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Magazine Stand :: River Teeth – Fall 2025

River Teeth Fall 2025 literary magazine cover image

Editor Steven Harvey open River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative 27.1 (Fall 2025):“’The one thing I will not tamper with in this class,’ I tell my students when I teach the art of the personal essay, ‘is your voice.’” Harvey goes on to examine the role and value of voice in writing as sacred and unteachable no matter its form, but also the political vulnerability of voice and the role of literary magazines to safeguard the human voice.

Contributing voices to this newest issue include Jim Daniels, Shannon Cram, Corrie Williamson, Chelsea B. DesAutels, Phong Nguyen, Allison Field Bell, L.C. Killingsworth, Emma Bolden, Jesse Lee Kercheval, Jenny Molberg, Rachel Cline, Lynda Rushing, Gary Fincke, Beth Ann Fennelly, and Asena McKeown.

River Teeth is also home to Beautiful Things, a weekly online magazine of micro-essays of 250 words or fewer. Readers can subscribe for free and “find beauty, curiosity, and meaning in the everyday.” Recent contributors include Andreea Boboc, Lauren Fath, Allison Kirkland, James T. Morrison, H.K. Hummel, Jessica Franken, Allison Field Bell, Natalie Goldberg, Kat Moore, Jeannine Pitas, and many more.

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.

New Book :: What Cannot Be Undone

book cover art

What Cannot Be Undone: True Stories of a Life in Medicine
Nonfiction by Walter M. Robinson
University of New Mexico Press, February 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8263-6371-8
Paperback, 176pp; $19.95

Winner of the River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Prize, What Cannot Be Undone is Walter M. Robinson’s debut essay collection. In it, he shares surprising stories of illness and medicine that do not sacrifice hard truth for easy dramatics. These true stories are filled with details of difficult days and nights in the world of high-tech medical care, and they show the ongoing struggle in making critical decisions with no good answer. This collection presents the raw moments where his expertise in medical ethics and pediatrics are put to the test. He is neither saint, nor hero, nor wizard. Robinson admits that on his best days he was merely ordinary. Yet in writing down the authentic stories of his patients, Robinson discovers what led him to the practice of medicine—and how his idealism was no match for the realities he faced in modern health care.

River Teeth’s 2020 Literary Nonfiction Book Prize Winner

headshot of a man with a graying beard in front of a mustard yellow house

Walter M. Robinson was selected by guest judge Megan Stielstra as the winner of River Teeth‘s 2020 Literary Nonfiction Book Prize. His book, What Cannot Be Undone, will be published by the University of New Mexico Press in Spring 2022. Stielstra writes that Dr. Robinson’s book gave her was “the deep humanity of the people called to save our lives.” Dr. Robinson also received a cash prize of $1,000.

The 2021 Literary Nonfiction Book Prize officially opened on August 1 with a deadline of October 31. The guest judge is award-winning author Rigoberto González. The winner receives $1,000 and book publication by The University of New Mexico Press.

Runner Up
Souvenirs from Paradise by Erin Langner

Three Finalists
Afterlight by Joshua Bernstein
How to Live by Kelle Groom
Swampitude by Quitman Marshall

Five Semi-Finalists
The Mothers by Rebe Huntman
Homemaker by Jessica Johnson
From Your Friend Carey Dean by Lisa Knopp
Poisons of War by Sabrina Veroczi
The Mary Years by Julie Marie Wade

Sunday Short Reads

Love creative nonfiction in bite-sized form? Literary magazine Creative Nonfiction has you covered with Sunday Short Reads. This is flash nonfiction delivered weekly straight to your inbox. The pieces featured in this mailing are hand-selected from the archives of Creative Nonfiction, Brevity, Diagram, River Teeth, and Sweet Lit. They will also sometimes feature the occasional original works, too.

Check out past issues here, and consider subscribing today to satisfying your nonfiction cravings.

Interested in submitting your own nonfiction? They are open to submissions of nonfiction by older writers (age 60+) through February 22.

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.