"We want to encourage writers who aren't in Adams House or in the 'literary scene,'" Hellerstein said. "Padan Aram realizes that there are enough writers out there to support more than one main-stream literary magazine. We've just got to reach them."

Padan Aram prose board member Eleanor Stafford '92 said the magazine shies away from publishing more than one piece per issue by a single author. Stafford said the magazine wanted "to prevent the creation of a set `repertoire' of Padan Aram writers."

"Our poetry board also looks at every single poem submitted, unlike the Advocate which allows the poetry editor to decide what the board will or will not see," Stafford also said.

But Heap and others acknowledge that the Advocate still carries a lot of weight, making it difficult for the other magazines to attract willing writers.

But even newcomer status cannot keep these younger magazines from competing with the Advocate for submissions. And writers say they are beginning to find it necessary to make decisions about which pieces they will submit to which magazines.

"Most writers are careful readers as well," Kenji Yoshino '91 said. "Different publications have different slants and I submit accordingly, based on an individual piece."

And Heap said, "There's certainly room enough for three mainstream magazines and all the special interest journals to exist in the literary community at Harvard."

"All the literary magazines--new and old--are important voices in the community," former Harvard Advocate President Mallay B. Charters '90 said. "I don't feel any of us are in adversary positions at all."