This week is one of our special weeks where all subscribers to the NewPages Newsletter have full access to the submission opportunities and upcoming events, not just paid subscribers! If you are not a current subscriber and want to take a gander, you can access the entirety of Issue 150 online via Substack.
The NewPages Newsletter is a weekly update of new issues of literary magazines, new and forthcoming releases from indie and university presses, book reviews, writing inspiration, and, for paying subscribers, an early look at submission opportunities and upcoming events before they are posted to our website.
All subscribers also receive our monthly eLitPak Newsletter featuring even more submission opportunities, upcoming events, new titles, and graduate writing program information.
Jewish Fiction Editor-in-Chief Dr. Nora Gold has announced, “We launched a new website for our journal, renamed the journal Jewish Fiction (not Jewish Fiction .net), now housed www.jewishfiction.com – no longer .net [a redirect is in place], and we have a new logo. Our new website is now interactive and now allows readers to search our 600 stories by theme, author, and original language.”
Jewish Fiction continues to be “the only English-language journal, either print or online, devoted exclusively to publishing Jewish fiction,” sharing Jewish-themed fiction – stories and novel excerpts – from around the world.
37 Submission Opportunities including calls for submissions, writing contests, and book prizes.
Say it isn’t so! Here comes our final submissions roundup for July 2024. Next week kicks off August already. This is a great time to take that vacation you’ve been wanting to and kick back and relax before autumn decides to settle in. Want to spend some of that time writing and submitting? We’ve got your back! Plus, don’t forget that several opportunities end July 31. Don’t miss out.
Paid newsletter subscribers can get early access to the majority of submission opportunities and upcoming events before they go live on our site, so do consider subscribing or upgrading your subscription today. You also receive our monthly eLitPak Newsletter which features even more opportunities and other literary goodness.
Ascent of the Mothers by Noelle Kocot Wave Books, November 2023
Ascent of the Mothers, Noelle Kocot’s ninth collection, is a sagacious testament to the ways in which poetry can shape personhood. “I am nothing” they write, “Or else I have made myself / Too big for words.” The scope of this book is marked by Kocot’s psychic journey punctuated by a near-fatal car crash, which elicited a new understanding of their spirituality and gender nonconforming identity. Generous, self-aware, and resilient, Ascent of the Mothers is a treasure to behold and be shared.
Welcome to the end of October! Hard to believe it is here already, isn’t it? With the ending of October comes our monthly breakdown of all the wonderful new and forthcoming titles that NewPages has received during the month. You can view the full list here.
If you are a follower of our blog or a subscriber to our weekly newsletter, you can see several of the titles we received featured. For publishers or authors looking to be featured on our blog and social media, please visit our FAQ page.
Kaleidoscope: Exploring the Experience of Disability through Literature and the Fine Arts has launched a podcast to lift the words from its pages and present them in a new and meaningful way. In issue 86 episode 4, host Nick deCourville takes the audience on a journey toward discovering unexpected truths. This episode includes a reading of an excerpt from “Rehabbing” by Sharon Hart Addy. This story involves a couple who decides to buy an old farmhouse that is in need of renovations, only to find they are about to go on an unexpected journey of self-discovery and healing. Additional readings include works from authors Carol Zapata-Whelan, Hudson Plumb, Chelsea Brown, Robin Knight, Daylyn Carrigan, Hudson Plumb, Conny Borgelioen, Fay L. Loomis, Kristen Reid, Jess Pulver, Fionn Pulsifer, Courtney B. Cook, Hannah Sward, and Stephanie Harper. Give the episode a listen and see what truths are uncovered.
We receive many wonderful book titles each month to share with our readers. Visit New Books Received to discover new authors as well as new works by your favorites. This page is updated monthly, but subscribers to our newsletter have these featured titles and more of ‘what’s new’ at NewPages.com delivered weekly. For publishers or authors looking to be featured on our blog and social media, please visit our FAQ page.
NewPages.com offers mailing lists to help with the promotion of new books as well as set up readings or other launch events. NewPages.com offers up-to-date and affordable mailing lists for indie bookstores (U.S. & Canada), Barnes & Noble bookstores, public and academic libraries, and daily newspaper and alternative newsweeklies with a 100% postal delivery guarantee. Learn more about our mailing lists here.
Cursebreakers by Madeleine Nakamura Canis Major Books, September 2023
In Cursebreakers by Madeleine Nakamura, professor of magic and disgraced ex-physician Adrien Desfourneaux has discovered a conspiracy. Someone is inflicting magical comas on the inhabitants of the massive city of Astrum, and no one knows how or why. Caught between a faction of scheming magical academics and an explosive schism in the ranks of the Astrum’s power-hungry military, Adrien is swallowed by the growing chaos. Alongside Gennady, an unruly, damaged young soldier, and Malise, a brilliant healer and Adrien’s best friend, Adrien searches for a way to stop the spreading curse before the city implodes. He must survive his own bipolar disorder, his self-destructive tendencies, and his entanglement with the man who doesn’t love him back.
To discover more great books from small, independent, and university presses, visit the NewPages Guide to Publishers as well as the New Books category on our blog. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay up to date!
New England Review 44.2 is available now in print and ebook editions and features prose by Anu Kandikuppa, Susan Daitch, Efrén Ordóñez Garza, Olivia Muenz, and Nicholas Petty, poetry by Carlie Hoffman, George Uba, Mark Kyungsoo Bias, and Meg Reynolds, translations from French, Spanish, and Catalan, artwork by Louise O’Gorman, and our long-awaited special feature honoring the life and legacy of a beloved poet, editor, and mentor—”The Door Left Wide”: Irish Poets in Tribute to Eavan Boland. Subscribers receive full content, and NER rolls out selections from each new publication on their website over several weeks.
NewPages.com offers mailing lists to help with the promotion of new books as well as set up readings or other launch events. NewPages.com offers up-to-date and affordable mailing lists for indie bookstores (U.S. & Canada), Barnes & Noble bookstores, public and academic libraries, and daily newspaper and alternative newsweeklies with a 100% postal delivery guarantee. Learn more about our mailing lists here.
“Viewless Wings” is from the poem “Ode to a Nightingale” by John Keats: “Away! away! for I will fly to thee, // Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards, // But on the viewless wings of Poesy” – and thus the inspiration for a unique platform that provides emerging poets the opportunity to publish their works online as well as have them included on the Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast.
Publishing in an open online and podcast format ten times per year, with interviews with poets published weekly-ish, Viewless Wings “was founded to celebrate the art of poetry through interviews with prestigious poets, opportunities for emerging poets to have their voices heard on submitted poetry episodes, and articles on the craft of poetry and publishing.”
Promoting poetry and poetics is first nature for Morehead, who is also Poet Laureate of Dublin, California, and author of canvas: poems; portraits of red and gray: memoir poems; and The Plague Doctor. Morehead is also the primary reader for Viewless Wings with volunteer readers enlisted as needed. “The contributions from followers of Viewless Wings and interviews with prestigious poets has been inspiring. I personally learn more about the art of poetry from each interview and submitted poem and am fulfilled by providing a platform for poets’ voices to be heard.”
“It’s rewarding hearing poetry read by the poet,” Morehead says, and visitors to Viewless Wings can likewise share in this experience. “Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast listeners (and readers of the accompanying articles on the website) can expect to be inspired and educated about the craft of poetry. We welcome diverse voices and love providing a platform for poets.” The Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast has included interviews with Safia Elhillo, Olivia Gatwood, A.E. Stallings, Dana Gioia, Yanyi, and many more, in addition to poems submitted (and read by) emerging poets.
Morehead advises, “For those considering starting a literary magazine or podcast, focus on publishing quality content and be patient. It takes time to build an audience.” And for contributors, while they can expect that Morehead will read their work, due to the number of submissions received, personalized feedback is not possible; turnaround time is 1-3 months.
Viewless Wings has a future already in the works with plans to expand into more livestream events as part of the Viewless Wings Live series, and participate in community events, having successfully attended the Bay Area Book Festival for the first time in 2023.
New American Press is seeking applicants for the volunteer part-time position of Fiction Editor.
The fiction editors collectively oversee acquisition of all full-length fiction manuscripts for publication at New American Press, in particular selecting strong finalist manuscripts to be considered for the annual New American Fiction Prize. In this fully remote position, each fiction editor’s duties include:
Carefully reviewing dozens of story collection and novel manuscripts each year;
Meeting via Zoom on a regular schedule with fellow fiction editors to discuss the strongest work;
Maintaining concise reading notes in Submittable;
Providing final ranking evaluations for the New American Fiction Prize;
Aiding in the promotion of published titles prior to and following launch.
Competitive candidates for a fiction editor position will demonstrate a strong creative and/or critical background in literary fiction via writing, publishing, and/or criticism, as well as clear communication skills and a professional demeanor that embraces teamwork and collaborative problem-solving.
We will begin scheduling interviews the week of June 26, 2023. This is a volunteer position requiring 5 hours per week or less. All positions at New American Press are fully remote. Interested applicants should submit a resume/CV and cover letter via this Google Form.
MAYDAY is seeking applicants for the volunteer part-time position of Production Editor.
As part of the managing editor’s office, production editors at MAYDAY are responsible for layout and posting content to the MAYDAY website on a weekly basis. In addition to an interest in literary publishing, we will be particularly drawn to applicants with backgrounds/interests in digital journalism and publishing, as well as those who can demonstrate experience proofing or editing copy. MAYDAY is published on WordPress, so experience with this platform will be helpful, but it’s not prohibitively difficult to learn, either. Familiarity with the Chicago Manual of Style will also be helpful.
This is a volunteer position requiring 5 hours per week or less. All positions at MAYDAY are fully remote. Interested applicants should submit a resume/CV and cover letter via this Google Form.
New to the scene, RockPaperPoem publishes three times a year online (April, August, December) in an open-access format. The editors seek “today’s finest poetry from established, emerging, and new poets residing anywhere in the world.” Their mission is to include a diversity of voices while highlighting work “that expands the boundaries of contemporary poetry, without sacrificing accessibility for experimentation.”
NewPages maintains two guides where young readers and writers can find print and online literary magazines to read, places to publish their own works, and legitimate contests: Publications for Young Writers and Writing Contests for Young Writers. Both of these are ad-free resources regularly updated with carefully vetted content, and “young” can be from K to college undergraduate. As long as there is clearly “dedicated” space to a young age group, we will consider listing it here.
Please share these with any young creatives in your lives and with adults who want to encourage youth in the creative arts – parents, teachers, community organization leaders, librarians, etc.
If you know of any great resources for youth that we do not have listed, please contact us. We love to keep these resources alive and growing!
Hot Pot Magazine is a new open-access online monthly lit mag of prose, poetry, and visual art as well as experimental work like comics, audio spoken word, or music files. Founder and Editor-in-Chief Emily Pedroza says she started Hot Pot Magazine because “I just wanted to create a hub for literature and art that makes people feel less alone. To amplify the stories and voices that lie within literature and art.”
AudiobookSYNC is a summer program of FREE audiobooks for teens 13+. Two thematically paired audiobooks are available each week through the Sora reading app from April 27 – August 2, 2023. Participants sign up for free and download the Sora student reading app. Anyone can actually sign up for the program, not just teens, but the titles are all geared toward teen readers 13+. The cool thing is that the books are “borrowed” and stay in the Sora app until you return them, with a loan time of 35,999 days. So, basically, the books are to keep unless someone purposefully returns them. The titles available each week are ONLY available to borrow for that week, so if you miss a week, then you miss out on those books. Visit SYNC via AudioFile and get started today – and spread the word to your teen readers and YA fans.
Hailing from the UK, say hello to Ergi Press! Publishing zines and anthologies twice a year, they promote themselves as “a down-to-earth DIY press publishing art, poetry and prose from LGBTQIA+ creators from all over.” With a rolling submissions window, reading periods and publications go with the flow, and deadline details for each issue are communicated via their website and social media outlets. Once ready to share, Ergi Press publications are available in both digital and print formats, with zines accessible via BigCartel and anthologies via Amazon.
Editor Imogen says, “Our love for different genres knows no bounds. We accept unpublished work from LGBTQ+ identifying creators on any theme, subject, or topic – this means innovative contributions from poetry to prose and everything in between. Art, photography, and visual poetry, we do it all!”
This is for the Pullman Porters who organized when people said they couldn’t. And carried the Pittsburgh Courier and the Chicago Defender to the Black Americans in the South so they would know they were not alone. This is for the Pullman Porters who helped Thurgood Marshall go south and come back north to fight the fight that resulted in Brown v. Board of Education because even though Kansas is west and even though Topeka is the birth- place of Gwendolyn Brooks, who wrote the powerful “The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock,” it was the Pullman Porters who whispered to the traveling men both the Blues Men and the “Race” Men so that they both would know what was going on. . . [Read the rest at Poetry Magazine.]
NewPages has been hard at work contacting bookstores and collecting updates last month. We have also been hard at work discovering new stores to recommend to you. So this is a great chance to check out our Guide to Indie Bookstores for your state to find an indie bookseller near you!
And if we’re missing your favorite store, do let us know!
We have also added a new search bar to help aid in your search of a bookstore to feed your reading addiction alongside our City filter.
If you are an author looking to promote your book, NewPages does offer mailing lists for indie bookstores (US & Canada), Barnes & Noble bookstores (a new edition!), and public and academic libraries. Learn more about our mailing lists here.
Short Reads is a brand-new publication that launches today! Four former Creation Nonfiction employees have banded together to create a free weekly publication delivered every Wednesday morning to subscriber mailboxes. The editors believe in “building a community of writers and readers who believe in the power of true stories to share ideas and experiences, foster empathy, and help make sense of what can happen in a life.” Short Reads will feature original and reprinted flash nonfiction, and while currently not open for submissions (stay tuned!), early contributors include Jaswinder Bolina, Brian Broome, Beth Ann Fennelly, Beth Kephart, Patrick Madden, Deesha Philyaw, and others. Visit their website to sign up today!
In her collection of essays, Bright Unbearable Reality, Anna Badkhen—a former war correspondent, now essayist—forces us to examine the reality of migration despite the desire to look away. As her title implies, she compels readers to see the true causes of the massive amounts of people—one in seven worldwide, she says—who relocate due to climate change or suffering related to new weather patterns and natural disasters. I had planned to write that those people are forced to relocate, but that would be a false passive, a sentence construction Badkhen points out that ignores the true action and actor in order to make ideas more palatable. Badkhen doesn’t allow the reader this comfort, as she continually highlights the systemic problems that those in the wealthier countries cause, while at the same time, those countries deny entry to those whom they have displaced. In her essay, “Ways of Seeing,” she points out that there is the surface reality that most of us who have the privilege of reading her book know and the reality of those whose lives enable us to have that privilege; the difference, to use one of her images, between the restaurants and hotels that line Waikiki and the hotel workers striking for a living wage.
Reviewer bio: Kevin Brown has published three books of poetry: Liturgical Calendar: Poems (Wipf and Stock); A Lexicon of Lost Words (winner of the Violet Reed Haas Prize for Poetry, Snake Nation Press); and Exit Lines (Plain View Press). He also has a memoir, Another Way: Finding Faith, Then Finding It Again, and a book of scholarship, They Love to Tell the Stories: Five Contemporary Novelists Take on the Gospels. Twitter @kevinbrownwrite or kevinbrownwrites.weebly.com/.
After a brief hiatus, the Terrain.org podcast curated by Miranda Perrone, Soundscapes, is back. Their seventh new episode is “Wildness: Life, or Death?” This 36-minute podcast features Janisse Ray reading her essay “I Have Seen the Warrior: Crossing the Okefenokee,” in which she shares her three-day experience “crossing the largest swamp east of the Mississippi.” This is enhanced by a conversation between Janisse and Miranda. The episode opens with a poem by Robert Morgan, “Portal,” and ends with a poem by Kim Parko, “Our Woman.” Terrain.org also offers a full transcript of the program with time cues.
Lauren Fleshman, author of Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man’s World and one of the top professional runners of her generation, never achieved the highest levels of success as she (at the time) and others defined it. She talks about her running career in her memoir, but her interests lay beyond training times and significant races, as she’s much more interested in why she and so many other female runners struggled to perform as well as they (and others) expected. She redefines success away from making the Olympic team to being able to run to one’s potential and still live a healthy life. While acknowledging her limited point of view and knowledge, she talks about the obstacles and struggles that come with being a female runner: unhealthy relationships with food and body image; coaches and trainers who treat females’ bodies as if they’re interchangeable with those of men; sponsors and marketers who objectify women or fail to take into account their different physical development. While she shares the clear events of misogyny and sexism, she also conveys the less-clear, more-frequent ways in which a patriarchal sport and society ignore women’s potential, hindering them from becoming the runners and people they could be.
Reviewer bio: Kevin Brown has published three books of poetry: Liturgical Calendar: Poems (Wipf and Stock); A Lexicon of Lost Words (winner of the Violet Reed Haas Prize for Poetry, Snake Nation Press); and Exit Lines (Plain View Press). He also has a memoir, Another Way: Finding Faith, Then Finding It Again, and a book of scholarship, They Love to Tell the Stories: Five Contemporary Novelists Take on the Gospels. Twitter @kevinbrownwrite or kevinbrownwrites.weebly.com/.
The author of four award-winning books and a decades-long editor and book coach/marketer, John Sibley Williams can assist with everything from individual poem to manuscript critiques; regular book coaching; 1-on-1 workshops; the creation of pitch letters, press kits, and book proposals; agent/publisher research; and more. His passion is assisting poets and writers by tailoring all strategies to their individual needs. View flyer or visit website for more information.
Want early access to our eLitPak flyers? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter! You can also support NewPages with a paid subscription and get early access to the majority submission opportunities, upcoming events, and more before they are posted to our site.
Ghost Apples by Katharine Coles Red Hen Press, May 2023
In her ninth collection of poems, Ghost Apples, Katharine Coles interrogates and celebrates her relationship with the natural world and the various creatures who inhabit it, and in doing so asks what it means to be sentient and mortal on a fragile planet. From her own pet parrot, Henri, to the birds her husband attracts to their feeders, to the wildlife who live just outside—and regularly cross—her property on the wild edge of Salt Lake City, she uses her capacity for intense observation and meditation to think her way into other lives and possible shared futures, both good and bad.
To discover more great books from small, independent, and university presses, visit the NewPages Guide to Publishers as well as the New Books category on our blog. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay up to date!
The author of four award-winning books and a decades-long editor and book coach/marketer, John Sibley Williams can assist with everything from individual poem to manuscript critiques; regular book coaching; 1-on-1 workshops; the creation of pitch letters, press kits, and book proposals; agent/publisher research; and more. His passion is assisting poets and writers by tailoring all strategies to their individual needs. View flyer or visit website for more information.
Red Rook Press is a new student-run publishing house hailing from the University of Alabama College of Arts & Sciences Program in Creative Writing. Funded by the undergraduate creative writing club and the English Department, the staff is made up of all volunteer undergrads with guidance from English Department Faculty. At this time, they are open to submissions of any form and genre from undergraduate or graduate students across any university or college, though they may expand in the future to accept manuscripts from a broader scope of writers. Red Rook’s 2022 submission window closed in December with publications expected in April. They plan to open back up in March for a fall 2023 publication date, with hopes to maintain this spring/fall publication cycle going forward. Welcome Red Rook Press!
NewPages receives many wonderful literary magazine and alternative magazine titles each month to share with our readers. You can read more about some of these titles by clicking on the “New Mag Issues” tag under “Popular Topics.” Find out more about many of these titles with our Guide to Literary Magazines. If you are a publication looking to be listed here or featured on our blog and social media, please contact us!
Agni, 96 American Poetry Review, Nov/Dec 2022 Arc Poetry Magazine, Fall 2022 Carve, Fall 2022 Cholla Needles, 72 The Cincinnati Review, Fall 2022 Colorado Review, Fall/Winter 2022 The Common, Issue 24 Conjunctions, 79 Creative Nonfiction, Fall 2022 Cutleaf, 2.23 Epiphany, Summer 2022 Feminist Studies, v48n2, 2022 Gay & Lesbian Review, Nov/Dec 2022 Geist, 121
NewPages welcomes Olympe, a new online publication of global writing, visual art, and photography by women ages 16-24 that “describe the female experience and explore what women’s issues are relevant” to each contributor.
The concept for Olympe came about as a result of the Kravis Center for Performing Arts‘ “Changemakers: Global Women/Global Issues” workshop at the beginning of 2022. The editors got to know one another during this workshop while exploring women’s issues through lessons from Dr. Susan Gay Wemette where they created projects as a team. After that event, the team put what they had gained from those projects into creating Olympe as a way to bring awareness to women’s issues and amplify women’s voices as they share their stories through writing and art.
The Common, the award-winning literary magazine based in Amherst, MA, is opening its ninth annual Author Postcard Auction on November 7, 2022. Authors will write and send postcards in time for the holidays! This unique online auction gives book lovers from around the world the opportunity to bid on handwritten, personalized postcards from their favorite writers. The Common, whose mission is to deepen society’s sense of place through literature and nurture the careers of new and international writers, is directly benefited by proceeds from the auction. They support payment to and mentorship of emerging authors as well as The Common’s post-grad editorial fellowship.
2022 Postcard Auction Authors: Rumaan Alam, Rabih Alameddine, Gina Apostol, Christina Baker Kline, Alison Bechdel, Matt Bell, Alexander Chee, Tara Conklin, Jennifer Croft, Edwidge Danticat, Anthony Doerr, Esi Edugyan, Jennifer Egan, Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Craig Finn, Jonathan Franzen, Neil Gaiman, Andrew Sean Greer, Lauren Groff, Joe Hill, Leslie Jamison, Hari Kunzru, Fran Lebowitz, Min Jin Lee, Megha Majumdar, Elizabeth McCracken, Natalie Merchant, Claire Messud, Christopher Moore, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Tommy Orange, Julie Otsuka, R. J. Palacio, Ann Patchett, Jonathan Safran Foer, George Saunders, David Sedaris, Jim and Karen Shepard, Amanda Shires, Lynn Steger Strong, Elizabeth Strout, Donna Tartt, Jeff Tweedy, Anne Tyler, Claire Vaye Watkins, Chris Ware.
Many literary ventures begin in response to some need, and in doing so, become a vital component in building a literary community. Rivanna Review is just such a venture. Founder and Editor Robert Boucheron took a look around him and comments on what he observed, “Charlottesville is a university town, a hotbed of readers, and home to many writers, yet it lacked a publication for books, book reviews and literary news. Rivanna Review is here to fill the gap. It exists ‘for your reading pleasure.’ At the same time, it promotes small presses, American writers, and Virginia.”
Indeed, the name itself is reflective of its community, as Charlottesville is located on the Rivanna River, a tributary of the James. But writers and readers, know that contributors to the magazine come from around the globe and write about “places far and wide.” The most recent issue invites readers “to visit small town New England, downtown Atlanta, rural Highland County, Virginia, the Silk Road in Kazakhstan, a high school in suburban New Jersey, and the shadow world of hoaxes, malls, and Bigfoot.” Some recent contributors include Lynne Barrett, Jonathan Russell Clark, Maxim Matusevich, Ed Meek, Lisa Johnson Mitchell, Karl Plank, Christine Sneed, and Lucy Zhang.
NewPages receives many wonderful literary magazine and alternative magazine titles each month to share with our readers. You can read more about some of these titles by clicking on the “New Mag Issues” tag under “Popular Topics.” Find out more about many of these titles with our Guide to Literary Magazines. If you are a publication looking to be listed here or featured on our blog and social media, please contact us!
2River View, Fall 2022 The Apple Valley Review, Fall 2022 Awakened Voices, Issue 14 The Awakenings Review, Fall 2022 Baltimore Review, 2022 Bellevue Literary Review, Fall/Winter 2023 bioStories, October 2022 Blue Collar Review, Summer2022 Bomb, Fall 2022 BoomLitMag, VII.1, 2022 Brilliant Flash Fiction, September 2022 Catamaran, Fall 2022 Chestnut Review, Fall 2022 Cholla Needles, 71 Cholla Needles, 70 Cleaver, Issue 39, Fall 2022 Club Plum, 3.4 Copper Nickel, Fall 2022
Many creatives lament not having time to “create” and the nagging feeling of void it wedges into our daily lives. No longer willing to suffer the absence, Melissa Martini founded Moss Puppy Magazine, an open-access online and print-on-demand biannual of poetry, prose, and artwork.
The name is unique, but indicative of Martini’s joyful approach, “The Moss Puppy is a creature I imagined many moons ago with the intention of creating my own vivid world of critters similar to Neopets or Pokemon. Moss Puppy has stuck with me through the years, and when I decided I wanted to start my own literary magazine, it only seemed fitting to name the magazine after her. She has a few other friends who may make appearances within the magazine’s lore in the future, too!” If it’s difficult to imagine what a Moss Puppy might look like, the publication ran a fanart contest this year asking readers to spark their imaginations. The resulting gallery is a fun stop on the site to visit.
Martini’s own commitment to the literary community started early, as she recounts, “I was the co-editor-in-chief of my high school’s literary magazine, and it was the highlight of my high school career. From reading submissions to designing issues, I couldn’t get enough. When I graduated high school and started college, one of the first things I did was find out if there was a literary magazine – and I joined the team as soon as I could. I eventually became co-editor-in-chief of that magazine, too, taking publishing courses as I learned the ropes of running a more serious publication.”
Martini continued her education to earn a bachelor’s in creative writing and a master’s in English, and that’s when the void began. “After graduate school, I started a full-time job and no longer found myself shuffling through stacks of submissions. After two years of having that hole in my heart, I quit my job and decided to start Moss Puppy Magazine. Editing a literary magazine is an incredibly fulfilling job; I feel as though I was meant to be an editor, consistently seeking out the role in each chapter of my life.”
For writers, this means they can expect professional and respectful treatment of their submissions, as Martini explains, “Throughout the week, submissions are made available to our team of readers. Over the following week, we read and discuss submissions from the previous week, finalizing our decisions within two weeks of receiving submissions. I then send out responses each Sunday.”
Martini asked the Moss Puppy Magazine submissions readers what they look for. Veronica Jarboe, one of the Poetry Readers, stated: “I, personally, look for authenticity and that one unique thing that makes the work stand out from all the rest. I look for work that stays with me long after I’ve read it, which means I know it had an effect on me in some way.” Prose Reader Shelby Petkus echoed this, adding: “I also feel like we’re all very similar in our judgment of writing quality, so I think we have really well-written works we select.” Laura Bibby, who serves as both a Poetry Reader and a Prose Reader, also agreed, noting that she enjoys “written pieces that work in the theme in unique and inventive ways.”
Knowing what Moss Puppy wants for its readers adds further insight, as Martini comments, “I initially advertised Moss Puppy as housing the ‘weird, muddy, and messy.’ I still think that’s pretty accurate. Between myself and my team, we tend to lean towards pieces that get us talking to each other – pieces that rustle our emotions. Readers can expect pieces that flirt with darkness, have comedic undertones on occasion, dabble in sadness while appreciating the sunshine, and aren’t afraid to get lost in the woods.” Some recent contributors who satisfied this expectation include Beth Mulcahy, Bex Hainsworth, Charlie D’Aniello, Rachael Crosbie, Matthew McGuirk, Arden Hunter, Linda Hawkins, Rick Hollon, Melissa Flores Anderson, Anna Lindwasser, and Catie Wiley.
It’s hard to imagine leaving one path in life to pursue another, and Martini offers a balanced reflection on this: “The greatest joy I have experienced with Moss Puppy so far is the release of Issue 1: Swampland. I was absolutely blown away by the response. Each tweet and retweet put a smile on my face, and I watched as so many writers shared that their work was featured in the issue. People were complimenting each other’s writing, having engaging conversations, and I put that issue together all on my own – that was before I had a team. I was struggling with feeling like a failure for quitting my full-time job and pursuing a passion project that made me no money – but when I saw the response to the first issue’s release? I knew I’d made the right choice.”
Forging ahead to continue making it the best decision, Martini is positive about the future of Moss Puppy, “I would love to expand on Moss Puppy’s lore, explore her world a bit more, and incorporate additional characters into her story. This may be through pop-up issues, chapbooks, contests, workshops, and more. I have a lot of ideas I want to look into, but nothing is set in stone just yet.”
For future submissions, each issue of Moss Puppy has its own theme. Issue 1 was Swampland, Issue 2 was Puppy Love, and Issue 3 is Blades. Martini will be announcing Issue 4’s theme on Twitter once they reach 4,000 followers. At the time of publication, Moss Puppy had 3867 Followers, so c’mon people! @mosspuppymag
Able Muse: A Review of Poetry Prose and Art has announced the winners of the Write Prize for Poetry and Fiction, judged anonymously throughout by the Able Muse Contest Committee and the final judges, Dennis Must for fiction, and Aaron Poochigian or poetry. The winning writer and the winning poet each receive a $500 prize.
FICTION WINNER: Lorna Brown – “Looking for Anna”
Here is what Dennis Must has to say about Lorna Brown’s winning story: “‘Fiction is the art form of human yearning . . . absolutely essential to any work of fictional narrative art—a character who yearns. And that is not the same as a character who simply has problems . . .’—Robert Olen Butler. Lorna Brown’s ‘Looking For Anna’ embodies the lifeblood of those stories that endure in our memory stream long after they have been read.”
POETRY WINNER: Brian Brodeur [pictured] – “On Mistaking a Stranger for a Dead Friend”
Here is what Aaron Poochigian has to say about Brian Brodeur’s winning poem: “‘On Mistaking a Stranger for a Dead Friend’ has it all—the sounds, the psychology (a whole theory of memory) and, most important of all, playfulness even when the subject is tragic. Bird, riverbank, and a random encounter all blend into a perfect representation of a human mind at work. Bravo!”
In conversation with Jonathan Bate about Stephan Fry’s book The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within and the value of poetic form, Stephan Fry encouraged writers to “Just try out writing in that form. I think people will amaze themselves when they do that.” For writers willing to explore new forms and challenge their development of craft, and for readers who appreciate seeing the variety of poetic expertise that a single form can produce, Gleam: Journal of the Cadralor is your next stop.
Developed in August 2020, the cadralor is a portmanteau of the names of the two co-creators of this poetic form, Christopher Cadra and Lori Howe. The rules of the form are explained on Gleam’s website, but in brief, this is a five-stanza poem with each stanza containing a consistent number of lines, up to ten, and each stanza able to stand alone as a complete poem. It cannot be narrative, though the stanzas should be contextually related. They must be imagist, vivid poems without cliché that are “a feast for the senses.” The fifth stanza acts as the crucible “illuminating the gleaming thread (Thus, the ‘gleam’ in the name.) that runs through the entire poem,” pulling the poem “into a coherence as a kind of love poem,” and answering the compelling question, “for what do you yearn?” The poem does not need to be a traditional love poem, as the editors explain, “Yearning takes many forms,” but it is characteristic that a “successful cadralor end on a note of hope rather than hopelessness.”
Poets ready to tackle the form can expect their work to be well received by seasoned writers who want to engage the community in a supportive way. Editor in Chief Lori Howe is author of two books of poetry, Cloudshade, Poems of the High Plains, and Voices at Twilight, was Executive Editor of Blood, Water, Wind, and Stone: An Anthology of Wyoming Writers, and formerly Editor in Chief of Clerestory: Poems of the Mountain West, and Open Window Review. She holds an MFA in Poetry from University of Wyoming, where she is also Professor. Founding Editor, Christopher Cadra is a poet/writer whose work has appeared in The Cimarron Review and elsewhere. His criticism has appeared in Basalt and a journal he edited, The Literati Quarterly.
Publishing two to three issues per year, Gleam accepts submissions via email, and, as Howe points out, “We offer a great deal of feedback on submissions, and often offer ‘revise and resubmit’ options, which we believe is somewhat rare among poetry journals. We do this because the form is both new and especially challenging to embody. We like to encourage poets to keep working on cadralor until they get there.”
There is a growing list of contributors whose cadralor have arrived to provide readers “the finest examples of this form anywhere in the world,” including Louise Barden, Rachel Barton, Robert Beveridge, Susan Cole, Kate Copeland, Jane Dougherty:, Scott Ferry, Malcolm Glass, Joanna Grisham, Georgia Hertz, Marie Marchand, Bob McAfee, Julia Paul, Charlotte Porter, Nick Reeves, Michelle Rochniak, Anastasia Vassos, Sherre Vernon, Sterling Warner, Ingrid Wilson, and Jonathan Yungkans.
In starting this new form as well as taking it onto a public platform, Howe shares, “My greatest joy is in reading submissions of cadralor from all over the world and discovering that this form is being taught in MFA poetry workshops around the country.”
As Cadra and Howe state, Gleam is THE flagship journal for the new poetic form, the cadralor, and the plan is for it to continue to hold that well-deserved place in our literary community.
Clover + Bee Magazine is – can I just say this? – a GORGEOUS digital publication of fictional prose (in all genres), narrative nonfiction, poetry, and visual art. Clover + Bee Magazine has been publishing at a rate of 3-4 issues per year, with “no set-in-stone schedule as of yet,” according to Editors Alex Campbell and Cara Copeland.
At its inception, Campbell and Copeland say they found themselves at “the perfect intersection of our own creative journeys, our places within our respective online literary and art communities, and our desire to create a platform for emerging and established creators to showcase their work. A literary and visual art magazine just made sense as something that we could do to contribute to the larger creative ecosystem.”
I recently heard from Matthew Johnson, managing editor of Portrait of New England online literary journal, that the publication was coming back from hiatus. Truth be told: we see a lot of magazines go on “hiatus” never to be heard from again, so I took this opportunity to talk with Matthew and his colleagues about what happened and how they bounced back. Portrait of New England publishes poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction from writers who are residents, former residents, or have connections (e.g., attended college in the region) to New England.
Origin Story and Hiatus
Matthew: “The original team for Portrait of New England was Brett Murphy Hunt, Jon Bishop, and Smrithi Eswar, who are all based in Massachusetts. They published the first issue of the magazine in 2019, of which I was originally a part of, as they accepted two of my poems.”
I am originally from New Rochelle, NY, but spent the majority of my childhood in Stratford, Connecticut, of which I have fond memories. I moved down to North Carolina in high school, and outside of a year stint in upstate New York as a sports journalist and editor after my undergrad, I’ve been based in North Carolina for close to 13 years now. Though I have not lived in New England for many years, I’ve visited Connecticut since moving to North Carolina, and it has always been a special place for me.”
Brett: “Basically, the idea of a literary magazine is something we fully support, but it’s incredibly labor-intensive! The amount of hours spent setting everything up compounded with the reading and vetting of submissions, and I think it was hard to think about the next issue. I personally own two businesses and teach at two universities, so my day-to-day is already task-saturated. Plus, I think we were incredibly proud of the first one, so trying to top that felt impossible! Nevertheless, we kept our website active because we definitely had the idea to continue SOMEDAY.”
Jon: “I second everything Brett said! This was a passion project, but it was one that was becoming a full-time thing, and because of our schedules, we found it hard to think about what was next. We sort of put everything into issue one.”
A Woman Somehow Dead Poetry by Amy Locklin David Robert Books, March 2022
In this first full collection by Amy Locklin, the whirl of life and death, the rhythm of rot and rebirth, permeates these striking poems. Locklin has previously edited two print fiction anthologies, Altered States and Law and Disorder. She was a managing editor for the cross-genre anthology A Year in Ink, and her poetry chapbook, The Secondary Burial, was a finalist for the San Diego Book Awards. She earned her MFA in Poetry Writing and MA in 20th Century Literature from Indiana University Bloomington and currently teaches writing across the disciplines in online accelerated terms at Southern New Hampshire University. Sample poems are available to read here.
The CHILLFILTER Review is an online publication of stories, essays, poems, and music with the mission to spotlight independent artists from around the world. Editor Krister Axel has an eclectic and discerning taste for sharing what’s new with readers and listeners alike. “One of my favorite things in life is curating for CHILLFILTR Radio,” Axel shares. “so I hope our listeners can appreciate the time that is spent continuing to add new and exciting music. Since April, the list of new adds is absolutely monstrous.” Indeed, full playlists can be found here. And while artists are encouraged to submit their works, Axel is clear that this is not a “pay-to-play” venue: “I think buying your way onto a playlist, and on the flipside, charging for features on a playlist under your control, completely undermines the fragile ecosystem that we have in place with regard to personal curation.” Check out CHILLFILTR Radio for yourself – there’s still plenty of summer left for enjoying these jammin’ playlists!
Congratulations to Alice James Books who, after nearly 30 years of programming with the University of Maine at Farmington has relocated to an independent office in New Glouster, Maine. [Video of new office space.] “This is a major breakthrough for the press!” say Carey Salerno, Executive Director & Editor, and Anne Marie Macari, President. “Our team is excited to concentrate our focus more fully on AJB’s core values and mission-driven work. The move comes at the moment we are about to celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2023, highlighting what’s always been important to us: publishing books that matter by poets who have something important to say.” Founded as a feminist press, Alice James Books is “committed to collaborating with literary artists of excellence who might otherwise go unheard by producing, promoting, and distributing their work which often engages the public on important social issues.” Visit their website for more information.
Midstream Fiction by Lynn Sloan Fomite Press, August 2022
In Midstream, Lynn Sloan’s second novel, it’s 1974, and America is restless, with the Vietnam War winding to a close, and feminists marching in the streets. Polly Wainwright respects the protesters’ demands for equal pay, but now nearing middle age, won’t risk her security. Her job, being a picture editor at a prestigious publisher, is enviable and too good to lose. Polly is comfortable with her life—her homey Chicago apartment, her war-correspondent boyfriend with the dangerous job that everyone admires, the steady paycheck. Still, she’d once dreamed of making documentary films. When suddenly her life is thrown off-course, Polly slowly begins to view things differently and with growing dissatisfaction. But she can’t shift gears to imagine a different future—until a mysterious letter arrives, changing how she views the one moment in her past when she might have achieved her dreams.
NewPages welcomes Chicago Young Writers Review to the scene, “a space uniquely created with the K-8 students in mind” says founder Daria Volkova. A native Chicagoan, Volkova wanted to preserve Chicago’s influence on her as a dynamic, diverse, multiethnic and multicultural city in their organization’s name. “We encourage young authors from all backgrounds to submit their work. In fact, we’ve had the most enthusiastic response from the communities of color and immigrant communities in and around Chicago. We also wanted the name to speak to our mission. There is an abundance of literary magazines for older writers, but there are less accessible spaces for the younger kids with whom we work. By including the ‘young writers’ within our name, we are stating exactly what we are and who we were made for. We are a playground (forgive the pun) for young creators to gain confidence in their work and blossom into stronger readers, thinkers, and writers.”
Salamander literary magazine has announced a new poetry award: Louisa Solano Memorial Emerging Poet Award for work published in the magazine. Funded by the Ellen LaForge Memorial Poetry Fund, the first two awards will actually be given retroactively from Salamander‘s latest two issues (54 and 55). The winner will receive a monetary award, announcement in a future issue, and an e-portfolio of their work provided for free access on Salamander‘s website. Award winners will also have the opportunity to offer a virtual reading with the judge and virtual class visits at Suffolk University, where Salamander is based.
“Emerging,” the editors explain, “for our purposes, will mean poets who have not published more than one full-length poetry collection at the time of their publication in Salamander. Poets without any previous publication history will also be considered, as will poets who have published chapbooks but not a full-length poetry collection. No other basis will be used to narrow down the possible eligibility. Writers can be of any age, background, location, etc.”
For more information, stay tuned to the Salamander website.
Established in 1979 as the first magazine to creatively explore the experience of disability through the lens of literature and fine arts, Kaleidoscope is once again breaking new ground to share the experiences of disability through literature and the fine arts.
“TheKaleidoscope podcast,” the editors write, “is meant to expand the outreach of the magazine in a new and modern way and we want to offer more opportunities for writers to present their work. In the first episode, most of the featured writers read their own pieces, making it a more authentic and powerful experience to enjoy. We also hope to make the publication more accessible for those with visual impairments or other disabilities for whom reading can be a challenge. The very nature of the podcast format makes it more accessible to a broader audience whether listening at home, at the office, or while on a commute.”
Kaleidoscope hopes that future podcasts will include interviews with writers and artists to further explore perceptions of disability as well as interviews with individuals who bring fresh insight to issues of interest to those living with a disability or those caring for someone with a disability.
I previously commented on Jane Friedman as one of the best resources for writers looking to publish—most especially for book publishing. Her book The Business of Being a Writer should be the most required textbook for MFA programs across the country. A recent blog post on her site explored the question, “Is Hybrid Publishing Ethical?” Following her blog and/or signing up for her newsletters will continue to provide authors with helpful advice like this.
Another great resource is Writer Beware, a literary watchdog group that “shines a bright light into the dark corners of the shadow-world of literary scams, schemes, and pitfalls.” Co-founder and published author Victoria Strauss and other guest writers provide in-depth posts that are truly educational for writers, not the click-bait “# of Things Writers Need to Watch Out For” that fills the internet. A recent article that offers a good example is “Publishing Contracts 101: Beware Internal Contradictions,” in which Strauss provides contract language from a variety of “publishers” that reveal either their sloppiness or downright intentional evil – publishers whom Writer Beware never shies away from publicly naming. Using Writer Beware as continuing education as well as a resource to background-check your literary partners could go a long way in helping writers avoid the dark side of publishing.
Is Your Favorite Bookstore Listed? As you are hitting up your favorite local indie bookstores this summer or if you are traveling and looking to visit some new indie shops, check out the NewPages Guide to Bookstores in the U.S. and Canada. We list the best independent bookstores (selling both new and used books) by location with website, social media, contact information, and a brief description of each. If you know a bookstore or come across one in your travels that we don’t have listed on our site, please let us know! Bookstores can sign up here: Indie Bookstore Listing; or patrons can let us know about a shop here: Contact Us. These listings are FREE for bookstores because WE LOVE INDIE BOOKSTORES and want to help promote them to our readers. [Pictured: Midland Street Books in Bay City, Michigan.]
Brotherhood (2018) is a 25-minute documentary written and directed by Meryam Joobeur that documents the story of a Tunisian shepherd’s family whose son left home to join the Islamic State at war as a consequence of the Arab Spring Uprising (2010-2013) and is now returning home to Syria. The film “dispels the stereotypical notions of what it means to be Muslim as it deepens our understanding of the Arab world.” A feature-length version is currently in development.
The NewPages January 2022 eLitPak newsletter was officially emailed to our newsletter subscribers Wednesday afternoon. If you’re not a subscriber, sign up today! You’ll not only get our monthly eLitPak, but our weekly newsletter with submission opportunities, upcoming events, and more.
This month’s eLitPak features fliers from The Caribbean Writer, Caesura Poetry Workshop, About Place, Your Personal Odyssey Writing Workshop, Consequence, National Indie Excellence® Awards, Kaleidoscope, Elk River Writers Workshop, Blue Mountain Review, SIR Press, and CARVE Magazine. Find calls for submissions, writing and book contests, new issues announcements, and upcoming events.
