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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!

‘The Enemy’

Guest Post by Natalie Hess.

Charlie Higson’s The Enemy is the first of an eight-book series, and it really starts off with a bang! It follows a group of children who have worked together to try to survive after a disease has either completely wiped out all adults, or turned them into bloodthirsty creatures content on eating the kids. There is a very large cast of characters, but they’re surprisingly easy to keep track of despite this. They have very distinct personalities and are quite loveable for the most part.

That being said, the end result for a lot of them is heartbreaking to read, and the struggles and hardships they all must face forces the reader to sympathize with even the most unlikeable of them. There are a lot of strange, scary, and bewildering things sprung upon these children that left me gasping. This story was very well told and I cannot wait to see what book two has in store!

The Enemy by Charlie Higson. Disney-Hyperion, May 2014.

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.

Test Your First Line Prowess!

The First Line typewriter

Literary magazine The First Line recently realized they haven’t asked their readers and writers to supply first lines in a few years and decided to change that with The First Line 2022 First (and Last) Line Contest.

You have until September 15 at 6PM EST to submit up to three first lines and one last line. These must be original and unpublished. Those whose first or last line are selected will receive $100 and five copies of the issue inspired by their line. Pretty cool, huh? Oh, and there is no fee to enter!

Also, The First Line is giving away 22 one-year PDF subscriptions. All you have to do is enter you’re first and last lines and you’ll be put in the running for the subscription, too.

The Best “New” Writer You Haven’t Heard Of

Guest Post by Cindy Dale.

I love discovering a new writer, especially one who, IMHO, has been overlooked. Introducing Derek B. Miller.

Miller’s first novel, Norwegian by Night, introduced Sheldon Horowitz, an 82-year-old former Marine who served in the Korean War. Still crippled by the death of his only son in Vietnam, Sheldon sets off to track down a young boy who has been kidnapped by the Serbians. This is an excellent, fast-paced mystery set in—you guessed it—Norway. (Miller is American married to a Norwegian).

This was followed by The Girl in Green. Spanning two decades, this is an ambitious, thought-provoking commentary on the Gulf War. At the center of the story: a war-weary British journalist named Thomas Benton and an aimless American private named Arwood Hobbes. A quick Google search reveals that Miller’s CV makes him eminently qualified to write about the complexities of war. You will at times think Catch-22 and will be haunted by how little the world has changed.

Miller next returned to the realm of crime with American by Day, an excellent mystery packed with a lot of social commentary. Main character Sigrid Odegard (introduced in Norwegian by Night) leaves Norway and heads to up-upstate New York to track down her missing, long absent brother Marcus. Miller nicely juxtaposes Norwegian society and policing tactics with our own.

Miller’s newest, How to Find Your Way in the Dark (not yet read by this reviewer), will be released July 27 and is a prequel to Norwegian by Night. Perhaps this is the book that will bring attention to this under-the-radar author who deserves to be more widely read. While reading Miller, I was reminded of Ward Just, another writer whose work crisscrossed the globe, who wrestled with the consequences of war, and who never quite got the acclaim he deserved.

Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller. Scribe, 2012.

The Girl in Green by Derek B. Miller. Mariner Books, January 2017

How to Find Your Way in the Dark by Derek B. Miller. Mariner Books, July 2021.

Reviewer bio: Cindy Dale has published over twenty short stories in literary journals and anthologies. She lives on a barrier beach off the coast of Long Island.

upstreet – 2021

upstreet 2021 is out. New fiction by Sam Fletcher, David Hammond, Emily Lackey, Sarah Mollie Silberman, and more; nonfiction by Gail Hosking, Beth Kephart, Allen Price, Nadya Semenova, and others; and poetry by Katharine Coles, Jennifer Franklin, Jessica Greenbaum, Rachel Hadas, Richard Jones, Sydney Lea, D. Nurkse, Yehoshua November, Nicholas Samaras, Jason Schneiderman, Sean Singer, Mervyn Taylor, Anton Yakovlev, and more. Read more info at the upstreet website.

Months To Years – Summer 2021

The Summer issue offers work by Ann Willms, Jamie Azevedo, Denise Rue, Melissa Mulvihill, Rebecca Villineau, Jesse Crosson, Justin Teopista Nagundi, Jack Bordnick, David Capps, Christine Andersen, Lawrence Bridges, Jessica Gould, Danny Rebb, Kristina Gibbs, Kathie Giorgio, Guilherme Bergamini, Walter Weinschenk, Karen Storm, Asha Edey, and more. Find a full list of contributors at the Months to Years website.

bioStories – August 2021

biostories

New on bioStories so far this year: Tim Bascom “At Ease,” Emma Berndt “Wisdom from the Alligator Purse,” Deborah Burghardt “Leaving Mum Behind,” Joe Dworetzky “Big League,” Patricia Feeney “Holy Mother,” Karen Foster “Carrying Sam,” J. Malcolm Garcia “The Reporter and the Reporter’s Mother,” and more. See a list of all of 2021’s contributors so far at the bioStories website.

Call :: Storm Cellar Call for Submissions

abstract cover art of literary magazine Storm CellarDeadline: Rolling
Storm Cellar, a print-and-ebook journal of safety and danger since 2011, seeks amazing new work for volume 10! Send emotionally, aesthetically, technically, and linguistically ambitious writing, photos, and art. We’re especially listening for Indigenous, Black, POC, LGBTQIA+, enby, fat, disabled, neuroatypical, poor, border-straddling, and other marginalized voices. Our roots are in the American Midwest. Surprise us! Full guidelines at stormcellar.org/submit and submission portal at stormcellar.submittable.com.

Contest :: Interim Test Site Poetry Series Call for Manuscripts

Interim 2021 Test Site Poetry Prize bannerInterim Test Site Poetry Series Call for Manuscripts

Deadline: November 15, 2021
We’re looking for manuscripts of at least 48 pages that engage the perilous conditions of life in the 21st century, as they pertain to issues of social justice and the earth. Because we believe the truth is always experimental, we’ll especially appreciate books with innovative approaches. Beginning in 2021 and going forward, Interim will be publishing two books in their Test Site Poetry series—one title publicized as the winner of the Test Site Poetry Series and the other as the Betsy Joiner Flanagan Award in Poetry. Both winners will receive $1,000 and publication by the University of Nevada Press. www.interimpoetics.org/test-site-poetry-series

10 Questions from The Massachusetts Review

The Massachusetts Review aids readers in learning more about the writers they publish on their MR Online component. In a section called “10 Questions,” contributors answer the same ten questions. Because these are the same ten questions and are not personalized, the interviews are all pretty casual, but they do offer insight into writing rituals and inspiration.

Contributors also answer the question, “What did you want to be when you were young?” I loved seeing the variety of responses and especially appreciated Amanda Hawkins’s answer:

When I was seven I wanted to be sixteen so I could drive. When I was ten I wanted to be a writer. When I was thirteen I wanted to be an English professor. When I was seventeen I wanted to be a person who kept lentils and and rice in jars. When I was twenty I wanted to be a baker. I’m not sure looking back if I’ve been determined or just unimaginative, because I’ve done all these things to some degree, but not exactly in that order.

Other recent interviewed contributors from the Summer 2021 issue include Mike White, Bettina Judd, Adrian Matejka, and Joshua Garcia.

A Slow Burn ‘By the Creeks of Wyoming’

Magazine Review by Katy Haas.

Shoshana Akabas begins “By the Creeks of Wyoming” with just a hint of what’s happening: “Aspen leans over and says, ‘You know, Natalie’s telling everyone about your brother,’ [ . . . ].” Who is Natalie and what’s going on with the narrator’s brother? Akabas hooks us into the story and then reels slowly, the answers appearing one by one, so brief they could almost be overlooked.

While the story of what happened to the narrator’s brother becomes distorted through the gossip of Natalie, the narrator’s friend who is slowly drifting in a different direction now that they’re in high school, it becomes clearer for the readers each time the narrator responds to the classmates who have heard the gossip. I loved this slow burn, the piecing together of the puzzle until the full picture is revealed.

The narrator’s brother plays a large role in the story, but Akabas chooses never to actually place him in the story. He’s always on the other side of the door or wall, an unreachable and almost legendary figure.

Melancholy and rife with the emotional ups and downs of high school, “By the Creeks of Wyoming,” is a quick yet beautiful read.

“By the Creeks of Wyoming” by Shoshana Akabas. AGNI, 2021.

Michener Center for Writers Alumnus Success Stories

The Michener Center for Writers recently shared some great success stories from graduates of their MFA program.

Nathan Harris’ debut novel The Sweetness of Water was chosen for Oprah’s Book Club. The book was released on June 15 from Little, Brown and Company and it has also been longlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize. It follows two brothers in the waning days of the Civil War as they are hired by homesteaders who have lost their own son in the war.

Plus, fiction alum Rachel Heng had her story “Before the Valley” published in The New Yorker. The story follows a woman in a senior-living facility in Singapore as she discovers something unexpected about the career of a fellow resident. New Yorker editor Deborah Treisman interviews Heng about the story and her inspiration.

This made me consider the various ways in which callousness and cruelty are built into our society, in the name of pragmatism or some other utilitarian goal, and the toll this can take on the vulnerable, the elderly, the forgotten.

The Michener Center for Writers is the “only MFA program in the world that provides full and equal funding to every writer.” The program is three years and fully funded. Writers are admitted in a primary genre and also study a secondary genre. There are no teaching duties so fellows can commit themselves fully to their writing. As of Fall 2020, they are no longer requiring GRE scores to apply.

Contemporary Writers Series at Mills College

Mills College’s graduate programs in creative writing and literature present a “balance of traditional academic disciplinary training with cutting-edge work in new media, critical theory, and diverse cultural traditions.”

Not only do students have access to outstanding faculty, but they also become part of a greater writing community and get to produce and promote the college’s Contemporary Writers Series. This series features monthly readings and talks by emerging and renowned writers. All of these readings are free and open to the general public. During the 2020-21 academic year, these were held online.

Recent writers include Layli Long Solider (Chromosomory, Q Avenue Press), Melissa Valentine (The Names of All the Flowers, The Feminist Press at CUNY), mai c. doan (water/tongue, Omnidawn), and Aiden Thomas (Cemetery Boys, Swoon Reads).

January 15 is the priority deadline to apply for the fall semester. After that, they conduct rolling admissions on a space-available basis until July 15. The MFA in creative writing (poetry or prose) does also accept spring enrollment with an October 15 deadline.

Mills College and Northeastern University are currently making progress in making an alliance with one another.

‘The Mindset’

Guest Post by Manjusha Sreedharan. 

The Mindset by Ace Bowers is a memoir of one who was brought up in a dysfunctional family but reached where he is today through sheer hard work. The book depicts the life of the author from janitor to a millionaire in Silicon Valley.

Bowers spent his early years in the constant fear of his friends finding out the circumstances at his home. His father, a machinist who learned his skills from the Navy, and his mother, a homemaker, were high school sweethearts, but as time progressed, fights became a routine. This was mostly because of the continuous use of alcohol. The economical situation at his house wasn’t the best as the family struggled to make ends meet mainly because most of the money went into buying alcohol and cigarettes. Frequent visits to prison by his brother and his sister leaving for college left him all alone with his parents. The book revolves around his struggles as a teenager dominated by anxiety and loneliness and how he overcomes them as he faces unexpected challenges. Continue reading “‘The Mindset’”

Carve’s Short Story Writing: Techniques Class Begins August 2

CARVE‘s next online group writing class will launch on August 2 and run through September 12. This is a six week course which includes five weekly progressive lessons building a greater understanding of craft. Each of the lessons includes detailed explanations and examples, readings from the CARVE archive, and short exercises. The creative writing exercises are shared by class participants for peer feedback.

Lessons include Use of Senses, Imagery, Metaphors & Similes, Rhythm & Pacing, and Threading.

With this online class there is no scheduled meetings or instructor-led feedback. Coursework is online and remote. There is still some time to enroll. If you’re a current print or digital subscriber to CARVE, you can receive a 10% discount.

Litowitz Creative Writing Graduate Program Opening to Creative Nonfiction & Fiction Applications in Fall 2021

Northwestern Litowitz MFA+MA logoThe Litowitz Creative Writing Graduate Program will open to Fall 2022 applications this fall with the deadline date to be announced. They will be accepting applications in Creative Nonfiction and Fiction only. Poetry applications will be automatically rejected.

They will no longer require nor accept GRE scores as part of the application to the MFA+MA program. Besides the online application form, the department also requires supplemental materials including an official transcript from each institution attended, two-three letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose, a creative writing sample, and sample of writing on a literary topic.

The Litowitz Creative Writing Graduate Program MFA+MA in Creative Writing and English offers intimate classes, the opportunity to pursue both critical and creative writing, close mentorship by renowned faculty, and three fully supported years to grow and complete a book-length project.

Current faculty include Chris Abani (graduate director) and Eula Biss (visiting artist).

A Solid Conclusion to a Trilogy

Guest Post by Natalie Hess.

Fox Forever is the conclusion to the Jenna Fox Chronicles. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this given that I really enjoyed the first book, and didn’t care much for the second, but this was a solid conclusion to the trilogy.

The story follows Locke as he tries to fulfill a favor he owes in Boston, which involves Miesha’s long lost husband, and a girl Locke accidentally falls for who is tied to the favor in a way that she doesn’t even know. As in the other two books, the characters are the best part of this story by far, but the plot is really good as well. There are reveals and plot twists around every corner, and they are quite unpredictable for the most part. Pearson constantly adds pieces to the puzzle and it grows more complicated as the situation reveals itself.

If you enjoyed the first book, and even if you didn’t enjoy the second book, I definitely think this is a series worth continuing!

Fox Forever by Mary E. Pearson. Square Fish, February 2014.

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.

Contest :: $8,000 in Total Prizes Awarded

drawn lion head on peach colored backgroundTom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest

Deadline: September 30, 2021
19th year, sponsored by Winning Writers. Win $3,000 for a poem in any style and $3,000 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style. Total prizes: $8,000. The top two winners will also receive two-year gift certificates from our co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value). Both published and unpublished work accepted. Winning entries published online. Submit two poems for one $15 entry fee. Length limit: 250 lines per poem. Judged by S. Mei Sheng Frazier. This contest is recommended by Reedsy. See past winners, advice from the judge, and submit online at winningwriters.com/tompoetrynp21.

A Gentle & Ambitious Journey

Guest Post by Stephanie Katz.

New-Hampshire-based poet Amanda Lou Doster’s first chapbook Everything Begins Somewhere is a gentle yet ambitious journey across the poet’s life. The first poem, “Actually,” sets in motion the idea of loss mixed with returning home, a theme which threads throughout the chapbook. Doster writes: 

here, have this poem which all my life I thought
would be big enough for the languages and the countries
and the drugs, but which is really just a basket
woven from hay. Fragile stuff from the farm
I never thought I’d live on, but where it turns out I do.

The poems that reference children or motherhood paint stark pictures of the experience. In “A mother dreams of more babies” Doster writes: 

In my friend’s belly grow tiny teeth,
perfect little knives. She says
they’re eating her alive.

One of the most vivid and raw poems in the collection is “You are expected to be more decorous than linoleum.” Doster writes: 

It is unseemly to wash your hair in snowmelt. Impolite to discuss
your lover with your husband, but since you asked
in sixty-four years we will dissolve. All of us.

The themes of loss and quiet self-destruction play heavily throughout the poems, but the last poem “Next time I’ll ask someone else” hints at self-acceptance with the final line “I can collect everything / inside that green trunk—some vintage clothes, / paisley, and other lapses in judgement.” 

This chapbook was published by Slate Roof Press, a unique member-run letterpress based in Massachusetts. New poets are selected through their annual contests and spend the next three years a member of the press learning and helping to produce their own title.  

Everything Begins Somewhere by Amanda Lou Doster. Slate Roof Press, 2020.

Reviewer bio: Stephanie Katz is a librarian with the Manatee Libraries and editor in chief of award-winning litmag 805 Lit + Art. She was selected as a Library Journal 2020 Mover & Shaker and is the author of Libraries Publish: How to Start a Magazine, Small Press, Blog, and More. She blogs about creative library publishing at LiteraryLibraries.org. 

Ruminate’s 2021 William Van Dyke Short Story Prize Winner

Screenshot of Ruminates 2021 William Van Dyke Prize Winner AnnouncementRuminate has announced the winner, runner up, and honorable mention for their 2021 William Van Dyke Short Story Prize. The final judge of the prize this year was Kelli Jo Ford whose debut novel Crooked Hallelujah made waves last year.

First Place: “The Florist” by Alex Cothren

Second Place: “A Guide to Removal” by Amber Baleser-Wardzala

Honorable Mention: “Kantingo Carried 16,980 Tons and a Gentleman” by George Choundas

These stories will be published in the Fall 2021 issue of Ruminate due out in mid-September. The issue is currently available for pre-order, so don’t forget to reserve your copy today if you aren’t a subscriber already.

Rain Taxi – Summer 2021

Stop by and peruse our ever-growing Summer Online Edition! Escape into the world of “Dispatches from the Poetry Wars” as presented in an interview with creators Michael Boughn and Kent Johnson. Turn a corner with Kent and enter the synchronous world of César Aira in “How I Became the Narrator of a César Aira Novel.” Reviews of poetry by Nico Vassilakis; nonfiction exploring Black Mountain writers John Wieners and Larry Eigner; and more. See what else is online at the Rain Taxi website.

Kenyon Review – July/August 2021

The July/August issue of the Kenyon Review features work by two poets who piercingly explore race and historical memory at a time when these issues seem more urgent than ever before. The noted writer Paisley Rekdal offers three poems from the online project “West: A Translation.” The issue also includes two poems by Bryan Byrdlong, whose work interrogates the figure of the zombie as it relates to Blackness and Black precarity in the face of white supremacy, and as a general symbol for those struggling with marginalization. Plus work by Betsy Boyd, Perry Lopez, Christopher Blackman, Kelsey Norris, Austyn Gaffney, and more. Read more at the Kenyon Review website.

Event :: Word Galaxy/Able Muse Press Authors Reading July 29

Screenshot of Able Muse Press websiteEnjoy a free virtual reading event from Word Galaxy Press, an imprint of Able Muse Press. On Thursday, July 29 from 7-8 PM EST, join David Alpaugh, James Kochalka, Sydney Lea, and host John Beaton. There will also be a Q&A session. While signing up is free, you do have to register to attend. The reading and Q&A will be done via Zoom.

These three writers had books published by Word Galaxy Press in 2020: Spooky Action at a Distance: Poems (David Alpaugh) and The Exquisite Triumph of Wormboy: An Illustrated Epic (James Kochalka and Sydney Lea).

Grab your copies of these titles today and don’t forget to register for the reading!

Kaleidoscope – Summer 2021

In this summer issue of Kaleidoscope, we have personal essays, poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, a book review, a dance feature, and information regarding the release of the documentary film Fierce Love and Art. Featured essay by Kimberly Roblin. Featured art by Diane Reid. Additional work by Mariana Abeid-McDougall, Dyland Ward, Carrie Jade Williams, and more. See a further list of contributors at the Kaleidoscope website.

Cutleaf – Issue 1 Volume 13

In this issue, Jesse Graves delves into that complicated space where family connects with history and place in three poems that begin with “An Exile.” Ace Boggess tells the story of the winding road the carries eight men to a West Virginia penitentiary in “Welcome to Rock Haul.” Amy Wright remembers the summer after her brother died from cancer, and the line of communication that opened, in “Life After Death,” an excerpt from her forthcoming book Paper Concert: A Conversation in the Round. Read more at the Cutleaf website.

A Little Bird Told Me about Lit Mags

If you’ve ever wondered which lit mags have the largest Twitter followings, Brecht De Poortere has you covered. On the writer’s website is a ranking of 500 literary journals with the highest Twitter follower counts. Being published by these ranked magazines may direct more traffic to a writer’s published piece, and can help followers find new work by writers that they may have otherwise missed.

You can find the rankings here. Happy following!

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.

StoryQuarterly Reopens to General Nonfiction Submissions July 31

Screenshot of StoryQuarterly's Issue 53 websiteLiterary magazine StoryQuarterly has decided to do something new – general nonfiction and fiction reading periods versus running multiple contests. This year on July 31, they will begin accepting nonfiction submissions via Submittable. This submission period will run through Sunday, October 17.

They seek personal essays, narrative nonfiction, memoir, flash nonfiction, lyric essays, and other forms of creative nonfiction, preferably under 6,250 words.

Then, they will open up a reading period for fiction only from October 16 through December 19. If you would like to enter their Fiction Contest, that will open August 28 and run through November 7.

While waiting for these submissions opportunities to open up, don’t forget to read Issue 53 featuring work by Sophie Braxton, Nina de Gramont, Viet Dinh, Anthony Tognazzini, Kathleen Heil, Beatrice Baltuck Garrard, Jim Flanagan, Asher Dark, Chaney Kwak, Michelle Gurule, Cassie Mannes Murray, Rachel Toliver, Chris Stuck, Noel Alumit, James Magruder, Miah Jeffra, Rachel Howard, Kathy Anderson, J.E. Sills, and Amelia Martens.

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.

Call :: Open for Submissions: Woodcrest Magazine is Reading

Screenshot of Woodcrest Magazine bannerDeadline: December 1, 2021
Woodcrest is pleased to announce an open submission period beginning July 2021. We welcome submissions from everyone. The literary journal of Cabrini University, Woodcrest aims to publish work that is surprising, challenging, and grounded in the human experience. We want to read your submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, hybrid genres, and graphic arts. Please use our Submittable page for more information about submissions: woodcrestmagazine.submittable.com/submit.

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.