New Lit on the Block :: The Golden Key
NewPages is happy to welcome yet another new, online magazine—The Golden Key. Publishing fiction and poetry twice a year, the magazines is available online and in PDF form for free. The magazine publishes speculative and literary writing, stories and poems that “grip,” “enchant,” and “enthrall” the editors.
The name of the magazine is inspired by the Grimm’s fairy tale by the same name. Co-Editor Susan Anspach says that the story “concludes with a boy lifting the lid of a little iron chest before revealing to readers what the chest contains. The Grimms,” she continues, “chose to end their collection of fairy tales with this story as a reminder that there exists an endless reserve of stories still yet untold. In the same spirit, our journal seeks to publish work that is open to strange and marvelous possibilities.”
During her MFA program at University of Maryland, Anspach met Co-Editors Carlea Holl-Jensen and LiAnn Yim. They were all reading a lot of speculative and strange work. “We were excited to share our fascination with the weird and the oft magical, and we knew we wanted more of it,” Anspach says. Thus, the magazine was born.
But compared to some other online magazines, this magazine will remain digital. The editors don’t have hopes of eventually turning it to a print publication because they wish to make “the best digital imprint [they] can.” Anspach says that this will help keep the costs low so that they can eventually pay their contributors.
The poems in the first issue include “Let’s Hurt” by Cat Richardson, “My Son to His Therapist:” and “Daughters of the Spindle” by Mary Elzabeth Lee, “Song of Solomon” by Maya K Lowy, “You tell me” by M.S. Rooney, and “dream, tiger” by Nancy Chen Long. The fiction includes “Bones” by Sylvia Linsteadt, “Fetching Whiskey Bill” by Lily Bruzas, “The Wooden Frame” by Alexander Gifford Howard, “Trail of Stones” by Adam Smith, and “Duplicator” by James D. Reed.
Every issue of the magazine is themed. The magazine accepts submissions via email starting Jan. 1 and running through March 31 for the next issue. You can follow The Golden Key on Facebook and Twitter (@GoldenKeyLit) for announcements on submissions, issue themes, and release dates.
