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NewPages Blog

At the NewPages Blog readers and writers can catch up with their favorite literary and alternative magazines, independent and university presses, creative writing programs, and writing and literary events. Find new books, new issue announcements, contest winners, and so much more!

Able Muse Prize Winners & Featured Poet

able-museAble Muse Winter 2014 features poetry from Scott M. Miller, winner of the 2014 Write Prize for Poetry, as well as by finalists Eric Berlin, Marilyn L. Taylor, and Catherine Chandler. Winning work of the 2014 Write Prize for Fiction, J. Preston Witt, is featured as well.

New to this issue, Able Muse includes a Featured Poet. Wendy Videlock is the inaugural author to receive this honor,  having five new poems published within and an interview with David Mason. Videlock shares her perspectives on sound and silence, the use of and movement away from the first-person pronoun, the conscious and the subconscious, and much more on her craft of writing.

CFS :: Haiku Year in Review

hyir-2013The Broadsided Editorial Team is once again planning their Haiku Year-In-Review (HYIR). Writers are asked to “render the events of the previous year in short poems.” These poems will then be matched with seasonal images for a broadside that can be downloaded for posting. “When you write out your resolutions,” the editors suggest, “look back and write a haiku (and send it to us!)”

A list of suggested topics has been posted on the Broadsided guidelines page. Submissions are being collected on Twitter with an alternative submission method for non-Tweeters. Those selected will be published in January as the 2014 HIYR. Deadline: January 10, 2015.

CFS :: Hands Up. Don’t Shoot.

The editorial board of the College Language Association Journal (CLAJ) invites the submission of essays, poetry, short prose, short drama, or book reviews for its special issue entitled, “Hands Up. Don’t Shoot: Critical and Creative Responses to Violence Toward Black Bodies in the 21st Century.” All submitted works must be previously unpublished.

CLAJ welcomes submissions of essays, poetry, short prose, or drama that engage the brutalization of black bodies in twenty-first century America with a particular focus on one or more of the following:

-the militarization of the police
-the criminalization of black bodies
-the intersections between gender, sexuality, and race

Categories

-Essays (18-25 pages)
-Poetry (3 poems; 30 line maximum)
-Short story (1 story; 2500 word maximum)
-Drama (1 play; 5000 word maximum)

CLAJ also welcomes book reviews of the following:

-Koritha Mitchell, Living With Lynching: African American Lynching Plays, Performance, and Citizenship, 1890-1930 (2011)

-Radley Balko, Rise of the Warrior Cop: the Militarization of America’s Police Forces (2013)

-Charles E. Cobb Jr, This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible (2014)

Submissions must be received no later than January 5, 2015.

New Journal :: Textual Overtures

textual-overturesTextual Overtures is a new online academic journal created by graduate students for graduate students in an effort to create an intellectual relationship between the studies of rhetoric & composition and literature. The mission statement of Textual Overtures focuses on the publication’s dedication to “creating a space in which rhetoric, composition, and literature can coexist, and further, create a harmony of textual explorations.”

The editorial staff is “a coalition of graduate students at Washington State University committed to promoting a community of graduate scholarship and discourse.” The current board is Editor-in-Chief: Lindsay Williams; Tech Editor: Kerry Clark; Junior Tech Editor: Hallie Kaiser; Literature Editor: Benjamin Carlton; Rhetoric/Composition Editor: Lauren Kelly; and Communications Editor: Edie-Marie Roper.

The first two issues are available to read online, with the first focused on “Texts, Technologies, and Remediation” and the second “Representing the Body.” The journal can be read online via Scribd and individual articles can be downloaded as .pdfs.

Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week

iron-horse

Amy Eavou’s cover photo for Iron Horse Literary Review (v16.6), appropriate for this time of year, is likewise aptly titled “Snowy Horse Muzzle.”

mamalode

Mamalode‘s cover photo by Holly Andres provides the visual understatement of the year for the publication’s December theme: “It’s Complicated.”

zymbol

Marcello Castellani‘s “Dualidad Prismatica 2” print on canvas creates a stunning cover image for the winter 2014/2015 issue of Zymbol.

Glimmer Train Very Short Fiction Award Winners :: December 2014

Glimmer Train has just chosen the winning stories for their Very Short Fiction Award. This competition is held quarterly and is open to all writers for stories with a word count under 3000. The next Very Short Fiction competition will take place in January. Glimmer Train’s monthly submission calendar may be viewed here.

eva-lomskiFirst place: Eva Lomski [pictured], of Melbourne, Australia, wins $1500 for “The Things We Build.” Her story will be published in Issue 96 of Glimmer Train Stories.

Second place: Francisco Delgado, of Forest Hills, NY, wins $500 for “International Politics.” His story will also be published in an upcoming issue, increasing his prize to $700.

Third place: Chris Santiago, of Pasadena, CA, wins $300 for “Flyover Country.”

A PDF of the Top 25 winners can be found here.

Deadline coming up for the Glimmer Train Fiction Open: January 2
Glimmer Train hosts this competition twice a year, and first place is $2500 plus publication in the journal. This category has been won by both beginning and veteran writers – all are welcome! There are no theme restrictions. Word count generally ranges from 2000 – 8000, though up to 20,000 is fine. Click here for complete guidelines.

Stoneboat Polar Plunge

Sheboygan, Wisconsin is known to us Michganders as the place that breaks the winter storms for us before they head across Lake Michigan to our western shores. Which makes the Stoneboat fundraiser one that truly earns my respect for those kuh-ray-zee editors: On New Year’s Day, they will be participating in the Polar Bear Plunge. For those of you in warmer climates who may not be aware of what this entails – imagine filling your bathtub with ice water, strip down to next to nothing… Enough said, right? Feeling the chill already?

The folks at Stoneboat will be plunging into frigid Lake Michigan, or at least going in as deep as their fundraising demands. Which is where you come in: The more money Stoneboat raises before the January 1 plunge, the further they will submerge themselves into the water. Here’s their formula of how much and how deep they’ll go:

stoneboat-polar-plunge$50 knees
$100 mid-thighs
$150 hips
$200 belly buttons
$250 chests
$300 shoulders

In addition, while they’ll take donations in any amount, they are offering the following premiums to donors:

$10 a handmade Stoneboat bookmark
$20 a Stoneboat t-shirt
$50 a one-year subscription to Stoneboat and a poem of your choice (the first 10 lines, or the whole poem if it is 10 lines or less) will be read in the water/at the event*

The asterisk, fairly enough, ensures that no one succumb to hypothermia: “*We will try to read as many poems in the water as possible, and we’ll ensure that all selections are read at the event.”

So if you’re still looking for a post-holiday gift for someone, I’d say the subscription and having the poem read (and recorded) at this event would be a great way to head on in to 2015. Get those Stoneboaters up to their shoulders; really, I think this is one freeze they’d appreciate!


Antigonish Review Contest Winners

antigonish-reviewThe newest issue of The Antigonish Review features winning works for two of the publication’s 2014 contests:

14th Great Blue Heron Poetry Contest
Judges: Patricia Young and Peter Sanger

First Prize: Harold Hoefle, St-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC
Second Prize: Michael Prior, Toronto, ON
Third Prize: Joanna Lilley, Whitehorse, YT

10th Sheldon Currie Fiction Contest
Judges: Joan Baril, Reynold Stone, Gwen Davies and Heather Debling
Final Judge: Sheree Fitch

First Prize: Jen Julian, Columbia, MO
Second Prize: John O’Neill, Toronto, ON
Third Prize: Ryan Frawley, Edmonton, AB

SubTropics B-Side

subtropicsI’ve noticed lately that print literary journals take a variety of approaches to how they use the back cover of their publication. Their backsides might be completely blank, carry over the cover art from the front, feature a separate artwork, be a money-making ad spot for anything from creative writing programs to publishing to chocolates, list contributors – and perhaps even include a tag line for the works inside.

The newest issue of SubTropics caught my eye for something quite different: Using the back cover to publish a contributor’s piece. I’ve seen snippets on the back cover before, but not a whole work. Seeing Amy Hempel’s name in table of contents, I went to the end of the magazine to find her work. Not there. I checked the contents again and saw “back cover” where the page number should have been. No kidding. What a great way to both include and feature a writer, and a great way to allow readers to do what we do naturally – look at the cover then flip to the back to get a quick “free” sample.

NewPages Literary Magazine Reviews

After the hustle and bustle of whatever it is you’re doing this holiday season, relax, unwind, pop the top off your favorite beverage, and enjoy some of the finest literary magazine review writing anywhere. NewPages reviewers take a thorough and critical look at the newest issues of both print and online literary magazines from around the globe. December’s reviews feature and eclectic mix: Arroyo Literary Review, Atlanta Review, The Carolina Quarterly, The Common, The Florida Review, The Lindenwood Review, The Meadow, North Carolina Quarterly Review, Pacifica Literary Review, Pembroke Magazine, Quiddity, Skidrow Penthouse, Upstreet, and The Westchester Review. Whew! And if that’s not enough, we have a full archive of past months’ reviews and a full index of all the magazines we’ve reviewed over the past ten+ years. Enjoy!

Give a HOOT!

hootSubscription that is! Still looking for a great gift for someone on your list? One of my favorites is HOOT postcard review of (mini) poetry and prose. This postcard publication arrives monthly with artwork and written work featured on the front and artist and author information on the back. As a postcard connoisseur, I can attest that these are well made – solid paper stock that does not get ruined by the postal machines. Minor smears and smudges of postal inking, but that’s a part of the postcard character. If you like your cards pristine or to deliver them yourself, you can also purchase blank sets to send out. HOOT will also send a postcard to someone for you and write a message on the back. I can also attest to their staff having good, clear handwriting! Check them out today.

Pongo in Your City!

Pongo Teen Writing, long based in Seattle, Washington training writers to work with troubled youth, is now prepared to bring Pongo training to your city!

pongo-teen-writingAccording to founder, writer, and teacher Richard Gold, “The Pongo methodology serves multiple audiences: (1) Therapists and teachers who work with at-risk youth, in private practice or through agencies or in special schools; (2) College students, therapists, artists, and teachers who are interested in starting writing programs in jails, shelters, hospitals, and special schools; (3) College students and faculty in schools of social work, medicine, creative writing, psychology, and education; (4) Staff in institutions, such as jails and hospitals, who are interested in expanding their programming. Multiple agencies, colleges, and institutions can come together to sponsor a Pongo visit and training.”

You can read more about the training and a suggested outline for how it could work for you here.

Disability and Poetry

poetryDisability and Poetry is the topic of discussion in the Poetry December 2014 feature “Exchange.” Writers Jennifer Bartlett, John Lee Clark, Jim Ferris, and Jillian Weise share views on writing disability, publishing, accessibility, and form and embodiment. There are some startlingly hard-hitting statments, such as Bartlett’s “I have resisted the term ‘identity poet’ when considering my own work; therefore, my biggest challenge is to address my cerebral palsy without poetics and other identities taking a ‘back seat’ in the process.” And later, “I think publishing in poetry is inherently biased; it always will be.”

Or how about Ferris’s “Disability is dangerous. We represent danger to the normate world, and rightly so. Disabled people live closer to the edge. We are more vulnerable, or perhaps it is that we show our human vulnerability without being able to hide it in the ways that nondisabled people can hide and deny the vulnerability that is an essential part of being human.”

The exchange is hard core honest (editors and publishers should be reading this), as well as enlightening for all (including literary event planners). The Exchange is available full-text online here.

Emerging Writer’s Contest Winners

ploughsharesThe newest issue of Ploughshares (Winter 2014-15) features works by winners of the magazine’s Emerging Writer’s Contest along with commentary from each of the judges:

FICTION
Tomiko M. Breland, “Rosalee Carrasco”

NONRICTION
Eliese Colette Goldbach, “In the Memory of the Living”

POETRY
Rosalie Moffett, Three Poems: “Why Is It the More”; “To Leave Through a Wall”; “Hurricane, 1989”

Art :: Still Point Online Art Gallery

still-point-arts-quarterlyStill Point Arts Quarterly is a print publication of the Still Point Art Gallery of Brunswick, Maine. The gallery also features an online exhibit space. The current exhibit, Blue: Color of the Clear Blue Sky and the Deep Sea, can be viewed in the online gallery and will be a featured exhibition through February 28, 2015. The current print publication has beautiful, full-color reproductions of select images from the exhibit, including best in show for portfolio (Louis Ebarb), best in show for a single image (Sheri Marcus), bets in photography (Marko Susla), best painting or drawing (Roberta Dixon), and best mixed-media artwork (Ellen Kalin). Song by Zoey Frank is pictured on the publication’s cover.

Gift Idea :: SIGNED Poetry Broadsides

todd-boss-broadsideHere’s a great holiday gift for any poetry lover on your list: limited edition, (some) signed poetry broadsides from The Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review. I can personally attest to the quality of these beautiful, limited edition, letterpress (some of handmade papers) editions – having purchased a number of them at past AWP conferences. These are absolute collectibles and will definitely impress. Period. End of story. Order now to get them in time – but even late, they’re worth the wait (for one, there is a pre-order for July delivery).

Hellos & Goodbyes at Concho River Review

concho-river-reviewAs noted in the Fall 2014 Forward of Concho River Review, “A forward has become a rare occurrence in CRR, and its appearance in an issue signals changes afoot in the journal. There have been a few.” General Editor R. Mark Jackson goes on to explain that Erin Ashworth-King has stepped down as General Editor to assume responsibility’s in the university’s English department. She’ll be phasing out her role over the next several issues. At the same time, Carol Reposa, nonfiction editor since 2008, has resigned and handed over her role to Albert Haley, Writer in Residence at Abilene Christian University since 1997 and author of numerous works published in the likes of The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and Rolling Stone.

Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week

brick

There is just something I can appreciate from such an austre image on the front of a magazine – the kind that draws me in, though I can’t quite say why, and makes it hard to look away. This image on the cover of Brick #94 is a photograph of East Jerusalem street scene by Teju Cole. Though it looks black and white, it is in full color.

green-mountains-reviewI selected this cover image on Green Mountains Review (v27 n2) because the artist, Nancy Dwyer, is featured within the publication as well with a portfolio entitled, “Words are the Furniture of the Mind.” Eight full-color images are featured in addition to this cover.

molitov-cocktailIt was both the image and the opening editorial lines that drew me to this issue of The Molotov Cocktail: “Issue 5.17 will drag you to Hell.” Okay, I’m game. Self-defined as “A Projectile for Incendiary Flash Fiction,” the publication is produced by Josh Goller.

 

The Westchester Review – 2013

Writing is ordinarily a solitary pursuit, but the result of all that lonely work makes us part of a proud community. The Westchester Review takes the concept of community very seriously, collecting the poetry and prose composed by “established and emerging writers living, working, or studying in New York State’s Westchester County area.” Founder JoAnn Duncan Terdiman and managing editor Naomi L. Lipman tap a deep pool of talent, offering us some very good work that manages to transcend the geographic limits of its submissions policy. Continue reading “The Westchester Review – 2013”

Skidrow Penthouse – 2014

The title Skidrow Penthouse evokes images of grit. A cover photo featuring bird heads and faceless, female nudes immediately confronts readers with the promise of grit. The 200+ pages of varied writing paired with black and white art neither disappoint, nor fall short of those gritty suggestions. The entire volume is a pleasure to navigate, but the words are not always nice. Continue reading “Skidrow Penthouse – 2014”

North Carolina Literary Review – 2014

The North Carolina Literary Review is serious business, filled with substantial articles, interviews, poems, and stories that will be cited and remembered beyond the pleasure of reading that so many good literary journals offer. Moreover, there is a welter of photographs and art work, almost too much to take in. This is not an issue to pass on to a friend, but rather to shelve in one’s permanent library. Continue reading “North Carolina Literary Review – 2014”

upstreet – 2014

Speaking in this issue’s long-form interview with upstreet editor Vivian Dorsel, Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction writer Robert Olen Butler had this to say about the special problems the writer’s medium presents: “The medium for a writer is words, and the words make sounds, but those sounds are immediately overwhelmed by meaning. We are the only artists whose medium is not innately and irreducibly sensual, and yet, as artists, we try to create sensual objects from it. Our medium is constantly struggling with us, to drag us into our heads.”

Continue reading “upstreet – 2014”

The Florida Review – 2014

This double issue of The Florida Review packs in a dazzling array of thought-provoking reading. It invites with accessible forms and quotidian subjects, and rewards with more challenging and experimental material. It covers a vast range of the human experience: what is it like, and what does it mean, to be a woman, a Mormon, a Jew, a person aware of the nearness of death, a person pondering her relationship to her vocation? Continue reading “The Florida Review – 2014”

Arroyo Literary Review – Spring 2014

At the end of the day, aren’t we all looking for the same thing: words on a page that are strong enough to transport us inside a writer’s mind? I’m a picky reader and I’m sure I’m not the only one. It takes a lot to get, much less keep, our attention. That said, the Spring 2014 issue of Arroyo does not disappoint; in fact, it is quite the page turner—transported I wanted, transported I got. Continue reading “Arroyo Literary Review – Spring 2014”

The Lindenwood Review – 2014

Beth Mead, the editor of The Lindenwood Review, asserts that “the pieces we’ve selected this year are fragmented, showing us moments caught and suspended for our study, helping us find some truths about life through an unexpected point of view.” The Lindenwood Review most certainly holds true to Mead’s statement as each work within the magazine not only enticed me to read its content, but drew me to a level of self-reflection that left me wonderstruck.

Continue reading “The Lindenwood Review – 2014”

Pacifica Literary Review – Summer 2014

Pacifica Literary Review embraces stories dealing with concepts that represent the reality of the world in which they are written. This is evident in the poetry, prose, and art of this issue. The things people wish they could say, or experiences that they may have had but never talk about, find their way onto the page in bold, eye-catching print. Individual poems, stories, and images work together to form a collective narrative of the ever-changing world in which we live. Continue reading “Pacifica Literary Review – Summer 2014”

Quiddity – Spring/Summer 2014

This Spring/Summer 2014 issue of Quiddity is ambrosia to modern writers and readers alike. It values brevity, and wraps life’s enigmas in eloquent vocabulary. Three-quarters of the issue is dedicated exclusively to poetry, but even the prose is concise, and yet all of the pieces are dense with dimension and meaning. This issue is broken into four categories: poetry, prose, interviews, and art. Each section is carefully pieced together like patches to create a beautiful quilt. Continue reading “Quiddity – Spring/Summer 2014”

The Meadow – 2014

Never have I felt a literary magazine embody its name more than the current issue of The Meadow. Its contents guide readers through a field of language which sets forth a landscape of natural beauty that’s not without its seasonal allergies. The Meadow amalgamates previously published writers like Keith Dunlap with students, such as Kirsten Jachimiak, who attend Truckee Meadows Community College where the magazine is published. Continue reading “The Meadow – 2014”

The Common – Fall 2014

I haven’t reviewed many literary journals despite my sixty-something years on earth, since many of those years were spent in the Navy and at sea. I’ve never read a journal cover-to-cover until I perused the Fall 2014 issue of The Common, a relatively new journal, first published in 2011, and headquartered at Amherst College. And I didn’t expect it to make me feel like this was my journal; like I’d selected all of the pieces I want to find in a journal: fiction, poetry, essays, and photography. Continue reading “The Common – Fall 2014”

The Carolina Quarterly – Summer 2014

According to the cover, the Summer 2014 edition of The Carolina Quarterly is said to be full of “fairy tales, and pheromones, pious knives and lullabies, plus dust, dreams and winged messengers,” but it’s also chock full of darkness and hope, especially in the fiction and nonfiction entries. The Summer 2014 edition takes readers on a roller-coaster ride of loss, love, and optimism. Continue reading “The Carolina Quarterly – Summer 2014”

The “Think-Feel” of Writing

SipinMelissa R. Sipin, winner of the 2013 Glimmer Train Fiction Open, offers a craft essay in the Glimmer Train Bulletin #95 entitled “To My Unknown Daughter: On the Inheritance of Writing.” Sipin writes raw what so many writers struggle through in coming to their craft – their work – of writing, “I know, if you are anything like me, you will fight with society like a lover. In your writing, your art, you will need to expose its unwillingness to witness its oppression, its loneliness, its refusal to see truth and its addiction to shadows. And if you are anything like me, the world outside, which is both beautiful and not, both loving and not, both happy and sad, will force you to be sensitive to its pangs and joys, allowing you to think-feel. What is to think-feel?” And then later answers with, “This sensitivity, this ability to think-feel is what makes us writers, the kind of writers with the disposition to know and feel the most extreme states of the human condition (birth, love, and death). And it is because of this that we enter into these liminal spaces alone. We suffer these extreme states to know what loneliness feels like, what sadness, happiness, trauma, and hope are, both in body, mind, and spirit.”

The Glimmer Train Bulletin is a free monthly that features craft essays from writers published in recent issues of Glimmer Train Stories. Also included in #95 are essays by Selena Anderson (“Want”), George Saunders (“On the Preconceptual World”), and Rowena Macdonald (“Writing Dialogue”). Read them all here.

Free Stuff :: The Best of the Rag

the-ragIf you’re looking to read from an independent, writing a bit on the gritty and grimy side, cutting-edge, and fresh – all words Editors Seth Porter and Dan Reilly use to describe The Rag, then you’ll want to get The Best of The Rag for free! Here are gathered 11 of the editors’ favorite stories from first five issues of The Rag. Download The Best of The Rag here, available in three different formats: PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Cover and featured art by Alex Eckman-Lawn.

The Rag editors encourage good reading, and for writers who are considering submitting, “it’s always wise to first read some of the material we’ve published in the past, so you can get a feel for the tone of our magazine. So before you commit to submitting, grab this free issue. We accept submissions online via Submittable and through the regular mail.”

Versal Brings Diversity to AWP 2015

Just when you thought the AWP bookfair had all it could offer readers, writers, teachers, and publishers, Megan Garr of the Amsterdam-based Versal, will be presenting a the first-ever display of European presses at AWP 2015.

For the first time in AWP history, bookfair visitors will be able to get their hands on some of Europe’s most innovative and exciting journals and books at this “European Press Table.”

Versal’s table (#432) will transform into a mini-bookfair of over a dozen English-language presses from across Europe:

Readux Books, Berlin
Color Treasury, Paris
MIEL Books, Ghent
VLAK, Prague
Belleville Park Pages, Paris/London
SAND Journal, Berlin
Corrupt Press, Luxembourg
Paris Lit Up, Paris
Teller Magazine, Berlin/London
ESC, Ireland/Belgium
Broken Dimanche, Berlin
EstepaEditions, Paris
Book Ex Machina, Cyprus
Structo, UK
Jess, Estonia
Versal, Amsterdam

Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week

banipal

This issue of Banipal: Magazine of Modern Arab Literature, features a celebration of Saadi Youssef, beginning with this striking portrait on the cover painted by Mansour Mansour.

carbon-culture

This cover image on Carbon Culture Review: Techology + Literature + Art is certainly an eye-catcher for its debut issue. Patricia Piccinini’s “The Strength of One Arm (With Canadian Mountain Goat)” is composed of silicone, fiberglass, human hair, clothing, and – yes – Canadian Mountain Goat.

palooka

Palooka‘s newest issue (#5) features “Our Bright New Hope” by artist Florian Bo. The theme of light in the dark a fitting one as we approach the longest night of the year – winter solstice.

Atlanta Review Poetry Issue

The Fall/Winter 2014 issue of Atlanta Review is the Poetry 2014 issue, featuring just under 50 poets and just over 50 poems. Of these, 22 of the poets and their poems were selected for the International Publication Prize from the journal’s annual contest. And one selected above all others as the Grand Prize winner: Joyce Meyers.

Each Fall Issue includes at least 20 Publication Prize winners from their International Poetry Competition with one named for the grand prize cash award of $1000. Every Spring Issue of Atlanta Review includes an International Feature with poets from a different country or continent. The feature for spring 2015: Russia.

Glimmer Train Family Matters Winners :: 2014

Glimmer Train has just chosen the winning stories for their September Family Matters competition. This competition is held twice a year and is open to all writers for stories about family of all configurations. The next Family Matters competition will take place in March. Glimmer Train’s monthly submission calendar may be viewed here.

RowenaMacdonaldFirst place: Rowena Macdonald, of London, UK, wins $1500 for “My Brother Is Back.” Her story will be published in Issue 96 of Glimmer Train Stories. [Photo credit: Martin Fuller.]

Second place: Joshua Graber, of Canton, OH, wins $500 for “Freeman Göttschall Experiences One or Two More or Less Improbably Events.” His story will also be published in an upcoming issue of Glimmer Train Stories, increasing his prize to $700.

Third place: Janet Kim, of Cambridge, MA, wins $300 for “Teeth.”

A PDF of the Top 25 winners can be found here.

Sierra Nevada Young Writers Contest Winners

Sierra Nevada College’s English Program has released the winners of the 5th annual High School Writing Contest, a national competition which honors high school juniors and seniors in three categories: creative nonfiction, fiction and poetry. The winners in each category receive a cash prize of $500 for first place, $250 for second and $100 for third, and the $100 Local’s Prize honors student writers from Nevada and California. The winners also receive a $20,000 scholarship offer from SNC and consideration for publication in the Sierra Nevada Review, a literary annual which publishes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction by emerging and nationally recognized authors.

The Winners

Creative Nonfiction

First Place: Lindsay Emi (Westlake Village, CA), “Latin Class in Seven (VII) Parts”
Second Place: Darla Macel Anne Canales (Erie, CO), “Oven”
Third Place: Gabriel Braunstein (Arlington MA), “Family on the Commuter Rail”
Local’s Prize: Isabella Stenvall (San Luis Obispo CA), “Wars with Numbers”

Finalists: Emily Zhang, Oriana Tang, Aletheia Wang, Jack Priessman, Annie Harmon

Fiction

First Place: Emily Zhang (Boyds MA), “Midwestern Myth”
Second Place: Lucy Silbaugh (Wyncote PA), “Burrowing”
Third Place: Laura Ingram (Disputanta VA), “Absolute Value”
Local’s Prize: Erin Stoodley (Ventura CA), “Ghosts”

Finalists: Lindsay Emi, Jessica Li, Tatiana Saleh, Madison Hoffman, Oriana Tang

Poetry

First Place: Oriana Tang (Livingston NJ), “Bildungsroman”
Second Place: Catherine Valdez (Miami FL), “Mami”
Third Place: Ruohan Miao (Chandler AZ), “Dust Bowl”
Local’s Prize: Ava Goga (Reno NV), “Notes on Repression”

Finalists: Emily Zhang, Katia Kozachok, Allie Spensley, Emma Symmonds, Jessica Prescott

CFS :: New World Literature Journal

alexandra-berlinaFounded by Alexandra Berlina, Department of American Studies, University of Duisburg-Essen, Readings: A Journal for Scholars and Readers is accepting submissions for its inaugural issue.

“Readings is a new peer-reviewed journal in literary studies intended to be read by both scholars and the general public. Like other journals, we look for academic quality and originality. Unlike most, we also care for high readability and the potential interest of literature-loving non-scholars. We welcome submissions on all aspects of world literature (be it canonical or contemporary, children’s, ‘genre’ or ‘literary’ fiction), including the interplay of literature and other media as well as issues of translation and reception. Imagine a friend who loves literature but is no scholar as your ideal reader. To put it more grandly: our idea of a Perfect Paper hovers between PMLA and The New Yorker.”

American Life in Poetry :: Stuart Kestenbaum

American Life in Poetry: Column 505
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

Stuart Kestenbaum is a Maine poet with a new book, Only Now, from Deerbrook Editions. In it are a number of thoughtful poems posed as prayers, and here’s an example:

Prayer for Joy

What was it we wanted
to say anyhow, like today
when there were all the letters
in my alphabet soup and suddenly
the ‘j’ rises to the surface.
The ‘j’, a letter that might be
great for Scrabble, but not really
used for much else, unless
we need to jump for joy,
and then all of a sudden
it’s there and ready to
help us soar and to open up
our hearts at the same time,
this simple line with a curved bottom,
an upside down cane that helps
us walk in a new way into this
forest of language, where all the letters
are beginning to speak,
finding each other in just
the right combination
to be understood.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2014 by Stuart Kestenbaum, “Prayer for Joy” from Only Now, (Deerbrook Editions, 2014). Poem reprinted by permission of Stuart Kestenbaum and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2014 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

Remembering James Foley

james-foleyMeat for Tea editor Elizabeth MacDuffie has dedicated the opening pages of the most recent issue (v8 n3) in memory of Jim Foley.

MacDuffe writes, “I remember him thusly: Jim came into the [UMass] grad English program a few years after I did. He was in the MFA program and I was in the Ph.D. program, but his was a pleasant presence in the hallways, and we discussed lesson plans and teaching ideas on a number of occasions. I knew him to be a thoughtful, caring, teacher and a smiling, kind, person. I was more of a friend of friend to him . . . Still, I knew him well enough to admire his courageous actions and to be devastated by his violent, untimely death. I can only imagine the pain his family is enduring and I humbly hope that giving them an issue of the magazine celebrating the man he was helps ease their pain in some small way.”

Writers contributing to the memorial include Molly Crabapple, Samantha Wood, Cathy K. Schlund-Vials, Connolly Ryan Tracy Cummings, Tom Kealey, and Kristin Bock.

Call for Poems :: Broadsided Groundsourced Anthology

From the Editorial Team at Broadsided:

broadsided-vectorWe hope you are feeling deeply connected to the things in your lives for which you are grateful. Among our many gratitudes is that Broadsided is a responsive entity, developing its interactions with the world as situations arise. The events in Ferguson, Missouri have, as we all know, radiated outward to touch upon deep issues in American culture. Race, power, violence, justice, and questions of how we can create and maintain a society that is just and safe for all its citizens.

We have seen powerful poems offered in response–by writers of those poems themselves and also by those looking for voices to help them speak. We want to help gather and honor those voices. To do so, we have launched a new initiative: Groundsourced Anthologies.

We want you to tell us what poems have been meaningful to you in relation to Ferguson. We want you to share them on our Tumblr page so that others can see the chorus of words available to them as they grapple.

Visit this link, scroll to see what’s there, and add your voice:

http://broadsidedpress.tumblr.com/tagged/PoemsForFerguson

You don’t need to “join” Tumblr to share or view.

With Thanks,

The Broadsided Editorial Team

The TV Sutras

Dodie Bellamy’s The TV Sutras is “inspired text born from a crisis of urban bombardment.” In the tradition of Joseph Smith, Moses, and the oracle at Delphi, Bellamy’s introduction describes a process wherein after a 30-minute yoga DVD and a 20-minute meditation facing the (turned-off) TV, she turns the TV on and begins to receive a transmission. After a break, she describes the scene, then gives her commentary without “irony, cleverness or perfection—or art.” Continue reading “The TV Sutras”

Vellum

Chelsea Woodard’s poetry collection Vellum was a finalist for the 2013 Able Muse Book Award, judged anonymously by the Able Muse Contest Committee. The forty-six poems are well-balanced with nine to ten poems in each of the five parts, though not grouped by specific theme or setting. Continue reading “Vellum”

The Long Blue Room

Joan Gelfand searches her own motives with a touch of whimsy while probing for hard answers, which makes her wide knowledge of humanity evident in her book The Long Blue Room. She is a poet who has visited abroad and traveled across her own country to gain a sense of contemporary life grounded in realism but also presented with a delightful wit that’s penetrating and wise. She observes the rhythms, the good and bad about her, but maintains the appreciation of small things—takes time to thoroughly taste fruits like peaches and pears and wonder about them. Continue reading “The Long Blue Room”

Sisters and Courtesans

Greek dramatists called them “Chorus.” Virginia Woolf christened them “Judith Shakespeare.” In big-budget films with a religious, historic, or fantasy theme, they are “Extras.” On television, they form the zombie army on The Walking Dead or seek fame on reality TV, which is like turning zombie. With the exception of letters and journals written before the Industrial Revolution that survived by luck, there isn’t much to go on. Continue reading “Sisters and Courtesans”

Sherwood Nation

Benjamin Parzybok’s new novel Sherwood Nation is the latest addition to what is now being called “climate lit.” Books with apocalyptic plots which once seemed so far off in some crazy future are now disturbingly within reach. Recent titles such as Barbara Kingsolver’s “Flight Behavior” and Eden Lepucki’s “California” seem plausible. Continue reading “Sherwood Nation”

The Wish Book

I was drawn to reading Alex Lemon’s The Wish Book partly from the surreal quality of its cover which features fish floating over a well-dressed bird-headed character while a mustached man reads a newspaper of poems, and a dapper potato-headed figure of many eyes lifts the arm of his suit where a large insect pokes free. Yet there are many contemporary poets who seem to draw surreal dream-like worlds on the page; that alone isn’t enough to make a book stand out for me. Continue reading “The Wish Book”