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Magazine Stand :: Bellevue Literary Review – 50

Bellevue Literary Review Issue 50 literary magazine cover image

With Issue 50, Bellevue Literary Review celebrates its 25th Anniversary of publication! As Editor-in-Chief Danielle Ofri writes in her foreword, “We certainly weren’t thinking in terms of a silver jubilee back when this all started with a wisp of an idea about creative writing on health, illness, and healing. But these themes are universal, and using the arts to grapple with our shared vulnerabilities turned out to be a prescription that resonates with an ever-growing community.”

Issue 50 includes the winners of the annual BLR Literary Prizes: Shannon Perri for the Goldenberg Prize for Fiction; Won Lee for the Felice Buckvar Prize for Nonfiction; and Dara Laine for the John and Eileen Allman Prize for Poetry. Readers will find a wealth of new fiction, nonfiction, and poetry filling out the issue, with Ofri commenting, “We recognize that BLR writings engage directly with experiences of illness, loss, suicide, and the realities of the body in ways that may be intense or affecting for some readers. We hope you will find meaning and resonance in the stories, essays, and poems contained herein.”

Cover Art by Charles Philippe Jean-Pierre.

Magazine Stand :: Bellevue Literary Review – 49

Bellevue Literary Review - 49 literary magazine cover image

Bellevue Literary Review Issue 49 is themed “Animalia” with a foreword by Assistant Nonfiction Editor Alanna Weissman, which begins, “Health and illness may be the most universal experiences we have as humans, as we know so well at Bellevue Literary Review. But this extends beyond homo sapiens into every corner of the animal kingdom; all species, from blue whales to the smallest insects, inhabit fallible bodies. While there are countless differences among the millions of members of taxonomic kingdom Animalia, navigating the boundary between health and illness is a rite of passage we all share. It is this uncanny sameness, and yet manifest difference, that we seek to illuminate with our Animalia theme issue.”

Contributions to this issue include fiction by Don Zancanella, Zelime Lewis, Thomas Wolf, Nathan Gower , Mark Gallini, Jason Richard Phillips, Martin Piñol, Thomas Anderson, Daniel Reiss; nonfiction by, Kate Broad, Emilie Pascale Beck, Margaret Brosnahan, Angela Tang-Tan, Deborah Derrickson Kossmann; poetry by , Ashley Oakes, Subhaga Crystal Bacon, Suzanne Underwood Rhodes, Ted Kooser, Misha Tentser, Fez Avery, Leonora Simonovis, Linda Neal, Dave Malone, Amanda Quaid, Terrance Owens, Emily Couves, Caroline Barnes, Brett Warren, Nancy Mayer, Tammy C. Greenwood, Jen Karetnick, Cat Wei, Irene Sherlock, June Rowe, Nancy Kay Peterson, Andrea Giedinghagen, Megeen R. Mulholland, Rebekah Denison Hewitt, Michele Evans, Olivia Ciacci, Maurya Simon, Melissa Joplin Higley, Ocean by J.P. White, Rachel Dillon, Laurie Kutchins, Kate Stoltzfus, James Gonda, Diane Gottlieb, and Jayne Marek, with cover art by Maya Perry.

Magazine Stand :: Bellevue Literary Review – 48

Bellevue Literary Review Issue 48 magazine cover image

Assistant Fiction Editor Lauralee Leonard opens Bellevue Literary Review Issue 48 with reflective inquiry for readers and writers alike, “Where does a story bring us? Where do we get when we read a poem to its end for the first time, the second time, the third time? How is it that a person we are likely never to meet, through only words arranged on a page, can enter our consciousness so fully? And how does it happen that we surrender so completely to a created place that we are jolted, at the end, to find ourselves still in our own chair, suspended momentarily between worlds?”

Offering readers the opportunity for further contemplation, this issue offers fiction by Fiona Ennis (Winner of the Goldenberg Prize for Fiction), Chinaecherem Obor (Honorable Mention), Nandini Bhattacharya, Ronald Niezen, Yuya Hattori, Michael Welch, Marcia Walker, TW Dalton, Sabrina D. Wang; nonfiction by Pia Jee-Hae Baur (Winner of the Felice Buckvar Prize for Nonfiction), Liesel Hamilton (Honorable Mention), Carlos Rafael Gómez, Veronica Cano, Diane Zinna; and poetry by Sandra Dolores Gómez Amador (Winner of the John and Eileen Allman Prize for Poetry), Cedric Rudolph (Honorable Mention), Laura E. Garrard, Karen Zheng, Maya Klauber, Laurie Sansom, Michael Montlack, Christopher Stewart, Timothy Kelly, Won Lee, Brett Warren, Kelly Grace Thomas, Bridget Bell, Cecil Morris, Wendy Wisner, Becky Nicole James, Xinyue Huang, Joseph Radke, Judith Fox, Alexandra Ozols, and Rob Macaisa Colgate.

Cover art by Aliza Nisenbaum.

Magazine Stand :: Bellevue Literary Review – 47

Bellevue Literary Review Issue 47 cover image

Bellevue Literary Review – Issue 47 is themed Body Politic. Fiction Editor Suzanne McConnell writes in the foreword, “For this issue of BLR, we asked for writing addressing the interface of any body politic—societal, ideological, or national—with the personal. [. . . ] What about our collective body politic, then? We are fractious, split. But are we more than that? Our history tells us that we have been there before and something in our essence is bent on surviving.”

Answering the call for this issue, readers can enjoy fiction by Mehr-Afarin Kohan, Janice Furlong, Daniel Seifert, Alison Luk, Lori Huth, Eugene Stein, Randy DeVita, Jake Lancaster; nonfiction by Laura LeMoon, Claire A. Berman, Justine Payton, Anne Rudig, Stefani Echeverría-Fenn, Kristi Ferguson, Diane Oliver, Maureen Brady, Miciah Hussey; poetry by A. Jenson, Melanie H. Manuel, Hazel Kight Witham, Emily Kedar, Alene Terzian-Zeitounian, Kathleen Weed, Wes Matthews, Lisa Mullenneaux, by Katherine Lo, Fiona Miller, Vincent Basso, Vera Kroms, Winshen Liu, Sean Sam, Eunice Cho, Paul Howe, Jasper Kennedy; and cover art by Mary Lacy.

Magazine Stand :: Bellvue Literary Review – 46

Bellevue Literary Review 46 cover image

The newest issue of Bellevue Literary Review (46) features the 2024 BLR Prize Winners:

Goldenberg Prize for Fiction, Judge Marie Myung-Ok Lee
Winner: Stray Gods by Shastri Akella
Honorable Mention: Childe by William Klein

Felice Buckvar Prize for Nonfiction, Judge Edgar Gomez
Winner: Anticipatory Grief by Misty Kiwak Jacobs
Honorable Mention: Officium by Siobhan McKenna

John and Eileen Allman Prize for Poetry, Judge Melissa Lozada-Oliva
Winner: Dementia Unit for John Glenn by Amy Rothschild
Honorable Mention: It Has Nothing to Do with Argentina by Carolene Kurien

Other contributors to this issue include fiction by Tennessee Hill, Jonathan Strysko, Adriana Golden, Grace Glass, Rashmi Patel, and Peter Kessler; nonfiction by Erin Van Rheenen, Zoë Sprankle, and Nicki Porter; and poetry by Cynthia Marie Hoffman, J.A. Holm, Amy Ralston Seife, Judith Harris, Chelsea Kerwin, Bruce Bond, Seth Peterson, Lisa Dordal, Scott Frey, Megan Maier, Rachel Yinger, Deborah Bayer, Purvi Shah, Judith Fox, Bethany F. Brengan, and Olivia Olson, with a Foreword by Doris W. Cheng.

Magazine Stand :: Bellevue Literary Review – Issue 45

Bellevue Literary Review 45 cover image

Bellevue Literary Review‘s latest issue (45) is on the theme of “Taking Care.” In the foreword, Poetry Editor Sarah M. Sala writes: “Three years since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, we continue to redefine what ‘taking care’ means for us as individuals but also as an interdependent collective. In this issue of BLR, readers will find a variety of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction that explore the many facets of caregiving and how we care for one another, for ourselves, and for the world.” The issue features poetry by Richard Blanco, Jen Karetnick, and Jehanne Dubrow, fiction by Abby Seiff and Joy Guo, nonfiction by Sheree L. Greer and Eric Raymond, and many more talented writers. The evocative cover art is by Tatana Kellner.

Discover loads more great lit mags with our Guide to Literary Magazines, Big List of Literary Magazines, and Big List of Alternative Magazines. If you are a publication looking to be listed in our monthly roundup or featured on our blog and social media, please contact us.

Magazine Stand :: Bellevue Literary Review – Issue 44

Bellevue Literary Review Issue 44 cover image

The latest issue of Bellevue Literary Review (Issue 44) features the winners of the annual 2023 BLR Literary Prizes. This year’s winners are Lara Palmqvist (fiction, selected by judge Toni Jensen), Caroline Harper New (poetry, selected by Phillip B. Williams), and Jehanne Dubrow (nonfiction, selected by Rana Awdish). Honorable mentions are Karen K. Ford, Karan Kapoor, and Sabah Parsa. The issue also features many other talented writers, including fiction by Sara Nović, Dan Pope, Joon Ae Haworth-Kaufka, and Tyriek White; nonfiction by Acamea Deadwiler, Rachel Mann, and D. Liebhart; and poetry by Martha Silano, Ellen June Wright, Rage Hezekiah, and Megan Merchant. The issue’s bright, colorful cover is by artist Alexander Gorlizki. Get your copy (or start a subscription!) by visiting the BLR website.

To find more great reading, visit the NewPages Guide to Literary Magazines, the NewPages Big List of Literary Magazines, the NewPages Big List of Alternative Magazines, and the NewPages Guide to Publications for Young Writers. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay up to date!

Magazine Stand :: Bellevue Literary Review – Issue 43

Bellevue Literary Review pint magazine issue 43 fall winter 2022 cover image

Bellevue Literary Review‘s newest issue (43) is themed “Recovery,” which Editor-in-Chief Danielle Ofri comments, “When we initially considered recovery as a theme for BLR, Covid-19 wasn’t yet a twinkle in any epidemiologist’s eye. [. . . ] It can be exhausting to contemplate all that is happening, much less consider how we might ever recover. Literature can never offer a ‘how-to’ manual for recovery—that we’ll leave to the strategists of the world. Rather, it offers an opportunity to grapple with the individual strands of our lives, teasing out one tiny aspect to ripple slowly through our fingers. Literature won’t necessarily give us the answers, but it will help us wrestle with the questions.”

Helping us wrestle with the questions in this Fall/Winter issue is Fiction by Kyle Impini, Andrea McLaughlin, Meredith Talusan, Yen Ha, Arya Samuelson, Wes Byers, Margaret Buckhanon, Julia Mascioli, Christopher Mohar, Daniel Pope; Nonfiction by Sakena Jwan Washington, Saima Afreen, Ucheoma Onwutuebe, Carolyn Abram, Rebecca Grossman-Kahn, William Walker, Diane LeBlanc; Poetry by Anthony Aguero, Monique Ferrell, Emily Hockaday, Gaetan Sgro, Lolita Stewart-White, Stephanie Choi, Anne-Marie Thompson, Talia Bloch, Rochelle Robinson-Dukes, Tara Ballard, Nicholas Yingling, Holly Mitchell, Denise Duhamel, Carrie Purcell Kahler, Nina Clements, Kathryne David Gargano.

Magazine Stand :: Bellevue Literary Review – Issue 42

Bellevue Literary Review cover image

Featured in Issue 42 of Bellevue Literary Review are the winners and honorable mentions for the John & Eileen Allman Prize for Poetry judged by Crystal Valentine, the Goldberg Prize for Fiction judged by Amy Hempel, and the Felice Buckvar Prize for Nonfiction judged by Michele Harper. Contributors include fiction by Nitin K. Ahuja (Winner with “Step-Down”), Angie Sijun Lou (Honorable Mention with “Pale Unappy Dog”), C.C. Reid, Rachel Hall, Cécile Barlier, Jon Cohn, Madeline Haze Curtis, AJ Cameron, C.J. Hribal, Sofi Stambo; nonfiction by Avra Aron (Winner with “In My Head”), Emily Carter (Honorable Mention with “Casualty”), Lindsay Starck, Mallika Sekhar, Barbara West; poetry by Michael M. Weinstein (Winner with “Drought Pastoral”), Laura Paul Watson (Honorable Mention with “Six Weeks Into Chemotherapy”), Judith Fox, R.J. Petteway, John Kneisley, Jessica Yuan, Melissa J. Varnavas, Katherine Gaffney, Kan Ren Jie, Connemara Wadsworth, Esther Abisola Omole, Suzanne Manizza Roszak, T. Le, Stubbs, Charlene Fix, and Rachel S. Brooks.

Happy 20th Anniversary Bellevue Literary Review

Bellevue Literary Review is celebrating 20 years of publication with Issue 41, the 20th Anniversary Issue! Founding Editor Danielle Ofri opens the issue with a foreword that details the journal’s beginnings.

“Pulling together an inaugural issue during the summer of 2001 was both heady and nerve-wracking, as we trod uncharted territory in everything from poetic sensibility and creative-nonfiction definition to font size and paper weight. We packed the first issue off to press in the first week of September and then the attacks of 9/11 occurred. Everything ground to a halt in New York City, logistically and emotionally. Not only could we not get our print run delivered, but we could hardly muster the spirit to find joy in any accomplishment. In the heavy pall of grief, everything else seemed inconsequential.”

Ofri goes on to recount how they moved forward and what happened in the wake of the tragedy of 9/11. In the following pages, readers can check out a 20th Anniversary Editorial Roundtable where “editors past and present, plus our founding publisher, [ . . . ] offer reflections on the BLR‘s founding and its evolution over two decades of publishing.” Check out the issue here.

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.

2021 BLR Prize Winners

Bellevue Literary Review annually hosts the BLR Prizes for “writing related to themes of health, healing, illness, the mind, and the body.” The winner of each genre receives $1000, the honorable mention receives $250, and all are published in the spring issue. This year’s spring issue was recently released featuring the 2021 winners.

Winners
“Tattoos” by Galen Schram (Fiction)
“The Tapeworm” by Amy V. Blakemore (Nonfiction)
“Never the Less” by Saleem Hue Penny (Poetry)

Honorable Mentions
“Admonition” by Benjamin Kessler (Fiction)
“Viable” by Justine Feron (Nonfiction)
“Yellowthroat” by Eileen Elizabeth Waggoner (Poetry)

Submissions for this year’s prizes are currently open until July 15. Visit the journal’s website to learn more.

Bellevue Literary Review – No 40

In this issue, find poetry by contest winners Saleem Hue Penny and Eileen Elizabeth Waggoner, as well as Stephanie Berger, Joanne Godley, Haolun Xu, Kwame Dawes, Chelsea Bunn, Kai Coggin, Pooja Mittal Biswas, and more; fiction contest winners Galen Schram and Benjamin Kessler as well as James Prier, Douglas Fenn Wilson, Jacob R. Weber, Emily Saso, Hadley Leggett, Moshe Zvi Marvit, and David Allan Cates. Read more at the Bellevue Literary Review website.

Bellevue Literary Review – No 39

The “Reading the Body” issue is out. Fiction by Emma Pattee, Jonathan Penner, Michele Suzann, Lauren Green, Mahak Jain, and more; nonfiction by Jeremy Griffin, Wyatt Bandt, Jack Lancaster, and others; and poetry by Jacob Boyd, Gina Ferrari, Cynthia Parker-Ohene, Sanjana Nair, Thomas Dooley, Beth Suter, and many more. Read more at the Bellevue Literary Review website.

They the Mothers

Magazine Review by Katy Haas

From Issue 38 of Bellevue Literary Review, Kathi Hansen’s “We the Mothers” (honorable mention in the 2020 BLR Prize) imagines the mothers of boys who have been accused of sexual assault. They meet together in book-club-like fashion, able to speak freely with one another when no one else understands.

Hansen writes of them in a collective. They speak of their sons as one being as they look back to their childhoods, their teenage years, and the ways their boys were raised in their homes. Only when one woman begins to question her son’s innocence does the story diverge, separating her from the rest of the group, finally naming her apart from the others. I found this to be a cool, well done device for this piece, and a unique point of view to have on these now familiar stories.

Despite focusing on this side of the story, Hansen does a good job of avoiding too much sentimentality. The mothers tell their collective story without demanding understanding or sympathy from the reader. After all, as they point out, only those in their group can truly understand.

Bellevue Literary Review – No 38

Issue 38 of the Bellevue Literary Review (BLR) came together just as NYC and Bellevue Hospital were in the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of the BLR staff were alternating N95 masks with red pens, balancing patient-care with literary work. But the issue made it to the presses and is packed with good reads. It features the winners of the 2020 BLR Literary Prizes. The poems, essays, and stories in this issue travel from China to Texas to Tehran, from small town to big city, from World War I-era to the present. Stay tuned for Issue 39, coming in the fall, whose theme is “Reading the Body.” Read more at the Bellevue Literary Review website.