The name was inspired by the fascinating, celestial phenomena that brighten the night.
Shooting Star Review was produced by Shooting Star Productions, Inc., a non-profit organization. Mission: To explore the Black American experience through literature and art. This goal meant that anyone could write for the journal. Among the highlights was presenting beautiful work sent from an Australian Aborigine.
From 1986 to 1994, thirty-six issues of this international quarterly were published. Two, major writers conferences were also produced. One in conjunction with Three Rivers Arts Festival and one at the University of Pittsburgh. Major writers like Octavia Butler, Walter Mosley, Ntozake Shange and more stellar authors participated.
Shooting Star Productions, Inc. was founded and developed by Sandra Gould Ford, an author, artist and educator, a mother of two marvelous daughters and a former steel worker. Gould Ford also graduated from the University of Pittsburgh Master of Fine Arts Program.
Shooting Star Productions’ great achievements were made possible by the financial support of the Pennsylvania Council on The Arts, The Pittsburgh Foundation as well as the contributing writers and volunteers. All supporters — too numerous to mention here — are listed in the journal’s pages.
This tribute to Shooting Star is maintained to encourage and inspire.
