Creative Writing
This guide is intended to support students doing research for creative projects, particularly creative writers.
Daily Iowan, 1982
Wisenberg, S. L. (Sandi L.). 1982-10-25 Daily Iowan Article: "Free of Fear for Just One Night". https://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/node/909791. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.
Introduction
Current and historical magazines and newspapers can be great sources for background information or primary source material. They reflect the time period in which they were created, and provide a glimpse into society at the time. They givea snapshot of a time period detailing how people lived and what they purchased, which is helpful for writers etc.
The sources listed on this page are a non-exhaustive list of newspapers and magazines available at the library. For suggestions related to your topic or time period, contact a librarian.
Current Newspapers and Magazines
Visit The Perch, a physical and online space at the library designed to help you find articles from contemporary popular sources, such as newspapers and magazines. The physical space is at the Main Library, past the security gates that are in front of the Service Desk. To learn how to access its online resources, please look at the links below.
Historical Magazines
View a list of magazine titles and collections in our A-Z Databases or browse a few of the titles and collections below.
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African American Periodicals, 1825-1995 This link opens in a new windowFeatures more than 170 wide-ranging periodicals by and about African Americans. Published in 26 states, the publications include academic and political journals, commercial magazines, institutional newsletters, organizations' bulletins, annual reports and other genres.
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American Periodical Series Online 1740-1940 This link opens in a new windowOver 1,100 periodicals that first began publishing between 1740 and 1900, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines, and many other historically significant periodicals. Coverage 1740-1940.
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Independent Voices: An Open Access Collection of an Alternative Press. This link opens in a new windowIndependent Voices is a four-year project to digitize over 1 million pages from the magazines, journals and newspapers of the alternative press archives of participating libraries.
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Life Magazine Archive (1936-2000) This link opens in a new windowPresents an extensive collection of the famed photojournalism magazine, spanning its very first issue in November, 1936 through December, 2000 in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format.
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Punch Historical Archive, 1841-1992 This link opens in a new windowThe Punch Historical Archive, 1841-1992 presents a digital collection of every page of every issue of the weekly Punch magazine, including its celebrated cartoons and humorous Almanacks.
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Rolling Stone Archive This link opens in a new windowThe backfile of Rolling Stone covers the magazine from its launch in 1967 to the present. One of the most influential consumer magazines of the 20th and 21st centuries, it initially sought to reflect the cultural, social and political outlook of a generation of students and young adults. It soon became a leading vehicle for rock and popular music journalism, shaping and chronicling new trends and movements.
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Sur Digital Archive This link opens in a new windowFull text searchable database of The Sur Magazine (1931-1992) produced by Nicolas Helft and authorized by Fundacin Sur of Buenos Aires. Sur (South) was the magazine and publishing house founded by Victoria Ocampo and had enormous influence in the Spanish-speaking world.
Historical Newspapers - Domestic
View a list of newspaper titles and collections in our A-Z Databases or browse a few of the titles and collections below.
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African American Newspapers Series 1 and 2 This link opens in a new windowIncludes Series 1 (1827-1998) AND Series 2 (1835-1956). Part of the Readex America's Historical Newspapers collection, African American Newspapers is a record of African American history, culture, and daily life. Covers life in the Antebellum South through the Civil Rights movement and more
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Chicago Defender (Black Studies Center) This link opens in a new windowThe full text backfile of the influential black newspaper The Chicago Defender is available through the Black Studies Center site. It includes the Saturday edition (1910 to 1975) and the Daily edition (1956-1975).
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Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980 This link opens in a new windowHispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980 represents the single largest compilation of Spanish-language newspapers printed in the U.S. during the 19th and 20th centuries. The distinctive collection features hundreds of Hispanic American newspapers, including many long scattered and forgotten titles published in the 19th century.
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Los Angeles Times, 1881-1999 (Proquest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new windowThe Los Angeles Times (1881-1999) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue.
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New York Times, 1851-2019 (Proquest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new windowFull-text access to the New York Times from 1851 (New York Daily Times) to 2019.
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Wall Street Journal, 1889-2013 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new windowThe Wall Street Journal (1889-2013) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue.
Historical Newspapers - International
View a list of newspaper titles and collections in our A-Z Databases or browse a few of the titles and collections below.
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African Newspapers, 1800-1925 This link opens in a new windowMore than 40 nineteenth- and twentieth-century African newspapers. Featuring titles from Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Our subscription includes Series 2, 1835-1925 and Series 1, 1800-1922
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Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers This link opens in a new windowThe Middle Eastern & North African Newspapers collection includes publications from across this dynamic region, providing unique insights into the history of individual countries, as well as broad viewpoints on key historic events from the late nineteenth century through the present. Key topics include the decline of colonialism, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Suez Crisis, the Cold War, the rise of the petroleum industry, twentieth-century pan-Arab movements, both World Wars, the establishment of the state of Israel, the Iran-Iraq War, and the recent Arab Spring.
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British Newspapers 1600-1950 This link opens in a new windowThe most comprehensive digital historic newspaper archive. Includes 17-18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers, 19th Century British Library Newspapers, 3 million pages of historic newspapers, newsbooks & ephemera, and National & Regional papers from British Isles.
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Caribbean Newspapers, 1718-1876 This link opens in a new windowContains 66 newspaper titles from 22 islands between 1718-1876.
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South Asian Newspapers This link opens in a new windowPublished by Readex in partnership with the Center for Research Libraries.South Asian Newspapers is the third collection module of the World Newspaper Archive, created in partnership with Readex, a division of NewsBank. It will provide more than 400,000 fully searchable pages of newspapers published in South Asia between 1864 and 1922.
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Latin American Newspapers, 1805-1922 This link opens in a new windowSearchable collection of historical newspapers from around the world. Begins with Latin American newspapers from the 19th and 20th centuries. Forthcoming are African, European, Middle Eastern, South Asian, and Southeast Asian newspapers. Can be cross-searched with collection: America's historical newspapers. Parts I & II.
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World Newspaper Archive This link opens in a new windowWorld Newspaper Archive is a fully searchable collection of historical newspapers from around the globe. This uniquely comprehensive online resource was created in partnership with the Center for Research Libraries - one of the world's largest and most important newspaper repositories.
