History
VII: An Anglo-American Literary Review was begun as an annual
journal in 1980 through the combined efforts of Dr. Barbara Reynolds of
Cambridge, England, Dr. Clyde S. Kilby, founder of the Wade Center, and
Dr. Beatrice Batson, at that time Chair of the Wheaton College English
Department. These professors saw the need for a forum where the lives and
works of the Wade authors could be discussed with academic rigor without
forgoing accessibility.
Dr. Reynolds explains, "As thinkers, novelists, creators of new worlds, poets, dramatists,
Christian believers, innovators in all they undertook, they set a high standard of intellectual
integrity and imaginative achievement. We have still much to learn from them and about them.
Their influence, severally and in combination, continues to be far-reaching and an inspiration to
all who value creative excellence."
From the outset, submissions were selected based on blind peer-review by an expert advisory board.
The first five volumes (1980-1984) were published for Wheaton College by Heffers of Cambridge.
Because of cost, it became necessary to find a publisher in the United States. Volumes 6-9
(1985-1988) were published by a Colorado firm that then went out of business,
leaving SEVEN without a publisher. After a five-year hiatus, it was decided to reestablish
the journal due to the ever-increasing feasibility of in-house desktop publishing.
Accordingly, Volume 10 was published by the Wade Center in 1993. The following year, an endowment
was established to make SEVEN sustainable-this funding arrangement continues to keep
the journal's subscription cost accessible to a range of readers. The Wade Center continues to
accept donations to the SEVEN endowment.
SEVEN is now approaching its 25th volume. Interestingly, despite the increasing popularity of the seven Wade authors, their numerous similarities in world-view, and their interaction with each other, SEVEN continues to be the only publication of an academic nature which offers in-depth discussion of these writers in one forum. The journal is notable for accessibility and freedom from academic jargon on the one hand, and wide-ranging scholarship on the other. In addition to articles by renowned as well as new authors, a SEVEN reader will also find book reviews, news and event reports, resources for research, and, upon occasion, previously unpublished works by the Wade collection's authors.
Founders
Dr. Beatrice Batson
Dr. Clyde S. Kilby
Dr. Barbara Reynolds
Journal Staff
Managing Editor: Marjorie Lamp Mead
Consulting Editor: Barbara Reynolds
Book Review Editor: Christopher W. Mitchell
Assistant Editor: Rachel Mink
Printing Affiliate: BookMasters, Inc., Mansfield, OH
Advisory Board
Ian Boyd South Orange, New Jersey
Suzanne Bray Lille, France
Sharon Coolidge Wheaton, Illinois
Kerry Dearborn Seattle, Washington
Lyle W. Dorsett Birmingham, Alabama
David C. Downing Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
Rolland Hein Wheaton, Illinois
Brian Horne London, England
Thomas Kelly Maynooth, Republic of Ireland
Aidan Mackey Bedford, England
Colin Manlove Edinburgh, Scotland
Stephen Prickett Waco, Texas
John Rateliff Kent, Washington
John S. Ryan Armidale, New South Wales
Leland Ryken Wheaton, Illinois
Peter Schakel Holland, Michigan
Adam Schwartz Front Royal, Virginia
Rosamond Sprague Columbia, South Carolina
Roger Stronstad Abbotsford, British Columbia
Shirley Sugerman Summit, New Jersey
Michael Ward Cambridge, England
