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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!

January 2021 eLitPak :: CARVE Magazine: Get 30% off a One-year Subscription

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Exclusive for NewPages fans: Get 30% off a one-year print or digital subscription to CARVE. That’s four issues featuring new HONEST FICTION, poetry, essays, interviews, illustrations, and more. Discover a new borderless and diverse community within the pages of CARVE. Use code NEWPAGES21 at checkout—hurry, our next issue ships soon! Discount expires 2/28/2021. Visit our website.

View the full January 2021 eLitPak Newsletter. Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on our weekly newsletter and monthly eLitPaks.

January 2021 eLitPak :: Explore Your Wild at the Elk River Writers Workshop

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The Elk River Writers Workshop takes place at Chico Hot Springs, Montana, bringing together some of the country’s most celebrated nature writers with students who are serious about fostering a connection with the environment in their writing. This year, we are thrilled to welcome faculty members Rick Bass, Linda Hogan, J. Drew Lanham, William Pitt Root, and Pamela Uschuk.

View the full January 2021 eLitPak Newsletter. Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on our weekly newsletter and monthly eLitPaks.

January 2021 eLitPak :: Spalding University’s School of Creative and Professional Writing: Low-residency Graduate Programs

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Early Placement Application Deadline: February 1 for May entry. Spalding’s nationally distinguished low-residency MFA is the most affordable of the top-tier programs. In the MFA and its sister programs, study one-on-one with outstanding faculty, gain editorial experience on Good River Review, and develop a lifelong writing community. Fiction; poetry; creative nonfiction; writing for children and young adults; writing for TV, screen, and stage; and professional writing. Scholarships and assistantships available.

View the full January 2021 eLitPak Newsletter. Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on our weekly newsletter and monthly eLitPaks.

January 2021 eLitPak :: Ezra: An Online Journal of Translation

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Ezra invites submissions in all genres—from any era, style, or language. 1,000-word excerpts for prose. Special features in the Archives. Books are reviewed at Ezra as well. Residencies: Competitive (solitary) residencies are offered in the summer. A quiet cottage in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Apply by May 31—visit our website for complete details.

View the full January 2021 eLitPak Newsletter. Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on our weekly newsletter and monthly eLitPaks.

January 2021 eLitPak :: Odyssey Workshop for Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror Writers

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Odyssey is one of the most highly regarded workshops in the world for writers of the fantastic. Graduates include New York Times bestsellers, Amazon bestsellers, and award winners. Director Jeanne Cavelos is a bestselling author and former senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell. Held in New Hampshire, Odyssey combines advanced lectures, in-depth feedback, and individual guidance. Application deadline April 1.

View the full January 2021 eLitPak Newsletter. Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on our weekly newsletter and monthly eLitPaks.

January 2021 eLitPak :: Tartt First Fiction Award

November 2020 - January 2021 Livingston Press eLitPak flier screenshot
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Winning short story collection will be published by Livingston Press at the University of West Alabama, in simultaneous hardcover and trade paper editions, also in e-book and Kindle formats. Winner will receive $1000, plus our standard royalty contract, which includes 50 copies of the book. Author must not have had book of short fiction published at time of entry, though novels or poetry are okay. Deadline: March 15, 2021.

View the full January 2021 eLitPak Newsletter. Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on our weekly newsletter and monthly eLitPaks.

Call :: The Experiment Will Not Be Bound: Experimental Anthology, Peter Campion, ed.

Unbound Editions Press Anthology CFSDeadline: March 14, 2021
This project reflects current times: it is a political act, and bold voices in new forms will ignite it. We are most interested in: What does America mean now — and what forms can our voices take today? Show us experimental writing that confronts the hard truths of America across identities, generations, communities, cultures, borders. Literary experiments from BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other underrepresented communities hold particular power in making this anthology relevant. We will challenge the traditional anthology form too, experimenting with how the book can be (un)bound, (re)ordered, (re)read, and (co)shared. Authors selected will be paid for their work. www.unboundedition.com

Our Darkest Hour: Churchill’s Greatest Speeches Offer Hope And Insight To A Beleaguered World

Guest Post by M.G. Noles.

Never Give In!: The Best of Winston Churchill’s Speeches is a book that lends itself to this hour in history when nothing seems certain. This collection, assembled by his grandson, Winston S. Churchill, includes his many famous speeches and some that are less widely known.

At this moment, while the entire world seems to be holding its collective breath, Churchill’s words offer hope and solace. His extraordinary knowledge and insight glisten though these speeches. His call for bravery and courage strike a vibrant chord at a time when tomorrow seems to be as unstable as anything we have ever known.

Take a moment to read his speeches and find yourself infused with a sense of destiny and the hope that we may overcome this dark hour just as the British overcame theirs in WWII. As he most nobly said, “We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.”


Never Give In!: The Best of Winston Churchill’s Speeches by Winston S. Churchill. Hachette Books, November 2004.

Reviewer bio: M.G. Noles is a freelance writer and history buff.

Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.

New Lit on the Block: The Start Literary Journal

cover photoWhat better way to start the new year than to introduce The Start? The Start Literary Journal is an online thematic quarterly publication of young adult poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and photograph welcoming all subgenres.

Founding Editor Amanda Cino is secondary English teacher who earned her MA in Creative Writing from Wilkes University and is currently pursuing her MFA. Formerly the managing editor for River and South Review, Amanda is “an avid reader and loves all things YA, especially speculative fiction.” She explains, “I started this journal for my MFA publishing project. I thought about what my dream journal would be. As an educator, I love inspiring my students to write, but so many feel it is impossible to find a place to be published. This is the same way many new writers feel. Because of that, I wanted to start a journal that was for new and young writers in hopes that we can give them their start in their writing careers!”

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

Call :: NOMADartx Review Seeks Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Art, Interviews, & Reviews

NOMADartx logoDeadline: Rolling
NOMADartx is an emerging global creative network dedicated to sharing and amplifying creative potential, regardless of genre. NOMADartx Review curates fresh voices that address creativity and creative process via visual art, fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, interviews, critiques, and reviews. Our “Industry Specials” column also provides a place for contemporary creatives to share wisdom (individual or collective) toward building success in their fields of practice. We currently consider work that addresses these themes in any way, and we have a special call currently for visual art! More information is here: nomadartx.submittable.com/submit.

Satirical Deep-Diving with Mathew Serback

Guest Post by Natalie GN.

What. A. Journey. This book is a genre-bending satirical deep-dive into the consciousness stream of the United States and White America. Here, the reader is led through a series of storylines that converge before the nameless narrator, all of which begs the audience to question the pillars the USA was founded on, along with its people’s conditioning. It’s a hilariously poignant, tough-love, nudge into the deep end of the pool when you don’t know how to swim for people for whom equality and kindness are difficult concepts.

If nothing else, 2020 handed everyone a personal magnifying glass that only looks inward. The farther away from it you are, the more distorted things look. The closer you are, the clearer things appear. It’s your decision how closely you want to look through that glass. It’s hard work, so make it a little easier on yourself and read this book.

It’s also worth noting that, though this book’s audience would ideally be a very specific group of people, it was a super weird and enjoyable and read for me, a brown Latinx cis-chick reader. Something for everyone out here. Highly Recommend.


The First Great American Novel: Where Parallel Lines Meet (A Story of Non-Sequiturs) by Mathew Serback. Atmosphere Press, January 2021.

Reviewer bio: My name is Natalie GN. Caguas born and raised, currently living the library dream in Ohio.

Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.

Call :: Oyster River Pages Seeks Submissions for Annual Issue

Oyster River Pages logoDeadline: May 31, 2021
Oyster River Pages is a literary and artistic collective seeking submissions of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual arts that stretch creative and social boundaries. We believe in the power of art to connect people to their own and others’ humanity, something we see as especially important during these tumultuous times. Because of this, we seek to feature artists whose voices have been historically decentered or marginalized. Please see www.oysterriverpages.com for submission details.

Becoming Visible

Guest Post by Kim Horner.

The first time I heard of Audre Lorde was on a Facebook page for women who had gone flat or who, like me, were considering going flat after having mastectomies. Posted on the site was one of the poet’s striking quotes: “If we are to translate the silence surrounding breast cancer into language and action against this scourge, then the first step is that women with mastectomies must become visible to each other.”

Lorde wrote those words in The Cancer Journals, a collection of essays about her breast cancer experience. First published in 1980 and reprinted this past October, the author’s entries still resonate decades later as she confronts her diagnosis and questions the norms and expectations for women facing the disease. Especially powerful are Lorde’s passages about not wearing a prosthesis after her single mastectomy. In one entry, she says a disapproving nurse told her that not wearing her foam padding was bad for “morale” in the breast surgeon’s office.

Lorde’s work comes as many women continue to face social pressure to have reconstruction or wear prostheses. More than 40 years after its initial publication, The Cancer Journals is inspiring new generations of women to deal with breast cancer on their own terms. Lorde’s essays, as Tracy K. Smith writes in her new foreword, serve as a “guide to survival for the twenty-first century body and soul.”


The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde, with a new foreword by Tracy K. Smith. Penguin Classic, October 2020.

Reviewer bio: Kim Horner, author of Probably Someday Cancer: Genetic Risk and Preventative Mastectomy, is a writer who lives in Richardson, Texas. Connect with her at kimdhorner.com.

Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.

Zone 3 – Fall 2020

In the issue of Zone 3 (Fall 2020): nonfiction by Hadil Ghoneimj, Steven Harvey, Kathryn Nuernberger, and more; fiction by Scott Brennan, Mary Louise Hill, Sarah Layden, Nathan Moseley, and others; and poetry by Ellery Beck, Jennifer Brown, Jesse DeLong, Jose Hernandez Diaz, Andrew Johnson, Arden Levine, Matt McBride, Leah Osowski, Charlie Peck, Marlo Starr, Dan Veach, and more. Cover art by Jiha Moon.

Contest :: Fix the Future with Fiction and Win $8,700 in Prizes and Publication

Grist 2021 Climate Fiction ContestDeadline: April 12, 2021
Fix, Grist’s solutions lab, is launching a new climate-fiction contest, Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors. Imagine calls for short stories envisioning the next 180 years of climate progress, judged by renowned authors Adrienne Maree Brown, Morgan Jerkins, and Kiese Laymon. The top contest winners will be awarded $3000, $2000, and $1000 respectively, and nine finalists will receive a $300 honorarium. Winners and finalists will be published in an immersive digital collection. We want to see—and share—stories that bring into focus what a truly just and regenerative future could look like. Submit your story by April 12 at grist.submittable.com/submit and contact us at [email protected].

The MacGuffin – Fall 2020

The MacGuffin’s Fall 2020 issue spotlights formal verse. In all, nineteen different forms are featured from poets across the map, near and far. From sonnets to sestinas, pantoums to clerihews, all connoisseurs of the written word will find something to delight in. Our usual selection of fiction and nonfiction is interspersed, with personal essays from Nadia Ibrahim and Gretchen Clark, tales of loss—though not the same—from Dave Larsen and Trisha McKee, and a look at two quite different families from Shirley Sullivan and Bethany Snyder. Rounding out this issue is the colorful work of Nicholas D’Angelo.

The Louisville Review – Fall 2020

Issue 88 of The Louisville Review features poetry, short fiction, and (K-12) poetry. Poetry by Peter Grandbois, Simon Perchik, Laurie Welch, Maxima Kahn, John A. Nieves, Jason Tandon, Laine Derr, Tyler King, Margarita Cruz, and more. Fiction by Stan Lee Werlin, J. A. Bernstein, Jim Bellar, Lori Ann Stephens, Jen McConnell, and others. One book review by Mary Popham, and in the K-12 Cornerstone section: Kieran Chung, Sofia Dzodan, and Hannah Slayton.

Bellevue Literary Review – No 39

The “Reading the Body” issue is out. Fiction by Emma Pattee, Jonathan Penner, Michele Suzann, Lauren Green, Mahak Jain, and more; nonfiction by Jeremy Griffin, Wyatt Bandt, Jack Lancaster, and others; and poetry by Jacob Boyd, Gina Ferrari, Cynthia Parker-Ohene, Sanjana Nair, Thomas Dooley, Beth Suter, and many more. Read more at the Bellevue Literary Review website.

“I Matter” Youth Poetry Contest

In the wake of daily despair locally, nationally, and globally, what joy it was to be contacted by fifteen-year-old Isabella Hanson to help her promote the “I Matter” poetry contest she started last year. Penny Bauder interviewed Isabella in January for Authority Magazine. In their discussion, Isabella shared the motivation for her effort:

As an African American in America, I recognized that George Floyd’s and Breonna Taylor’s deaths were due to the lack of respect and value for Black people in America. I created the “I Matter” poetry program to help myself and other youth to process the pain they felt after watching the killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor on the news. Utilizing poetry and art as the medium, the “I Matter” program provided the inspiration and forum for youth to be heard on the vital subject of why Black Lives Matter.

Isabella’s effort is supported through the National Youth Foundation. “Founded by Black women with a vision for change,” their mission is to “promote diversity, inclusion, and gender equality through innovative literary programs.” The NYF offers youth writing workshops and has held the Student Book Scholar Contest to publish books such as “From Bullies to Buddies” and the Amazing Women Edition Contest to publish books on local heroines.

The first “I Matter” poetry contest published its 2020 selections and can be read online here. It features over twenty beautiful and searingly memorable works, both poetry and art, by youths from second through twelfth grade. First place winner “Hey Google” by twelfth grader Khabria Fisher-Dunbar is a sobering call to the internet giant to take responsibility for the manner in which the search engine responds to inquiries related to Black Lives. It begins:

Hey Google
What are some images of three black teenagers?
Oh no I didn’t mean mug shots
I meant black teenagers laughing, hanging out with their friends
For recreational purposes
Not selling or drugs or stealing
Just living their lives

It is a reckoning to us all to consider the why and the how of the information we all participate in creating and sharing, both shaping and defining the lives of those in our communities.

This year’s “I Matter” contest is open to youth in grades K-12 and closes for submissions July 23, 2021.

Please help Isabella and all concerned and engaged young readers and writers by sharing this information as well as by reading the powerful 2020 contest publication.

As Isabella says to young people through her interview, “…it is empowering to empower others…when young people set their minds to do something, they can make a difference.”

Event :: Affordable, Virtual Monthly Poetry & Publishing Workshops, & Literary Coaching

Caesura Poetry Workshop logo open book with red bookmarkDeadline: Year-round
Caesura Poetry Workshop
aims to support, inspire, educate, and energize poets of all backgrounds through affordable monthly Zoom workshops hosted by award-winning poet, editor, and writing coach John Sibley Williams. Workshops include poem analysis, active group discussion, writing prompts, and plenty of writing time. Upcoming classes include Writing Evocative Love Poems ($40; January 29, 1:30-4pm PT), Marketing Your Small Press Book ($45; February 10, 1-4pm PT), and Mastering Blackout, Erasure, & Redacted Poetry ($40; February 24, 1:30-4pm PT). 1-1 personalized workshops, coaching, and manuscript critiques to keep you writing and inspired also available. More information: www.johnsibleywilliams.com/upcoming-classes. To register, email [email protected].

Winter Workshops with Cleaver

Looking to attend writing workshops this winter? Cleaver Magazine has you covered. With courses on Zoom and Canvas held throughout the coming weeks, they have plenty of options for your workshop needs.

Upcoming workshops include “Weekend Writing” with Andrea Caswell; “The Art of the Scene” for creative and nonfiction, taught by Lisa Borders; “TRANS (Is Not An Abbreviation),” taught by Claire Rudy Foster; and more.

You can find additional information on how to register and what to expect from your workshop at Cleaver‘s website.

Clarity and Experimentations with Creative Nonfiction

Readers, Creative Nonfiction has a new issue heading out to their subscribers! Issue 74’s theme is “Moments of Clarity,” and you can get a sneak peek at what Editor Lee Gutkind has to say to introduce it. Single issue copies can be purchased from their website.

Writers, the nonfiction journal is currently accepting submissions for a few more days. The current reading period is focusing on “Experiments in Nonfiction,” and you can see more of what they’re looking for here. The deadline is January 11, and there is a $3 reading fee to writers who aren’t currently subscribed to the journal.

Apollonian or Dionysian?

Guest Post by James Gering.

The rudimentary jacket design of this book is deceptive—you suspect 179 Ways to be another generic book on craft. Not so. What you have here is a treasure trove of writing insights delivered in no-nonsense fashion by a natural teacher and wordsmith. Peter Selgin expertly balances analysis of craft with the more elusive elements of art to deliver a masterful study of fiction at its best.

179 Ways begins by addressing that perennially perplexing issue—is autobiographical material taboo? No, Selgin says, so long as you deftly employ the imagination to elevate the substance of your story into the realm of art. The challenge lies in sifting through the dross to find the dream—fresh events that defy mere anecdote, have a current of emotional significance, and a sense of inevitability.

Selgin supports his flow of ideas with pertinent references to successful stories and novels. What often distinguishes the master works, he says, are two things: a sense of authenticity and an unswerving flair for storytelling. In other words, be true to the work and find the drama in your tale.

Let me finish this brief commentary with a Selgin quote from the final section, “Each of us must strike our own balance between Apollonian impulses (harmonious, measured, ordered) and Dionysian (wild, orgiastic, unbounded) . . . . However we do it, somehow we have to find ways to put our own visions into the heads of strangers.”

After 30 years of collecting books on the art and craft of writing, three hundred of them grace my study shelves. Peter Selgin’s text is one of my top five.


179 Ways to Save a Novel by Peter Selgin. Writer’s Digest Books, 2010.

Reviewer bio: James Gering is a poet and short story writer from the Blue Mountains in Australia. He welcomes visitors at jamesgering.com.

Call :: Chestnut Review Open to Submissions from Stubborn Artists Year-round

Deadline: Year-round
Chestnut Review (“for stubborn artists”) invites submissions year round of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, art, and photography. We offer free submissions for poetry (3 poems), flash fiction (<1000 words), and art/photography (20 images); $5 submissions for fiction/nonfiction (<5k words), or 4-6 poems. Published artists receive $100 and a copy of the annual anthology of four issues (released each summer). Notification in <30 days or submission fee refunded. We appreciate stories in every genre we publish. All issues free online which illustrates what we have liked, but we are always ready to be surprised by the new! Check out our Autumn 2020 issue featuring work by and an interview with the winner of our 2020 Poetry Chapbook Contest. chestnutreview.com

More Like Dreaming Than Reading

Guest Post by Stephanie Katz.

The novel The End of Aphrodite by Laurette Folk follows a handful of women as they experience yearning, love, and loss in the sweeping New England oceanside. The characters move through their lives as if in a dream, and likewise Folk’s descriptive, ethereal writing makes experiencing the book feel more like dreaming than reading. Even the sadness and pain the women face is rendered beautifully in Folk’s gentle care, and themes of a Catholic, Italian-American culture adds an extra layer of depth to the story.

As the book progresses, each woman’s life wraps around them like a cocoon. Shy Samantha’s cocoon allows her to transform as she tentatively embraces her womanhood and sexuality:

“She came in with a big garbage bag with the wedding dress in it and handed it to me to put in the cedar closet downstairs. I hid there, took off my clothes and fit myself inside the regality of tulle and satin, of virgin white . . . I eventually abandoned the dress for the veil and would return several times that summer, surreptitiously, to undress and pull the tulle tightly around my skin, wrapping my entire naked body.”

Etta, the titular Aphrodite, spends most of the book struggling to attach the chrysalis of herself to lover after lover. She eventually is able to fully emerge when she embraces becoming a mother and the ramifications it brings. The End of Aphrodite is perfect for readers looking to slowly amble through a story, pausing to meander down a few subplots before making their way back to the denouement. Readers longing for more of Folk’s distinctive voice can pick up her first novel, A Portal to Vibrancy, and her book of poetry and flash fiction, Totem Beasts.


The End of Aphrodite by Laurette Folk. Bordighera Press, April 2020.

Reviewer bio: Stephanie Katz is a librarian with the Manatee County Public Library System and editor in chief of award-winning805 Lit + Art. She was selected as a Library Journal 2020 Mover & Shaker for her work with 805. She is the author of Libraries Publish: How to Start a Magazine, Small Press, Blog, and More. She blogs about creative library publishing at LiteraryLibraries.org.

Call :: Girls Right the World Extends Submission Deadline for Issue 5

Extended Deadline: January 31, 2021
Girls Right the World is a literary journal inviting young, female-identified writers and artists, ages 14–21, to submit work for consideration for the fifth annual issue. We believe girls’ voices transform the world for the better. We accept poetry, prose, and visual art of any style or theme. We ask to be the first to publish your work in North America; after publication, the rights return to you. Send your best work, in English or English translation, to [email protected] by January 31, 2021. Please include a note mentioning your age, where you’re from, and a bit about your submission

The World at Large

Guest Post by Michael Hettich.

John Balaban is one of the finest poets of his generation, and indeed one of the best poets at work today. When I say “fine,” I mean just that: his poetry communicates a discernment of eye and ear attuned to nuance, subtle variation, and the truths embedded therein. These qualities, coupled with a rare intelligence, a deeply-informed worldview, and a resistance to navel-gazing or rhetorical pomposity, combine to invest his work with a Classical tenor that has the clarity of good prose and the heft of well-made poetry. As with all of his previous books of poetry and prose, his new book, Empires, is an engaging, invigorating, expertly-crafted collection that manages to speak simultaneously to and of our time as well as of the great span of history that has brought us to this moment. Continue reading “The World at Large”

Contest :: Headlight Review Open to Submissions for Issues & Chapbook Contest

Kennesaw State University logoDeadline: After 80 submissions received
The Headlight Review
’s Annual Chapbook Prize in Prose is open for submissions! Send us your very best literary fiction, 6k-10k words, and you will be considered by our expert panel of judges for a $500 cash prize and publication of your manuscript. Submissions are $20 each, and all finalists will also be considered for publication. Publication in THR’s regular genres (Poetry, Nonfiction, Fiction, Book Reviews, & Interviews) is also year-round, and it is free to submit. Submission Guidelines for The Chapbook Prize, and for our year-round submissions, can be found on our website. We look forward to reading your work!

Call :: Driftwood Press Accepts Work Year-round & is a Paying Market

Driftwood Press website screenshotSubmissions accepted year-round.
John Updike once said, “Creativity is merely a plus name for regular activity. Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better.” At Driftwood Press, we are actively searching for artists who care about doing it right, or better. We are excited to receive your submissions and will diligently work to bring you the best in full poetry collections, novellas, graphic novels, short fiction, poetry, graphic narrative, photography, art, interviews, and contests. We also offer our submitters a premium option to receive an acceptance or rejection letter within one week of submission; many authors are offered editorships and interviews. To polish your fiction, note our editing services and seminars, too. Check out our latest issue (8.1) featuring work by Mason Boyles, Lynda Montgomery, Sam Heydt, Robin Gow, Lina Patton, Lora Kinkade, Summer J. Hart, R. C. Davis, Ben Kline, Brennan McMullen, Wren Hanks, Jake Goldwasser, Kat Y. Tang, and Kelsey M. Evans. www.driftwoodpress.net

Prime Number Magazine – January-March 2020

Prime Number Magazine logo

This issue offers information on the 2021 Prime Number Magazine Awards for Poetry and Short Fiction, with judges Stacy R. Nigliazzo (poetry) and Dennis McFadden (short fiction). You’ll also find our 2020 Pushcart Prize nominees, recent winners of our free 53-Word Story Contest, and poetry selections by our guest poetry editor Lindsey Royce and short fiction selections by our guest short fiction editor Rhonda Browning White.

Plume – January 2021

Stop by this month’s Plume Featured Selection for an interview with Chanda Feldman and Erika Meitner conducted by Sally Bliumis-Dunn. Bianca Stone writes about why she makes poetry comics. Instead of the usual book review section, this month you can see what Plume’s editors have enjoyed reading this year.

Glass Mountain – Fall 2020

The Fall 2020 issue of Glass Mountain features the Robertson Prize winners: Sarah Han Kuo in fiction, Yasmin Boakye in nonfiction, and Stephanie Lane Sutton in poetry. Also in this issue, find art by Martin Balsam, Jailyne España, Rain Mang, and more; fiction by Rain Bravo, Eric Dickey, Caitlin Helsel, and others; nonfiction by Linda Schwartz; and poetry by Danny Barbare, Emily Fernandez, Kathy Key-Tello, Stephanie Niu, and more.

Driftwood Press – Issue 8.1

Featured in our latest issue is the 2020 Adrift Contest winning story “Myopic” by Mason Boyles, selected by T. Geronimo Johnson, alongside another story, “Whomp,” by Lynda Montgomery. From the whispers behind grief to the galactic weight of finding a new identity, the poetry in this issue drills into some of mankind’s most intimate desires and conflicts. Read more at the Driftwood Press website.

Contest :: River Styx Extends Microfiction Contest Deadline

River Styx has extended the deadline of their Microfiction Contest from December 31 to Midnight, January 8!

River Styx 2021 Microfiction Contest BannerExtended Deadline: Midnight, January 8
River Styx offers a prize of $1,000 for a single microfiction story of 500 words or fewer. The top three stories will be published, and all stories will be considered for publication. Your choice of entry fee: $20 to receive a one-year (two issue) subscription or $15 to receive just the issue with the winning stories. Submit up to three stories per entry, maximum 500 words per story. Additional stories may be submitted with additional fees. Submissions may not be previously published either in print or online. Submit via mail or Submittable. Complete guidelines are posted at www.riverstyx.org/submit/microfiction-contest/.

The Blue Mountain Review

In the latest issue of The Blue Mountain Review: Poet Lee Herrick delivers heart and fire and Sebastian Mathews writes about melody and technique. Travel with Jeremy Bassetti or spend an evening in Nashville’s Red Phone Booth. Also in the issue: a sit down with Jessica Jacobs and Nickole Brown, Freddie Ashley of the Actor’s Express, and the life and works of Rebecca Evans. Plus, even more fiction, essays, and poetry.

Call :: Submit Your 50-word Story to 50 Give or Take

50 Give or Take posterDeadline: Rolling
50 Give or Take daily delivers micro-fiction of fifty words or less straight into your inbox. Please subscribe (it’s free!) to get an idea of what is published, before submitting your work. All accepted 50 Give or Take pieces will be published in a print collection at the end of every year, starting in 2021. All you have to do is submit your: 50-word story, one-line bio, website or social media URL, and a vertical photo of yourself to [email protected]. Good luck!

Bookstore & Library Mailing Lists Still Discounted

Did you miss out on our mailing list sale this year? Not to worry: you have until January 15 to take advantage of our current discounts.

Purchase the U.S. Bookstore digital mailing lists and receive our Public Libraries and Academic Libraries lists for free. This option saves you a total of $190 and helps you reach even more bookshelves around the country.

You can find out all about what each list offers at our website. While you’re there, don’t forget to check out our new Canadian Bookstore List option as well.

Contest :: Five Pages is All You Need: First Pages Prize 2021

First Pages Prize 2021 bannerDeadline: February 7, 2021
Open to un-agented writers worldwide, the First Pages Prize 2021 invites you to enter your first 5 pages of a fiction or creative nonfiction manuscript. 5 winners receive $5,000 USD, a developmental edit, and agent consultation. Lan Samantha Chang, director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, to judge. Enter Jan 1- Feb 7; extended deadline Feb 21, 2021. For guidelines, terms & conditions, visit www.firstpagesprize.com. Happy writing and we cannot wait to read your pages!

Canadian Bookstore Mailing Lists Now Available

You may already be familiar with our mailing lists to bookstores, libraries, and newspapers in the United States, and now we have another option to help you get the word out about your book.

We’ve recently added a Canadian Independent Bookstore mailing list to our options! Just like our other lists, these are available both digitally and as printed, physical mailing labels. Postal addresses are included for all stores in this list, with email addresses included when available.

You can find out more about our mailing lists at our website.

Memoir Magazine Announces Winners for Inaugural Memoir Prize for Books

Memoir Prize for BooksMemoir Magazine annually holds the Memoir Prize which awards Memoir and Creative Nonfiction book-length works of exceptional merit in three categories: traditionally published, self-published, and unpublished. The awards include a cash prize, a feature in Memoir Magazine, and a year’s worth of free advertising. This is the only prize of its kind solely focusing on memoir. The 2021 prize deadline will be announced in January.

The grand prize winner of the inaugural Memoir Prize for Books is Relief by Execution: A Visit to Mauthausen by Gint Aras.

The finalists and category winners were:

  • Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia by Emma Copley Eisenberg
  • Wild Blueberries: Nuns, Rabbits & Discovery in Rural Michigan by Peter Damm
  • Dreams and Nightmares: I Fled Alone to the United States When I Was Fourteen by Liliana Velasquez

You can view the full list of honorable mentions at Memoir Magazine‘s website.

Brevity Blog: Blurb Your Enthusiasm

Brevity Blog: "Blurb Your Enthusiasm" by Lisa KuselAre you a follower of literary blogs? Do you love nonfiction? Did you know online literary magazine Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction has a (nearly) daily blog? It should definitely be on your blogroll! You can find reviews, articles, and so much more.

I highly recommend checking out Lisa Kusel’s “Blurb Your Enthusiasm” posted on December 18. The piece is an interesting take on the value of blurbs on the back of your book and the luck of a lesser known writer getting a big name to step in and contribute a blurb. It was particularly interesting to me because I actually do not heed blurbs on the back of books. When trying to select a new book to read, I always felt annoyed when I saw blurbs from others when I what I wanted was a brief book summary to actually let me know what the book was about.

Have you ever selected a book based on the back cover blurbs alone?

While you are checking that out, don’t forget to scroll through more posts. They are definitely an interesting read.

2021 Raleigh Review Flash Fiction Prize Winners

Raleigh Review has announced the winners of their 2021 Flash Fiction Prize. Congrats to the winner, honorable mention, and finalists.

Winner 
“Monument” by Amina Gautier

Honorable Mention 
“1985” by Katherine Hubbard

Finalists
“Hansel and Gretel on Trial” by Amina Gautier
“You Two” by Alana Reynolds

You can look forward to reading these pieces in the forthcoming Spring 2021 issue of Raleigh Review. Enter your own work to the 2022 prize opening in July 2021.

Glass Mountain Goes Digital

Literary magazine Glass Mountain has launched a new website as they transition from a print journal into an online-only journal. They are also working on digitizing their past volumes. You can keep up on the status of this project on their archives page.

Glass Mountain Volume 25 feature

Glass Mountain was conceived of in 2006 by the undergraduate students of the University of Houston and was designed as a counterpart to their literary magazine Gulf Coast, which is edited by graduate students in the creative writing program. It’s name hails from Donald Barthelme’s short story “Glass Mountain.”

This journal is ran and edited by undergraduate writers and is dedicated to showcasing the writing of fellow undergraduate writers from across the country. They accept submissions year-round from emerging and undergraduate writers. They do not charge a submission fee.

You can read their current Fall 2020 issue in its entirety online. It features the winners of the Robertson Prize, Sarah Han Kuo (fiction), Yasmin Boakye (nonfiction), and Stephanie Lane Sutton (poetry).

They also hold an annual conference dedicated to emerging writers. The 2021 Boldface conference will be conducted virtually May 24-28.

Don’t forget to stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more, too.

The Write Place at the Write Time 2020 Holiday Bizarre

The Write Place at the Write Time 2020 Holiday Bizarre

Online literary magazine The Write Place at the Write Time has created a virtual holiday bizarre to help bring people together and offer support during these troubling times. They are featuring vendors who are WPWT authors, artisans, artists, and staff as well as friends and family connected to WPWT.

From their Facebook page:

The Facebook page will feature, in addition to the individual vendors, holiday facts from around the world and across time as well as uplifting posts (links to heart-warming stories, quotes, holiday communications from WPWT to let you know you are thought of and cared about in this season and always) and of course an awesome raffle… We already have one of our NYT best-selling authors helping to spread holiday cheer by donating books to our raffle and other great authors, sites are joining.

Currently the bizarre is up and running now and will extend through mid-January, although they may choose to extend the bizarre past that. You can find stories, traditions, and great items for yourself and others in your life. They also have resource pages if you would like to reach out and help to support others during this time. They also plan on offering up writing prompts to help inspire.