the Poetry Room and create a new forum for discussion of current literary matters and events. The first issue of Erato, which was four pages long, featured a poem by Seamus Heaney, a short piece on Louis Simpson, and a news item from Harvard University Press. Tipped into the issue were three looseleaf pages of book reviews, including reviews of works by Joseph Brodsky, Marguerite Duras, and Richard Ford. Within three years the book review section had grown to over thirty pages and the publication was renamed Harvard Book Review.
'In 1992 Haviaras launched Harvard Review, a perfect-bound journal of over 200 pages, published semi-annually and incorporating the old Harvard Book Review. The purpose of the new journal was to foster the work of new writers, provide a forum for criticism of new literary works, and present the finest poetry and short fiction being written.'
(Source: Harvard Review website, http://hcl.harvard.edu/houghton/departments/harvardreview/HRhome.html)
