The Massachusetts Review has endured for an improbably long time. The independent literary magazine was the brainchild of UMass Amherst faculty who reached out to neighboring colleges to launch it in 1959. Over the past 50 years, the Massachusetts Review has been widely praised for its groundbreaking poetry, prose, art, and social commentary.

The Juniper Initiative, affiliated with the UMass Amherst MFA program, celebrated the magazine’s big birthday at its annual literary festival. The April event included two days of readings and performances by emerging and renowned poets and writers, talks, panels, and a journal and book fair.

As part of the birthday bash, the University Gallery is now exhibiting original art from more than 30 Massachusetts Review covers. The show runs through May 24. And over at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, there is a show of magazine-related historical materials.

The 50th anniversary double issue of the journal includes work from past contributors (e.e. cummings, for one) and new voices. As the publication looks ahead, its tradition of social commentary continues. Editor David Lenson writes, “Whenever injustice is done to people because of who they are or what they think and say, the Massachusetts Review raises its small voice in protest.”