Four Poems from Cimarron Review

Magazine Review by Katy Haas

The Spring 2020 issue of Cimarron Review is a slim one, but here is still plenty in its pages to keep a reader company, including a fine selection of poetry.

This selection includes Ethan Joella’s ruminations on the titular magazines that his “wife’s mother read in the hospital,” and a desire to destroy them to protect his wife in her grief. Joella creates a tender piece that focuses on his wife’s love for her mother, as well as his love for his wife.

Leslie McGrath asks one eight-word question in “Pink Inquiry,” a poem that makes impact with its simplicity. Christopher Brean Murray reflects on his childhood dogs “Duke & Pam,” and the way he has “never been able / to get into a poem the way” he felt about them. What results is a sweet poem about the three finding warmth and comfort in one another.

William Reichard in “Tinnitus (in Four Movements)” describes his relationship with the ringing in his ears, using the sound of cicadas as a way to lead this exploration. I read the fourth movement repeatedly, pulled in. “There was no escape from / the pulse of his own blood,” it reads, the stanza itself feeling as inescapable as the sound.

Take some time to visit the poetry in this issue of Cimarron Review, as well as the five pieces of prose also inside.

The Massachusetts Review – Fall 2020

In the Fall 2020 issue of The Massachusetts Review: fiction by Gwen Thompkins, Alanna Schubach, Andrea Maturana, Kathleen Hawes, and more; poetry by Marcela Sulak, Emily Schulten, Lance Larsen, Esther Lin, Brooke Sahni, C. P. Cavafy, and others; and nonfiction by Karen S. Henry, Ammiel Alcalay, Margaret Lloyd, and more. Plus, photography by Paul Should and a novel excerpt by Giacomo Sartori. .

EVENT – 49.2

EVENT’s latest offering is jam-packed with a tantalizing assortment of literary goodies. Poetry by Bára Hladík, Alpay Ulku, Alan Hill, Patricia Young, A. Molotkov, Dominik Parisien, and more; fiction by Jason Jobin, Kari Teicher, Fraser Calderwood, and Wayne Yetman; and nonfiction by Scott Randall. Plus, four reviews of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction titles. Read more at the EVENT website.

Boulevard – Fall 2020

Boulevard No. 106 contains a fantastic and diverse slate of great writing, including the winning story from the 2019 Short Fiction Contest by Sena Moon; a Boulevard Craft Interview featuring a conversation between J. Ryan Stradal and Beth Dooley; new poetry from Shara McCallum, Eloisa Amezcua, Molly Brodak, Doug Ramspeck, Katherine Smith, Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet, Dara Elerath, and Jeannine Hall Gailey; new fiction from Ron Austin, Matthew Di Paoli, Christine Sneed, and Adam Roux; essays by Christine Spillson, Jodie Varon, Matt Jones, Brandon Parker, and Min Han; and a new symposium about re-examining history. Plus, fantastic, and striking cover art by Xizi Liu!

About Place Journal – Oct 2020

“Works of Resistance, Resilience” is comprised of poetry, fiction, nonfiction and visual art by 83 writers and artists. The issue has five themed sections that explore what it means to live in America at this time of profound reckoning. What does resistance look like? Can resistance contain love, power and empathy? In this age of collective anxiety, the writers and artists from around the world attempt to answer what it means to live and survive during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. The Works of Resistance, Resilience will rekindle our desire to learn and thrive and to discover what is needed to change our relationship to the earth and to each other. More info at the About Place Journal website.

Event :: Iron City Magazine Issue 5 Virtual Launch

Iron City Magazine Issue 5 Launch Party flier
click image to open PDF

Event Date: Saturday November 7, 2020; Location: Online
Deadline: Saturday November 7, 2020
Iron City Magazine: Creative Expressions By and For the Incarcerated Free public online event features literary readings, art slideshows, and a live Q&A! Presenters include contributors and their chosen readers (friends, family, teachers) from Arizona and across the nation. RSVP via Eventbrite. Issue 5 can be pre-ordered with your online registration or at www.ironcitymagazine.org. Merchandise can be purchased at Redbubble.com. Iron City Magazine is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. This publication is made possible by generous grant awards from the Ibis Foundation of Arizona and AZ Humanities.

River Teeth Launches Weekly Online Magazine of Micro-Essays

Screenshot of River Teeth's online column Beautiful Things

In April 2020, biannual print literary magazine River Teeth launched the online weekly journal Beautiful Things. This publication is devoted to very brief nonfiction that finds beauty in the everyday. Readers can subscribe to receive the latest micro-essay in their inbox every Monday morning. Today’s essay is “Before the First Frost” by Stacy Murison.

Beautiful Things was inspired by Michelle Webster-Hein’s essay “Beautiful Things” which was originally published in Volume 15, Number 1 of River Teeth. This column is co-edited by Michelle Webster-Hein and Jill Christman.

River Teeth is devoted to publishing the best creative nonfiction, including narrative reportage, essays, and memoir. Stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more about them and their new online publication.

World Literature Today – Fall 2020

San Juan, Puerto Rico, takes the spotlight in World Literature Today’s annual city issue with a powerful selection of poetry, stories, and essays by 17 writers. Other highlights in the autumn issue include Fabienne Kanor’s essay on uprooting the fetishes of white supremacy; interviews with Natalie Diaz and Margaret Jull Costa; a stunning poem by Achy Obejas on “the universe at absolute zero”; fiction by Vi Khi Nao and Lidija Dimkovska; and much more. Reviews of new books by Elena Ferrante, Mia Couto, Kapka Kassabova, and dozens more make WLT your go-to guide for the best in international literature

Understorey Magazine – Issue 18

Understorey Magazine Issue 18 is out. Read for examinations on the many ways science and technology affect our everyday lives. Poetry by Moni Brar, Daze Jefferies, Kimberley Orton, Dawn Macdonald, Kayleigh Cline, and I. Sabrina Samreen; fiction by Gail Willis; and nonfiction by Jeanne Kwong, Sima Chowdhury, Stacey McLeod, and Rita Kindl Myers. Plus, interviews with Maryam Heba and Chelsey Purdy.

The Georgia Review – Fall 2020

The Georgia Review’s Fall 2020 issue is out with new work from Kaitlyn Greenidge, Wayne Koestenbaum, Sally Wen Mao, Charles Baxter, Marianne Boruch, Yona Harvey, and many other compelling voices, both emerging and long-established. Special features include a portfolio of artwork from the High Museum of Art’s exhibition Picture the Dream: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement Through Children’s Books and a translation of Vinod Kumar Shukla’s masterful short story “College.”

Cimarron Review – Issue 211

Issue 211 of Cimarron Review features poetry by Bonnie Auslander, Clemonce Heard, Leslie McGrath, Emily Franklin, Chris Haven, Matt Morgan, Laura McKee, Bryce Berkowitz, Elisabeth Murawski, Jan Beatty, Kayla Sargeson, and others; fiction by Andrew Geyer, Molly Anders, and Steven Wingate; and nonfiction by Ephraim Scott Sommers and Caroline Sutton. This issue’s cover art is “River Fog” by Richard Speedy.

The Baltimore Review – 2020

This year’s print collection of The Baltimore Review is now out. It includes poems, stories, and creative nonfiction published in The Baltimore Review‘s Summer 2019 Maryland Writers Special Issue, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, and Spring 2020 online issues. Work by Sandy Longhorn, Tim Griffith, Maggie Andersen, Jennifer Lang, Kathleen Hellen, Kris Faatz, Michael Downs, Grace Cavalieri, Stephen Tuttle, Libby Heily, Emily Stoddard, Diana Xin, Omer Friedlander, Jeannine Hall Gailey, Avra Margariti, Naomi Cohn, and many more.

Hippocampus: Devoted to Memorable Creative Nonfiction

Hippocampus website screenshotLaunched in 2011, online literary magazine Hippocampus was first dreamed about by founder and editor Donna Talarico when she was working on her MFA in creative writing at Wilkes University. Talarico wanted to create not just a literary magazine, but also develop a venue to education and inform those interested in reading and writing creative nonfiction.

Their sea horse logo was created since the hippocampus, the part of the brain dealing with memories, is sea-horse-shaped.

Over the years, they have launched a nonfiction writing contest, an annual nonfiction writing conference, and now a book publishing division. They are open to submissions annually from March through December.

Their September 2020 issue features work by Katie Parry, Kirsten Reneau, Rachel Fleishman, Brad Wetherell, Daniel K. Miller, Gwen Niekamp, and more.

Learn more about this magazine by stopping by their listing on NewPages.

New Lit on the Block :: Binsey Poplar Press

“Having a safe space to share your art/writing and the power of publication to galvanize aspiring young artists and writers to share their voice” is a motivating factor behind Binsey Poplar Press according to Founder and Editor Sophia Smith. Featuring poetry, fiction, nonfiction, photography, and art by contributors ages 13-26, Binsey Poplar Press publishes an online literary magazine every two months as well as publishing pieces on their website. “Our website will be continuously updated with new art and writing pieces and issues,” said Jessica Gao, Web Designer and Co-Editor for Art. “We hope to make it even more visually appealing and be one of your favorite reading spots.” Continue reading “New Lit on the Block :: Binsey Poplar Press”

Sponsor Spotlight :: EVENT: The Douglas College Review

cover of EVENT Issue 49-1Founded in 1971, EVENT is a literary magazine dedicated to nurturing writers and presenting readers with the best contemporary writing from Canada and abroad. They strive to publish a diversity of voices and literary styles and have published many distinguished writers before and after they gained national or international recognition, i.e. André Alexis, George Bowering, Charles Bukowski, Esi Edugyan, Jack Hodgins, Annabel Lyon, Pablo Neruda, Alden Nowlan, Nino Ricci, Diane Schoemperlen, Carol Shields, Timothy Taylor, and Madeline Thien.

Each year they host a Non-Fiction Contest. The contest awards $3,000 in prizes ($1,500 First Place, $1,000 Second Place, $500 Third Place) plus publication in the Spring/Summer issue. This is the longest-running contest of its kind in Canada. The deadline to enter is October 15 annually. Check out Issue 49/1 to view the winning pieces of their 2019 contest: “Judge’s Essay” by Anthony Oliveira, “The Dead Green Man” by Jane Eaton Hamilton, “Things You Think When Your Husband Has a Heart Attack” by Mary Steer, and “My Beautiful Madness” by Rose Cullis.

Besides publishing issues three times a year, EVENT also offers a reading service for writers. Stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more.

The LaHave Review Spotlighting Poems & Poets

The LaHave Review Summer 2020 screenshotFounded in 2019, online quarterly literary magazine The LaHave Review highlights a single poem in each issue with an interview and notes about the poem. The Fall 2020 issue features “As For the Glossy Green Tractor Your Were” by Allison Adair. Past issues include “Flood” by Tara Borin (Summer 2020), “Buttercup” by Emily Tristan Jones (Spring 2020), and “What I Can’t Tell Her” by Ashley Anna McHugh (Winter 2020).

They read poetry submissions year-round and pay $100 CAD per poem for first publication rights.

The journal is named after the LaHave River in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia where the magazine is based and is edited by Michael Goodfellow. Stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more.

Valley Voices – Fall 2020

The Fall 2020 issue of Valley Voices features poetry by Paul Mariani, Gary Fincke, Janet McCann, Luci Shaw, Marge Piercy, Ted Kooser, D. S. Martin, Walter Bargen, Virginia Sullivan, Ed Madden, Le Hinton, Joseph Pearce, Jean-Mark Sens, John J. Han, and more; memoirs by Billy Middleton, Frederick W. Bassett, and Carol Coffee Reposa; and articles & interviews by Bruce Boyd Raeburn, Adam Gussow, Joseph Millichap, Janet Greenlees, Dominic Reisig, John J. Han, Gab D. Smith and Thomas H. Sayre, and David Tisdale.

The Shore Poetry – Fall 2020

The autumn issue of The Shore features gorgeous and dynamic poetry by Melissa Crowe, Lisa Ampleman, Susan Rich, Taylor Byas, Joely Byron Fitch, Emma Aylor, Jill Mceldowney, Samuel Adeyemi, Taylor Fedorchak, Susan Moon, Owne McLeod, Oluwadare Popoola, Isaac George Lauristen, Duncan Mwangi, Adam Day, Natalie Young, Dan Wiencek, Andy Keys, Vincent Poturica, Katherine Fallon, and more. The issue also features digital art by Joe Lugara.

Leaping Clear – Fall 2020

Leaping Clear - logo

Take the time to enjoy and be nourished by the art and writing in this new issue of Leaping Clear. There is humor, poignancy, power, ecstasy, calm, and beauty to be found in essays by Elizabeth Fletcher, Liz Woz, Ranjani Rao, and more; fiction by Taffeta Chime; and poetry by Alan Cohen, Carla Sarett, Fran Markover, J. P. White, Linda Parsons, Sandra Fees, Wayne Lee, and more.

Overlooked Beauty

Magazine Review by Katy Haas

Now more than ever it’s important to find the beauty in whatever is around us. As writers, as artists, and as humans struggling through a traumatic period of time, it’s necessary to find bright spots. The Fall 2020 issue of Still Point Arts Quarterly puts this into practice, the theme of the issue being “The Secret Life of Objects.”

Throughout the pages, writers and artists look at what’s around them and capture their beauty. Adrienne Stevenson writes an ode to a “Kitchen Timer,” an appliance one doesn’t have to think much about until it’s gone. Kathleen Miller draws pared-down sketches of telephones, boats, pitchers, eliminating the details to follow Georgia O’Keeffe’s sentiment of “get[ting] at the real meaning of things.” Most of MJ Edwards’s compelling photography focuses on treasures of trash found on the beach, as they wonder about the “untold stories” the objects carry with them.

Art can be found in the everyday items around us, the objects easily overlooked. Don’t forget to look around you and find the beauty and inspiration they can hold.

Service Workers’ Words

Magazine Review by Katy Haas

Since March, we’ve been relying heavily on service workers, those operating the essentials while the rest of the country slows or stops. The second half of the Fall 2020 issue of Rattle features work by poets who have served long periods of time as service workers.

In this section, readers can find Marylisa DeDomenicis’s “Excuse Me” and Jackleen Holton’s “The Hunter,” both of which discuss working in a restaurant. DeDomenicis writes of the prevalent racism in the kitchen where the speaker works, and Holton focuses on the sexism and harassment the women face at the restaurant where her speaker works. In both of these, the other workers advocate for each other when the higher-ups either do nothing or contribute to the problem. The speaker in DeDomenicis’s piece sticks up for the bullied Mexican bus boy, and the waitresses in Holton’s piece work the buddy system together so they’re never alone, lessening the severity of their harassment.

Laurie Uttich’s “To My Student with the Dime-Sized Bruises on the Back of Her Arms Who’s Still on Her Cellphone” stuck out to me most starkly. In this poem, the speaker notices her student’s bruises and implores that she put down her phone, her abusive boyfriend on the other end, so she can trade it for a pen and “Take a piece of the dark and put it on a page.” Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf stand by as supporting characters, offering comfort and a room of one’s own. Uttich’s use of language as the poem addresses the student is clever and flows quickly, familiar images flashing through the lines.

While we continue to rely on service workers to keep the world running, make sure to take time to hear their voices and their stories in their own words.

PoArtMo Anthology: 2020 Artists

We could all use a little positivity and Auroras & Blossoms agrees. This is why the literary magazine has established PoArtMo which stands for “Positive Art Month and Positive Art Moves.”

In the month of June, the PoArtMo creators urged writers and artists to “celebrate positive art for 30 days.” A collection of this positivity is to be memorialized in the PoArtMo Anthology. The anthology will feature drawings, paintings, photography, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and six-word stories by the writers and artists who participated in the challenge. The magazine has announced the featured artists readers can expect to see in the anthology.

Congrats to the selected writers, and thank you for spreading your positive outlook!

Still Point Arts Quarterly – Fall 2020

The Fall 2020 issue homes in on “The Secret Life of Objects.” Featured artists include Cary Loving, Birgit Gutsche, Aaron M. Brown, Jeffrey Stoner, and more. Featured writers include Dawn Raffel, Judith Sornberger, Emily Uduwana, Kathleen Aponick, William Doreski, Keltie Zubko, Adrienne Stevenson, Susan Currie, and others. Find more info at the Still Point Arts Quarterly website.

Spoon River Poetry Review – Summer 2020

The Summer 2020 Issue of SRPR is out. In this issue, you’ll find cover art by Brittany Schloderback; the SRPR Illinois Poet Feature with new poetry by Simone Muench and Jackie K. White, with an interview of the poets by Carlo Matos and Amy Sayre Batista; and new poetry by Jose-Luis Moctezuma, Paul Martinez-Pompa, Julia Wong Kcomt translated by Jennifer Shyue, Michael Leong, Emily Carr, and more.

New England Review – 41.3

New England Review Volume 41 Number 3 is out. Featured work by May-lee Chai; Jeneva Stone; Laurence de Looze; Alyssa Pelish; John Kinsella; Clifford Howard; and translations of Scholastique Mukasonga, Karla Marrufo, and Nelly Sachs. Fiction by Kenneth Calhoun, Meron Hadero, Kate Petersen, and Kirk Wilson; poetry by Anders Carlson-Wee, Victoria Chang, Justin Danzy, Elisa Gabbert, torrin a. greathouse, Christina Pugh, and more; plus cover art by Heidi P.

Kaleidoscope – No. 81

During periods of unrest and uncertainty, when ominous dark clouds roll in and the sky becomes black, it can be easy to give in to feelings of despair. Kaleidoscope contains stories of adversity but it also offers hope. Featuring the essay “Between Rooms” by N. T. McQueen, the story “Mother Bear” by Melissa Murakami, and the essay “Nacre Upon Nacre” by Jenna Pashley Smith. In addition to these three, this issue contains an array of thought-provoking poetry and other wonderful stories of fiction and nonfiction. Issue 81 brings the promise that storm clouds will dissipate and the sun will shine again.

Jewish Fiction .net – #25

This Rosh Hashana marks exactly ten years since the founding of Jewish Fiction .net! 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. We are a truly international journal with readers in 140 countries. Our new, 10th-anniversary issue of Jewish Fiction .net is now out and features 18 first-rate works of fiction originally written in Spanish, Yiddish, Hebrew, and English. We hope this special issue brings you pleasure, intellectual delight, entertainment, and comfort during this challenging time.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 theirInside 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.

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.

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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