After marrying in January 1926, Maria McDonald Jolas and Eugène Jolas moved to Paris and began planning an international magazine for experimental writing. Their goal was to connect writers across languages and national literary scenes at a time when many artists were questioning older realist styles.
The first issue of transition was published in April 1927 in Paris, founded by Maria McDonald Jolas and Eugène Jolas (with early editorial support from Elliot Paul). It was designed as a home for modernist and avant-garde work, including new writing and translations that did not fit established commercial publishing.
The magazine was distributed primarily through Sylvia Beach’s Paris bookstore Shakespeare and Company. This mattered because the shop functioned as a hub where expatriate and European writers exchanged ideas and found readers, helping transition reach an international audience.
Beginning in 1927, transition published excerpts from James Joyce’s unfinished novel under the title “Work in Progress,” later known as Finnegans Wake. Printing these difficult, experimental passages helped make the magazine a meeting point for writers interested in new forms of prose and language.
From April 1927 to March 1928, transition appeared monthly, then shifted to a quarterly schedule from April 1928. The change reflected the practical limits of producing a small, international review while still maintaining a steady platform for experimental prose, poetry, and visual art.
In 1929, Eugène Jolas issued transition’s “Revolution of the Word Proclamation,” a manifesto calling for new approaches to literary language and form. By gathering signatures and placing the statement prominently in the magazine, transition positioned itself as more than a showcase—it became an organized community arguing for change in how prose and poetry could work.
By the early 1930s, transition faced financial difficulty and stopped appearing for a period. This interruption shows how fragile experimental prose communities could be when they depended on small readerships and limited funding, even when their cultural influence was large.
In March 1932, transition returned with issue 21 after a hiatus, now published by Servire Press and based in The Hague under Eugène Jolas’s editorial control. The relaunch reframed the magazine as an “international workshop,” emphasizing process, experimentation, and cross-border exchange as central methods rather than side effects.
Issue 21 also marked transition’s role as a bridge between famous modernists and newer experimental writers. It included a major focus on Joyce and is known for early work associated with Samuel Beckett, illustrating how the magazine helped introduce and connect writers within experimental prose circles.
From 1936 to 1938, art critic and curator James Johnson Sweeney served as an editor of transition. His involvement supported the magazine’s long-running mix of experimental literature with avant-garde visual art, strengthening ties between prose communities and modern art networks.
In the mid-to-late 1930s, transition continued publishing Joyce-related material while also featuring major modern artists in its pages and on its covers. These issues show how the magazine functioned as a shared platform where experimental prose, translation, and visual design developed together.
transition’s final issue (No. 27) appeared in April–May 1938, edited by Eugène Jolas with associate editor James Johnson Sweeney. Jolas’s opening text “Frontierless Decade” looked back on the magazine’s purpose—building a cross-border, multilingual space for new writing—marking a clear endpoint to one of the key interwar experimental prose communities.
Transition magazine and experimental prose communities (1927-1938)