Launched as Poetry Nation, a twice-yearly hardback, in 1973, PN Review - now an A4 paperback - began quarterly publication in 1976 and has appeared six times a year since 1981 (PN Review 21). 182 issues of the magazine have now appeared.
Each issue includes an editorial, letters, news and notes, articles, interviews, features, poems, translations, and a substantial book review section.
Poetry Nation was founded by Michael Schmidt and Professor Brian Cox at the Victoria University of Manchester. When it went quarterly, the title changed to PN Review and Cox and Schmidt were joined on the editorial board by Professor Donald Davie and C. H. Sisson. Brian Cox retired, followed some years later by Donald Davie and C.H. Sisson.