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NewPages Blog

At the NewPages Blog readers and writers can catch up with their favorite literary and alternative magazines, independent and university presses, creative writing programs, and writing and literary events. Find new books, new issue announcements, contest winners, and so much more!

Braided Worlds

A braid is a fantastic narrative metaphor for complex collections of worldviews. Through the plaited entity, we can see independent strands woven together, each contributing to the creation of something that is more than its single self. We can see complex knotting and intricate interlacing that highlight the skill of the weaver (or storyteller, in our metaphor). A single-strand narrative is a ponytail—simple, standard, and fairly unimaginative. A braided narrative, however, is a building block—one that leads to unending possibilities of elaborate designs and coiffures. In Braided Worlds, their ethnography-reflection-travel memoir, Alma Gottlieb and Philip Graham work extremely well with the metaphor of a braided narrative. Their collections of stories from their time with the Beng in Côte d’Ivoire clearly reflect their commitment to “re-create the immediacy of the present-moment external drama of our lives among the Beng people, as well as the drama of our internal states.” Continue reading “Braided Worlds”

Masha’allah and Other Stories

Masha’allah and Other Stories by Mariah K. Young, recipient of the James D. Houston Award, is a book of nine short stories that take place in the Bay Area of California. Young, enlivened by the energy and spirit of the streets, uses an empathic voice to imagine the lives of those around her living in financial insecurity as they cobble together a living with various gigs, pot drop-offs, random parties to bartend, limo drivers with pick-ups, men meeting in clusters to be day laborers. She writes about those trapped and pushing against economic restraints: people induced to come to America under false promises by their own countrymen, minorities finding ways to use their talents to catch the rung up out of what they were born into, immigrants constructing a forged identity to become citizens, a teenage girl who escapes the life of her parents’ illegal operation to breed dogs for dog fighting. Young’s empathic voice lets us feel the humanity of the characters beyond class and ethnicity . . . “they are us.” Even though it may not be their voice and the way they would express their experiences, or even their ethos, we are given a path to cross over to them. Continue reading “Masha’allah and Other Stories”

Our Man in Iraq

What can a novel show us that a textbook might not? Perhaps it can demonstrate how people truly live and breathe in any historical point in time. When I was young, novels like Robert Olen Butler’s Alleys of Eden presented an experience of what the American debacle in Vietnam was like. Richard Wright’s Black Boy revealed a world so alien to me, a Midwestern white boy, that I could hardly believe it was real. The Orphan Master’s Son took me to North Korea. Of course I studied history books in school and on my own, but it was the novels that left an imprint as if they were true memories. They took me to real places. Continue reading “Our Man in Iraq”

Bringing Our Languages Home

Promoting a grassroots approach to language revitalization, Leanne Hinton has edited over a dozen retellings from families who have brought their native languages back into the home. All of the essays in Bringing Our Languages Home possess a clear congruency in five different categories on how to approach language learning. Most essays focus on learning and reintroducing American tribal languages, such as Miami, Yuchi, Mohawk, and Karuk. This anthology certainly has a very focused audience, but those with an already established interest in linguistics and grassroots movements may also wish to follow along with these varied essays. Continue reading “Bringing Our Languages Home”

Fiction from Kuwait

The Summer 2013 issue of Banipal is dedicated to fiction from Kuwait. It features contemporary writing from 17 Kuwaiti authors, all from ranging backgrounds: Sulaiman al-Shatti, Ismail Fahd Ismail, Suleiman al-Khalifi, Fatima Yousif al-Ali, Laila al-Othman, Waleed al-Rajeeb, Taleb Alrefai, Thuraya al-Baqsami, Fawziya Shuwaish al-Salem, Bothayna al-Essa, Saud al-Sanousi, Yousef Khalifa, Basima al-Enezi, Ali Hussain al-Felkawi, Hameady Hamood, and Mona al-Shammar.

“This issue of Banipal has required an enormous amount of time and effort, more, in fact, than any previous issue,” writes Editor Samuel Shimon. “In the early years of Banipal, perhaps around 2001, we began debating the idea of producing a feature dedicated to Kuwaiti literature. After some deliberation, we decided to save the idea for later. On the one hand, Kuwaiti literary production still appeared to be dominated by a preoccupation with the effects of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the country’s subsequent liberation. Overall, they represented a direct reaction to the crime committed by the Arab neighbor. On the other hand, we did not perceive any new ‘ faces’ emerging on the literary scene, and had already published a number of Kuwaiti authors individually . . .

“From 2005 to the present day, however, it is fair to say that many new literary talents have emerged, particularly in the novel and short story genres . . . In the summer of 2012, the idea . . . was raised once again, this time by celebrated Kuwaiti author Taleb Alrefai. . . I remember telling him that, for Banipal to produce such an issue, I would have to visit the country, in order to experience its literary scene directly and meet with its authors . . .”

That following December, the Cultural Circle invited him to visit, and once he returned they spent a great deal of time selecting pieces for this issue. He writes, “It is a great pleasure to present this wonderful selection of Kuwaiti literature to you and I hope you enjoy reading it.”

Poetry East “Origins”

Poetry East‘s Spring 2013 issue focuses on the composition process with the special “Origins,” in which “poets revisit their poems and consider the circumstances under which the poem was written.” Editor Richard Jones writes, “these extraordinary poems and wise essays of ‘Origins’ collectively articulate my belief that poetry is—must be—passionate, urgent, necessary, and deeply human.”

Featured poets include George Bilgere, Michael Blumenthal, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Jared Carter, Susanna Childress, Stephen Dunn, James Galvin, Chris Green, Rob Griffith, Jeff Gundy, Andrew Hudgins, Meg Kearney, Kathleen Kirk, Ted Kooser, Jay Leeming, Linda Pastan, Donald Platt, Susan Blackwell Ramsey, James Reiss, Danielle Sellers, Clemens Starck, Mark Turcotte, Leslie Ullman, Connie Wanek, C. K. Williams, Jeff Worley, and Bill Zavatsky.

Hurricane Sandy :: Students Speak Out

Adanna Literary Journal is supporting an anthology of writing from 7th and 8th grade students of MES, New Jersey that was written on the night of Hurricane Sandy as well as during the aftermath. All profits will go to the Manasquan Area Ministerium discretionary fund for Sandy-affected individuals/families and “towards the new playground in Manasquan, NJ which will be dedicated in honor of Newtown children.” You can purchase the anthology, here, on the magazine’s website.

Here is a blurb about the issue from Adanna: “Included amid this collection of 42 heartrending student essays are excerpts from 74 equally moving student essays that space would not permit us to print in full. These excerpts are included under four themes central to the students’ experiences of Hurricane Sandy: Scar, Chaos, Aftermath, Restore. Together, the first letters of these themes intentionally spell the word scar.

“Hurricane Sandy has indeed left a scar on these young people, their families, their communities. The superstorm has forever scarred their beloved Jersey Shore landscape. Yet time and attentive care heal the wounds of the scar, creating newness and strength. As the poet and story-teller Linda Hogan wrote, ‘Some people see scars, and it is wounding they remember. To me they are proof of the fact that there is healing.’ There was the storm, and there is still some chaos and plenty of work to be done in aftermath, but these students, their families, their communities, and their landscape are rebuilding…they are committed to RESTORE THE SHORE, and these essays are a healing balm for the scars of all who wrote them and for all who will read them.”

Glimmer Train New Writers Award Winners

Glimmer Train has just chosen the winning stories for their May Short Story Award for New Writers. This competition is held quarterly and is open to all writers whose fiction has not appeared in a print publication with a circulation greater than 5000. The next Short Story Award competition will take place in August. Glimmer Train’s monthly submission calendar may be viewed here.

1st place goes to Gillian Burnes of Gardiner, ME. She wins $1500 for “Transit” and her story will be published in Issue 92 of Glimmer Train Stories. This is Gillian’s first fiction publication. [Photo credit: Deirdre Gilbert.]

2nd place goes to S. A. Rivkin of Minneapolis, MN. He wins $500 for “How to Survive a Non-Funeral.” This story will also be published in an upcoming issue of Glimmer Train Stories, increasing his prize to $700. This is his first fiction publication.

3rd place goes to Aaron Guest of Grove City, OH. He wins $300 for “The Hecklers.” This story will also be published in an upcoming issue of Glimmer Train Stories, increasing his prize to $700. This is his first fiction publication.

A PDF of the Top 25 winners can be found here.

Deadline soon approaching! Very Short Fiction Award: July 31
Glimmer Train hosts this competition twice a year, and 1st place has been increased to $1500 plus publication in the journal. It’s open to all writers, no theme restrictions, and the word count must not exceed 3000. Click here for complete guidelines.

Arc’s Poem of the Year

The winner of the second annual Poem of the Year Contest put on by Arc Poetry Magazine is Shane Neilson for “The Barn.” The judges said, “the poem plays between two worlds, a derelict barn and a body in sickness, without losing its focus or giving the allusion up to a simple denouement. Its syntax is synaptic and full firing. This is a complex and arrhythmic poem that eschews easy vocabulary and cursory readings but, given the space full attention, its meanings build and twine together like DNA.” Along with this poem, you can also read, in the Summer 2013 issue, both the editor’s and the readers’ choices among the submissions.

The issue also features Mike Algera, Jesse Anger, Tammy Armstrong, Gerard Beirne, andrea bennett, Gregory Betts, Mike Caesar, jesse chase, Margaret Christakos, and many more.

theNewerYork :: theEEL

theNewerYork, a relatively new print journal, has a great online feature called the Electric Encyclopedia of Experimental Literature (theEEL). To read some great content, all you have to do is go to theEEL, and then filter by Funny/Serious, Visual/Words, Short/Long, and Liked/Disliked. Or you can choose a literary form, or simply click “Random!” to generate some pieces that are, well, randomly selected.

While you’re at it, check out theNewerYork’s Fictional Glossary. “Think of it [as] an Urban Dictionary except not entirely maintained by bros. While at times poetic and stern, the definitions tend to circle around humor and cynicism.”

Houdini and the Art of Illusion

The summer issue of The Missouri Review includes a special feature on Houdini. “Many fascinating things are known about Houdini,” writes Editor Speer Morgan, “partly because he was an assiduous collector of his own materials and also of rare books and gear concerning the history of magic. There are also so many myths and partial truths about him, which this feature tries to clarify, including stories of his death at age fifty-two and the nature of his relationship with the all-powerful milieu of spiritualism.” The feature, by Kristine Somerville and Morgan, includes history, photographs, and poster/advertisements for his shows.

The issue also includes a piece by Peter Selgin on New York; a piece by Peter LaSalle on Paris; and new work from Aaron Baker, Michael Benedict, Lania Knight, Peter Levine, Nathan Oates, Dan O’Brien, Pamela Painter, Diane Seuss, and more.

Interview with Chuck Klosterman

In a piece, which rests in a great collection, in Booth‘s current issue, Chuck Klosterman discusses the difference between writing nonfiction and fiction. In the interview with him by Chris Speckman, Klosterman talks about how he started his writing career by writing for the college newspaper, and he only writes pieces that gets published–“If I’m not going to write about something, I’ll just think about it. I don’t need to share it with other people. However,  I think sharing it with people is a great way to live. The process of writing is always pleasant . . The process of publishing is often not . . . But you have to publish in order to keep writing. That’s just the way it works.”

And through his experience of writing, he says that writing novels is much more difficult than writing essays and nonfiction:

“So you’re doing this interview with me right now, and what would be the best thing that could happen from your perspective? It would be if I sad something that made no fucking sense whatsoever, if I said something that was jut crazy and a total non sequitur. Or if I was talking to you and said, ‘Oh, I’m looking out my window right now, and I’m seeing a murder happen.’ THat would be great for your story, because in nonfiction, what you’re looking for are things that make no sense. Those are the moments of tension in a nonfiction piece . . . But in fiction, people hate that. People are always looking for the reality of a fake world that accurately reflects their world. So you’re constantly looking at these problems and saying, What is the most reasonable thing that could happen here? What could happen here that would make somebody say, ‘I could totally see that happening.'”

Get the latest issue to read more of this compelling interview, as well as to access an interview with Charles Simic; lots of new comics, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and “greeting cards”; and an attractive and compactly designed magazine.

Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week

Wow! I guess last week’s litmag covers were well loved by others too; the post was our top viewed post this month. Here are some more for this week:

Booth‘s print issue number 5 not only contains great content, but it also features the cover art Fillmore by Kevin Cyr.

 Seneca Review‘s cover is Bulbouscarcinotopia by Mary A. Johnson: red and yellow beet dye, concord grapes, pomegranate, acetone photograph transfer, colored pencil, digitally altered photographs and ink, 2013.

 Notre Dame Review‘s front cover art is The Storm, oil on canvas, 2011, by Alex Gross.

July Literary Magazine Reviews

In case you missed it, we wanted to let you know that the literary magazine reviews for July have been posted; and this month, there are a lot. Check out reviews of issues of:

Birmingham Poetry Review
The Bitter Oleander
Cactus Heart
Chicago Review
Concho River Review
CutBank
The Georgia Review
Grist
Gulf Coast
High Desert Journal
Jonathan
Literal
The London Magazine
NANO Fiction
Pembroke Magazine
Post Road
Quiddity
Stealing Time

2013 Willow Springs Fiction Prize

The winner of the 2013 Willow Springs Fiction Prize, featured in the Fall 2013 issue of the magazine, is Robert Long Foreman with his piece “The Man with the Nightmare Gun.” Here is a small excerpt:

I am not a serious man. I thought Carol understood this about me by our fifth date. I thought it was something I’d established the night of our third date, after we had sex the first time. We lay together for an hour afterward, discussing the vast range of bra sizes and the prehistoric giant sloth, extinct now for thousands of years. It stood twenty feet tall and had massive claws, Carol said.When she added that people who lived when the sloths roamed the earth didn’t wear bras, I said, “They were the Greatest Generation.”
She laughed.

The rest of the issue features poetry by Kim Addonizio, Warren Bromley-Vogel, Denver Butson, Nicole Cooley, Sara Henning, Nora Hickey, Kate Lebo, Cate Marvin, Mark Neely, Keith Ratzlaff, and Ginny Wiehardt; fiction by Maxim Loskutoff and Aurelie Sheehan; and interviews with Steve Almond and Susan Orlean.

Special Feature with Judith Kitchen

The summer 2013 issue of The Georgia Review features a special treat, a long-ish piece by Judith Kitchen titled “Circus Train.” I say “long-ish” because it hasn’t really been defined. Read Editor Stephen Corey’s explanation:

“While reading and rereading Kitchen’s segmented but forcefully interwoven study of memory and mortality, I’ve been led to wonder, briefly, whether a book of nonfiction—which at its exploring and argumentative best is by nature essaying—deserves to be accorded a potently developed but physically diminutive sibling, as the novel has come to have the novella in its family. (Of course, ‘short story’ often wants to claim ‘novella’ as kin, too, by proudly calling it ‘long story.’) Alas, ‘essayla’ is merely cute and ‘long essay’ pedestrian, so I must leave you to your own categorizing as you read this inventive, moving, and all-too-soon ended ‘Circus Train.'”

The rest of the issue features Scott Russell Sanders, David Griffith, Jerry McGahan, Bruce Bond, Todd Boss, Rebecca Cook, Sharon Dolin, Charles FOrt, Al Maginnes, Jack Ridl, and Robert Wrigley, as well as some amazing art and some reviews.

Driftless Review – Spring 2013

Published by Platteville Poets, Writers and Editors, LLC—“an organization dedicated to showcasing the works of emerging and established writers whose creative journeys have in some way brought them through the  Driftless Region”—Driftless Review is a brand new online journal, this being the inaugural issue which features poetry, prose, and visual art. Continue reading “Driftless Review – Spring 2013”

Looseleaf Tea – March 2013

A brand new online publication, Looseleaf Tea creates a space for emerging and established artists to come together, offering different perspectives and aspects of different cultures. “Looseleaf tea symbolizes a return to roots,” the editors write. “It symbolizes a partiality toward comfort, honesty, and the formation of new bonds with friends and strangers over common ground.” Continue reading “Looseleaf Tea – March 2013”

Birmingham Poetry Review – Spring 2013

The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of the Birmingham Poetry Review presents readers with a special feature: six poems and an interview with Pulitzer Prize winning, former Virginia Poet Laureate, Claudia Emerson. The six poems demonstrate her range and proficiency as an acclaimed American poet; from her historical poem “Virginia Christian,” a narrative of the “first female electrocuted in the state of Virginia in 1912,” to the “Lightning” sonnet that brings us to the electric moment when the poem’s persona “hears the strike that splits the pecan tree,” readers are treated to language that at once is immediate and powerful. Continue reading “Birmingham Poetry Review – Spring 2013”

The Bitter Oleander – Spring 2013

Theophrastus wrote that the root of Oleander when mixed with wine makes the temper gentle and more cheerful. While Theophrastus never got the chance to read The Bitter Oleander, he surely would have had similar sentiments about what reading it could do for a person. The Bitter Oleander strives to provide readers with deep, image-driven work that will “open eyes to a world our habits and blindness ignore everyday.” This issue is a testament to that goal. Continue reading “The Bitter Oleander – Spring 2013”

Cactus Heart – May 2013

I’ve never eaten a cactus before, but I hear that it’s very good once you make it past the prickly exterior. Editor Sara Rauch of Cactus Heart magazine explains on their website how literature and art should be like the succulent interior of the desert plant: “It should shock and wound and delight us; it should fill us with delight and terror and mystery. It should survive.” This issue is their first print issue, and it is certainly a delight to read. Continue reading “Cactus Heart – May 2013”

Chicago Review – Winter 2013

Chicago Review is “an international journal of writing and critical exchange published quarterly.” And they are not falsely advertising; it really is just that. This issue is jam-packed with fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and discourse on ecopoetics that takes the reader around the globe in 218 pages. From first page to last, the reader is kept engaged and moving. If anyone is looking for a reference on how to organize and put together a journal, this issue of Chicago Review is it. Continue reading “Chicago Review – Winter 2013”

Concho River Review – Spring 2013

Concho River Review, published by the Department of English and Modern Languages at Angelo State University, presents a strong list of talented writers in this issue. Most of the prose and poetry here revolve around country life or the outdoors, but these are not the unifying themes of this journal. The only connection is solid writing “from Texas and beyond.” Continue reading “Concho River Review – Spring 2013”

CutBank – 2013

Nimble language and arterial ideas spur this volume of Cutbank, although the thematic diversity and innovative riffs of the journal make any sweeping introduction to the volume impressionistic. The journal veers from the fantastic to the postmodern, crossing the continental (two widely disparate counts of Paris) to the nuclear (stories warbling on familial love and deception.) This issue reflects the editorial organization and voices of many worlds—be it that of a Youngstown Lolita or the fractured narrative of someone seeking the seamless whole after anorexia. Continue reading “CutBank – 2013”

The Georgia Review – Spring 2013

The Georgia Review consistently delivers the best of contemporary fiction and poetry. Given its hefty reputation, it is no surprise that this issue is packed with high-quality writing from established authors. But above all else, this issue is an investment in Mary Hood, whose feature consumes two thirds of the journal. You may have never heard of her. I hadn’t. Hood is a southern writer whose history with The Georgia Review dates back to 1983, and whose fiction has been published in Harper’s Magazine, The Kenyon Review, The Gettysburg Review, and more. Continue reading “The Georgia Review – Spring 2013”

Grist – 2013

What sets Grist: The Journal for Writers apart is its “commitment to the writer’s occupation.” To begin with, three interviews with working writers provide appealing insight. Then there are two craft essays, one on metaphor in poetry, one on time in fiction. Mostly, there are 148 pages of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction (no book reviews or criticism) of exciting quality. And don’t miss the online companion, a smart nod to the online presence all writers, these days, must have. Continue reading “Grist – 2013”

Gulf Coast – Summer/Fall 2013

Gulf Coast Editors Zachary Martin and Karyna McGlynn claim in their editor’s note that while many literary journals announce themes in advance, they are partial to “themes that announce themselves gradually.” In “The ‘Issues’ Issue,” we see the effects of that thinking: a vibrant collection of prose, poetry, and art diverse enough so that you forget about theme while reading, only realizing much later how subtly and cohesively each piece fit into the issue, binding the journal together. Continue reading “Gulf Coast – Summer/Fall 2013”

High Desert Journal – Spring 2013

I’m a lifelong city-dweller, and reading High Desert Journal reminds me of one of my favorite experiences in travel: immersing oneself in a new normal. High Desert Journal “is a literary and visual arts magazine dedicated to further understanding of the people, places and issues of the interior West.” The key word is “understanding,” broad enough to encompass myriad means of expression, and at the same time narrow enough to tamper attempts at the pedantic or the exotic. There’s nothing fancy about the journal. The horses, rifles, ranches, and cowboy aspirations in the stories are not packaged as the stuff of artistic ambition, but rather parts of ways of life. The artwork and images bespeak the dedication of the journal to perpetuate the expression of the various understandings of this part of the world. For someone visiting from outside the region like me, High Desert Journal is a proud and easy-going host. Continue reading “High Desert Journal – Spring 2013”

Jonathan – May 2013

Contemporary fiction often ignores or pushes aside gay themes. That’s why it’s wonderful to have a journal like Jonathan; it spotlights what is generally left gathering dust. A journal dedicated to gay men’s fiction, Jonathan is captivating from page one. More than most journals, it reads like a chorus of voices; the ten narrators of Jonathan’s fiction are vulnerable. They are strong and insightful. Continue reading “Jonathan – May 2013”

Literal – Spring 2013

Literal sets out to “provide a medium for the critique and diffusion of the Latin American literature and art,” and, at least in this issue, it is heavy on critique. Unlike the majority of literary magazines I am familiar with, most of Literal consists of short critical articles, with subjects ranging from a Picasso exhibit, to Philip Roth’s retirement, to social movements in Spain and Mexico. Its pointed reader is probably bilingual: while many pieces are presented with side-by-side Spanish and English versions, some are not, though the magazine offers English and Spanish translations of the others upon request. Continue reading “Literal – Spring 2013”

The London Magazine – June/July 2013

The London Magazine (TLM) upholds a high standard of tone, diction, and point of view. The oldest cultural journal in the United Kingdom, TLM began publication in 1732; it has published a list of writers that includes Wordsworth, Shelley and Keats, T. S. Eliot, Sylvia Plath, Dylan Thomas and Doris Lessing. This issue contains essays on a variety of cultural topics, including eight lengthy book reviews, as well as poetry by seven fine poets and one short story. The volume is clean and sharp in appearance; inside, the text is pleasing to the eye, neither too small nor too large, and well-spaced on the page. Color reproductions of the latest paintings by Pakistani artist Jamil Naqsh grace the cover and comprise a special section within the issue. An excerpt from the commentary, by venerable art critic Edward Lucie-Smith, will give an indication of the tone of the magazine: Continue reading “The London Magazine – June/July 2013”

NANO Fiction – 2013

As an avid reader of flash fiction, I’ve long admired the diversity of writing featured in NANO Fiction. The journal’s 500-word ceiling for stories results in a showcase of quick, narrative-driven flash as well as prose that lingers with a heavy dose of lyricality. It ranges in genre from what we might call realist flash to work that is much more surreal, and everything in between. Through it all, the journal values work featuring language that is playful, explorative, and sharp. Continue reading “NANO Fiction – 2013”

Pembroke Magazine – 2013

If you want a devastating collection of modern literature, reach for Pembroke Magazine. The journal was launched from North Carolina in the late 1960s and has matured to a strong print presence among the small presses. From the variety of vantage points and voices, you might not even realize that it showcases the best of compilation out of the Edenic East Coast—one hundred miles from Charlotte, one hundred miles from the sea. But it manages to capture this in time and place with a rich lyricism and insightful prose. Continue reading “Pembroke Magazine – 2013”

Post Road – 2012

The blurbs on the back and in the ads in the middle of this issue of Post Road say things like “I often give away literary journals to my students . . . but I can’t give away Post Road—all I can do is show my copies to my students and then protectively snatch them back!” And “I trumpet Post Road not out of kindness but out of the purely selfish pleasure I take in a frisky, alert, independent magazine whose words and images spring off the page and sometimes turn a somersault or two before they stick their landings in my brain . . .” The former, by Aimee Bender, and the latter, by Walter Kirn, add up to something sounding too good to be true. However, let me reassure you: even a skim through this issue confirms their joie de la lecture. Continue reading “Post Road – 2012”

Quiddity – Spring/Summer 2013

Quiddity has the variety anyone can enjoy: the new works of poetry, prose, art, and interviews are drawn from around the world. And the results and advantage of combining a literary and art journal with public radio programs is always intriguing. I don’t know how the radio station handled the paintings, but here we can view George Colin’s nine untitled pieces as support, counter-point, accompaniment, or just plain enjoyable. Continue reading “Quiddity – Spring/Summer 2013”

Stealing Time – Spring 2013

Stealing Time is a magazine for, about, and by parents. When I discovered its existence, I was immediately intrigued, yet wary as well. Would it have an angle, an agenda to promote? Would it rise above the content of most parenting magazines out there? Thankfully, the answers are no and yes. Stealing Time lives up to its mission statement: “To provide a venue for quality literary content about parenting: no guilt, no simple solutions, no mommy wars.” Continue reading “Stealing Time – Spring 2013”

Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week

Continuing on the with tradition, here are this week’s covers that caught my eye from literary magazines that came in this week:

Versal, with the line “A Journal is a Fish,” has the cover of a dead fish: “We’ve never chosen an image that so compellingly captures the work within an issue,” writes the editor.

Willow Springs Fall 2013 issue features Madly in Love by Joan Snyder done with oil, acrylic, herbs, fabric on linen, in 2003.

Image‘s Spring 2013 cover features Anselm Kiefer’s Book with Wings, 1992-94, made with lead, tin, and steel.

Student Submissions :: Digital America

Digital America is a new online journal venture from the University of Richmond that seeks to publish exceptional student work. “We believe that Millennials have a unique perspective on the impact of digitization. We also believe that student work is often left undiscussed both in the classroom in in the larger academic community. We are looking for essays, commentary, new media projects, short films, digital art, and documentary pieces that engage digitization and/or digital culture and American life. Our definition of ‘American’ life is broad and includes the role of globalization on American culture.”

Submissions are rolling, but all submissions intended for the October 14th deadline are due by September 14th.

Publication date of issue no. 1: October 14th

Please see website for further submission information: www.digitalamerica.org

Art to Die For

Cartoonists At Risk and Their Defenders is a special issue published by Sampsonia Way: An Online Magazine on Literature, Free Speech and Social Justice: “Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI) was the first cartoon-focused human rights organization when it was founded in 1992. Created by Sri Lankan cartoonist Jiffry Yoonis and development consultant Robert Russell, CRNI collaborates with a network of cartoonists from around the world. These affiliates keep the organization informed on what is happening to their colleagues in their respective countries. Sampsonia Way spoke to co-founder Robert Russell and four of CRNI’s affiliates, located in the most dangerous countries for political artists. In this series we present these affiliates and a slideshow of cartoons from their country.”

Newtown CT Tribute Issue Call for Sponsors

THE NEWTOWNER literary magazine has created a special tribute issue dedicated to its hometown: Newtown, CT, where the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting took place last December.

Editor Georgia Monahan writes: “The Newtowner is a one-of-a-kind arts and literary magazine that showcases the work of emerging and established literary, visual, and performing artists from the local area and across the nation. The publication’s mission is to celebrate creative community and the life-affirming power of literature and the arts. In light of the events of 12/14/12, this mission has never been more relevant and important. The upcoming issue will be a special tribute issue offered as a healing gift to the town of Newtown. By its very nature it will be a publication of historic significance.

Call for sponsorship: Our hearts’ desire is to provide complimentary copies to the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School, as well as the greater Newtown community. We are looking for individual and corporate sponsor funding to achieve this goal. Please contact [email protected] to express your interest.

Our aims for this issue are to:

Celebrate the people, beauty, culture, and community spirit of Newtown, CT
Remember those we love and lost
Recognize and give artistic expression to the grief we have experienced
Highlight the role of the arts in healing and the arts’ ability to nurture our humanity
Focus on our love, faith, and hope for the future

Featuring contributions from:

Nationally acclaimed authors and illustrators such as: Wally Lamb, Lois Lowry, Katherine Paterson, and Steven Kellogg
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa
Sesame Street’s Alan Muraoka
National leaders such as Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy
Newtown’s First Selectwoman Pat Llodra
Newtown faith leaders such as Rabbi Shaul Praver
Newtown educators such as Newtown High School Principal Chip Dumais and Reed Intermediate teacher Gael Lynch
Newtown High School students
Sandy Hook Elementary School parents David Wheeler and Sophfronia Scott
Sandy Hook Elementary School staff member Cindy Carlson
Sandy Hook Elementary School student artists Chase Kowalski, Jessica Rekos, and Avielle Richman

Thank you in advance for whatever help you can offer in creating this healing gift to Newtown.”

To learn more about The Newtowner please visit:

www.thenewtownermagazine.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheNewtowner
Twitter: @TheNewtowner

Cerise Press Final Issue

Founded in 2009 by Sally Molini, Karen Rigby, and Fiona Sze-Lorrain Cerise Press was an international online journal based in the United States and France “with an aim to build cross-cultural bridges by featuring artists and writers in English and translations.” After four years, Cerise Press has published their final issue with Summer 2013, Volume 5 Issue 13. Filled with poetry, works in translation, art, reviews, and essays, the website will remains as an archive. Our thanks to the editors for all their work helping writers contribute to and readers benefit from this broad literary landscape. Please enjoy their final issue!

Gender Divide and Hardcourt Bike Polo

New nonfiction from The Writing Disorder summer 2013 issue includes Challenging the Myth of Female Frailty in the 21st Century: Insight on coed competition in hardcourt bike polo by Krista Carlson. I have never even heard of hardcourt bike polo, so it was fun to be introduced to it in the context of Carlson’s personal experience playing the game. Her perspective, which includes some history of Title IX and conversations with a number of players, is one to consider for all sports in which there is a gender divide.

2013 Snowbound Chapbook Award Winner

Tupelo Press has announce that Kathleen Jesme has selected Chad Parmenter’s Weston’s Unsent Letters to Modotti as winner of the 2012 – 2013 Snowbound Chapbook Award.

Chad Parmenter’s poems have appeared in Best American Poetry, Kenyon Review, and Harvard Review. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri, and is currently a visiting assistant professor at Niagara University.

Finalists in alphabetical order:

John de Stefano of New York, New York for From: Three-Body Problems

Eric Elshtain of Oak Park, Illinois for When Will We Begin?

Gabriel Jesiolowski of Seattle, Washington for entry for silos

Karen Kevorkian, of Culver City, California for Improbable Proximities

Y. Madrone, of Portland, Oregon for stripe

Matt McBride of Columbus, Ohio for City of Motels

JoAnna Novak of Greenfield, Massachusetts for Secrets

Heather Sellers of Holland, Michigan for The Vine

Page Hill Starzinger of New York, New York for vortex street

Cheryl Clark Vermeulen of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
for Thyroid and Other Matters

Sharon Wang of Queens, New York for Microphones, Bread, and Love

Margaret Young of Beverly, Massachusetts for Blight Summer

Four-Legged Fictions

World Literature Today’s July/August issue features our four-legged friends, dogs to be more exact. Esther Tusquets, Mark Tredinnick, Jean Rolin, and Jacques Roubaud each contribute a piece about dogs. The section is titled “Four-Legged Fictions: Writers and Their Canine Characters.” Here is a small sampling from Tredinnick’s “On Hamock Hill”:

This is my devotion, then: to walk sometimes
                                     with the dog through the sclerophyll
Cathedral of the morning. To let myself
Off my lead and follow a half-made track,
                                                 thinking a dilapidated liturgy,
Through bracken fern and native raspberry, three kinds
Of gum and a hundred kinds of weed,
                                                 toward nowhere in particular.

Writing as Freedom

“For me, losing the chance to be a writer is worse than being imprisoned. To keep freedom of expression, I have to create. In other words, freeing the words is more important for me than freeing myself.”

From Burmese writer Ma Thida’s keynote speech delivered on June 23 at the Edinburgh World Writers’ Conference, Kuala Lumpur. Edited version available on The Nation.