New Lit on the Block :: The Maine Review
Editor Katherine Mayfield and Intern Bonnie Irwin bring readers and writers The Maine Review, a new print/e/Kindle quarterly publishing short fiction, CNF, poetry, essays on writing, and black-and-white interior art. They also publish annual collections of short fiction (summer) and poetry (winter).
While the name, The Maine Review, seems obviously to represent the location of the publication, Mayfield tells me it was inspired “in the tradition of reviews like The Missouri Review and The Iowa Review. We felt that Maine needed a literary review representing the beauty and ruggedness of the Pine Tree State. Though we publish well-known and new and emerging authors from around the world, we feature the work of Maine artists on each issue’s cover. The Maine Review is a proud member of the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, a nonprofit membership organization that works to enrich the literary life and culture of Maine.”
With such great role models already influencing this new publication, I asked Mayfield what motivated her to start her own journal, “Throughout my many years of writing and editing, I’ve seen so much excellent writing that never finds a home, and I wanted to give more writers the opportunity to be published. I also thoroughly enjoy putting the issues together – it’s like working a jigsaw puzzle, moving pieces around to get a good ‘flow.’ The Maine Review also provides a wonderful opportunity to showcase Maine artists.”
Mayfield also commented on what readers could expect to find in the publication: “Our mission is to publish quality writing that touches readers and engages their hearts, minds, and imaginations, expanding their view of the world and of life as a human being.” While the publication remains fairly “traditional” – not publishing genre horror or fantasy – Mayfield says they do look to feature humor in every issue.
Some recently featured authors include Author’s Guild President Roxanne Robinson, Maine Senior Poet Laureate Roger Finch, award-winning poets Annie Finch, Jason Michael MacLeod, Claire Scott, David Sloan, and Sean Sutherland.
In addition to the annual collections of short fiction and poetry, in the next year Mayfield says she’d like to publish an annual collection of CNF/memoir. Just now nearing the end their first year, The Maine Review looks forward to expanding the size and scope of the publication over the next few years.
The Maine Review holds contests and open reading periods. The next contest, for the Fall 2015 issue, will open in late May with a June 30th deadline. The contest for the annual poetry collection will open in autumn. The publication also has two open reading periods (no fee) each year for the Winter and Summer issues with submissions for those issues only accepted during the reading periods. See the publication’s website for more specific information. Submission is via the website and there is also a form available on the website for mailing submissions via USPS.