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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!

Event :: September 1 Deadline to Register for Lost Sierras Writing Retreat

photograph of mountains and forest reflected in the waterDeadline: September 1, 2021
Event Dates: October 13-17, 2021
Event Location: Lodge at Whitehawk Ranch in the Lost Sierras near Clio, California
A generative and restorative writing retreat at the Lodge at Whitehawk Ranch in California facilitated by Carolyn Dawn Flynn, the Story Catalyst, acclaimed novelist, memoirist, and TEDx speaker; and poet, essayist, and novelist Jona Kottler. Let the pristine forest of California’s Lost Sierras be your inspiration for this generative and restorative retreat for writers of fiction and creative nonfiction. This retreat will help you deepen and refine your work. Participants receive an extensive editorial letter and individual consultations with a mentor. The cuisine and the landscape will be sumptuous, and there will be time to write! carolynflynn.com/sierra-writing-retreat-2021/

“Not For Us”

Magazine Review by Katy Haas

Rage Hezekiah has three poems in the Summer 2021 issue of Colorado Review. Of these, “Not For Us” stuck out to me the most, visually grabbing my attention as I paged through the issue.

“Not For Us” is an erasure of rejection letters. I assume these were taken from publication rejections, and appreciated the poet’s ability to create new writing out of these. The reader takes in the sparse words left over and it’s interesting to see how similar the language is, the repetition leading the reader’s eyes over the two-page spread of rejections.

Hezekiah’s piece is a good reminder that just because something is “not for us,” doesn’t mean that’s the end.

“Not For Us” by Rage Hezekiah. Colorado Review, Summer 2021.

Frances Riddle Interviews Claudia Piñeiro

cover of Elena Knows by Claudia PiñeiroTranslator Frances Riddle sits down to interview Argentine author Claudia Piñeiro about her writing life and new book, Elena Knows (Charco Press, July 2021). Piñeiro talks about how she believes writing came formatted in her DNA as she felt the need to express herself with the written word. She also talked about how she couldn’t study writing or humanities at college as the military dictatorship in Argentina had closed all humanities departments. Her writing education was informal workshops taught by well-known, important writers at houses, cafes, or bars. She personally recognizes Guillermo Saccomanno as her mentor as she studied with him the longest.

If I could sum it up: my formation has been just me seeking out things I could add on to learn to write better.

Piñeiro talks about how you cannot make a living as a writer in Argentina and how she had to write surrounded by her kids, the doorbell ringing, and other distractions. She also talks about her writing practice.

I don’t have an outline. . . . But I do have an idea—a global idea—of where the characters will go and what’s going to happen. And I do imagine the ending. Then, during writing, sometimes I take those routes, or sometimes I veer off onto other paths. Often the ending changes.

Read the full interview online in the Southwest Review.

The End of a Breathtaking Duology

Guest Post by Natalie Hess.

This sequel to Strange the Dreamer was absolutely phenomenal. It picks up right where the first book leaves off as Minya tries to force Lazlo to do her bidding, with the threat of releasing Sarai’s soul and letting her evanesce if he does not comply.

There are so many twists and turns throughout all 500 pages of this masterpiece. There are high stakes. There is whimsy. There is Laini Taylor’s gorgeous writing. There are the extremely lovable characters. And most of all, there is an amazing conclusion to this duology.

Throughout the entire story it seems as if there is no way to solve all of the major problems, even as more are being introduced, but somehow it all comes together for a spectacular ending that leaves the reader with so much emotion. I would highly recommend this duology to everyone, because it is absolutely breathtaking.

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor. Little, Brown and Company, October 2018.

Reviewer bio: I’m Natalie Hess and I’m simply a high school student who LOVES reading everything from scifi to romance to nonfiction and everything in between. I also love sharing my thoughts and I hope you enjoy!

Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.

NewPages Book Stand – July 2021

Are you taking advantage of summer downtime by getting some reading done?  At this month’s Book Stand, we have more books to add to your “to-read” list, including five featured titles.

The prose poems in Ariadne Awakens: Instructions for the Labyrinth by Laura Costas “rearticulate the myth of following, finding, losing and following again an invisible thread that connects body to body, body to soul, soul to soul.”

Marcela Sulak’s City of Skypapers “not only enact[s], but also celebrate[s] what it means to be alive ‘in a place where the flowers are old enough to have stories.’”

Matt Longabucco’s book-length essay M/W: An Essay on Jean Eustache’s La maman et la putain reckons with Jean Eustache’s document of political bitterness and romantic catastrophe from the standpoint of our own vexed present.

Edited by Meredith Stabel and Zachary Turpin, Radicals is a two-volume collection of writings by American women of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with special attention paid to the voices of Black, Indigenous, and Asian American women.

While the novella has existed as a distinct literary form for over four hundred years, Sharon Oard Warner’s Writing the Novella is the first craft book dedicated to creating this intermediate-length fiction.

You can learn more about each of these New & Noteworthy books at our website. Click here to see how to place your book in our New & Noteworthy section.

The Ekphrastic Review TERcets

Screenshot of TERcets podcast websiteIf you enjoy literary podcasts as well as ekphrastic writing and art appreciation, you may want to check out TERcets. This is the literary podcast of The Ekphrastic Review.

They just uploaded their 9th episode on July 15 to Spotify and in this episode they launched something new. Instead of the host Brian Salmons reading the work, they have the writers themselves reading their pieces. This episode brings you works by Courtney Justus, Anthony DiMatteo, and Sara Eddy. Past episodes have featured the works of Margo Davis, Faith Kaltenbach, Anita Nahal, and more. And these are short listens ranging from 10 to 20 minutes, so you can spend your coffee break or lunch listening to some works by amazing writers.

Inverted Syntax Announces New Publication Cycle

cover of Inverted Syntax Issue 3, November 2020Beginning in 2021, Inverted Syntax will be publishing its annual print issue in November. Their online issue, Fissured Tongue Series is published in the summer. Their submissions period is normally February through June, but they opened submissions later this year and they are now accepting work for online and print publication through July 29. They do charge a $4 fee.

If you’re interested in being part of the 4th installment of their “The Art of the Postcard” series, submissions are ongoing for that project, with the cutoff date being September 15. This is free to enter via Submittable and then you have to mail them your postcard.

Don’t forget to swing by their site to see all the cool things they are doing. Their Sublingua Prize is currently on hiatus for 2021.

Suspense, Twists, and Heartache

Guest Post by Allison Kaminski.

The Wife’s House by Arianne Richmonde is a psychological thriller full of suspense, twists, and heartache. A widow lives alone on the edge of the Big Sur cliff tops, home to her modern glass refuge Cliffside. Little does she know, her lavish paradise is going to become her worst nightmare.

Triplets. A psycho ex-wife. Creepy notes. A dead husband. What could possibly go wrong?

Richmonde does a fantastic job of conveying suspense while building a main character who learns how to find confidence and strength in order to overcome the obstacles in her life.

Personally, I haven’t read a thriller quite like this. Its uniqueness in plot and suspicious characters had me hooked from the very beginning. I loved not knowing what characters I could or couldn’t trust. And let’s not forget the ending. Wow!

Overall, if you’re looking for an unputdownable thriller that will send you through a hurricane of emotions, The Wife’s House is the perfect read for you!

The Wife’s House by Arianne Richmonde. Bookouture, August 2020.

Reviewer bio: Allison Kaminski is a YA author who writes gripping mysteries and romance stories. She spends her days working to achieve a Bachelor in English with an emphasis in creative writing. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading and watching old movies. Connect with me on social media: https://www.instagram.com/author_allisonk.

Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.

Frontier Poetry Prose Poetry Lab

screenshot of Frontier Poetry websiteOnline literary magazine Frontier Poetry is offering a lab on prose poetry this summer. This lab will be completely virtual and asynchronous. Writers will be paired with award-winning poets Jihyun Yun, Felicia Zamora, or Jose Hernandez Diaz.

You can submit up to 10 pages of poetry. They recommend 5-7 being the sweet spot to get the most out of your editor’s time. Since this is a prose poetry lab, they can only be prose poems. The deadline to submit is July 31, but you can contact the editor about an extension. They have reserved 4 scholarships for BIPOC authors on a first come, first served basis.

There is no phone calls or zoom meetings. Materials will be sent to the editors and they will be in touch with feedback for you.

At the beginning of August they will send out all the learning materials while the editors work on writing feedback. Depending on the number of participants, final editorial feedback letters will be sent out in September or October and they will also be sending out letters on a rolling basis before then, too.

Zone 3 – Spring 2021

In Zone 3‘s Spring 2021 issue you’ll find poetry by Olivia Kingery, Kat Neis, Alyse Knorr, D.C. Leonhardt, Alice Turski, Naoko Fujimoto, John Allen Taylor, Emma Aylor, Jessica Hincapie, Alicia Mountain, Anthony Sutton, Benjamin Cutler, Camille Ferguson, Jennifer Maritza McCauley, Laura Walker, and more. See prose contributors at the Zone 3 website.

The Meadow – 2021

This year’s issue of The Meadow features nonfiction by Shaun T. Griffin and John Ballantine; fiction by A.M. Potter, Saramanda Swigart, Karly Campbell, Oreoluwa Oladimeji, Alex Moore, Mark Wagstaff, Meredith Kay, Thomas Christopher, and Eileen Bordy; and poetry by Joseph Fasano, Lisa Zimmerman, Doris Ferleger, Nancy White, Savannah Cooper, and more. See more contributors at The Meadow website.

Hippocampus Magazine – July/August 2021

The July/August issue is live! Inside, you’ll find essays and flash CNF such as: “Lake of the Ozarks, Osage Beach, Missouri” by Dawn-Michelle Baude, “A Very Good Liar” by Erin Branning, “Sharp” by Vanessa Chan, “11,000 People Lying Facedown on the Burnside Bridge” by Benjamin McPherson Ficklin, “Warsaw Ghetto Boy” by Sharon Goldman, and more. See more content at the Hippocampus Magazine website.

Colorado Review – Summer 2021

The Summer 2021 issue features work by Rage Hezekiah, Patricia Liu, Neha Mulay, Bradley Bazzle, and Sarah Curtis. Also in this issue: Tom Howard, Lance Olsen, Nikki Ervice, Jehanne Dubrow, Richard Zonnenmoser, Darren C. Demaree, and more. See a full list of contributors at the Colorado Review website.

‘The Rotten Beast’

Guest Post by Natalie Hess.

This is the short story in the Jenna Fox Chronicles that comes after The Adoration of Jenna Fox. I absolutely loved this! The story follows Allys, Jenna’s friend, who is trying to cope with the fact that she is made mostly of bio gel which is a sort of replicating technology that can be used to replace vital organs, and therefore save lives. The problem, though, is that Allys has an extremely large amount of this inside her, making her illegal.

I can’t say that very much happened in this story, considering it was only 12 pages long, but it was still extremely enjoyable. The way that Mary E. Pearson writes is really beautiful and makes something that could be very boring and insignificant into something gorgeous and impactful, and it very much has to do with the events in the rest of the series. I would highly recommend this series, and this short story, especially to people who really enjoy sci-fi.

“The Rotten Beast” by Mary E. Pearson. Tor Books, November 2011.

Reviewer bio: I’m Natalie Hess and I’m simply a high school student who LOVES reading everything from scifi to romance to nonfiction and everything in between. I also love sharing my thoughts and I hope you enjoy!

Cleaver Magazine – Summer 2021

A new issue is here featuring nonfiction by Tricia Park, Lindsay Rutherford, Courtney Elizabeth Young, and KC Pedersen; short stories by Kim Magowan & Michelle Ross, Lizzy Lemieux, Dylan Cook, and Marc Tweed; and a visual narrative by Emily Steinberg. See a full list of contributors at the Cleaver Magazine website.

2021 Jeff Marks Memorial Poetry Prize Winner and Finalists

The Spring/Summer 2021 issue of december includes the 2021 Jeff Marks Memorial Poetry Prize winner and finalists.

First Place
“Hold Tight” by John Okrent

Honorable Mention
“Disaster A/version/Re/vision” by Margaret Ray

Finalists
“Voyeurs” by Joshua Boettiger
“A List of People Who Did Not Kill Me” by Tianna Bratcher
“Tower Block Twelve” by Elena Croitoru
“Mother & Son as Oyakodon II” by Michael Frazier
“Abecedarian on Hunger” by Naomi Ling
“True Story” by Chloe Martinez
“Cicadas” by Saudamini Siegrist
“My Mother’s House” by Isabelle Walker
“Back to the Body” by Alyson Gold Weinberg
“Also Be Lost” by Kelleen Zubick

You can grab yourself a copy of this issue at december‘s website.

A Labyrinth of a Novel

Book Review by Katy Haas.

Adam McOmber’s Jesus and John takes place in the days following Jesus’ crucifixion. Jesus returns from the dead as a shell of himself, unable to speak and seemingly unable to stop walking in a specific direction as if being pulled by a magnet. The man who was his lover, John, is assigned the duty of protecting Jesus as he walks. This brings them to Rome, to a mysterious house called the “Gray Palace.” Once inside the palace, John’s journey becomes much more than he bargained for.

The deeper John travels into the labyrinth of a house, the looser the definition of reality becomes. John has no idea what lies around the next corner, and readers are kept just as unaware, constantly discovering new details. Each question answered unearths another question. I stayed up reading for hours, completely unable to set down this thriller/fantasy/horror/something-else-entirely novel.

McOmber writes John’s inner thoughts and feelings so vividly, a reader can’t help experiencing these feelings along with him: his love, his uncertainties, his growing fear and desperation. It’s been a long time since a novel has kept me so entranced and I welcomed getting lost in this fantastical world and queer storyline.

Jesus and John by Adam McOmber. Lethe Press, June 2020.

Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.

Foglifter Presents Queer Home CookOut Tour

Foglifter 2021 Queer Home Cookout Tour MapThis summer Foglifter Press is taking a road trip across the country to collaborate with the contributors of Home is Where You Queer Your Heart. They will visit the hometowns where a roster of local queer and trans talent will also come out to celebrate the anthology’s themes of chosen family and community.

The tour comprises of 22 locations across the country including San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Cleveland, and more. The tour kicks off on July 18 and will conclude August 31. All tour events are free and open to the public.

Home is Where You Queer Your Heart features “queer writers and artists creatively thinking through the complex and fluid realities of home in the U.S. and abroad,” including Kazim Ali, K-Ming Chang, Jubi Arriola-Headley, Kay Ulanday Barrett, Rajiv Mohabir, Donika Kelly, Jason Villemez, Joy Priest, Yanyi, t’ai freedom ford, Marlin Jenkins, Airea D Matthews, sam sax, Christopher Soto, and more. The anthology is edited by Miah JEffra, Monique Mero-Williams, and Arisa White.

It’s available from Foglifter Press in both ebook and print formats. Grab your copy today.

The Trail Of Many Trails

Guest Post by Susan Kay Anderson.

This book of long poems/poem series by Joe Safdie begins with a section called “Retirement” which sounds boring but isn’t because it poses interesting questions of the existential mode and ends with a section called “Yachats” as in Yachats, Oregon. There’s also an interesting section about Hermes; the wheel figures in all of these inroads to his personal mythology, poetic studies, and creative expression in the form of messages from the trail and to the trail.

Overland, the people offered land at no cost needed to dump a lot of stuff on their journeys West but it seems that Safdie shows us what he’s kept, collected.

Safdie tells us a thing or two or three or four. He is sitting around the ‘ole campfire spinning yarns; he is also a camera or a lens of a microscope that looks into past/present/history/future with a basket full of findings modern and ancient and everything in between.

Safdie tells us where he’s been in his life. From “The Invisible Enemy”:

I thought that was death
putting me on notice
but it had a larger audience
in mind, to be everyone’s
enemy, killing by what’s
known but not seen,
the sensitive spots—

This book is enjoyable because it is so dense with found material and phrases, making it a poetry of such staggering depth that it does feel like a ride on something at once land-bound but also dreamy and useful as a raft to float across rivers and streams, much like the prairie schooners that overran the country. Even their ruts can still be seen where the grass has not grown back. To study these poetic documents with Safdie is an engrossingly epic and jolting ride. You may choose to walk alongside it for a few miles and then jump back in.

The Oregon Trail by Joe Safdie. Spuyten Duyvil, 2021.

Reviewer bio: Susan Kay Anderson lives in Oregon’s Umpqua River Basin. Her newest book is Please Plant This Book Coast To Coast, available from Finishing Line Press.  She was a recent volunteer for the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project.

Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.

Ruminate Poetry Prize Bundle

Ruminate Poetry Prize Bundle coversLiterary magazine Ruminate has curated a Poetry Prize Bundle. These three issues contain past winning poems and finalists from their Janet B. McCabe Poetry Prize. Issues included are Issue 53, Issue 49, and Issue 36.

Ruminate poetry editor Kristin George Bagdanov writes:

We need poems that exist in the space between the crumbs of hope that keep us writing and reaching, poems necessitated by gnawing stomachs that tell us there is so much left to devour, that there is so much left we cannot.

The poems gathered in these three issues are reaching toward just that. Plus, you’ll also find art and prose. The bundle saves you 20% off the cover price of each issue. It’s available for only $21.

It’s a great time to grab this bundle for an idea of what they like as their Broadside Poetry Prize is currently open to submissions through August 15 (+3-day grace period).

2021 Dogwood Literary Award Winners

The Spring 2021 issue of Dogwood features the 2021 Dogwood Literary Award Winners in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

Nonfiction
“My Hundred Years of Solitude” by Marcos Villatoro

Poetry
“Ten-Foot Drop” by Maria Zoccola

Fiction
“Little Black Dress” by Roberta Gates

This year’s contest judges were Sejal Shah (nonfiction), Lauren K. Alleyne (poetry), and James Tate Hill (fiction). Visit Dogwood’s website for a celebration of each of the winners with words from the judges and bios for the winning writers.

A Beautiful Mess

Guest Post by Natalie Hess.

The concept of Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea is so unique and different. It follows Zachary Ezra Rawlins who discovers some strange books and a mysterious painted door. He must protect the books and learn about them, while also fulfilling his destiny in the strange place beyond the door. Beyond that, it’s honestly difficult to even figure out what else went on in this story. There are so many layers, and stories within the story that are all connected in some way. It is mind-blowing and so much fun.

The fact that this story is really confusing is part of what makes it so enjoyable. Nothing makes sense about the world beyond the painted door, but whatever is going on is absolutely beautiful. None of the characters seeming to know what’s going on just makes it even better.

This is certainly a roller coaster of a story. If you like to know what’s going on in a book, then I don’t think you would enjoy this. But if you like being left with more questions than answers, and reading about a beautiful mess of fantastical elements, this is definitely the book for you!

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. Anchor Books, August 2020.

Reviewer bio: I’m Natalie Hess and I’m simply a high school student who LOVES reading everything from scifi to romance to nonfiction and everything in between. I also love sharing my thoughts and I hope you enjoy!

Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.

ICYMI :: AzonaL Issue 2 Virtual Launch Reading

Online literary magazine AzonaL is devoted to poetry in translation. They have made it their mission to push “forth writing that must be seen, now—in translation, which is itself creation.”

Their second issue launched earlier this year with a reading that spanned February 15 and 16 and featured several contributors. If you missed the launch and reading, you can view it online.

Plus, don’t forget to read their second issue featuring poetry by Marie-Claire Bancquart (translated by Claire Elder and Marie Moulin-Salles), Zita Izsó (translated by Agnes Marton), Iulia Militaru (translated by Claudia Serea), Yan An (translated by Chen Du and Sisheng Chen), and more.

The Writing Disorder – Summer 2021

The summer issue includes fiction by L. Shapley Bassen, Grace Ford, David Henson, M.F. McAuliffe, and more; poetry by Carolyn Adams, J.R. Solonche, Torri Hammonds, Elizabeth Train-Brown, James Croal Jackson, and Matt Zachary; and nonfiction by Anita Kestin, Eve Müller, and more. Art by Ryan Heshka. See what else is in this issue at The Writing Disorder website.

Under a Warm Green Linden – No 11

Under a Warm Green Linden Issue 11 is live! Read new work by 21 astonishing poets and translators. Work by Hasan Alizadeh, James Dott, Payam Feili, Emily Franklin, Dennis Hinrichsen, and others. See a list of more contributors at the Under a Warm Green Linden website.

The Tiger Moth Review – Issue 6

Issue 6 is our largest issue yet, with works that honor wild plants and flowers in the poems of Meenakshi Palaniappan and Maria Nemy Lou Rocio, as well as the photography of Heather Teo. We enter forests with Tanvi Dutta Gupta and Zen Teh, we marvel at the moon’s music and magic with Sofia Wutong Rain and Lauren Bolger. We navigate sorrow and loss with Thomas Bacon and we grow old with Cassandra J. O’Loughlin. The bilingual poems of Fran Fernández Arce and Joshua Ip take us to the fields and rivers of language and dreams, while Danielle Fleming dreams her speaker into memory, tree, and elephant song. Plus more at The Tiger Moth Review website.

Sky Island Journal – No 17

Sky Island Journal’s stunning 17th issue features poetry, flash fiction, and creative nonfiction from contributors around the globe. Accomplished, well-established authors are published—side by side—with fresh, emerging voices. Readers are provided with a powerful, focused literary experience that transports them: one that challenges them intellectually and moves them emotionally. Always free to access, and always free from advertising, discover what over 90,000 readers in 145 countries already know; the finest new writing is here, at your fingertips.

Ruminate – Summer 2021

Our summer issue includes many examples of lives forged by experience. The characters in these poems and stories are shaped and revealed by what they endure. There is heat and pressure in Alex Pickens’ “Derecho.” Shamarang Silas’s poem “The Weight of Trains,” inquires, “What is worship if not the desire to offer yourself to the fire / & everything you have ever loved?” Find out more at the Ruminate website.

New England Review – Vol 42 No 2

New fiction and essays range across the US—driving, riverboating, skateboarding—and reckon with both the tragic and the mundane. This issue also brings a distinct Slavic and post-Soviet presence, both through works in translation and original writing by contemporary Anglophones. Poetry by Kaveh Akbar, Ellen Bass, Christopher DeWeese, Marilyn Hacker, Rachel Hadas, Dana Levin, Ada Limón, Wayne Miller, Eric Pankey, G. C. Waldrep, and more. See even more contributors at the New England Review website.

The Courtship of Winds – Summer 2021

This is a large issue, which seems fitting as we climb out of the Covid existence we’ve all been living—hopefully. So let the number, variety, and breadth of voices here signal a steady return to health, here at home and abroad. We continue to publish both young writers, just starting out—as young as 16 in this issue! — as well as well-established writers/creative artists with impressive resumes.

Change Seven – Summer 2021

It’s our hope this issue of Change Seven will offer readers solace. In addition to the wonderful essays, stories, and poems you’ve come to expect from the magazine, this issue features a sparkling conversation with Deesha Philyaw and Crystal Wilkinson, and stunning visual art from Boon LEE, Shelby McIntosh and george l stein. Fiction by Christopher Acker, Lauren Dennis, Mike Herndon, Kerry Langan, and more.

The Boiler – No. 33

Issue 33 features poetry by TR Brady, Despy Boutris, Chelsea Harlan, Anthony Thomas Lombardi, Rita Mookerjee, Olivia Muenz, Dustin Pearson, Jaz Sufi, Fargo Nissim Tbakhi, Ross White, and more; fiction by Kathleen Gullion, Colleen Mayo, R.S. Powers, Stephanie C. Trott, and Lucy Zhang; and essays by Elijah Hayes and Hannah VanderHart. Plus, more.

At The Festival Review: Rachel Lynn on Songwriting and Activism

Visit The Festival Review for The Inkhorn, home of weekly online exclusives. There, you can find a recently published interview with singer-songwriter Rachel Lynn. The interview discusses her song “She Tried to Drown me” and activism. Half of the proceeds of “She Tried to Drown Me” will be donated to the Audre Lorde Project.

Interviewer: The last time we spoke, you said you weren’t interested in promoting, or even creating, during the pandemic. What’s changed?

Rachel Lynn: We’ve been sitting on this release since the beginning of the quarantine. It was supposed to have been released in early June. The content was already created. This is a project I’ve had for a while, and I’ve been ready to move forward creatively. But I didn’t want to take up space. I still don’t want to take up too much space. One of the things I realize is that the fight for racial justice has to be woven into our lives. I thought, if I do this release and donate to an organization that is fighting for Black Trans lives, that is one way to incorporate the fight into my life.

I put out a song one year ago about veganism and animal rights, another system of oppression. And all the proceeds from that song were donated to Mercy for Animals. I definitely feel like it’s one way I can connect art and my work to activism and social justice. I am kind of a broke artist and this is a way I can make a donation, by linking it to the sales of this project. I probably won’t be doing anything new though, like creating new content.

You can find the full interview and links to Rachel Lynn’s music at The Festival Review‘s website.

Pangyrus “Get an Author Discovered” Nominations

screenshot of online literary magazine Pangyrus' logoOnline and print literary magazine Pangyrus offers a unique feature on their website – a nomination form. This nomination is not for any kind of award, but away for you to bring attention to an under-appreciated author.

Since “[s]ubmissions systems often discourage exactly the writers we should be hearing more from,” Pangyrus has opened up a nomination system. You go their site and tell them about a writer who deserved a wider audience and how to get in touch with them. Pangyrus will then extend an invitation to that writer to submit to their journal. They do not guarantee publication for these submissions, but they will give them their full attention.

“[I]t sends a message: someone who knows their work cares about its fate.”

Off the Coast Interviews Fiona Sze-Lorrain

abstract painting of differing blue shades covering a wooden frameOnline literary magazine Off the Coast features a regular interview series where they correspond with a writer about their latest book. In the Summer 2021 issue, you will find an interview with Fiona Sze-Lorrain. Her book Rain in Plural has been shortlisted for the 2021 Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry.

Interviewer A.E. Talbot discusses poetic lineage, the writing process (“I don’t have a writing process, in part since I fear it may encourage me into romanticizing or fetishizing the act of writing.”), Sze-Lorrain’s roles as both poet and translator (” I work more at being a human being”), and more.

They also talk about Sze-Lorrain’s collaboration with composter Peter Child and her thoughts on “underrated” poets. You can also read three poems by Sze-Lorrain in this issue.

Too bad that the mainstream media and publishing cares more for the “show” than poetry, thought, and reflection.

Check out the full interview.

BLR’s Picks

Did you know Bellevue Literary Review has an “Our Picks” section? Here, the editors have compiled the pieces of writing that have stuck with them and remain vivid years later. They say, “These stories, essays, and poems are particularly engaging and thought-provoking—the writing smart and alive—and deserving of another turn in the spotlight.”

The picks are introduced by the editor who explains what it is that spoke to them, and the pieces are linked in full. If you want to read the whole issue, no worries—the issue numbers are given as well.

At Chinese Literature Today: An Interview with Liu Cixin

On the Chinese Literature Today website, find an interview with Liu Cixin by Okuma Yuichiro translated by John Broach. In this interview, the two discuss Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem trilogy and how it connects to China’s past as well as the present day approach to COVID-19.

Okuma Yuichiro: Isn’t humanity being threatened by an unknown virus similar to aliens using communication as an attempt to invade Earth?

Liu Cixin: [ . . . ] From a broader perspective, the pandemic has revealed a non-linear historical model: history can change directions at any moment. This unpredictable state of the future gives sci-fi fiction a vast imaginary space and many potential narratives.

We should anticipate possible crises, for example, what would happen if there is a breakthrough in Artificial Intelligence that makes AI smarter than humans? How do we deal with a situation in which medical advancements allow people to escape their limited lifespan and live forever? The problem is that no one person or country is truly thinking through these issues. Only sci-fi fiction sometimes mulls over these potential crises.

The interview ends with a message, Cixin saying, “But again, if we want to survive we have to change, this is, I hope, what readers can get from my work.” Stop by CLT‘s website to check out the full interview.

Oddly Normal

Magazine Review by Katy Haas.

Visiting trampset‘s website, I had a problem. A good problem. I suddenly had five tabs of fiction open the moment I got there, unable to decide where to start. I wanted to read everything! I blew through the short fiction, enjoying each one, especially Kyle Seibel’s “The Two Women.”

This story is told as if the narrator is writing a letter to their ex-partner, Liz. There is an urgency to connect with Liz and get down the details of a strange day, a fever dream of a day with odd details that also somehow seem incredibly real in their zaniness. The narrator is approached by two women, one offering help and one asking for help. These women and the narrator’s neighbor all appear as odd characters, and the story is told with a humorous voice, but is still filled with heart. The silliness gives the narrator a realization: “[ . . . ] my brain is buzzing because I’m starting to feel like the rest of my life, the life I’m living without you, will be a series of events that make less and less sense until I will be completely untethered from the planet.” With this, the strangeness becomes normal—who hasn’t felt lost and untethered after a big loss?

There is no shortage of good reads at trampset, but if you’re unsure of where to start, give “The Two Women” a try.

“The Two Women” by Kyle Seibel. trampset, June 2021.

Conjuring the Past

Guest Post by Chloe Yelena Miller.

I continue to return to Melanie Figg’s poetry collection, Trace, published right before the pandemic. She writes stories of women through art, personal histories, and nature. In six sections, the reader is invited to listen, look, and act on behalf of ourselves and others.

The opening poem, “The Measure of Things,” ends with, “But here is the wide / open field: you promised / not to tell because you loved him.” Throughout the collection, Figg undoes this promise and “tell[s]” through the poems. While sometimes the reader is only given a suggestion of what happened through the effects or moment, the stories are given light through the specificity and emotion of written images.

Trace conjures the past, women’s truths, and readers’ necessary actions. During the (recorded and available) virtual Gaithersburg Book Festival in 2020, Figg read and shared images related to and complementing the poems. In that reading, she shares the poem “The Trace of Nothing” which ends, “remember? / This is how I conjure / you, this is how we talk.” The image of the woman against the wall, painted as the wall, is striking and builds on the written poem.

The intimacy of Trace is palpable in the telling of mental illness and abuse. In part 4 of “Untitled: after Doris Salcedo,” Figg writes, “She tells you her art will take / responsibility for your grief & you surrender—[ . . . ]” Like the artist in the poem, Figg also does this for the women in the poems and the readers, too. These poems are architectural, load-bearing walls for the women in the poems and Figg’s readers.

Trace by Melanie Figg. New Rivers Press, 2019.

Reviewer bio: Chloe Yelena Miller is a writer and teacher living in Washington, D.C.

Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.

A Treasure Trove for Writers

South 85 Journal‘s blog is a treasure trove for writers. The blog offers writing prompts, interviews with writers, and plenty of helpful articles about the craft. Recent posts include discussions of autoethnography in creative nonfiction, anthropomorphism in writing, the usefulness of prompts, and tips to stay motivated.

The blog is actively updated between issues, so you have plenty to keep you busy and inspired before the Fall/Winter 2021 issue is released later this year. Sign up for blog updates via the form at their website’s footer so you never miss out.

Two Hawks Quarterly Spring 2021 Issue

Screenshot of Two Hawks Quarterly's Spring 2021 IssueTwo Hawks Quarterly publishes fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, genre X, and art digitally twice a year. They feature work that is exquisitely crafted, takes chances, and has something original to say, and especially love fiction that reaches beyond the standard tropes and diverse voices.

The Spring 2021 issue features poetry by Gale Acuff, Beth Boylan, R. Bratten Weiss, Sandy Coomer, David Breeden, April Christiansen, Joshua Kulseth, John Leonard, Noël Bella Merriam, James Miller, John Morrison, Thomas Patterson, Claire Scott, Jacalyn Shelley, Debbie Trantow, and A.M. Wild.

In prose, we have creative nonfiction by Janelle Cordero, Gail Hosking, and Merve Oncu with fiction by Trevor Crown, Sam Nelson, and Greta Wu. You can also feast your eyes on the artwork of Brenda Azucena, Lisa Braden, Steven Ostrowski, Devin Schneider, and Merve Öncü.

Mud Season Review Issue 56

Screenshot of Mud Season Review Issue 56If you aren’t already aware, online literary magazine Mud Season Review publishes one story, one substantial poem or portfolio of poems, one essay or work of narrative nonfiction, and visual art bimonthly. This journal is run by members of the Burlington Writers Workshop.

On June 20, they released Issue 56. This issue features artwork by GJ Gillespie, poetry by Mary Beth Becker-Lauth, fiction by Marilyn Hope, and creative nonfiction by Guy Choate.

And while you’re on their site, don’t forget to check out their recent interviews with authors and artists featured in Issue 55: Talbot Hook, photographer Mane Hovhannisyan, Gwen Hart, and Rachele Salvini.

Take a Second Look with One

Sometimes good writing needs a second look, and online literary magazine One agrees with that statement. The “Second Look” section on their website gives writers room to take a second look at their favorite poems and discuss what they enjoy about the work.

For Issue 23, the latest issue, Simon Anton Diego Baena takes a look at Federico Garcia Lorca’s “The City That Does Not Sleep (Nightsong of Brooklyn Bridge).” He gives a little background about the piece and the poet, and then breaks it down. Readers can also see the piece performed by Grainne Delaney with an embedded YouTube video by Jesus Queijas.

And that’s just the latest issue—there are plenty of other writers giving second looks in this section of One‘s website, offering readers a great way to learn with a mini, easily digestible poetry lesson.

ICYMI :: Posit Issue 27

Screenshot of Posit Issue 27

Sure, it’s been about two months since it’s release, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check it out if you haven’t yet! Posit Issue 27 features poetry and prose by V. Joshua Adams, Michael Brosnan, Gabe Durham, Joey Hedger, Kylie Hough, Patrick Kindig, Peter Leight, Elizabeth Robinson, Zach Savich, Edwin Torres, and Lucy Zhang.

You’ll also find Text+Image by Janis Butler Holm and Gina Osterloh as well as Nance Van Winckel. This issue features visual art by Christina Haglid, Dee Shapiro, and Hester Simpson.

Published three times a year, Posit is currently open to submissions of videos and animations of no more than 3 minutes as well as visual art and photography (no fee to submit!).

Reunion Online 2021 Features

While you await the release of Reunion: The Dallas Review‘s 2021 issue, don’t forget about Reunion Online. There they feature a new piece from talented writers each month.

In May they featured Kevin Brown’s “A Good Story to Tell”; in April Teresa Sutton’s “Venus Wishing for More than a Half Shell”; and in both February and March they featured Ra’Niqua Lee’s “What Cures Us (Part One) and (Part Two).

If you haven’t done so already, grab a copy of Volume 10, 2020, too.

They will reopen to submissions on October 1. All submissions are considered for print publication as well as online publication.