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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!

November 2020 eLitPak :: MFA in Creative Writing at UNCG

UNCG MFA in Creative Writing August 2020 eLitPak flier
click image to open PDF

Find your Story Here

Application Deadline: January 1.
One of the first creative writing programs in the country, UNC Greensboro’s MFA is a two-year residency program offering fully funded assistantships with stipends and health insurance. Students work closely with faculty in one-on-one tutorials; take courses in poetry, fiction, publishing, and creative nonfiction; and pursue opportunities in college teaching or editorial work for The Greensboro Review. More at our website.

View full November eLitPak Newsletter here.

Britsch’s Brilliant Debut Novel

Guest Post by Kimberly Diaz.

I stumbled upon amazing author Lucie Britsch via “Murder me Nicely,” a witty story in The Sun literary magazine. It charmed and delighted me so much that immediately after consuming it, I went looking for more. I found her on Twitter and great news—she had a novel coming out. I sent her a few highly complimentary tweets, ordered the book, and patiently reread my complete collection of Stephen McCauley novels as I waited for it to arrive.

Sad Janet is about a youngish woman who is depressed yet resisting constant pleas from family and coworkers to go on medication for it. She feels her depression is just the logical result of being aware. Every day she forces herself out of bed, laces up her Doc Martens and heads off to her job in a dog kennel in the woods “like a goddamned hero.” She has mixed feelings about the guy she lives with referring to him only as “the boyfriend” and admits that when he wants sex, sometimes she would really just rather have a sandwich.

With the holidays coming, the pressure to be happy is growing. Big Pharma has come out with a drug trial for a pill that will let you have a happy Christmas and Janet reluctantly signs up. You’ll have to read the book to find out how that goes. The novel is filled with Janet’s thoughts which are dark and hilarious. They’re already playing Christmas tunes in the mall, so Britsch’s brilliant debut novel, Sad Janet, is the perfect choice for gift-giving or your next book club meeting.


Sad Janet by Lucie Britsch. Penguin Random House, June 2020.

Reviewer bio: Kimberly Diaz studied creative writing at Eckerd College. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Entropy, Montana Mouthful, Eckerd Review, Another Chicago Magazine, and elsewhere. She’s currently working on a collection of creative nonfiction. Read her most recent publication: https://entropymag.org/the-fish/

Magical and Practical Inspiration

Guest Post by Renée Cohen.

Throughout the quarantine, I took to rereading old favorites. Most notably, Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear and Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft—two books on the craft of writing that I recommend, particularly to aspiring writers.

Oddly enough, I was never a huge fan of either author’s prior works of fiction. (Although, admittedly, I have enjoyed movies based on some of their oeuvres.) In 2015, I purchased Big Magic prior to boarding a long-haul flight. Some fluff to pass the time, I reasoned at the time. By pure luck, On Writing was given to me at a holiday party during a random gift exchange. Continue reading “Magical and Practical Inspiration”

The Adroit Journal Celebrates Ten Years

Online literary magazine The Adroit Journal is celebrating 10 years of publication! They are inviting you to join them for a special free virtual reading to help them celebrate on November 21 at 7PM EST on Zoom. The reading will be hosted by Heidi Seaborn, executive editor of The Adroit Journal.

Readers include K-Ming Chang, Victoria Chang, Chen Chen, Tiana Clark, Megan Giddings, Laura Kasischke, Dorianne Laux, Ben Loory, LaTanya McQueen, José Olivarez, Justin Phillip Reed, and Arthur Sze.

A Lesson in Leadership

Guest Post by Jennifer Brown Banks.

It goes without saying that effective leadership is not exactly a dinner table topic, a trending news item, or a subject matter that most of us consider on a daily basis. Yet, good leadership is firmly ingrained in many roles and rites of passage in our daily lives.

Consider this. Good leadership is needed to be an effective parent, a supervisor, a mentor, and even an American president. Which is why so many people have a definite opinion on Donald Trump—be it good or bad.

In the book, Leadersh!t by former CEO and leadership development coach, Rande Somma, many aspects and attributes of an effective leader are explored; as he addresses the need for accountability, transparency, and integrity to fix what he considers a “broken system” in corporate America.

This compelling read includes chapters on the dumbing down of values, the price of incompetence, the enormous ROI (return on investment) of character, and more.

Leadersh!t provides a paradigm shift for tomorrow’s leaders and reflection for stake holders in current business affairs.


Leadersh!t by Rande Somma. Booklocker.com, November 2016.

Reviewer bio: Jennifer Brown Banks is a veteran freelance writer, award-winning blogger and avid reader, residing in Illinois. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jenpens2.

Hippocampus 2020 Contest Winner Announced

Hippocampus, the online literary magazine devoted to memorable creative nonfiction, has announced the winner of its 2020 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction.

photographs of 2020 Remember in November contest winners

Claire O’Brien’s essay “Dead Weight” was selected by guest judge Janna Marlies Maron as the grand prize winner.

The runner-up an finalists are:

  • “The New Pretty” by Nicole Graev Lipson (runner-up)
  • “Exodus” by Darby Shea Williams
  • “The Honey Bucket” by Laura Joyce-Hubbard
  • “I’ll Be Seeing You: A Black Women Travels in 2017” by DW McKinney
  • Say You Want to Live and Be Beautiful” by Lori Jakiela

You can read the winning piece, runner-up, and finalists in the November 2020 issue online now.

Contest :: Win a Full-Tuition Scholarship to Interlochen Arts Academy

Interlochen Arts Academy LogoDeadline: January 14, 2021
Interlochen Arts Academy is now accepting submissions for the 2021 Virginia B. Ball Creative Writing Scholarship Competition. Apply to win a full-tuition scholarship to Interlochen Arts Academy. All students in grades 8-11 during this academic year are eligible to apply. Applicants must submit writing samples in two of the following genres: Literary Fiction; Poetry; Personal Essay or Memoir; Screenwriting; Playwriting; Experimental/Unclassifiable Writing. For submission guidelines and more information, visit write.interlochen.org. Use application fee waiver code: WRITE21.

Hippocampus Magazine November 2020

We’re thrilled to announce the winner of our 2020 contest (Claire O’Brien’s essay “Dead Weight”), as well as to share all six finalist stories—and more great CNF content—with you in our November issue. Our runner-up and finalists: Nicole Graev Lipson (runner-up), Shea Williams, Laura Joyce-Hubbard, DW McKinney, and Lori Jakiela. See more contributors at the Mag Stand.

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

NOMADartx logoDeadline: December 20, 2020
NOMADartx is an emerging global creative network dedicated to sharing and amplifying creative potential, regardless of genre. Our new NOMADartx Review curates fresh voices that address creativity and creative process via 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, with a special call for work about routine, ritual, and repetition (or their opposites). More information is here: nomadartx.submittable.com/submit.

The Baltimore Review – Fall 2020

Welcome to the fall issue of The Baltimore Review! This issue features poems, fiction, and creative nonfiction by: Emily Rose Cole, Rebecca Cross, Monica Joy Fara, Elliott Gish, Vernita Hall, Joshua Jones, Meg Kearney, Cindy King, Adrian S. Potter, Amy Small-McKinney, J. C. Todd, Travis Truax, Jeanette Tryon, Nicholas A. White, Susan Wyssen, and Maria Zoccola. Ghosts. A head on a stretcher. The virus. A flood. Voices of dead people in a wardrobe.

Contest :: Carve Magazine Prose & Poetry Contest Extends Deadline

Carve Prose & Poetry Contest 2020 Extended DeadlineExtended Deadline: November 20
Carve Magazine‘s Prose & Poetry Contest deadline has been extended to November 20. Accepting submissions from all over the world, but work must be in English. Max 10,000 words for fiction and nonfiction; 2,000 words for poetry. Prizes: $1,000 each for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. All 3 winners published online in Spring 2021. $23 late entry fee. Guest judges are Shruti Swamy for fiction; Kendra Allen for nonfiction; and Roy G. Guzmán for poetry. www.carvezine.com/prose-poetry-contest/

Call :: Essential Voices: A COVID-19 Anthology

Deadline: December 31, 2020
While the pandemic has ravaged our world, certain populations have been impacted more deeply than others. Essential Voices strives to give voice to those who have been silenced. Send us your poems, stories, recipes, or works of art that reflect upon the experience of COVID and COVID related issues in your life. This anthology will be published by West Virginia University Press. Visit us at www.essentialvoicesanthology.wordpress.com for guidelines before submitting to [email protected].

Call :: 2021 Anthology from great weather for MEDIA Seeks Submissions

great weather for MEDIA logoDon’t forget great weather for MEDIA seeks poetry, flash fiction, short stories, dramatic monologues, and creative nonfiction for our annual print anthology. Our focus is on the fearless, the unpredictable, and the experimental. Please visit our website for guidelines. Deadline: January 15, 2021.

2020 Frontier Industry Prize Winners

The 2020 Frontier Industry Prize winners have been announced.

Winner
“The Long Afterlife” by Michelle Phương Ting
To be published on December 2, 2020

2nd Place
“while i walk, my brother assures my nephew there are wildflowers growing in minneapolis” by Chaun Ballard
To be published on November 25, 2020

3rd Place
“Bad Dream With My Grandmother’s Stroke” by Adedayo Agarau
To be published on November 18, 2020

Michelle Phương Ting’s piece was selected by Daniel Slager, Peter LaBerge, and Carmen Giménez Smith, and she took home a $3000 prize.

Visit Frontier Poetry‘s website for author bios, as well as a list of finalists and poets on the longlist.

Freedom-Granting Poetry by Bethany Bowman

Magazine Review by Katy Haas

The Main Street Rag forwent their usual beautiful photographic cover art for a cartoon version of Donald Trump behind bars with the Fall 2020 issue. It seemed pretty appropriate, then, that I ended up opening the issue at random to find Bethany Bowman’s “Sometimes After Getting Off the Phone,” which begins with the speaker getting off the phone with their father “who confesses to voting for / Donald Trump to reverse Roe v. Wade” and observing a friend being confronted about her right to choose with her abortion in the 70’s.

The poem begins in a tense spot but we’re given relief, along with the speaker, in the form of animal facts given by the speaker’s son. These facts lead to biblical lessons and connections being “fed to the dogs” as the speaker realizes “you’ve always been filled with the spirit— / no external male force, no deity can grant it / or take it away.” There is power in this realization, a freedom granted from the sins stacked on women’s shoulders from the beginning of time.

While Trump may be behind bars on this issue’s cover, there is freedom to be found in the writing which Bowman graciously reminds us of.

Event :: Affordable, Virtual Monthly Workshops & Literary Coaching: Caesura Poetry Workshop

Caesura Poetry Workshop logo open book with red bookmarkRegistration Deadline: Year-round
Event dates: Monthly workshops
Event location: Zoom
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 Mastering Ekphrastic Poetry ($45; November 18 & Friday, November 20, 1-4pm PT), Poetry of Place ($40; December 16, 1:30-4pm PT), and Writing Evocative Love Poems ($40; January 27, 1:30-4pm PT). 1-1 personalized workshops, manuscript critiques, and regular coaching to keep you writing and inspired also available. More information: www.johnsibleywilliams.com/upcoming-classes. To register, email [email protected].

Twists and Turns, Taut and Beautiful: Melanie Finn’s ‘The Hare’

Guest Post by Samantha Kolber.

This is the second novel I have read by Melanie Finn, and I am simply in love with her writing! It is smart and atmospheric, with the pull of a literary thriller but with meat and heart.

In her new novel The Hare (available now for pre-order), Rosie is an amazingly complex character, and Finn captures her porous self so well. In the beginning, we are coming-of-age with Rosie as she struggles to find her voice, her artistic vision, and her Self in a world dominated by men—men’s desires and needs have always come first, and Rosie is no stranger to that sublimation. But as the book moves through time, we see Rosie gaining strength, getting strong in the woods where she hunts and forages to keep herself and her infant daughter alive after they are left by the wealthy castaway boyfriend, Bennett.

The book takes some twists and turns, and Rosie grows older, hardened, yet still a loving soul, just like Finn writes of the trees on the barbed wire fence line in the forest: “The trees absorbed the cruel wire, grew straight and tall, regardless.” What an apt metaphor for women in this world: we absorb the traumas, the violence, the sleights to our sex, and grow strong, regardless.

I felt so close to the setting, too, I could often hear the fallen leaves crunching underfoot, or smell the woodstove smoke on a crisp winter evening. The complicated relationship between mother and daughter, cocooned together in a life of survival and secrets in a cabin in Vermont, is also captured well here.

Finn is a master of complication made visible through taut and beautiful words. I highly recommend this book.


The Hare by Melanie Finn. Two Dollar Radio, January 2021.

Reviewer bio: Samantha Kolber of Montpelier, Vermont, is a poet, editor, and author of a poetry chapbook, Birth of a Daughter (Kelsay Books, 2020). Learn more at www.samanthakolber.com.

2020 Coniston Prize Winner & Finalists Announced

Laura Villareal is the winner of Radar Poetry‘s 2020 Coniston Prize. Her suite of poems will appear in Issue 28. Judge Ada Limón said of Villareal’s poems, “With language that is alive and piercing with rich sound work and haunting images, these poems are both confident and aching.”

Finalists of this year’s prize were Hillary Berg, Mary Craig, Shannon Elizabeth Hardwick, Jessica Hincapie, Amy Miller, Meredith Stricker, and Sarah Wolfson. You can read their poems in Issue 28 as well.

Steinke’s ‘Flash Count Diary’

Guest Post by Joe Taylor.

For sure, this book is about menopause and all the related inconveniences, silly jokes, and notions—but it’s also about sexuality, patriarchy, mortality, acceptance, spirituality, wisdom, and whales. Yes whales, for it seems those creatures that can live well over a century elect matriarchs who have experienced menopause to lead their packs in something of a crone’s position. And why not? Experience matters. Lack of distraction matters. It’s called wisdom. And this, Steinke tells us, is precisely why women should not pursue hormone treatment, why men should not pursue Viagra. Acceptance of life’s stages and the accompanying wisdom, not denial and infantile retreat.

This book presents Darcey Steinke par excellence, perhaps a bit angrier than her usual when discussing the mostly male-dominated medical and pharmaceutical fields, but then, as she would no doubt insist, she has earned that anger. As have we all.


Flash Count Diary: Menopause and the Vindication of Natural Life by Darcey Steinke. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2019.

Reviewer bio: Joe Taylor has published five novels and three story collections. He is the director of Livingston Press: https://livingstonpress.uwa.edu.

Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.

Mudfish Writing Workshop Goes Virtual

Mudfish founding editor Jill Hoffman leads a combined workshop of poetry and fiction in Tribeca, New York. These workshops are open to writers of all levels and are now being conducted virtually via ZOOM. Writers get to read aloud each week and give and receive honest and constructive criticism. Editors for Mudfish are also recruited from these workshops.

Sessions are being offered Monday or Wednesday nights from 7:30 to 11:00 PM. Visit their website to learn more.

CRAFT 2nd Annual All-Flash November

For the second year in a row, literary magazine CRAFT will be focusing on flash pieces in November. This was kicked off with new flash fiction from Kim Magowan on November 6.

Follow their site for the latest flash pieces from Despy Boutris, Lori Sambol Brody, Lindsey Harding, and Paul Crenshaw. Plus, you’ll also find Amy Barnes tackling Nancy Stohlman’s Going Short and Kristin Tenor’s hybrid interview with Tara Isabel Zambrano on Death, Desire, and Other Destinations.

An Action Adventure Sports Novel

Guest Post by Lorraine “Lorrie” Morales

If you’re looking for a great story from a self-published author, check our Jim Malner’s Big League. The book is an action adventure sports novel and a great read for anyone who loves hockey and mystery.

David Stone, an undrafted walk-on player, dreams of playing in the NHL. Riley Sawyer, the league’s number one draft pick, is Detroit Red Wings favorite to lead the team to the Stanley Cup. Their meeting at the summer training camp is a battle, not only on the ice, but against Russian mobsters and professional assassins. The boys will discover what real team work is in professional sports and the world of organized crime.


Big League by Jim Malner. Self-published, 2019.

Reviewer bio: Lorraine “Lorrie” Morales is a published author from Alberta, Canada
Press: https://www.lorriemorales.com.

Are You Somebody I Should Know? Mudfish Individual Poet Series #14

Girl floating in book outside a white house

Mudfish has released the 14th installment in their Individual Poet Series. Are You Somebody I Should Know? by Dell Lemmon. Art critic and poet John Yau says that Lemmon’s “memoir poems, as she calls them, are strong rivers pulling you into their currents. Her poems are pared down and direct and move at a rapid clip without ever tripping over themselves.” Jason Koo, Founder and Executive Director of Brooklyn Poets, says Lemmon’s book will convince you that you have missed so “much of your life, haven’t truly seen it, haven’t treasured nearly enough of all your friends, your loves, your family, let alone all the people you thought were not important enough to know.”

Are You Somebody I Should Know is available via SPD, Amazon, and Mudfish‘s website.

The Main Street Rag – Fall 2020

This issue’s featured interview is with Doralee Brooks, whose poetry is also included. Also in this issue: creative nonfiction by Frederick W. Bassett; fiction by Nathan V. Baker, Mari Carlson, Linda Griffin, Alan Nelson, and Eudora Watson; and poetry by Joan Barasovska, Rachel Barton, Ranney Campbell, Maria Ceferatti, Sally Dunn, Caroline Goodwin, Cleo Griffith, Dorinda Hale, Dennis Herrell, Zebulon Huset, Craig Kittner, Mike Jurkovic, and more.

Contest :: 2021 Submissions to Progressive Young Artist Awards (PYAA) Open January 1!

Progressive Young Artist Awards 2021Deadline: November 2021
PYAA looks for original works that show cultivated proficiency, artistry, technical skill, and art that expresses students’ individualistic, creative voices and visions. 2021 submissions open January 1st! Visit our website to learn more about categories and how to submit.

The Gettysburg Review – 33.1

The Gettysburg Review is out and features paintings by Tollef Runquist, fiction by Julialicia Case, Martha Shaffer, Kirsten Vail Aguilar, and Andrea Marcusa; essays by Elizabeth Kaye Cook, Kathy Flann, Don Lago, Christine Schott, Rebecca McClanahan, and Melissa Haley; poetry by Christopher (c3) Crew, Peter Grandbois, Despy Boutris, Douglas Smith & George Looney, John Hazard, Brian Swann, Maura Stanton, Cindy King, John Brehm, and more.

Call :: Stubborn Artists, Chestnut Review is Open to Submissions 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! chestnutreview.com

Anomaly – No 31

In the new issue of Anomaly: comics by Tamara Jong, Jennifer Murvin, Chloe Martinez, Andie Frein, Amelia L. Williams, and Alina Viknyanskiy; poetry by Tian-Ai, Stephanie Jean, Shay Alexi, Saddiq Dzukogi, Noor Ibn Najam, Noʻu Revilla, Michal Jones, KL Lyons, Irteqa Khan, Ima Odong, Heather Simon, Eunice Kim, Chavonn Williams Shen, Bailey Cohen-Vera, Asmaa Jama, and Amanda Holiday, fiction by Laurence Klavan, LaToya Jordan, and Carson Faust; and nonfiction by Tasha Raella, Jody Chan, and Anjoli Roy.

Accepting Submissions: The Headlight Review Chapbook Prize

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!

Driftwood Press Adrift Contest Winners

Earlier this week, Driftwood Press announced the winners of their third annual Adrift Chapbook Contest.

Winner
Lily-livered
by Wren Hanks

Runner-up
Dead Uncles by Ben Kline

Guest Judge Sandra Beasley chose each of these chapbooks which will be available in 2021.

In fiction, T. Geronimo Johnson selected “Myopic” by Mason Boyles as this year’s Adrift Contest winner. This story will appear in the January 2021 issue of Driftwood Press.

If you’re disappointed you missed your chance to submit this year, no worries! The Driftwood Press Poem Contest and the Driftwood Press Short Story Contest are both currently open for submissions until January 15.

Fresh Fiction from Gilbert Allen

Guest Post by Elizabeth Genovise

If you’re hunting for some fresh fiction from a small press, check out Gilbert Allen’s newest book, The Beasts of Belladonna. This book features fifteen linked tales of quirky characters in a South Carolina foothills community. Expect the unexpected in these unsettling yet often hilarious stories, in which characters rub up against their own failures, yearnings, and secrets.

A minister nails a bird to a couple’s front door; a woman accidentally kills her cat and finds an unconventional way to grieve its loss; a man’s foxy neighbor goes to outrageous lengths to destroy his marriage. Domestic animals have a hefty influence on these people’s lives, sometimes comical and sometimes tragic; the same could be said about church as we’re introduced to the Mosquito Ministry, the Faster Pastor Challenge, and couples who pass witty notes during sermons. We meet “treenappers,” a Grandfather Against Garbage, and a character known as the Jesus of Malibu, and in these encounters are powerful flashes of raw humanity in all its complexity.


The Beasts of Belladonna by Gilbert Allen. Slant Books, October 2020.

Reviewer bio: Elizabeth Genovise is an MFA graduate from McNeese State University and the author of three short story collections, the most recent being Posing Nude for the Saints from the Texas Review Press. https://www.elizabethgenovisefiction.org/

At Home In The Dark With Carol Morris’s ‘Into The Lucky Dark’

Guest Post by Susan Kay Anderson

Into The Lucky Dark by Carol Morris, who is part of the Diane Wakoski circle, is much like being invited to coffee at a friend’s house where every time you go there you can be yourself and when you leave you feel like more yourself than ever before. Morris believes that life is a struggle but to read her poems and look at her utterly delightful artwork in this book, it would seem that life is also a place that we seem to haunt long before getting to the ghostly stage of things. This takes a bit of getting used to. It takes a while to read Morris’s poems because to languish in their harsh settings of bars and other meetings/gatherings is to feel the freeze, feel the edges of being an outsider even to oneself and then find the self in the touchstones of such leaving: “Houses in which my talents were useless” (from “A June Divorce”) to finding art and abstractions which make concrete sense. Continue reading “At Home In The Dark With Carol Morris’s ‘Into The Lucky Dark’”

Into the Void Wants Your Work in Issue #18

Into the Void coverDeadline: December 7, 2020
Print & online journal Into the Void is open to submissions of fiction, flash, creative nonfiction, poetry, & visual art to Issue #18 through December 7. Payment is $10 per poem/flash/art or $20 per long-from prose piece, a contributor copy, & a one-year online subscription. No theme, & no reading fees until Submittable monthly limits reached. Send us something that makes us feel alive. Details at our website.

Contest :: Reminder Carve’s 2020 Prose & Poetry Contest Closes November 15

Flier for Carve Magazine's Prose & Poetry Contest 2020Deadline: November 15
Carve Magazine‘s Prose & Poetry Contest deadline is November 15. Accepting submissions from all over the world, but work must be in English. Max 10,000 words for fiction and nonfiction; 2,000 words for poetry. Prizes: $1,000 each for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. All 3 winners published online in Spring 2021. Entry fee $17 online only. Guest judges are Shruti Swamy for fiction; Kendra Allen for nonfiction; and Roy G. Guzmán for poetry. www.carvezine.com/prose-poetry-contest/

Contest :: Reminder Inaugural Acacia Fiction Prize Accepting Submissions

Kallisto Gaia Press logoDeadline: December 31, 2020
The Acacia Fiction Prize winner is awarded $1,200, 20 author copies, plus publication and promotion by Kallisto Gaia Press for a collection of short stories, flash fiction, novellas, or any combination of fiction totaling between 40K and 75K words. Richard Z. Santos (Trust Me, 2020) will judge. Runner up receives $100. Entry fee is $25. All entrants receive a copy of the winning collection! Deadline: December 31, 2020. Sponsored by Duotrope. More info at kallistogaiapress.submittable.com/submit.

Raleigh Review – Fall 2020

This issue’s featured artist is Janice Joy Little. Fiction by Peter D. Gorman, Trina Askin, James Hartman, Melissa Reddish, and Katherine Conner. Poetry by Melissa Kwasny, Nan Becker, Dionissios Kollias, Colin Bailes, Rob Shapiro, Kabel Mishka Ligot, Hussain Ahmed, Johnny Lorenz, Darius Simpson, Camerin McGill, Jai Hamid Bashir, Melanie Tafejian, Maxine Patroni, Alaina Bainbridge, and Gabriella R. Tallmadge. Check it out at the Raleigh Review website.

The Lake – November 2020

The November issue of The Lake features Jean Atkin, Joe Balaz, Carol Casey, Robert G. Cowser, Sarah L. Dixon, Edilson A. Ferreira, Nels Hanson, Dierdre Hines, Beth McDonough, Roger Mitchell, Ronald Moran, Angela Readman, Maggie Reed, David Spicer. Reviews of Natalie Scott’s Rare Birds: Voices of Holloway Prison, Ric Cheyney’s In Praise of Nahum Tate, Terry Tierney’s The Poet’s Garage.

The Wishing Tree

Guest Post by Robert Lamb

It was Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman who said, “War is hell.” If you have any doubt that the general was dead right, run and get a copy of The Wishing Tree by Matthew A. Hamilton. You’ll see war up close and personal in his excellent account of the Armenian genocide by the Turks in the early 1900s.

Hamilton, a Richmond, VA writer and former Peace Corps volunteer, shows us through the eyes of a young Christian girl in Armenia how war unleashes unspeakable human savagery in the name of ethnic cleansing.

It is April 1915 and the Turks’ Ottoman Empire, which has lasted for centuries, is on the verge of defeat by the allied forces of Great Britain and the Arabs. In the novel’s first few pages, the heroine, Valia, a teenager, sees her parents, siblings, and neighbors, all Christians, murdered by Turkish “police soldiers,” and flees for her life.

Thus begins an odyssey the reader won’t soon forget. The author’s account of Valia’s struggle to stay alive and hopeful is a hymn to the human spirit, and the story is nothing short of realistic and gripping.

Adding a nice touch of realism, even Lawrence of Arabia and Arab Prince Faisal make cameo appearances near the story’s end.

OK, film producers; you can’t say I didn’t give you a heads up on this novel.


The Wishing Tree by Matthew A. Hamilton. Winter Goose Publishing, September 2020.

Reviewer bio: Robert Lamb is the author of four novels and a book of short stories; he review books for the New York Review of Books; and he has a website at www.robertlamb.net.

Into the Void Magazine – #17

Welcome to a great issue full of vivid, haunting, charming and thought-provoking pieces with a stunning cover image by Jeff Corwin. Fiction by George Choundas, Kathie Giorgio, Rosalind Goldsmith, Alice Ting Liu, Chris Neilan, and Alexander Woods; nonfiction by Audrey Burges, Marie Kilroy, and Ellis Scott; and poetry by Dianna Vagianos Armentrout, Swapnil Dhruv Bose, James Butler, and more.

Hole in the Head Review – November 2020

Issue 4 of Hole in the Head Review celebrates our first year. Featuring works by K. Johnson Bowles, Anna Birch, Bob Herz, Christopher Volpe, Ann Pedone, Richard Foerster, Hannah Tarkinson, James Crenner, Zoo Cain, Brendan Constantine, Norma Greenwood, Douglas Cole, and Stuart Kestenbaum. Special Prose Poem Mini Chapbook edited by Peter Johnson, including annotated correspondence of Russell Edson and works by Cassandra Atherton, Nin Andrews, Denise Duhamel, Gerald Fleming, Jeff Friedman, Holly Iglesias, and Anna McDonald.

Hanging Loose – Issue 111

Our 54th year of continuous publication! Cover art and portfolio by William Linmark. Poems by Sherman Alexie, Indran Amirthanayagam, Jack Anderson, Martine Bellen, Polly Buckingham, Liuyu Ivy Chen, Jiwon Choi, Robert Clinton, John Corley, Sam Cornish, Harley Elliott, Gerald Fleming, Justin Jamail, Daniel Johnson, Faye Kicknosway, David Lehman, Michael Miller, Frank Murphy, and more. Read more at the Hanging Loose website.

Contest :: National Indie Excellence Awards 2021 Open for Entries

2021 National Indie Excellence Awards bannerThe National Indie Excellence® Awards (NIEA) are open to all English language printed books available for sale, including small presses, mid-size independent publishers, university presses, and self-published authors. NIEA is proud to be a champion of self-publishing and small independent presses going the extra mile to produce books of excellence in every aspect. All entries for the 15th Annual NIEA contest must be postmarked by March 31, 2021. www.indieexcellence.com

Call :: We Pay Contributors: Driftwood Press Submissions Open

Driftwood Press website screenshotJohn 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. www.driftwoodpress.net