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Toad Suck Review Takes Over The Corpse

Edited by Mark Spitzer, Toad Suck Review is a national/international literary journal published by the Department of Writing in the College of Fine Arts and Communication at the University of Central Arkansas. Its mission is “to publish the most cutting-edge works of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, translations and reviews in the Universe.”

The 2011 debut of issue #1 (the “transitional issue”) marks the transition of the publication from the legendary Exquisite Corpse Annual, which the Writing Department published from 2008 to 2010. “The Toad” now takes the place of “the Corpse” in rebirth of a literary endeavor.

The Toad Suck Review website includes the editorial from this first issue with a discussion of the contributors and future of the publication.

New Lit on the Block :: Rubbertop Review

Being a Michigander, I’ve been raised not to take kindly to the Buckeye state, but there are always exceptions to that, especially for anything outside of college football. Rubbertop Review is worthy of just such an exception. Touting itself as “An Annual Journal of The University of Akron and Greater Ohio,” Rubbertop Review is a print annual in its second issue of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.

Unique to this publication is that each issue of Rubbertop will feature 1/4 of its content from undergraduate and graduate students at The University of Akron. The remainder of the journal will feature work by writers living in Ohio as well as beyond, with no requirement of university affiliation. Rubbertop Review bases selection solely on “the quality of writing and the passion for the craft.”

I picked up Volume Two at AWP, which contains interviews with writers Joyce Dyer, Nin Andrews and Holly Goddard Jones, and works by Sandra Bannister, Tony Bradford, Curt Brown, Kyle Brown, Ed Buchanan, Noah Falck, Ryan Fletcher, Scott Geisel, Eliese Colette Goldbach, T.M. Gottl, Brian Hohmeier, Michael Krutel, Daryl Largent, Dave Materna, Robert Miltner, Ryan Mohr, Michael Parsons, Sammy Snodgrass, Nick Sturm, and Diane Vogel Ferri.

Submissions for the third issue have just recently closed, but issue four will be open for both new and established writers from September 1 – February 1. Professor Eric Wasserman, Rubbertop‘s faculty advisor can be contacted for copies (e-mail address on website).

Conversations and Connections: Practical Advice on Writing

From Dave Housley (Barrelhouse magazine):

“Get the real scoop directly from the people who are making decisions about publishing every day. Conversations and Connections is held in downtown Washington, DC, and features editors from a mix of established and cutting-edge literary magazines and small presses. Our panels and craft workshops are led by writers and editors from a wide variety of styles and genres, all speaking to issues that will help you take your writing to the next level. Our keynote this year is Steve Almond. Your registration fee of $65 includes the full day conference, a book of your choice, a year subscription to a participating literary magazine, and one ticket to ‘speed dating with editors,’ where you’ll get immediate feedback on your work. This conference sells out every year.”

Date: April 16, 2011

Lost & Found Chapbook Series

Lost & Found: The CUNY Poetics Document Initiative features extra-poetic work – correspondence, journals, critical prose, and transcripts of talks – of New American Poets, their precursors and followers. These primary documents are uncovered in archival research and edited by students and scholars at The Graduate Center, CUNY, as well as visiting fellows and guest editors, and prepared by Ammiel Alcalay, General Editor. Lost & Found puts into wider circulation essential but virtually unknown texts to expand our knowledge of literary, cultural, social, and political history.

Subscription prices vary by level of support, but all include the chapbook series for the year. The 2011 Lost & Found Series II (ISBN: 978-0-615-43350-9) includes:

Selections from El Corno Emplumado/ The Plumed Horn
ed. Margaret Randall

Diane di Prima: The Mysteries of Vision: Some Notes on H.D.
ed. Ana Božičević

Diane di Prima: R.D.’s H.D.
ed. Ammiel Alcalay

Barcelona, 1936: Selections from Muriel Rukeyser’s Spanish Civil War Archive
ed. Rowena Kennedy-Epstein

Jack Spicer’s Translation of Beowulf:Selections
eds. David Hadbawnik and Sean Reynolds

Robert Duncan: Olson Memorial Lecture #4
eds. Erica Kaufman, Meira Levinson, Bradley Lubin, Megan Paslawski, Kyle Waugh, Rachael Wilson, and Ammiel Alcalay

Sampsonia Way

Sampsonia Way is an online magazine sponsored by City of Asylum/Pittsburgh celebrating literary free expression and supporting persecuted poets and novelists worldwide.

Previous issues of the magazine have focused on Burma, China, Cuba, Haiti, and Iran. The current issue of the magazine includes:

“Soandry del Rio: Can’t Stop. Won’t Stop.” by Joshua Barnes
“You Must Face the Consequences: The Price of Committing Journalism in Zimbabwe” by Elizabeth Hoover
“Under the Shadow of Drug Trafficking” by Silvia Duarte
“Aaron Jenkins: Getting Stuff Off His Chest” by Jen Lue
“Women Who Don’t Bite their Tongues: Writing Workshop Celebrates More Than Thirty Year” by Elizabeth Hoover

Pudding Magazine New Editor

Connie Everett has taken over the editorial role for Pudding Magazine, one of the longest-running print journals in the U.S. Printed by Pudding House Press, Pudding Magazine continues its quarterly tradition with a look to updating guidelines, subscriptions, and submissions online. Welcome aboard Connie – great to see PM continue onward and e-ward!

Flying House Writer-Artist Collaboration

Flying House is an annual collaboration project that kicks off in May with the announcement of five artist-writer pairs. Once the pairs are picked, they have a good month to swap ideas back and forth. After six months, with deadlines and check-ins along the way, Flying House culminates in a visual and written representation of the collaborations in a gallery space with a reading and celebration.

On Saturday, December 11, five writers met their five artist partners at the Maes Studio in downtown Chicago, IL, for a night of artistic revelry. The participants were:

Megan Fink and Chris Annen
AB Gorham and Michael Maes/Jillian McDaniel
BJ Hollars and Jenae Neeson
Daniel Letz and J Paonessa
Danilo Thomas and Jason Watts

Applications for the 2011 Flying House are open until April 25. Artists and writers need not apply together, in fact, Flying House discourages that.

Welcome :: BRICKrhetoric

Sarah Khan is the editor of BRICKrhetoric, an online literary & visual arts journal based in Chicago. “BRICKrhetoric was established in 2009 to provide a canvas for emerging and established artists alike to share their work, illuminating topics in the humanities for the discovery and enjoyment of its readers. BRICKrhetoric features original poetry, prose, artwork and photography with a multicultural and urban focus.”

BRICKrhetoric was founded in November 2009, on the campus of East-West University in Chicago, IL, and initially invited submissions from students, faculty, staff & friends of the university for the first three issues. In December 2010, BRICKrhetoric became independently-run by a small group of volunteers, and shifted its focus to include students from across Chicagoland (and beyond) with a mission to support literacy, promote cross-cultural perspective, celebrate the literary/visual arts, and provide a canvas for writers/artists (of any age) to share their work.

[Pictured: “Love Joy Faith Destiny Unity” by Alfred Phillips from the June 2010 issue]

River Styx Poetry Contest Winners

Issue 84 of River Styx includes poems by the winners of the 2010 River Styx International Poetry Contest:

1st Place Stephen Gibson, “Megapixels”
2nd Place Diana Arterian, “The Albatross, Golden Mollymawk”
3rd Place Will Greenway, “Annunciation”
Honorable Mention Susan Cohen, “Pantoum of The Blue Virgin”

The 2011 contest is currently open until May 31, 2011; Judge B. H. Fairchild.. Entrance fee includes a one-year subscription to the magazine, all entrants are considered for publication, and the winners are published with the first place winner receiving $1500.

New Lit on the Block :: Parcel

Edited by Kate Lorenz with Designer Justin Runge, Parcel is a biannual print publication, sent to subscribers with limited edition broadsides and postcards. Publisher Heidi Raak is also owner of The Raven Book Store, in Lawrence, KS.

The first issue of Parcel (Spring 2011) includes works by Kate Bernheimer, Brooklyn Copeland, Daniel Coudriet, Nick Courtright, Jenny Gropp Hess, Daniel A. Hoyt, Friedrich Kerksieck, Jeffry Koterba, Kristy Logan, Peter Longofono, BJ Love, Anthony Luebbert, Michael Martone, Susan McCarty, Jaclyn Mednicov, Matt Moore, Matthew Nienow, Brian Oliu, Pamela Ryder, Christopher Salerno, and J.A. Tyler.

Parcel is available for subscription ($20/yr) and is open for online submissions using Submishmash.

Alimentum Wants Your Menupoems

For the 5th year in a row Alimentum celebrates National Poetry Month with menupoems – broadsides placed in area restaurants for the month of April.

From Esther Cohen, Alimentum‘s menupoems editor:

We’ve been wondering
What menu of words
What words would make you
Really happy to see
On your menu
Words to replace
The ordinary army
Appetizer
Entr

Music on Burner

The newest issue of Burner Magazine online is The Music Issue, with editorials and features of Yoko Ono, Saul Williams, Broken Social Scene, Chromeo, Pendulum, Russ Chimes, Peaches, Seefeel, Humans, Bikini, and Canadian media personalities, Jian Ghomeshi and Kate Carraway. All selected poetry, prose, photography and visual art revolve around the theme of music.

Coach House Books Sales

Three great sale opportunities coming up at Coach House Books: 20% off on all books by women authors in celebration of International Women’s Day (Tuesday, March 8); to observe Pi Day (Monday, March 14, or 3-14), every single title or item in the Coach House online catalogue will be discounted $3.14; and for St. Patrick’s Day (Thursday, March 17), all books with greenish covers are 20% off.

New Lit on the Block :: Blue Lotus Review

Blue Lotus Review is a literature, art, and multi-media online journal. Editor Amy Willoughby-Burle says she’s “been rolling this idea around in my mind for some time. What makes a person with too much on her plate already desire to start a journal? My best answer: to see what’s out there. To be a part of it.” Blue Lotus Review is a nice addition to this fray of what’s out there, taking advantage of the online medium to provide high quality visual artwork as well as easily accessed, quality recordings from musicians. While there’s no film as yet, BLR submission guidelines include this.

The Summer 2010 premier issue features Paintings by Jim Fuess, Chuck Bruursema, Ernest Williamson III, Audrey White; Poetry by James H. Duncan, P.D. Lyons, Heather Burt, Corey Mesler, and Alicia Valbuena; Fiction by Adam Moorad; Music by Tyler Boone and Freddy Bradburn.

The Winter 2010 current issue features Poetry by John Middlebrook, Kenneth P. Gurney, Andrea Janov, John Grey; Fiction by Erik Berg, John Sharp, and James Devitt, Jr.; Paintings by Ira Joel Haber; Photography by Jeffrey Douglas DeCristofaro; Music by Night’s Bright Colors (Jason Smith, James Richards, Mariya Potapova, and Bryan Morissey).

Blue Lotus Review is published quarterly and is open year-round for submissions of poetry, short fiction, flash fiction, art, photography, music, and film (via YouTube hosting).

Happy 50th Another Chicago Magazine

ACM – Another Chicago Magazine celebrates its 50 issue with this year’s first volume.

“To be perfectly honest,” the Statement of Purpose in 50.1 reads, “we never thought we’d make it to a 50th issue. ACM has never been known for fundraising skills, financial acumen, or an airtight organizational structure. Mostly we’ve just been known for being independent since 1977 and for publishing young and exciting writers as frequently as we can manage it on a shoestring budget.”

And to celebrate these roots and publishing, this issue is indeed “Another Chicago Issue” (split into two issues this year) featuring Chicago writers from “wildly different backgrounds and styles: novelists, experimental poets, writers with agents and book deals, writers who’ve only just begun to place work, editors, publishers, and general roustabouts and hermits alike.”

How can we resist?

NOR Poems Disliked and Poems Loved

The New Ohio Review Symposium for Spring 2011 presents three poets’ discussions on someone’s “bad (weak or shallow or disappointing) poem” and someone’s “good poem.” With six poems “on the table” Wayne Miller, Helena Nelson, and David Rivard conversed via e-mail, and the results appear in this issue.

And the poems? Okay, here they are:

Wayne Miller presented “In America” by Susan Wood, and “The Nurse” by Dana Levin.
Helena Nelson presented “Rapture” by Carol Ann Duffy, and “Offering” by Michael Laskey.
David Rivard presented “The Idea by Mark Strand, and “Kindergarten” by Dennis Schmitz.

For good or bad – you’ll need to read it yourself.

Open City Closes

Open City Magazine has announced it will cease publication after a solid twenty-year run. The final issue of the magazine, Open City #30, was published in December 2010 and is still available in some stores as well as online.

Toni Morrison On Reading

Former professor Morrison speaks on idea of reading: “Invisible ink is what lies under, between, outside the lines, hidden until the right reader discovers it,” Morrison said. “By right reader, I’m suggesting that certain books are not for every reader … Even a reader who loves the book may not be the best or right lover. The reader who has made the book is the one attuned to … discover the invisible ink.”

Like this link? We’ll be doing more like this on the NewPages Facebook Page – “Like” us to follow more cool stories and updates from NewPages.

TED Digital Imprints

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) one of my favorite stops for GREAT informative, smart, video has recently launched TEDBooks, an imprint of short (less than 20,000 words) nonfiction works designed for digital distribution. Titles include Homo Evolutis by Juan Enriquez & Steve Gullans; The Happiness Manifesto by Nic Marks; and Beware Dangerism! by Gever Tulley

Interview with Farideh Hassanzadeh-Mostafavi

The Winter 2011 online issue of New Mirage Journal includes Georgia Ann Banks-Martin’s interview with Iranian poet Farideh Hassanzadeh-Mostafavi as well as a selection of the poet’s work.

The interview begins: “What inspires you to write?”

FH-M: “Violence. I mean my need to resist against violence. And violence has many manifestations such as fall, disloyalty, darkness, indifference, absence, ignorance, war, censorship, fetters, and many other things, sometimes as simple as a single white hair mid the black curls!”

New Mirage Journal is a quarterly journal publishing poetry from all over the world. “We are interested in high quality work that dares to speak of race, the human condition, the ‘struggle’ in fresh new ways.”

Glimmer Train December Fiction Open Winners :: 2011

Glimmer Train has just chosen the winning stories for their December Fiction Open competition. This competition is held quarterly and is open to all writers for stories with a word count range between 2000 – 20,000. The next Fiction Open will take place in March.

Glimmer Train’s monthly submission calendar may be viewed here.

First place: Stefanie Freele, of Geyserville, CA, wins $2000 for “While Surrounded by Water.” Her story will be published in the Spring 2012 issue of Glimmer Train Stories.

Second place: Dana Kroos, of Las Cruces, NM, wins $1000 for “Sleepwalkers.” Her story will also be published in an upcoming issue of Glimmer Train Stories.

Third place: Joseph Johns, of Decatur, GA, wins $600 for “Reckoning Day with High Cirrus.”

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

Short Story Award for New Writers: Deadline February 28

This competition is held quarterly and is open to all writers whose fiction has not appeared in a print publication with a circulation over 5000. No theme restrictions. Most submissions to this category run 3000-6000 words, but can go up to 12,000. Click here for complete guidelines.

A Guide to Literary Scotland

Compiled in association with the University of Glasgow’s Department of Literary Studies and the Association of Scottish Literary Studies, VisitScotland.com offers a new guide details 60 places to visit in Scotland associated with writers and their works: writers’ homes, birthplaces, graves, locations vividly described in novels and poems, theatres, writers’ museums and more. The guide can be downloaded from the website and includes full color pictures throughout. Be patient: with 60 pages full-color, it takes several minutes to download.

New Lit on the Block :: The New Guard

Under the guidance of Shanna Miller McNair, Publisher, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, The New Guard is the first “independent multi-genre literary review in the state of Maine” whose aim is to “juxtapose narrative with experiment and create a new dialogue.” TNG is a print annual, available for purchase directly from the publication.

The New Guard held two contests for their premier issue: William Derge won the contest in fiction judged by Debra Spark, and Payne Ratner won the contest in poetry judged by Donald Hall. Each contest offered a $1,000 prize and publication in this issue along with all the finalists.

This inaugural issue features new essays by Jaed Coffin & Bill Roorbach, and a segment called “Writers to Writers: Fan Letters to the Dead,” a collection written especially for TNG. Contributors to the fan letter segment include Sven Birkerts, Adam Braver, Boman Desai, Annie Finch, John Goldbach, Tom Grimes, Richard Hoffman, Maxine Kumin, Thomas Lynch, Josip Novakovich, Lewis Robinson, Afaa Michael Weaver & Scott Wolven.

The New Guard seeks to publish literary and experimental fiction, narrative and experimental poetry. Submissions for the next issue will begin Spring-Summer 2011.

New Madrid on Water

Editor Ann Neelon writes in her introduction to The New Madrid that the Winter 2011 issue “commemorates the declaration by the General Assembly of the United Nations in July 2010 that access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a basic human right. It also solemnizes the terrifying fury of the floods that have ravaged the planet this year in Kentucky and Tennessee, as well as in Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Brazil, China, France, Romania, Ukraine, Hungary, Peru, Mexico, Canada, Columbia, Australia, Indonesia, Serbia, Argentina, Kenya, Nigeria, Spain, Guatemala, and Singapore. We’ve all gotten used to images of streets turned into rivers, people with no belongings any more being transported in boats instead of cars. Water, water everywhere, but not a drop for anguished refugees to drink.”

Contributers to this issue include Mario Chard, Teresa Milbrodt, Ruth Goring, Jennifer Atkinson, Scott Gould, Karen Holmberg, Matthew Nienow, Jeff Fearnside, Kristian Ansand Walter, Anthony Opal, Nikki Zielinski, Peter F. Murphy, Randall Horton, Ellen Ann Fentress, Deborah Bauer, and Sant Khalsa (photographer/cover art).

New Lit on the Block :: The Written Wardrobe

The Inaugural Issue of The Written Wardrobe Includes Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry

“ModCloth, an online boutique specializing in women’s apparel, accessories, and decor, has ventured into uncharted territories for a retailer—they’ve launched an online fashion-focused literary anthology, The Written Wardrobe: Where Style and Story Collide. The Written Wardrobe features style and fashion writing in the form of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. It celebrates a diverse range of aesthetics, from an experimental poem to an illustrated children’s book, which appear alongside more traditional short stories, essays, and poems.”

The Written Wardrobe is accepting poetry, fiction, and nonfiction that “explores the way in which fashion influences and affects our lives.” Deadline: August 1, 2011.

Hunger Mountain Bradbury Lists

For Hunger Mountain #15, Editor Michiah Bay Gault offered a challenge to several writers as well as contributors included in the issue. Write a “Bradbury List” – writing practice of word association which Bradbury shares in his Zen and the Art of Writing. Contributors include Bruce Smith, Michael Martone, Angie Estes, Paul Lisicky, Ted Sanders, Jededian Berry, Weston Cutter, Richard Adams Carey, Casey Thayer, David Yost, Deborah Vlock, Gladys Haunton, Stacy Heiney, Jaydn DeWald, J.D. Lewis, Josie Sigler, Lee Wind, Mark Halliday, Melissa Febos, Michael Burkard, and Mojie Crigler. None of these list contributions were “edited or polished,” and so represent a wide variety of free association samples by writers. Fun stuff!

New Lit on the Block :: SPLIT

Former publisher of Purpleprose.com, Richard Kriheli has set out to “make some definitive advances” in publishing SPLIT, both socially – by bringing together “artists and folks who love the arts,” and progressively – by riding the new wave of “the digital arts curation and circulation experience.”

Kriheli explains, “SPLIT is an experiment in digital publishing designed to showcase emerging talent in the art of storytelling. We are focused on the advancement of the literary arts and seek to break the predictable trends of traditional publishing. It is said that in order to actualize change, a split from routine must be in order.”

To create this new split, Issue.01 includes a novel excerpt by William Creedle, art by Vince Beauchemin, Malathip Kriheli, and Michelle Han, fiction by J.A. Pak, John Abbott, and Everett Maroon, and poetry by Cassie McDaniel.

The magazine is available online via website format, and each piece allows opportunities for readers to tweet and comment/like via Facebook interface.

Submissions of stories, photos, art, poetry, “whatever,” are currently being accepting for the spring issue, themed “Spill.” Deadline March 1.

Job :: Quiddity Production Manager

QUIDDITY Production Manager

Position Summary
~Manage the production of Quiddity’s international literary journal (print and electronic components) and website, upholding all quality, calendar, and budgetary expectations; manage and advance the distribution of Quiddity’s international literary journal and public-radio program through traditional and emerging venues

~Part-time (24 hours per week) with the potential for teaching courses—which would include an additional stipend at the qualifying adjunct pay rate—in the Writing and Publishing and Communication Arts degree programs

Essential Job Responsibilities
~Oversee the submission systems (electronic and traditional) and acquisition processes for the print journal and reading series, including the coordination of query and galley correspondence as well as reading series proposals and writing and book/video trailer contests

~Coordinate and execute all editing and production schedules for the print journal and website; coordinate the production schedule for the public-radio program; support editorial board through production processes

~Advance Quiddity’s subscriber base, listener base, readership, and distribution using established and emerging resources

~Supervise and mentor student interns and cultivate Quiddity’s internship program

~Perform the layout for the journal’s interior print pages and its electronic format(s), design covers and promotional materials, manage web design, and expand web content

Other Functions
~With the approval of both the division chair and the supervisor, may teach courses in the Writing and Publishing and Communication Arts degree programs for an additional stipend at the qualifying adjunct pay rate

Minimum Job Requirements
~MA, MFA, or MSc in Creative Writing, English, Communications, or related field

~At least one year of experience with a print publication or journal of national distribution

~At least two semesters’ teaching experience at the university level with potential to supervise internships and teach the following courses in the Writing and Publishing Program:

Editing for Publications
Layout and Design for Publications
Writing Colloquium—Person in Community
Research Writing
Introduction to Creative Writing
Introduction to Literary Analysis
Modern Literature
LITR/COMM Applied

Specific Skills
~Must be graphic-design savvy and be well versed in user-friendly, multimedia web development

~Proficiency in web design software and CSS, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Audition (or similar software) Outlook, Excel, Access, File Transfer Protocol

~Exceptional reading, writing, and proofing skills

~Outstanding professional communication skills

~Established track-record of organizational management and
follow-through

~Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines

~Ability to work outside of regular business hours when necessary

~Ability to work as part of a collaborative team

Supervisory Responsibilities
~Supervise and mentor undergraduate student interns enrolled in Quiddity’s internship program

Twenty (20) hours per week performed in-office, on-campus, and be
scheduled during regular business hours to correspond with schedules of
student interns and fellow editorial board (faculty/staff) members;
four (4) hours per week may be performed off-site.

To Apply
Send the following items to the address below.

~A letter of application: in your letter of application, summarize any
relevant experience.

~A detailed résumé or CV

~Copies of transcripts: unofficial copies of transcripts are fine at this point. If you are chosen for an interview, official copies will be required.

Attn: Joanna Beth Tweedy, Editor and Host, Quiddity
Benedictine University at Springfield
1500 North Fifth Street
Springfield, Illinois 62702
USA

Please, no phone inquiries at this time. Receipt of complete applications will be acknowledged via email.

New Lit on the Block :: Rem Magazine

Rem Magazine: The Radioactive Underground Journal, whose radioactive symbol reads “anti-fiction,” “anti-poetry,” and “anti-aesthetics,” is an international experimental journal based in New Zealand/Aotearoa that “embraces new ideas and new forms as the foundations of innovative art and writing.” New Zealander Orchid Tierney is the managing editor, with Simon Todd, associate poetry editor, and Tamara Azizian, magazine assistant.

The first volume (November 2010), available via Issuu, includes works by Katie Robinson, Bonnie Coad, Iain Britton, Amanda Anastasi, Kevin O’Donnell, Corey Mesler, P.A. Levy, Kelino A. Soriano, Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingd

Hunger Mountain Contest Winners

The latest issue of Hunger Mountain (#15) includes numerous genre contest winners:

2010 Howard Frank Mosher Short Fiction Prize
Winner: Mojie Crigler
Runner-up: Josie Sigler

2010 Ruth Stone Poetry Prize
Winner: Ashley Seitz Kramer
Runner-up: Nancy K. Pearson
Finalist: Stacy Heiney

2010 Katherine Paterson Prize for Young Adult Writing
Winner: Jaramy Conners

New Lit on the Block :: Mead

Mead: The Magazine of Literature & Libations is a new online literary journal with Editor-in-Chief Laura McCullough, Managing and Translation Editor Michale Broek, Travel Editor Suzanne Parker, and Wine & Beer Editor Kurt Brown. Now any lit mag that has a Wine & Beer Editor has got my readership!

Self described, “At Mead, we pair our literature, like a good sommelier, with a specific libation so that under each drink category you will find a poem or piece of prose that reflects something about the character of that drink… Like Proust’s cup of tea, literature has memory; from memories issue literature. Drink well.”

The first issue includes contributions from Bob Hicok, Paul-Victor Winters, Ben Nardolilli, and Barbara Daniels, poems by Carmelia Leonte translated by Mihaela Moscaliuc, poems by Boris Vian and Jacques Prévert translated by Laure-Anne Bosselaar, an interview with poet and wine connoisseur Marty Williams, a review of works by Amitava Kumar by Ken Chen, “No One Does It Like the Belgians” beer talk by Kurt Brown, “On Food and Drink: Post College, Post-Loaded” by Jamie Iredell, and “single-shot” reviews of Katheleen Graber’s The Eternal City and James Richardson’s By the Numbers.

Submissions are open and, if accepted, poetry and prose poems will appear under one of the drink headings on the homepage:

Coffee & Tea: caffeineted with a kick, oily, roasted, ceremonial

Wine & Beer: ranging from the full bodied to the bubbly to the micro-brewed and yeasty: fermented

Cocktails & After Dinner: hot, sexy, provocative, moody, noirish, offers a toast

Pure Spirits: Isn’t this self-explanatory?

Tey Roberts Dedication

The fourth issue of Ping Pong: An Art and Literary Journal of the Henry Miller Memorial Library is dedicated to Tey Roberts. From the Editor’s Letter: “Finally, it is with great sadness that we mourn the loss of our friend, Tey Roberts. We would like to dedicate this issue of Ping-Pong to her memory. If you ever drive through the Carmel Highlands you can still see her hand painted signs for peace on the roadside. She was that rare person who actually served as an example of the way of the Buddha.”

Tey Roberts passed away in March of 2010. Her obituary can be read here, and River’s Dharma is a blog dedicated in her memory.

Passages North Contest Winners

The Winter/Spring 2011 issue of Passages North includes the winners of their 2010 fiction contests:

Waasmode Fiction Prize
Judged bye Rebecca Johns
Winner: Tori Malcangio

Just Desserts Short-Short Fiction Prize
Judged by Jennifer A. Howard
Winner: Darren Morris
Honorable Mentions: Edith Pearlman, Jendi Reiter, Thomas Yori

New Lit on the Block :: The Caterpillar Chronicles

The Caterpillar Chronicles considers itself a “fledgling…literary and arts magazine which was born in the liminal realm between text and image.” Diana Voinea, Alexandra Magearu, Ema Dumitriu, Ana Roman, and Saiona Stoian are the publication editors, along with collaborators Mihaela Precup and Dida Dragan.

“Our magazine hopes to kindle experimental exercises in creative writing based on images,” the editors write. “Each issue will propose themes and images as starting points for texts of many forms, lengths, colours and complexions. We’re also open to various other means of artistic expression such as photographs, paintings, drawings, collages, comics, videos, mixed media, etc.”

Under Calls for Submission, TCC includes:

Text and Image with an image as the starting point for texts of fiction or poetry (Andrew Abbott’s painting “Killer Quaker” pictured)
The First Line – a first line with which to begin and then continue a short story (for the next issue, the line comes from Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five)
Imaginary Letters – letters addressed to real or imaginary people, living or dead
The Art of Lying – fictional auto/biographies
Videos, Photo-Essays, Reviews, Criticism, Featured Artist and more

Contributors to the first issue include Bruce MacDonald, Jason Heroux, Prasanna Surakanti, Kara Evelyn, Peter Taylor, Tommy J. Moore, Richard Ballon and Sonia Saikaley, Andrew Abbott, Ema Dumitriu, V.O., Diana Voinea, Alexandra Magearu, Celia Andreu-Sanchez & Miguel Angel Martin-Pascual, Alexandra Magearu, and Corina Pall.

The Caterpillar Chronicles is currently accepting submissions of poetry, critical essays, short fiction, nonfiction, reviews, visual art, comics, lost genres and “anything else we haven’t yet thought of.”

Spoon River Poetry River Digs Deeper into the Critical Essay

Kristin Hotellina Zona, the new editor of Spoon River Poetry Review, introduces herself in the Summer/Fall 2010 issue by making promises to both maintain traditions and make some changes. One change will be more prose in the magazine, since both readers and writers “depend upon criticism that engages the poem directly.” Thus, SRPR “will now feature a substantial analytical essay that blurs the line between the relatively short, opinion-driven review and conventional criticism.” The issue features Andrew Osborn’s review, “Like Animals, Like Love,” which includes readings of new books by Peter Campion, David Baker, and Melissa Range in the “model of critical investment” Zona hopes to see regularly with each issue.

Closing? Maybe, Maybe Not

Buffalo Street Books in Ithaca, NY announced its closing at the end of March, but this past week has brought forth a grassroots effort in the form of a community buyout. Will it work? “Though the venture is ‘not a money-making opportunity,’ Proehl said, he believes the loss to the community would be more than the value of the store.” So we say again and again with indie bookstores – it’s more than just a bookstore. It would be nice to see the Ithaca community really make this work and perhaps create a new (re)model for this idea of community or co-op bookstores.

New Lit on the Block :: Lingerpost

Editor Kara Dorris is the driving force behind the new online poetry journal, Lingerpost. Publishing biannually, Lingerpost seeks to publish both new and established poets. Lingerpost is influenced by Emily Dickinson’s experience of knowing poetry: “If I read a book [and] it makes my whole body so cold no fire ever can warm me I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. These are the only way I know it. Is there any other way.”

Using this as its guiding principle, the first issue of Lingerpost includes works by Sheila Black, Mary Stone, John Ch