Deadline: Rolling
Storm Cellar is a literary journal of safety and danger, in print and ebook formats since 2011. We seek the voices of Black, Indigenous, POC, LGBTQIA+, gender nonbinary, neurodivergent, fat, disabled, border-straddling, poor, and more marginalized authors. We encourage connections, in work or by creator, to the Midwest, broadly construed. Now paying. Send ambitious, surprising new art and writing through stormcellar.submittable.com; learn more at stormcellar.org.
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!
Brevity – Sept 2020
The essays in this guest-edited special issue of Brevity consider all aspects of illness and disability: what it is, what it means, how our understanding of disability is changing. Our anchor author is novelist and essayist Esmé Weijun Wang, author of The Collected Schizophrenias. Other authors featured include Barbara Lanciers, Meg Le Duc, William Fargason, Ona Gritz, Kelly Weber, Maya Osman-Krinsky, and more. The “Experiences of Disability” issue is guest edited by Keah Brown, Sonya Huber, and Sarah Fawn Montgomery. Artwork by Jill Khoury.
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Remembering September 11 with Wisława Szymborska
Guest Post by Autumn Barraclough
With September 11 close at hand, I’ve found my thoughts turning back to another time in American history in which our country suffered. I found myself reflecting back on September 11 and pictures.
In the poem “Photography from September 11,” Wisława Szymborska captures my thoughts as she describes the figures, forever frozen in history, as they jump from the twin towers. Her solemn respect and care for these souls resonates throughout the poem as she describes their flight, rather than their demise. This poem helps me to remember the tragedy of September 11 without the political connections—just understanding that humans were hurt and that I still have a country to love and care for that is full of people that care for each other in their own way.
Reviewer bio: Autumn Barraclough is a college student studying English. She is a Virginian at heart and loves to delve into the connections between France and Virginia, aspiring to create a written work that expresses that relationship.
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Call :: BLUELINE Open to Submissions until November 30
BLUELINE: A Literary Magazine Dedicated to the Spirit of the Adirondacks seeks poems, stories, and essays about the Adirondacks and regions similar in geography and spirit, focusing on nature’s shaping influence. Submissions window open until November 30. Decisions mid-February. Payment in copies. Simultaneous submissions accepted if identified as such. Please notify if your submission is placed elsewhere. Electronic submissions encouraged, as Word files, to [email protected]. Please identify the genre in the subject line. Further information at bluelineadkmagazine.org. Check out their 40th anniversary edition published in 2019 for a taste of what they like.
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450 Pages of Poetry & Prose to Love
Magazine Review by Katy Haas
Issue 48 of Paterson Literary Review is a hefty 450 pages. A reader is guaranteed to find something they admire or connect with in those near-500 pages.
Readers can look forward to Vivian Shipley’s “A Glossary of Literary Terms for My Son,” a poem creatively and seamlessly broken up into nine different literary terms. Mary Ann Mayer writes an ode to “Walt Whitman’s Pants,” a poem that ends up being educational with its historical context. Penny Perry’s “Fig Bars” ends up being extremely relevant as the speaker sits with her husband and daughter as a wildfire burns twenty miles from their house.
And that’s just a small sampling of the poetry. The issue also includes prose and reviews. It’s nearly impossible to walk away from this brick of an issue without finding something to love.
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A Portal to Powerful Nonfiction
Magazine Review by Katy Haas
The art of John Belue dons the cover and pages of the Fall 2020 issue of Creative Nonfiction, and I absolutely love it. His work remixes vintage photos, thinly cut strips overlaying another photo to create an almost portal-like image. The art drew me into the “Memoir” issue of Creative Nonfiction and the writing made me stick around even longer.
Megan Doney’s nightmares haunt her after a shooting at the school where she teaches in “The Wolf and the Dog.” While her dreams leave her powerless, she imagines finding power if the situation ever happens again. The piece begins viscerally, a dark view into Doney’s mind after surviving a horrific event.
Mary Beth Ellis gets deeply personal in “Weaponry of the Cold War” as she walks readers through her vaginismus diagnosis. While the subject of her writing is both physically and emotionally painful, Ellis uses humor in unexpected places, her writing cynical and skeptical, light when it matters. As Ellis says, up to 14% of the female population suffers from vaginismus, and there is not much to read about the subject. Ellis adds her voice, her story, giving other people with vaginas something to relate to.
Whether you pick up Creative Nonfiction‘s latest issue because the art caught your eye, or because you crave powerful nonfiction, you will not be let down.
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Congrats on 10 Years to Jewish Fiction .net
Congratulations to Jewish Fiction .net for ten years of publication!
From their website: “Since our first issue came out on Rosh Hashana 2010, we have published over 430 works of fiction never before published in English, which were originally written in sixteen languages.”
You can see this writing at their website, starting with their newly released tenth anniversary issue. The new issue offers 18 pieces of fiction originally written in Spanish, Yiddish, Hebrew, and English, including “The Old Days” by David Regenspan in honor of Rosh Hashana.
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September 2020 eLitPak :: LitNuts: Crazy About Books
Coming September 21, the LitNuts eNewsletter promotes books from independent presses. A special offer is now available for authors! Subscribe to the newsletter (it’s free!) and indicate that you are an author. We’ll send you discount codes for free and discounted advertising that can be used during our launch, now through January 2021.
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September 2020 eLitPak :: EVENT Non-Fiction Contest Deadline October 15
EVENT: A home for writers. A destination for readers. We are now accepting submissions of 5,000 words or less to the annual EVENT Non-Fiction Contest. $3,000 in prizes, plus publication. Entries must be postmarked or submitted online by October 15, 2020. Visit our website for full contest guidelines, exclusive online content, and our unique Reading Service for Writers.
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September 2020 eLitPak :: 17th Annual Virtual Palm Beach Poetry Festival
17th Annual Virtual Palm Beach Poetry Festival, January 18-23, 2021. Focus on your poems in intimate workshops with extraordinary faculty: David Baker, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Traci Brimhall, Eduardo C. Corral, Vievee Francis, Kevin Prufer, Martha Rhodes, Tim Seibles. Conferences with: Lorna Blake, Sally Bliumis-Dunn, Nickole Brown, Jessica Jacobs, Angela Narciso-Torres. Special Guest: Gregory Orr & the Parkington Sisters. Application Deadline: December 1st. Apply today!
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A Moment of Quiet
Guest Post by Brittany Waite
The current pandemic has impacted many aspects of our lives, especially our ability to interact with one another. There are many on social media who publish humorous portrayals of extroverts suffering under these conditions. At the same time, I feel that many introverts, shy and quiet in nature, feel a guilty sense of relief for this opportunity to stay cooped up in the comfort of their home.
In Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, Susan Cain takes it upon herself to uncover these reserved figures and dive deep into their consciousness, exploring the individuality of their inner-minds. Using examples from history, concrete anecdotes, and years of research, Cain promotes the importance that introverts have in society and writes with the intent to show them the power they are capable of. So, whether you’re an introvert or not, Quiet will broaden your understanding of these reserved individuals, who they are, and what they can do.
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain. Broadway Books, October 2019.
Reviewer bio: Brittany Waite is a college student born and raised in Hawaii. She enjoys writing flash fictions but hopes to expand into other genres.
Buy this book at our affiliate Bookshop.org.
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Sponsor Spotlight :: Desert Nights, Rising Stars will be Virtual in 2021
While we would usually start things off with the beautiful desert weather and the southwestern landscape, things are a little different this year. With rising COVID cases in Arizona, restrictions surrounding travel around the nation, and ongoing orders against large public gatherings, we’ve made the choice to move Desert Nights, Rising Stars 2021 to a completely virtual experience.
The 2021 conference will be conducted online via Zoom from February 18 through 20. Program features will include writing workshops, panel discussions, readings, pitch sessions, book fair, author signings, and roundtable discussions. Genres covered this year include fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, publishing, business of writing, memoir, and young adult.
The faculty for the conference will be Matt Bell, Mahogany L. Browne, Suyi Davies Okungbowa, Alan Dean Foster, Tod Goldberg, Raquel Gutiérrez, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Linda Hogan, Beverly Jenkins, C.B. Lee, Connie J. Mableson, Christopher Morgan, Cynthia Pelayo, Evan Winter, and Erika T. Wurth.
Early registration is only $225 before December 31. Swing by their listing at NewPages to get more details.
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September 2020 eLitPak :: december magazine Seeks Submissions for our 2021 Poetry Contest
2021 Jeff Marks Memorial Poetry Prize. Carl Phillips will judge. $1,500 & publication (winner); $500 & publication (honorable mention); all finalists published in the 2021 Spring/Summer awards issue. Submit up to 3 poems per entry. $20 entry fee includes copy of the awards issue. Submit October 1 to December 1. For complete guidelines please visit our website.
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Works to Enjoy & Cherish
Guest Post by Regina Shumway
Salamander is a literary magazine that contains many works of poetry, fiction, and essays from a diverse collection of writers of varying backgrounds and writing styles. Issue 41 of this magazine is particularly spectacular. With themes ranging from the wonder found in the familiar to the indignity of a corpse, the works found in this issue provoke intense consideration for many different subjects and arguments.
Any type of reader is guaranteed to find a wide collection of works they will enjoy and cherish in Issue 41. A great deal of this magazine’s appeal is how each and every work requires the reader to delve deeper, often rereading the same lines over and over again to gain new, more profound meanings with each read through. If you want to broaden your horizons in the writer’s world, Salamander is a magazine worthy of your time.
Reviewer bio: Regina Shumway is an eager writer, looking to improve her skills and experience. She is currently a student at Brigham Young University in Hawaii.
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September 2020 eLitPak :: MFA in Creative Writing at UNCG: Find Your Story Here
Application Deadline: January 1
One of the first creative writing programs in the country, UNC Greensboro’s MFA is a two-year residency program offering fully funded assistantships with stipends and health insurance. Students work closely with faculty in one-on-one tutorials; take courses in poetry, fiction, publishing, and creative nonfiction; and pursue opportunities in college teaching or editorial work for The Greensboro Review. More at our website.
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Sponsor Spotlight :: 2021 Palm Beach Poetry Festival Goes Virtual
Enjoy the 17th annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival from the comfort of your own home as they go virtual in 2021. The event will take place January 18 through 23 and will feature writing workshops, panel discussions, manuscript critiques, and readings.
The keynote speaker is Gregory Orr and the Parkington Sisters. Workshop faculty includes David Baker, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Traci Brimhall, Eduardo C. Corral, Vievee Francis, Kevin Prufer, Martha Rhodes, and Tim Seibles. One-on-one conferences available with Lorna Blake, Sally Bliumis-Dunn, Nickole Brown, Jessica Jacobs, and Angela Narciso-Torres.
They have extended the deadline to apply for the available workshops to December 1, 2020. Stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more about next year’s event.
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Contest :: Announcing THE BOILER PRIZE
Deadline: November 30
THE BOILER challenges you to submit flash/hybrid pieces under 800 words for this year’s prize. We welcome fragments, experiments, prose poems, flash essays/fiction. The only thing that matters is whether you can sustain our attention and craft a well-written, sleek, beautiful little thing. The deadline for submission is November 30. One winner will be published in our winter issue. A runner-up will be awarded $250 and also be offered publication. Additional finalists will be considered for our winter issue. Submission fee is $7. Close friends and colleagues should not submit.
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A Fallen Kingdom
Guest Post by Caleb Willis
“The Kingdom That Failed” is a piece of flash fiction by Japanese author Haruki Murakami, published by The New Yorker. The introduction grabs you with no hesitation, throwing you into a unique setting that prepares you for a grungy fantasy adventure written around a fallen kingdom. This lasts for a grand total of two paragraphs, at which point the story changes gears to a more modern setting, dealing with life and people, not swords and dragons. It is a change in direction that totally threw me off guard, opening me up to the rest of the narration.
The story continues with an in-depth description of this man named “Q,” or more the struggle to explain Q. He is a handsome man, five hundred and seventy times more handsome than our narrator, with a great personality, from a well-to-do home, yet he isn’t quite extraordinary in anything, yet good at everything. Q is a true kingdom, a character without flaws.
Inspired by the quote, “To see a splendid kingdom fade away, is far sadder than seeing a second-rate republic collapse,” this story quickly and briefly shows a glimpse into the future life of Q. It delivers the known-too-well feeling of failed potential. While we are content to see the narrator complacent with where he is at in life, it is striking yet subtle to see the fall of Q. It isn’t a grand fall of a literal kingdom, and it doesn’t have the imagery of crumbling stone bricks and thick black smoke. Instead, we see a defeated man covered in soda, stuck in a thankless career. “The Kingdom That Failed” is a reminder of the somber reality of humanity, one that trumps any attempts of fantasy.
Reviewer bio: Caleb Willis is a college student studying Biochemistry and Applied Mathematics. He likes to read in his fleeting spare time.
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Words Change Lives
Guest Post by Haley Marks
Throughout these difficult times, we all attempt to find meaning in our lives. We search for something that reassures us that we will make it through the never-ending struggles we endure. More than that, we seek an escape from these struggles. For many of us, words provide the perfect escape.
Whether the words come through books or TED Talks, they can have such a beautiful impact on our lives. Words change us. Words heal us, if we let them. However, I have found that the most colorful way words can reach us is through poetry. A well-written poem embodies the art of writing. Poetry can hold more emotion with a hundred words than many books do with a hundred pages. Its messy, imperfect words can weave together to create a masterpiece. As humans, we embrace anything as beautifully chaotic as we are; we can find exactly what we need in the relatable words of a disheveled poem.
A favorite place of mine to find some of the best poems is Poetry Foundation, providing poetry with words that touch the hearts of people in all walks of life. It provides poems for children and adults. It includes collections of poems for those struggling in school or those trying to relieve stress. The Poetry Foundation has poems available for anyone. The poems I have found on Poetry Foundation have surely blessed me; I have found words that express my emotions in a way I am incapable of doing on my own. The beautifully written poems included on this website and they’re literary journal Poetry have surely impressed me.
Poetry Foundation, in addition to poems, includes audio and guides for various poems. It successfully provides tools and poetry for anyone looking for words that could change his/her life.
Reviewer bio: Haley Marks is a student at Brigham Young University-Hawaii where she studies creative writing.
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Call :: Pensive: A Global Journal of Spirituality and the Arts Seeks Work for Black Lives Matter Feature
Deadline: November 15 (submissions reviewed and accepted on rolling basis)
New online publication based at Center for Spirituality, Dialogue, and Service (CSDS) at Northeastern University in Boston. Seeking work that deepens the inward life; expresses range of religious/spiritual/humanist experiences and perspectives; envisions a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world; advances dialogue across difference; and challenges structural oppression in all its forms. Seeking work for feature section on Black Lives Matter. Send unpublished poetry, prose, visual art, and translations. Especially interested in work from international and historically unrepresented communities. No fee; currently non-paying. Submit 3-5 pieces via Submittable or [email protected]. Questions? Contact Alexander Levering Kern, co-editor or visit pensivejournal.com.
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A Guided Exploration of Vulnerability
Guest Post by Tom Biesinger
“Dangerous” and “love” may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about great relationships, in fact most of us seek to keep “danger” and “love” as far apart as possible. Yet in a world where conflicts occur frequently and range from small disagreements over preference to relationship ending campaigns, it seems smart to invest in a little training to help keep the small things small and the big things in perspective.
Dangerous Love is an exploration of vulnerability and personal transformation through the relationships that challenge us most. Instead of posing as a typical self-help book with condescending statements of cliché “breakthrough,” Dangerous Love takes a softer line and uses questions and experiences collected over years of mediation practice to gently draw us to challenge areas of our own conflict styles.
Practical in its philosophy, this book aims to first bolster your understanding of conflict in all of its forms (avoidance, management, resolution, transformation, and reconciliation) then to give you tools to work fearlessly in your own pursuit of dangerous love.
Readers should expect to be challenged to improve their own conflict practices and love a little deeper. This book does well to mirror its own advice and guide us gently but firmly to a more positive and transformational view of conflict, love, and relationships.
Dangerous Love by Chad Ford. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, June 2020.
Reviewer bio: Tom lives in Hawaii and spends most of his time with his family or in the ocean. He also loves Motion Design.
Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.
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Totally Gothic Chill
Guest Post by Hilary King
I’ve been on a reading tear lately, thanks to the pandemic plus a heat wave and wildfire smoke. So what is the best thing to read in what feels like an apocalypse? How about a spooky Gothic novel? As a reader, I’ll admit I have a sweet tooth. Mysteries are my book dessert, the reading I end the day with, and a Gothic novel with its hints of fantasy, magical realism, and menace is the ultimate decadent dessert.
Daisy Johnson’s new novel, Sisters, was a delightful way to spend a 108-degree day. Two teenage sisters, named July and September, escape to a crumbling cottage on the coast of England to recover from Events. What were those Events is the heart of the mystery. Hints are dropped, the past is visited, nature is wild, and there’s even a mother who takes to her bed. What’s real and what’s not is always the question a Gothic novel asks, and never wants to answer.
What’s fresh about Sisters is how it feels timeless yet doesn’t fear the tacky conveniences of modern life. When is this happening, I wondered at the beginning of the book, so classic were the scenes and characters. But Daisy Johnson weaves in cell phones, the internet, and chat rooms, and gives them a twist. The sisters do some haunting of their own on the World Wide Web.
If you need to spend a day away but can’t get out, let Sisters take you away.
Sisters by Daisy Johnson. Riverhead Books, August 2020.
Reviewer bio: Hilary King is a poet living in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, where she is reading and writing out the pandemic and wildfires.
Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.
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Paterson Literary Review – No. 48
The 2020 Issue #48 of the Paterson Literary Review features poetry, fiction, essays, memoir, and reviews, and includes all the winning and honorable mention poems for the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards.
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Janelle Monáe Plus Irenosen Okojie Times Grace Jones
Guest Post by Marvel Chukwudi Pephel
Should I say shame on me for not knowing about Grace Jones till this “Lockdown Year” when I read a February 3, 2020 article on The Cut where Janelle Monáe’s definition of Afrofuture was put forward by herself as: “It looks like an orgasm and the big bang happening while skydiving as Grace Jones smiles.”? The article was written by no other than the inimitable Roxane Gay. I remember rushing to do my homework on who Grace Jones is, and what her smile looked like.
I wouldn’t tell you that I enjoyed the task, but I wouldn’t also say it wasn’t worth the stress; maybe this was better reflected when Irenosen Okojie won the Caine Prize for African Writing, an award described by many as the African Booker. Her story was titled “Grace Jones” and she was announced the winner of the prize on July 27, 2020, almost six months after I first stumbled on the “original” Grace Jones. Irenosen Okojie’s winning story is about a Grace Jones impersonator who mourns the death of her family in a house fire.
Frankly speaking, the story is hugely experimental and may not appeal to readers of literary fiction. The story itself is as strange as a rainbow in the night sky can be. Here is a writer who isn’t scared to take risks, and for which the judges praised her thus: “risky, dazzling, imaginative and bold.” It is a story steeped in dark experimentation and yet offers a chance for entertainment. It is also worthy of note to know that the Nigerian-British author says the £10,000 award for African writing has given her confidence as a black and female experimental writer. This, to me, is a huge personal win; a win too for African speculative fiction.
Reviewer bio: Marvel Chukwudi Pephel is a prolific Nigerian writer who writes poems, short stories and other things besides.
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Call :: The Awakenings Review Seeks Work by Writers with Connections to Mental Illness
Established in 2000, The Awakenings Review is an annual lit mag committed to publishing poetry, short story, nonfiction, photography, and art by writers, poets and artists who have a relationship with mental illness: either self, family member, or friend. Our striking hardcopy publication is one of the nation’s leading journals of this genre. Creative endeavors and mental illness have long had a close association. The Awakenings Review publishes works derived from artists’, writers’, and poets’ experiences with mental illness, though mental illness need not be the subject of your work. Visit www.AwakeningsProject.org for submission guidelines. Our 2019 issue featured work by Lora Keller, Alan Sugar, Rick Smith, Skip Renker, and more.
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TriQuarterly – Summer Fall 2020
The Summer/Fall 2020 issue of TriQuarterly features work by Aram Mrjoian, Will Brewbaker, Shangyang Fang, Joe Meno, Nick Malone, Maggie Su, Sebastián Hasani Páramo, torrin a. greathouse, and Anita Olivia Koester. Plus work by additional writers, including a selection of video essays by Emma Piper-Burket, Nick Malone, and Sophie Paquette.
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Tint Journal – Fall 2020
Tint Journal is the literary magazine for English as a Second Language creative writers, established in 2018 and based in Graz, Austria. We publish the finest of non-native English writing, including short stories, essays, and poems. Issue Fall ’20 has been released. Read twenty-five new literary creations by ESL writers from all around the world, now online and for free! Issue Fall ’20 also includes visual art creations by artists from all over the globe, combining the artistic realms of literature and art, as well as audio recordings of the writers reading their work.
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Call :: Pinch Journal seeks Poetry Written in or Regarding Variety Englishes
The Pinch Literary Journal seeks poetry written in or regarding Variety Englishes for a featured highlight in its Spring 2021 Issue (41.1). Poems in Singlish, Konglish, Spanglish, AAVE, and other English-derived emerging linguistic forms will be considered for publication. No submission fee, accepted pieces will be awarded $150 for publication. Deadline November 15th, 2020. For inquiries, visit www.pinchjournal.com/glish or contact [email protected].
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Creative Nonfiction – No. 73
This issue celebrates stories of the self in the world. Writers find (or, at least, try to find) meaning in familiar as well as unimaginable moments—the loves, losses, and joys that define our lives. Also in this issue: the seductive dangers of self-mythologizing, the memoir-in-pieces, tiny truths, and more. See contributors at the Creative Nonfiction website.
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A Studio Transformation
What’s more satisfying than a drastic before and after comparison? The Woven Tale Press blog has a great one to check out as part of their “Inside the Studio” series, which “offers a behind-the-scenes peek into the work environments of WTP artists, as well as insight into their creative process within these resonate spaces.”
Artist Joe Hedges spent a month remodeling a neglected shed into a creative space for him to work and teach during the pandemic. The blog post includes before and after pictures, as well as some of Hedges’ process. Looking at the final product, it’s hard to believe the cozy space once started as a cluttered shed.
Take a moment to check it out and gain some inspiration for renovations of your own, or see what other artists have going on inside their own studios.
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2020 Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers Winners
The sixteenth annual Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers winners are featured in the September/October 2020 issue of the Kenyon Review.
Winner
“Cutglass” by Manasi Garg
Runners-up
“(B)lack” by Eric Gottlieb
“Meat” by Annie Cao
Molly McCully Brown introduces the section with some words about the three placing entries, giving readers a preview of what to expect in the next several pages of the issue. Grab a copy to check them out.
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A Kind Voice in the Emptiness
Magazine Review by Katy Haas
I like a piece of writing that piques my interest and leads me to do even more reading. Gail Peck’s “The Minister of Loneliness” in the Summer 2020 issue of The Main Street Rag managed to do just that for me.
The poem is introduced with a note: “The U.K. created the position of Minister of Loneliness, two years before COVID-19.” The title “Minister of Loneliness” was enough to interest me on its own, and even more so learning that it’s a real position. Peck’s poem addresses the minister in the days of COVID-19, women calling with their moments of loneliness. “It was bad enough before,” they admit, and now it’s gotten worse, their loneliness filled with uncertainties: “should they let the delivery boy in?”
The poem is touching and relevant. In addition to giving me something further to read about, it also gave me a point of connection as someone who lives alone and spent the early days of my state lockdown feeling incredibly lonely. What more could one ask from a poem about loneliness but a moment of connection and understanding? Peck’s poem itself works as a listening ear, a kind voice in the emptiness.
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Call :: Chestnut Review Seeks Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, Art & Photography Year-round
Chestnut Review (“for stubborn artists”) invites submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, art, and photography year-round. We offer free submissions for poetry (3 poems), flash fiction (<1000 words), and art/photography (20 images); $5 submissions for fiction/nonfiction (<5k words), or 4-6 poems. Published artists receive $100 and a copy of the annual anthology of four issues (released each summer). Notification in <30 days or submission fee refunded. We appreciate stories in every genre we publish. All issues free online which illustrates what we have liked, but we are always ready to be surprised by the new! chestnutreview.com
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Timely Critique & Uncluttered Horizons
Guest Post by Christine Wambui
Bird Song weaves mythology into our present reality, juxtaposing waves of mythic cerulean sea with a snowy winter’s day in the Windy City, where Thelsie lives with an alcoholic uncle. The fluency of her exit strategy in this opening scene carefully lands us on an Ali-Smith-esque beach, possibly in Heaven. But this novel satisfyingly dives into the other world, replete with untouched olive trees, cypress, oaks, alien looking plants and wildflowers.
Hearing a voice that reminds Thelsie of her mama’s choir singing, she wanders inland to meet the locals. An appreciation for the natural world pervades the island of past and future, rich in prickly grass, ferns, and ancient Greek speaking characters. If looks can kill, you can imagine what sounds can do. Sirens struggle to protect the environment from man, tied to the mast, and ship, dashed about on the rocks.
But that’s the joy of it, to see the metaphor of industry undone by its own gluttony and cursed pretension. This book gives me hope that humans can overcome their greed and protect the environment. Bird Song’s timely critique and uncluttered horizons liberate the mind: truly a pleasure to read.
Bird Song: A Novella by Clara Hume. Dragonfly Pub, November 2020.
Reviewer bio: Christine Wambui is a passionate freelance writer from Kenya, who covers socio-economic, environmental, fashion related, and women’s issues. Her writing draws on a wide variety of work and life experiences.
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Call :: Rockvale Review Issue 7 Submissions Close September 30
We love image-driven poetry that is both bold and vulnerable. Send us 1-3 poems in a single document through Submittable. Every submission is given careful consideration and is read by multiple editors. We care about your work! We also love blending poetry with art and music. All accepted poems are paired with an original piece of art and 5 are chosen for a musical response. Please read all guidelines carefully. We read blind, so no names on the uploaded poems please. To submit, visit: rockvalereview.com/submissions/. Deadline to submit is September 30.
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Eating Candy with Josh Luckenbach
Guest Post by Grace Tuthill
Who doesn’t love candy? We all (at least most of us) have happy memories tied to these sweet treats. So then why did Josh Luckenbach use a tootsie roll wrapper as a catalyst for death? This very common candy beloved by many is the object used to tell a vivid story of love and death between two siblings. In this poem, “Eating the Tootsie Roll,” Luckenbach dances with death as a girl simply eats candy with unknown origins. Her brother prophecies her death, almost as a threat, and the girl then goes home and kills herself. The ending of the poem leads readers to wonder if this suicide because of a controlling and abusive poisoning of her mind or food poisoning. The last line is a hunting echo of a sister listening to her brother and the lasting effects, either good or bad, that siblings can have on each other.
Reviewer bio: Grace Tuthill is a Marine Biologist with a special interest in writing. She has no published work but likes the ocean and photographing sea life.
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Four Steps to Save the Planet
Guest Post by Elizabeth Basok
In We are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast, Jonathan Safran Foer argues that the science is in: we know that animal agriculture is destroying our planet. Rather convincingly, Foer makes an argument for a plant-based diet stating that this one small change in our lifestyle could positively impact the climate crisis. He is able to create concise, effective, and easy to understand arguments throughout the book, breaking up his points into bite sized pieces that can easily be regurgitated by everyday people that find themselves in a discussion about climate change or the environmental benefits of a plant-based diet. The author aims to drive home the most effective actions we can take against climate change, claiming four notable things we can do: eat a plant-based diet, avoid air travel, live car free, and have fewer children.
Part two of Foer’s book is packed with facts about “The Greatest Dying,” which is an extinction that is taking place right now. While there are many mass extinctions that have happened, Foer states that this extinction is the first to be the result of a climate crisis. He adds, “Humans are now adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere ten times faster than the volcanoes did during the Great Dying” (one of the six mass extinctions).
Foer acknowledges that adjusting to a vegan diet can be challenging. He admits that, even though he has written now two books advocating for a plant-based diet, he has succumbed to eating a burger from time to time. Foer suggests eating vegan for breakfast and lunch, while eating vegetarian for dinner (if a full vegan lifestyle is out of the question), saying “Not eating animal products for breakfast and lunch has a smaller CO2e footprint than the average full-time vegetarian diet.”
We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast by Jonathan Safran Foer. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, September 2019.
Reviewer bio: Elizabeth Basok is a lecturer at The Ohio State University. Her Instagram is @lizbasok.
Buy this book at our affiliate Bookshop.org.
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The Meaning of Home
Guest Post by Christopher Woods
This year, perhaps like no year before, we are thinking about the concept of home. During the pandemic, most of us are spending much more time at home—in home offices, involved in remote teaching or learning, or simply in quarantine. Sadly, because of the economic collapse, many people are now homeless, and there will be more to follow. This year, more than ever, we are both consciously and subs-consciously considering the meaning and importance of home. We are thinking of safety and shelter. We have always been this way, but now it seems much more immediate and crucial, and even life-saving.
Dwelling by Scott Edward Anderson, delves deeply into this subject in the form of a book-length eco-poem. It began as a reaction to Martin Heidegger’s essay “Building Dwelling Thinking” and, in Anderson’s lyrical writing, took on a book-length life of its own. He asks questions such as “Do we carry home within?” Anderson’s poetic probing explores our place, not only inside a home, but in the larger world that is home to us all.
Ironically, many of us now have more time than ever to consider the concept of home, of refuge. Reading this book, I often stopped to look around the room, then out the window, considering the essential nature of everything. Readers might well find themselves doing the very same thing.
Dwelling: an ecopoem by Scott Edward Anderson. Shanti Arts Publishing, 2018.
Reviewer bio: Christopher Woods is a writer and photographer who lives in Texas. His photography book for writers, FROM VISION TO TEXT, is forthcoming from Propertius Press. https://www.instagram.com/dreamwood77019/
Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.
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Event :: The Center for Creative Writing Online Courses & Virtual Retreats
The Center for Creative Writing has been guiding aspiring writers toward a regular writing practice for more than 30 years. Our passionate, published teachers offer inspiring online writing courses in affordable six-week sessions, as well as one-on-one services (guidance, editing) and writing retreats (virtual for 2020). Whatever your background or experience, we can help you become a better writer and put you in touch with the part of you that must write, so that you will keep writing. Join our inclusive, supportive community built on reverence for creativity and self-expression, and find your way with words.
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Rattle – Fall 2020
The Fall 2020 issue of Rattle features a timely tribute to service workers—those working in the lodging, food service, tourism, customer service and other industries in direct service to customers. Though planned long before the pandemic, service workers have been hit particularly hard this year, and we’re happy to be honoring poets who work in those fields. The conversation features Jan Beatty, covering her decades of experience working as a waitress, as well as the topics of adoption and the writing process. Another eclectic open section features twenty-two poems in a range of styles that are sure to make you laugh or cry.
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Plume – Sept 2020
This month’s Plume featured selection: “The Chronicler of a Blue Planet: An audio interview with Ranjit Hoskote by Leeya Mehta” with work by the poet. Christopher Buckley pens the essay, “Out of Fresno—Poetry & ‘Career,’” and Susan Blackwell Ramsey reviews Hailey Leithauser’s Saint Worm.
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The Louisville Review – Spring 2020
The latest print issue of The Louisville Review features fiction by Holly Tabor, Pamela Gullard, Bridget Mabunga, and Rebecca Thomas; nonfiction by Joseph Myers, Patricia Foster, Jessica Crowley, and Katherine Mitchell; and drama by Allie Fireel, Allen M. Price, Haydee Canovas, John Shafer, and Addae Moon. Poetry by Laura Judge, Joseph G. Anthony, James B. Goode, Shauna M. Morgan, Frank X Walker, and more
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Kenyon Review – Sept/Oct 2020
The latest issue of Kenyon Review features a special poetry section, “All of This Is True,” guest-edited by Reginald Dwayne Betts, whose own poetry, a memoir, and essays explore the world of prison and the effects of violence and incarceration on American society. Betts has selected powerful work by fifteen poets including Sean Thomas Dougherty, April Gibson, Randall Horton, Roger Reeves, and others. The new issue also includes the winning poem and two runners-up in the 2020 Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers as well as four new works of fiction by Samuel Jensen, Dina Nayeri, Matthue Roth, and Marianne Shaneen.
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Call :: Bending Genres Open to Work Year-round
Deadline: Rolling
Send us your zany, innovative best fiction, poetry, and CNF. We publish bimonthly, and year round. We at Bending Genres also host monthly weekend workshops and retreats. Check out past issues at www.bendinggenres.com. Issue 16 features work by Joyce Wheatly, Gary Moshimer, Benjamin Woodard, Corey Farrenkopf, Patricia Q. Bidar, Georgiana Nelsen, & more.
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The Festival Review – Summer 2020
The Festival Review is pleased to announce the release of Volume 4 for Summer 2020. Explore modern voices in poetry, read exciting new fiction, discover the joy of work in translation, and more. All the new pieces are currently available to read for free on our website. A beautifully designed ebook version of Volume 4 is also available in our online store.
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Call :: Anthology Seeks Written Content about Madonna
Deadline: October 15, 2020
Are you a fan of pop-singer Madonna? We’re seeking original stories about the impact she’s had on individual lives. Submissions should be 1500-3500 words. Feel free to supplement with photos with Madonna, photos dressed like Madonna, or other related materials. We pay $25 for selected submissions. Contributing authors will receive a free copy of the published book. A portion of proceeds will go to the non-profit organization founded by Madonna “Raising Malawi”. Contributing authors will be required to sign a contract. Submissions must be in English: [email protected]. Work must not have previously appeared in print. We check for and report plagiarism. This anthology will be edited and published by Heather Turman and LeeAnn Tooker.
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Allegro Poetry Magazine – Sept 2021
September is here with a new issue of Allegro Poetry Magazine. Find work by Ruth Aylett, Alwyn Marriage, Susan Castillo Street, Anna Saunders, Kathy Gee, Finola Scott, Carolyn Oulton, Stephen Kingsnorth, Clair Chilvers, Clive Donovan, Jane Blanchard, Marion Baraitser, Dan MacIsaac, Steven Jackson, Alan Kissane, Tim Love, Robert Dunsdon, and more.
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Call :: Pangyrus New “Schooled” Column
Deadline: October 15, 2020
Pangyrus is open for submissions in all areas and particularly for its new education column, Schooled. Pangyrus publishes well-crafted, thought-provoking writing and multimedia storytelling in every genre online and in two print editions per year. For Schooled, we’re looking for writing that addresses teaching and learning during COVID-19, teaching or revising curriculum that addresses the national reckoning regarding race in America, teaching students about the protests, or personal essays that reflect the unique experiences of both teachers and students. Send us op-eds, personal essays, or think pieces of 800–1,500 words. We also accept longer reported features with a maximum 5,000 words. Please submit here.
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Call :: Blink-Ink “Mercy”
“Mercy, mercy, mercy me. / Where did all the blue skies go? / Poison is the wind that blows…”—”Mercy, mercy, me” by Marvin Gaye
Mercy will be the theme of Blink-Ink’s December issue. We are quite serious about this one. Humor or satire will certainly be considered, but it must be relevant. Send us your best, unpublished work of approximately 50 words in the body of an email to: [email protected]. Submissions are open September 1st, through Oct. 15th. No poetry, attachments, or bios please. “What we want, what we need, is civic grace and mercy.”—Senator Cory Gardner
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New Lit on the Block :: Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine
“Breaking the Silence” has been the long-time effort of The National Alliance on Mental Health, and now a new outlet sharing this mission is Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine, an online publication featuring contributions from youth 12-22 years old, and particularly works covering mental health conditions and the teenage experience.
Founder and Editor-in-Chief Anna Kiesewetter [pictured] shares the publication’s genesis, “The word ‘cathartic’ has always perfectly encapsulated what writing is to me. I realized that some of the most powerful writing I’ve read and created was used for catharsis – to deal with emotions, to make sense of life, to put trauma into words. I’m a firm believer in the power of vulnerability, and I’ve realized that writing has helped me with a lot of my own mental health struggles. Writing has made me more mindful of what goes on within my head and provides me with an outlet that I can’t really get anywhere else; I thus hoped it might provide similar benefits for other young people. Mental health is also a subject that has been almost taboo to discuss in the past, and even now it still carries quite a bit of stigma. Especially during this pandemic, which seems to be exacerbating existing conditions. Youth mental health is such a prevalent and important issue, yet one that isn’t often talked about. I felt like this magazine could serve a threefold purpose: to open up discussion about mental health, to encourage mindfulness and writing for catharsis, and to provide a platform for young writers as a sort of steppingstone to larger publications.”
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