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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!

New Book :: The Lowly Negro

The Lowly Negro poetry by James Smith published by Revolutionary Books book cover image

The Lowly Negro
Poetry by James Smith
Revolutionary Books, May 2022

Revolutionary Books is a new imprint of Artvoices Books, seeking to publish “Poets who embody the essence of the revolutionary: fearless, passionate and unwavering.” This, their debut title, The Lowly Negro by James Smith, is a written account of a poor, destitute, and uneducated inner-city Black male’s life and journey in the U.S., showing his ability to sustain and survive by weathering the lows as well as the highs. As an African American, he is both an invisible man and one who believes he is the sum of his experiences. The poems relate how Others believe his existence is an illusion of rehearsed lines, walking with his eyes closed, hoping for the best. The Lowly Negro is a singular voice representing countless men and women from disenfranchised and marginalized communities. The forgotten and neglected of society who only have the written word as their protest find a voice in this collection. Author James Smith is an American poet who comments, “I write for catharsis: my weapon of choice. I am a black man who has survived Hell on Earth in search of forgiveness, enlightenment and sanity.” Poem samples and a companion film by Jameson Stokes can be found here.

Discover Oracle: Fine Arts Review

Oracle: Fine Arts Review was established in 2003 and is supported by the University of South Alabama Student Government Association, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Departments of English and Visual Arts.

Run by students, this literary magazine publishes work from national and international writers and artists and is open to submissions every fall. Stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more about them.

Magazine Stand :: elsewhere – Issue 22

elsewhere online literary magazine of short prose issue 22 spring 2022 cover image

elsewhere online literary magazine of prose publishes works they consider “at the crossroads” with the editors caring “only about the line / no line” and asks writers for short works of flash fiction, prose poetry, and nonfiction that “cross, blur, and/or mutilate genre.” elsewhere further concentrates their efforts by publishing only six writers quarterly, and the newest issue highlights those top six with works—and a few opening lines to tantalize readers—from Benjamin Bartu (“good mercy, we’ve broken it at last!”), Cynthia Marie Hoffman (“The universal sign for choking is a hand clamped to the throat like an animal fastening teeth to its prey.”), Lis Moberly (“I disembowel a deer in the yard.”), Benjamin Niespodziany (“My neighbor bought a white Ferrari and painted it red then again back to white.”), Ken Poyner (“The birds are back.”), and Ren Weber “(I ask my neighbor if I can lean over the fence and take an orange from her tree.”). elsewhere is free to read online.

Event :: Crip Memoir Group Coaching with Alyssa Graybeal

Alyssa Graybeal headshot

Writer and cartoonist Alyssa Graybeal is inviting participants to join her Group Coaching for Crip Memoirists. Identifying as “queer crip editor/book coach and award-winning memoirist,” Graybeal’s mission is to “ignite budding crip memoirists to start writing their books with confidence” in an effort to “untangle ableism” and empower marginalized communities of all kinds. If you are a writer who identifies as disabled, chronically ill, or neurodiverse, and you’re “ready to take down ableism through storytelling,” Graybeal promises a “superchill, supportive environment” to help get you started – or perhaps continue – to develop your story to share with others. The 60-minute weekly group sessions start on Monday, July 11, 2022. Find more details at her website here. Graybeal’s manuscript, Floppy: Tales of a Genetic Freak of Nature at the End of the World won the 2020 Red Hen Press Nonfiction Award and is forthcoming Spring 2023.

New Book :: Love’s Universe

Love's Universe poems by Nina Carey Tassi book cover image

Love’s Universe: New & Selected Poems
Poetry by Nina Carey Tassi
Cherry Grove Collections, April 2022

Nina Carey Tassi’s intimate poems in Love’s Universe explore the myriad ways that love finds a home in human hearts, from searing first desire through the oceanic depths of marriage and family to soul-piercing faith and the uplifting joys of nature and one’s country; not least is the unexpected miracle of suffering, all suggesting that love indeed animates the universe. Read sample poems here.

Salamander Magazine Announces New Poetry Award

Salamander literary magazine logo image

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.

New Book :: Without Saints

Without Saints essays by Christopher Locke published by Black Lawrence Press book cover image

Without Saints
Essays by Christopher Locke
Black Lawrence Press, October 2022

Runner-up for the Monadnock Essay Collection Prize, Without Saints by Christopher Locke is a journey to rediscover hope between the ruins: Poet Christopher Locke was baptized by Pentecostals, absolved by punk rock, and nearly consumed by narcotics. Like the propulsive Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson, Without Saints is a brief, muscular ride into the heart of American desolation, and the love one finds waiting for them instead. Christopher Locke was born in New Hampshire and received his MFA from Goddard College. His poems, fiction, criticism, and essays have appeared in numerous publications, and he is the recipient of the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Award and the 2018 Black River Chapbook Award. He now lives in the Adirondacks where he teaches English Literature and Creative Writing at North Country Community College.

Magazine Stand :: Bending Genres – Issue 27

Bending Genres online literary magazine logo image

The newest issue of Bending Genres online literary magazine features fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction they consider “thrilling, oddball, unusual, and stunning.” Filling out the expectations for this spring 2022 issue are works from Travis Dahlke, Lisa Weber, Deanna Baringer, Miriam Gershow, Cole Beauchamp, Michael Beard, Marisa Vargas, Bupinder Bali, Kristin Bonilla, Stuart Watson, Koss Just Koss, Mugdhaa Ranade, Margo Griffin, Dan Higgins, Audrey Carroll, Brad Liening, Adrian Frandle, Jenny Stalter, Adrienne Barrios and Leigh Chadwick, Rod Martinez, Isabelle Doyle, Nicholas Claro, Gary Reddin, R.J. Lambert, Mikki Aronoff, J.A. Pak, Slawka G. Scarso, Rachel Laverdiere, Bobby Miller, and Shane Kowalski. Submissions for Bending Genres are open year-round and the publication is free to read online along with a full archive.

Magazine Stand :: Rattle – Issue 76

Rattle poetry magazine issue 76 cover image

The Summer 2022 issue of Rattle features a “Tribute to Prisoner Express,” a non-profit program based in Ithaca, New York, which sends books into prisons, allowing prisoners to communicate with each other creatively through a newsletter. Last year, Elizabeth S. Wolf donated her Rattle Chapbook Prize-winning collection, Did You Know?, to the program, and encouraged participants to write chapbooks of their own. The resulting poems were so powerful, that the editors decided they had to share. The issue includes an introduction by Elizabeth, and a conversation with the program’s director, Gary Fine, discussing the profound role expressive writing can play in rehabilitation. In addition to the contributions from thirteen Prison Express participants, this issue also features works from Nicelle Davis, William Virgil Davis, Kristina Erny, Mark Fitzpatrick, David Galloway, Lola Haskins, Emily Ruth Hazel, Alexis V. Jackson, Shawn Jones, Laura Judge, Lynne Knight, Milica Mijatovič, Abby E. Murray, Valerie Nies, Eri Okoye, Kathryn Paulson, Erin Redfern, Mather Schneider, George J. Searles, Maia Siegel, Elizabeth Spenst, Susan Vespoli, Wendy Videlock, and Arhm Choi Wild.

New Book :: American Dude Ranch

American Dude Ranch: A Touch of the Cowboy and the Thrill of the West by Lynn Downey published by University of Oklahoma Press book cover image

American Dude Ranch: A Touch of the Cowboy and the Thrill of the West
Nonfiction by Lynn Downey
The University of Oklahoma Press, March 2022

Viewers of films and television shows might imagine the dude ranch as something not quite legitimate, a place where city dwellers pretend to be cowboys in amusingly inauthentic fashion. But the tradition of the dude ranch, America’s original western vacation, is much more interesting and deeply connected with the culture and history of the American West. In American Dude Ranch, Lynn Downey opens new perspectives on this buckaroo getaway, with all its implications for deciphering the American imagination. The book is 246 pages with 32 black and white illustrations.

New & Noted Lit and Alt Mags – June 2022

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.” If you are a publication looking to be listed here or featured on our blog and social media, please contact us!

Agni, 95
Allium, Spring 2022
Arkana, Issue 12
Atlanta Review, Spring-Summer 2022
Bending Genres, Issue 27
Blink Ink, #48
Bomb, Summer 2022
Catamaran, Summer 2022
Cimarron Review, Winter-Spring 2021
Collateral, Spring 2022
Conjunctions, 78
Dark Matter: Women Witnessing, #14

Continue reading “New & Noted Lit and Alt Mags – June 2022”

New Book :: Tolstoy Killed Anna Karenina

Tolstoy Killed Anna Karenina poetry by Dara Barrois/Dixon published by Wave Books book cover image

Tolstoy Killed Anna Karenina
Poetry by Dara Barrois/Dixon
Wave Books, June 2022

With the same tender honesty found in all of Dara Barrois/Dixon’s (formerly Dara Wier) poetry, the poems in Tolstoy Killed Anna Karenina are curious about the world we inhabit and the worlds we create. Barrois/Dixon brings profound attention to the things we love—be they animals, books, skyscapes, movies, poems, or other human beings—and to the stories that shape our worlds. Here, with emotional exactitude, is a collection of poems that is unafraid to express “love humor despair loving kindness love humor empathy/humor joy sympathy love kindness courage.”

Magazine Stand :: Still Point Arts Quarterly – Summer 2022

Still Point Arts Quarterly literary magazine Summer 2022 cover image

Published by Shanti Arts, the Summer 2022 issue of Still Point Arts Quarterly has been released! The theme of this issue is “Gardening: An Instrument of Grace.” It includes the work of roughly fifty artists and writers from around the world and includes essays, poetry, fiction, art, and more. The digital edition is free for anyone who signs up to receive it via email, and print copies are available by subscription or single-issue purchase. Still Point Arts Quarterly is one of the most beautiful, high-quality production art and literary journals on the market. You can view the current art feature here to see for yourself: Art Exhibit. Readers can also download many past issues as well as other art exhibits.

Magazine Stand :: The Hunger – Issue 11

The Hunger online literary magazine Spring 2022 cover image

The Hunger promotes itself as “a journal of visceral writing” published online annually in the spring. The Hunger Press is also home to the Tiny Fork Chapbook Series which holds a yearly chapbook contest in the Summer. The Spring 2022 issue provides a wealth of great content, with Poetry by Nisha Atalie, Kristen Holt-Browning, Byron Xu, Sara Ryan, Anastasia Waid, billy cancel, Allison Blevins & Joshua Davis, Chrissy Martin, Benjamin Bartu, Geula Guerts, Melissa Eleftherion; Fiction by Monica Wang, Sarah Brokamp, Andrew Cusick, Divya Maniar, Sabrina Small, Anastasia Jill; Nonfiction by Abby Hagler, Brittany Ackerman, Stephanie Couey, E.N. Walztoni, Rebekah M. Devine; Hybrid works by Sarah J. Sloat, Sarah Carson, Jennifer K. Sweeney, Gianna Marie Starble, Kylie Gellatly; and Artwork by Bill Wolak, Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad, Janelle Cordero, Sherry Shahan, Arden Hunter, Silas Plum, and Afresh Frankincense.

New Podcast :: Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope magazine logo image

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.

“The Kaleidoscope 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.

June 2022 eLitPak :: Join us for the 2022 Willow Writers Retreat this Summer!

screenshot of Willow Writers Retreat May 2022 eLitPak flyer
click image to open PDF

Join us for the Willow Writers Retreat in Hermann, Missouri July 10-14. Sumptuous breakfasts, yoga, wineries. Discussions led by Susan Isaak Lolis, a published and award-winning writer. Topics include Writing Strong Characters; Creating a Sense of Place; Believable Dialogue. Before May 31: $350.00; Before June 15: $400.00; After June 15: $450.00. Accommodations separate, contact the Inn at Hermanhoff for reduced rate: (573) 486-5199. Visit website or call (954) 806-3878.

If you’re not subscribed to our weekly newsletter, view the full June 2022 eLitPak here.

Magazine Stand :: Dark Matter: Women Witnessing #14

Dark Matter Women Witnessing online literary magazine cover image

Dark Matter: Women Witnessing is an online publication of art and writing created in response to this “age of massive species loss and ecological collapse.” But in addition to cataloging these atrocities, the editors seek works “with a message for how we might being to heal our broken relationship to the earth.” Edited by the team of Lise Weil, former editor of the US feminist review Trivia: A Journal of Ideas (1982-1991) and Trivia: Voices of Feminism (through 2011); Kristin Flyntz, whose area of expertise is Literature of Restoration as taught by Deena Metzger; and Metta Sáma, founder of Artists Against Police Brutality/Cultures of Violence and a Senior Fellow of Black Earth Institute. Dark Matter: Women Witnessing accepts all forms and genres of writing as well as artworks in all mediums, in response to the issue’s theme, with special features “Dreams and Visions” and “After•Words” responses to other media. Reading for the newest issue began this month. The current issue (#14) features works by Pam Booker, Suzette Clough, Jojo Donovan, Perdita Finn, Kristin Flyntz, Hilary Giovale, Kathleen Hellen, Chez Liley, and Shante’ Sojourn Zenith. All back issues are available to read online.

June 2022 eLitPak :: Divot Wants to Read Your Poems! You Inspire Us!

Screenshot of Divot Poetry's flyer for the June 2022 eLitPak
click image to open PDF

Divot Poetry is reading for Issues 5 and 6. We value fresh imagery and startling ways to describe the human condition. See our submission guidelines for full information. We look forward to reading your poetry. Rolling submission deadline. View flyer or visit website to learn more.

If you’re not subscribed to our weekly newsletter, view the full June 2022 eLitPak here.

New Book :: All the Rivers Flow Into the Sea

All the Rivers Flow Into the Sea and Other Stories by Khanh Ha published by EastOver Press book cover image

All the Rivers Flow Into the Sea and Other Stories
Fiction by Khanh Ha
EastOver Press, June 2022

From Vietnam to America, Khanh Ha’s All the Rivers Flow Into the Sea is a story collection that brings readers a unique sense of love and passion alongside tragedy and darker themes of peril. The titular story features a love affair between an unlikely duo pushing against barely surmountable cultural barriers. In “The Yin-Yang Market,” magical realism and the beauty of innocence abound in deep dark places, teeming with life and danger. “A Mute Girl’s Yarn” tells a magical coming-of-age story like sketches in a child’s fairy book. Bringing together the damned, the unfit, the brave who succumb to the call of fate, All the Rivers Flow Into the Sea is a great journey where redemption and human goodness arise out of violence and beauty to become part of an essential mercy. All the Rivers Flow into the Sea was selected as a winner of the 2021 EastOver Prize for Fiction.

June 2022 eLitPak :: Check out Madville Publishing’s Summer Reading List!

Screenshot of Madville Publishing's Summer Reading List flyer for the June 2022 eLitPak
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Madville publishing is pleased to announce our summer reading list! Our authors worry at questions of family, home, and belonging in this amazing quartet of books. All available now for order or preorder: 

  • Worrisome Creatures: Poems by Kate Sweeney
  • Genesis Road a novel by Susan O’Dell Underwood
  • Provenance: A Novel by Sue Mell
  • Secret City: Poems by Katherine Smith

View flyer or visit website to learn more.

If you’re not subscribed to our weekly newsletter, view the full June 2022 eLitPak here.

Magazine Stand :: The Light Ekphrastic – Issue 50

The Light Ekphrastic online literary art magazine Spring 2022 cover image

Pairing writers and artists, each issue of The Light Ekphrastic online creates a space for a new poem, story, photograph, painting or other piece of artwork inspired by work previously submitted by their partner artist. Contributors typically have about six weeks to create their new work. Founded by editor Jenny O’Grady in 2010 as a way of inspiring friends who hadn’t written or made art in a while to get back into practice, the newest issue features works in conversation by Marlayna Demond, TS S. Fulk, Lela Hannah, Mary Huddleston, Layla Lenhardt, Timothy Nohe, Keleigh Norman, and Beth Schabb Williams. What a beautiful, poignant, and playful venue! Submissions are open year-round.

June 2022 eLitPak :: Summer Titles from Livingston Press at University of West Alabama

Screenshot of Summer 2022 Titles from Livingston Press flyer for the June 2022 eLitPak
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New summer titles from Livingston Press at the University of West Alabama include a novel about GI’s returning from WWII to about-face and enter colleges under the GI Bill. A story collection about nursing, its joys, frustrations, and heartbreak. See flyer for more details or visit website.

If you’re not subscribed to our weekly newsletter, view the full June 2022 eLitPak here.

New Lit on the Block :: The Muleskinner Journal

The Muleskinner Journal online literary magazine logo image

Started as a “pandemic passion project,” The Muleskinner Journal is an online publication of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that publishes “journal entries” (individual pieces) throughout their submission period as well as a quarterly journal.

While The Muleskinner Journal name comes from the nickname of Editor in Chief, Gary Campanella, the mission of the journal is in keeping with the muleskinner – or mule-driver – a profession that requires its animal companion to get the job done. “We look for writing of all kinds that uses skill, wit, and determination to deliver the goods,” which speaks to the clear partnership between writers, readers, and the publisher. “We accept and publish poetry, short fiction, flash fiction, short scripts, excerpts from longer works, memoir, criticism, craft essays, artwork, journalism, and shopping lists.” And for both new and established writers, the guidelines are clearly inviting: “We don’t care who you are, as long as you are the author of what you submit.”

Continue reading “New Lit on the Block :: The Muleskinner Journal”

June 2022 eLitPak :: Submit to CARVE Year-round!

screenshot of Carve's flier for the NewPages June 2022 eLitPak
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Carve accepts submissions all year round, from anywhere in the world. We pay the writers we publish ($100 for fiction; $50 for nonfiction/poetry) and have generous word count limits: up to 10,000 for fiction/nonfiction and 2,000 for poetry. We publish all three genres in print, and fiction is also published online. Submit your best work today! View flyer for more details.

If you’re not subscribed to our weekly newsletter, view the full June 2022 eLitPak here.

June 2022 eLitPak :: Last Call! North Street Book Prize for Self-Published Books

Screenshot of Winning Writers' June 2022 eLitPak flyer for the North Street Book Prize
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Winning Writers will award a grand prize of $8,000 in its eighth annual North Street competition, and $16,750 in all. The top eight winners will enjoy additional benefits from our co-sponsors BookBaby and Carolyn Howard-Johnson. Gifts for everyone who enters. Submit books published in any year and on any self-publishing platform. $70 entry fee. Enter online or by mail by June 30. Learn more at our website and view flyer for full details.

If you’re not subscribed to our weekly newsletter, view the full June 2022 eLitPak here.

Where to Submit Round-up: June 17, 2022

person writing on a notebook beside macbook

If you’re looking for avenues to submit your creative writing and art to, you’ve arrived at the right place. NewPages’ weekly Where to Submit Round-up features calls for submissions and writing contests from literary magazines, indie presses, literary events, creative writing programs, and more.

Don’t forget that NewPages newsletter subscribers get early access to calls for submissions and writing contests before they go live on our site, so subscribe today! Oh, and you’ll also get our monthly eLitPak along with the occasional promotional email from our sponsors.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, check out the June 2022 eLitPak newsletter here for even more opportunities as well as creative writing program info and great books for summer and beyond.

Continue reading “Where to Submit Round-up: June 17, 2022”

New Book :: Oxblood

Oxblood poetry by Nicole Caruso Garcia published by Able Muse Press book cover image

Oxblood
Poetry by Nicole Caruso-Garcia
Able Muse Press, October 2022

Oxblood, Nicole Caruso Garcia’s debut poetry collection, testifies unflinchingly about the short- and long-term effects of a college student’s rape by her fiancé. As the poet engages with this serious topic, her arsenal includes wit, wordplay, and even humor. The diverse structures of traditional received forms—the sonnet, the sestina, various French repeating forms, the Afghan landay, blues tercets—form interesting contrasts with free verse poems in this collection. Oxblood was a finalist for the 2022 Able Muse Book Award.

New Book :: Broadsided Press Anthology

Broadsided Press: Fifteen Years of Poetic and Artistic Collaboration, 2005-2020 book cover image

Broadsided Press Anthology
Fifteen Years of Poetic and Artistic Collaboration, 2005-2020
Provincetown Arts Press, April 2022

Broadsided Press: Fifteen Years of Poetic and Artistic Collaborations, 2005-2020 is an anthology that celebrates Broadsided Press’s mission of “putting literature and art on the streets.” I have always loved the work of this organization, and since its founding, Broadsided has released one beautifully designed, original, letter-sized collaboration of poetry and art (a broadside) each month: a unique collaboration between a visual artist and a writer that is a work of art in itself. These were available for free download each month so that “vectors” could print them and post them with many taking pictures and sharing these on the site. Now, for the first time, more than fifty broadsides selected from over 300 published the past 15 years are presented in a first-ever book form alongside the interviews with artists and poets who collaborated to create them and photographs of the work in public spaces.

Contest :: New American Press Extends 2022 New American Fiction Prize Deadline

2022 New American Fiction Prize

That’s right! If you missed the June 15 deadline for the 2022 New American Fiction Prize, you’re in luck! New American Press has announced they have extended the deadline to July 1. This year’s final judge is WEIKE WANG. Winner receives $1,500, publication, and 25 copies. Swing by their ad in the NewPages Classifieds for more information.

Magazine Stand :: The Mantle Poetry – Issue 18

The Mantle Poems Issue 18 Spring 2022 online literary magazine cover image

The Mantle Poetry online literary magazine welcomes poetry for its quarterly publication, with the next deadline coming up July 7, 2022. The editors encourage writers to “Send your odd, poignant, beautiful poems. Send poems you’re proud of, whether raw, refined, or jagged.” Up to three previously unpublished poems any style or length per submission period. Check out the current issue with works by Suhrith Bellamkonda, Kyle Seamus Brosnihan, Lori Lamothe, Rebecca Macijeski, Juanita Rey, Maryfrances Wagner, and Elana Wolff.

Call :: Creative Nonfiction Sunday Short Reads

Creative Nonfiction Sunday Short Reads Call for Submissions logo image

Creative Nonfiction magazine is accepting submissions for their Sunday Short Reads email—previously unpublished work up to 1,000 words, with a deadline of August 1. Managing Editor Hattie Fletcher offers this editorial tip: “We’re open to stories on any subject, any style, but one of the questions we ask ourselves before accepting a story is, ‘Would we feel good about emailing this out to 8,500+ readers first thing on a Sunday morning?'” There is a $3 submission fee, waived for subscribers; pays $50 on publication, and all submissions are also considered for publication in CNF magazine.

June 2022 eLitPak :: First Annual Virtual LIGHT Festival

Screenshot of LIGHT Festival's flyer for the NewPages June 2022 eLitPak newsletter.
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How have you healed lately? According to Ijeoma Oluo, writing reminds her that she is “a person worthy of healing.” To discover, dialogue, and define how we might bring writing and other creative mediums, such as poetry and art, from the public back into public health for our collective healing and transformation, come join us at the LIGHT Festival on Friday, June 17, 2022, from 8AM-6PM CDT. View flyer or visit website to learn more.

If you’re not subscribed to our weekly newsletter, view the full June 2022 eLitPak here.

New Book :: My Haunted Home

My Haunted Home stories by Victoria Hood book cover image

My Haunted Home
Fiction by Victoria Hood
University of Alabama/FC2, October 2022

The stories in My Haunted Home by Victoria Hood delve in startling ways into the lives of the obsessed, the grieving, and the truly haunted. Winner of FC2’s Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Prize, Hood conjures a shifting range of narrators through an unstable range of worlds where mothers might be dead, girls compulsively shove peanuts inside their ears, agoraphobia traps people inside their houses, and cats won’t eat your soup. In “The Teeth, the Way I Smile,” a daughter who looks like her dead mother manifests grief both in her house and her body. In “Smelly Smelly,” a woman slowly comes to realize her boyfriend has been dead for weeks. In “You, Your Fault,” Hood explores the unfolding love of two women who love every part of each other—including the parts that fixate on arson and murder. In this debut story collection, Hood probes the worlds of what can be haunted, unpacking the ways in which hauntings can be manifested in physical forms, mentally harvested and lived through, and even a change in what is haunting.

Magazine Stand :: The Mercurian – Spring 2022

The Mercurian A Theatrical Translation Review Spring 2022 cover image

Hailing from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The Mercurian publishes translations of plays and performance pieces from any language into English, theoretical pieces about theatrical translation, rants, manifestos, and position papers pertaining to translation for the theatre, as well as production histories of theatrical translations. The most recent issue includes “1948” by Mara Parkhomovsky, translated from Hebrew by Atar Hadari; “atlas” by Thomas Köck, translated by Marc Silberman; “CyranA” adapted from Edmond Rostand, by Doug Zschiegner; and “The Girl Who Was Cyrano” by Guillermo Baldo, translated by LuisDa Molina Rueda. This issues as well as back issues can be fully accessed online.

Magazine Stand :: Rattle Young Poets Anthology 2022

Rattle Young Poets Anthology 2022 cover image

If I was on a desert island and could only have ONE literary journal, I would choose the Rattle Young Poets Anthology. This publication always gets my jaw to drop with the first poem and the rest just compound my being impressed, humbled, and motivated to read works by writers all under the age of fifteen. “As always,” the editors write, “this is not a book of poems for children, but the other way around—these are poems written by children for us all, revealing the startling insights that are possible when looking at the world through fresh eyes.” The anthology comes bundled with the companion issue of Rattle for subscribers but can also be ordered separately online. Submissions for the next anthology are open until November 15 annually. The 2022 edition includes poems from Melody Maxfield Cortez (10), Alenka Doyle (15), Lyla Foster (6), Daphne Frank (13), Sloane Flaherty Getz (15), Holly Haeck (15), Lucille Healy (4), Elizabeth Kerr (9), Sophia Liu (15), Anna Meister (15), Vitek Mencl (8), Evie Pugh (6), Reagan Rafferty (13), Kashvi Ramani (15), Skyler Rockmael (14), Syazwani Saifudin (14), Lily Blue Simmons (15), Mazzy Sleep (9), Alisha N. Wright (15), Avery Yoder-Wells (15), and Cynthia Zhang (14). Cover photo by M-A Murphy.

Contest :: 1 Month Remains to Enter the 2022 Francine Ringold Awards for New Writers

2022 Francine Ringold Awards for New Writers

Don’t forget that July 15 is the deadline to submit fiction and poetry to Nimrod‘s Francine Ringold Awards for New Writers. This contest is open internationally to writers with no more than two publication credits in their chosen genre. The winners in each genre receive $500 and publication. See their ad in the NewPages Classifieds to learn more.

New Book :: Wings & Other Things

Wings and Other Things stories by Chauna Craig book cover image

Wings & Other Things
Fiction by Chauna Craig
Press 53, September 2022

Wings & Other Things by Chauna Craig is a book of migrations. Its characters flutter and flap, take off and land, then take off again as they seek the places they belong. These are characters caught in transition: a widow searching for a past self on an “Impossible Blue” coast, lovers explaining to the police and themselves why they’re hiding in a Nebraska cornfield. a teacher struggling to be understood on a flight from Chengdu, a stranded artist riding with a stranger on a highway haunted y the ghost of a woman who never made it home. Each story is a transformation as Craig turns railroad tracks into an “infinite number line” and a lightning bolt into a “tentacle of the unseen.” A plastic fork becomes a parable of fragility, and a “scrap moon” is an image of what is lost and what yet remains.

Events :: The Freadom Festival

The Freadom Festival in Portland, Oregon logo image

The Freadom Festival: Portland’s First Annual Black Book Festival takes place this Saturday, June 18, 2022 from 12:00 – 6:00pm at Peninsula Park in Portland, Oregon.

The organizers write: “A core tenet of The Freadom Festival is our belief that reading and books should be inclusive and accessible. Which is why we are hosting this free event in a local Portland park, open to all to come and learn the importance of Juneteenth, fellowship with a community of fellow book lovers, support Black businesses, receive reading resources, and celebrate literacy and liberation!”

The Freadom Festival includes a community book swap, a book drive for PDX Books to Prisoners, Multnomah County Library card sign-ups, children’s reading hour, author talks with local black authors Kim Johnson and Kesha Ajose Fisher with Q&A and book signings, zine book-making craft station, literary information booths, raffles, giveaways and more!

Magazine Stand :: Mistake House Magazine – Issue 8

Mistake House Magazine online literary journal of poetry, fiction, and photography Issue 8 cover image

Mistake House Magazine is an annual online literary journal of fiction, poetry, and photography by currently enrolled graduate and undergraduate students. It is designed and edited by undergraduate students at Principia College. Each issue also includes the “Soap Bubble Set,” which features two professionals – a practicing visual artist and a writer whose work is highlighted alongside the magazine’s selection of student poetry, fiction, and photography. Mistake House seeks literary fiction and poetry that “provides a sense of insight, compassionate justice, a space of rest, and a sense of coming home, including poetry and fiction expressive of documentary poetics.” The current issue includes Fiction by R. Jade Sperr, Jia-An Lee, Max Hunt; Poetry by Sophia Alise, Madison Folsom, Nicole Knorr, Faith Earl, Tijana Zderic, Caitlin Huntly, Kirsten Meehan, Kristen Grace, R. Jade Sperr, Sarah Iqbal, Olivia Skinner, Jeniya Dabish, Jessie Taylor, Elisabeth Graham, Logan Funderburg, Danielle Horn, Emma Maxfield, Andi Moritz, Nate Zipp, Brianna Drahms, Kelly C. Flanagan, Kiersten Wright, Atlas Chambers, Timothy Batchelder, Katie Mihalek, and Kyrstyn Cieply; and Photography by Joselyn Flores, Isabella Guerrero, Camille Abadie, Jack Connors, Sakar Shrestha, Christopher Ajuoga, and Grace Pécheck. The Soap Bubble Set pairs visual artist Samira Yamin and poet Benjamin Garcia for an in-depth look at their work and processes.

News :: Resources for Wary Writers

Writer Beware logo image

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.

New Book :: The Illusion of Simple

The Illusion of Simple a novel by Charles Forrest Jones book cover image

The Illusion of Simple
Fiction by Charles Forrest Jones
University of Iowa Press, May 2022

The Illusion of Simple by Charles Forrest Jones begins in a dry Kansas riverbed where a troop of young girls finds a human hand. This discovery leads Billy Spire, the tough and broken sheriff of Ewing County, to investigate and confront the depths of his community and of himself: the racism, the dying economy, the lies and truths of friendship, grievances of the past and present, and even his own injured marriage. But like any town where people still breathe, there is also love and hope and the possibility of redemption. To flyover folks, Ewing County appears nothing more than a handful of empty streets amid crop circles and the meandering, depleted Arkansas River. But the truth of this place—the interwoven lives and stories—is anything but simple. Charles Forrest Jones is former director of the Kansas University Public Management Center and believes that “public policy is rooted in the human condition, there is a place for the articulate, compelling, even beautiful.”

Magazine Stand :: PANK – Spring 2022

PANK online literary magazine Spring 2022 issue cover image

PANK was originally founded in 2006 by M. Bartley Seigel and Roxane Gay as a venue “fostering access to innovative poetry and prose, publishing the brightest and most promising writers for the most adventurous readers.” Fulfilling that charge, PANK publishes quarterly online and annually in print. The editors are interested in “sharp, honest, beautiful writing. Strangeness is a small god.” Check out the most recent online issues for a sampling of small gods, with contributions from Clea Bierman, Ricardo Wilson, Kyle Carrero Lopez, Stephanie Choi, Josey Rose Duncan, Ry Book Suraski, Kyle Carrero Lopez, Nicole Mccarthy, Kate Crosby, Lisa Ahn, Julia Barclay-Morton, and Valerie San Filippo.

Sponsored :: New Book :: Refugee

cover of Refugee by Pamela Uschuk

Refugee 
Poetry by Pamela Uschuck
Red Hen Press, Spring 2022

Refugee deals with political refugees, refugees from racism, from domestic violence, from environmental destruction and cancer—and their stories of cruelty and courage, hardship, and hope to overcome the most daunting of circumstances.  This collection confronts and explores xenophobia, sexism, gun violence, domestic violence, corporate greed, environmental destruction and political tyranny. An ovarian cancer survivor, Pamela also writes about her own courageous confrontation with death.

“With tenderness, expansive compassion, and profound gifts of radiant description, Pamela Uschuk considers so many ways people may be estranged and lost in this precious, difficult world. With brave ferocity, her poems in Refugee navigate new vision and reconnection, so desperately longed for right now and always.”

— Naomi Shihab Nye, author of The Tiny Journalist

Call :: Dear Queer: Letters in Solidarity with LGBTIQ+ Youth

Dear Queer: Letters in Solidarity with LGBTIQ+ Youth logo image

Broadsided Press started Broadsided Responds to show support and solidarity in response to global crises. Dear Queer: Letters in Solidarity with LGBTIQ+ Youth seeks to “stand with the LGBTIQ+ community and all those who call them/us family.” Writers are invited to share “short works that reach out toward any – past or present, self or other – who has needed support, solace, or a sense of being seen and known . . . writing from voices who might wish to speak to their own younger selves (and, by extension, the younger selves of today).” Poems of 30 lines or less or flash prose under 300 words with the title “Letter to my __________” that provide hope, solace, pathways, and a sense of solidarity are welcome through July 4, 2022. There is a $3 VOLUNTARY entry fee, but please see the incredible work this all-volunteer organization has done over the years and support financially if you can.

Is Your Favorite Bookstore Listed?

Midland Street Books in Bay City, Michigan store front image

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.]

New Book :: Benefit Street

Benefit Street a novel by Adria Bernardi book cover image

Benefit Street
Fiction by Adria Bernardi
University of Alabama Press/FC2, August 2022

Benefit Street by Adria Bernardi is set in an unnamed provincial capital of an unnamed country and tells of a wide circle of friends—teachers, lawyers, missionaries, doctors, artisans—in a time of gathering and dispersal. It tells the story of mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, colleagues, and neighbors, as war to the East threatens and constitutional rights are daily eroded by an increasingly authoritarian regime. The ideals of youth, freedom, and coexistence are severely tested with the shocking revelation that the charismatic leader of their group has sexually abused the women under his care. The limits of reconciliation are tested as Şiva makes an arduous journey into the mountains to meet an estranged mother with a genius for weaving complex rugs.

Magazine Stand :: Rathalla Review – Spring 2022

Rathalla Review online literary magazine Spring 2022 issue cover image

Rathalla Review, the literary magazine of Rosemont College MFA in Creative Writing and Graduate Publishing programs, publishes two online and one print annual each year with the mission to give emerging and established writers and artists an outlet for their creative vision. Submissions open August 14 for their Fall 2022 issue, so take a look now to get a sense of their aesthetic. The Spring 2022 online volume features Art by Roger Camp, Phyllis Green, Weining Wang; Fiction by Robert McGuill, Daniel Goulden, Greg Probst; Flash Fiction by Salvatore Difalco, David A. Summers, Carolyn Oliver; and Poetry by Malisa Garlieb, Jennifer Judge, and Jessica Whipple.

Book Review :: Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranor

Don't Know Tough a novel by Eli Granor book cover image

Guest Post by Ira Smith

Eli Cranor’s debut novel, Don’t Know Tough, published by Soho Crime, an imprint of Soho Press, is not your typical football novel. Rather, it depicts a brutal slice of life in rural Arkansas, where high school football is king and is all that matters. The protagonist, Billy Lowe, is the archetypal angry young man. An ignorant high school senior and star of the football team, Billy’s anger is compounded by his mother’s abusive boyfriend, who lives with them in their trailer in rural Arkansas. After being beaten by the boyfriend and hitting him back, Billy takes his anger out on a teammate during practice, injuring him. Then, his Mom’s abusive boyfriend is found murdered, and Billy becomes a suspect. From that point, the novel hurtles at breakneck speed to its surprising conclusion. I could not stop reading Don’t Cry Tough. Cranor’s writing is riveting, and his characterizations are perfect. Despite my initial impression of Billy as simple and stupid, as the book goes on, the author skillfully transforms him into a complex human being I actually cared for. As for the setting in rural Arkansas, I could picture the trailers, the woods, and the poverty-stricken homes where some of the characters live. The football scenes were quite well done, and rightly so as the author did play professional football. Despite the twists and turns, all the plot lines were brilliantly resolved. This is Eli Cranor’s first novel, and I already can’t wait for his follow-up.

Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranor. Soho Crime, March 2022.

Reviewer bio: Ira Smith is a retired physician for whom reading has been a lifelong passion. Favorite genres are science fiction, noir, and history.

Driftwood Press Announces Annual Anthology

Driftwood Press Annual Anthology release date logo image

The Driftwood Press editors just released this news: “We’re so excited to announce that Driftwood Press is transforming from a bi-annual literary magazine to an annual anthology. This change has been in the works for a long time, and we can’t wait to bring our readers over 200 pages in full color on a yearly basis, with our first anthology due out March 7, 2023!” The editors promise status quo on great content, just more of it, including stories, poetry, comics, interviews, and more. Subscription options will also reflect this change, and there is still one more biannual issue due out on July 1, which can be preordered here.