New Titles from Livingston Press by James Braziel, Mark Budman, Daren Dean, William Gay, and Terence Gallagher. See our flier for more information. We will announce the Tartt winner soon and then will resume open reading for fiction titles.
After she defies the rigid, oppressive Confucian tradition of order and conformity, Sonju descends from an aristocratic upbringing to working at a men’s club. In spite of social condemnations and personal tragedies, her determination to be her own person never wavers. Available now from Madville Publishing and all online retailers.
Madville Publishing has two open calls for submissions! The Muddy Backroads short story anthology closes August 15, 2021, and the Arthur Smith Poetry Prize closes September 1, 2021. Find out all the information on our website.
Guest Post by Susan Kay Anderson.
This book of long poems/poem series by Joe Safdie begins with a section called “Retirement” which sounds boring but isn’t because it poses interesting questions of the existential mode and ends with a section called “Yachats” as in Yachats, Oregon. There’s also an interesting section about Hermes; the wheel figures in all of these inroads to his personal mythology, poetic studies, and creative expression in the form of messages from the trail and to the trail.
Overland, the people offered land at no cost needed to dump a lot of stuff on their journeys West but it seems that Safdie shows us what he’s kept, collected.
Safdie tells us a thing or two or three or four. He is sitting around the ‘ole campfire spinning yarns; he is also a camera or a lens of a microscope that looks into past/present/history/future with a basket full of findings modern and ancient and everything in between.
Safdie tells us where he’s been in his life. From “The Invisible Enemy”:
I thought that was death
putting me on notice
but it had a larger audience
in mind, to be everyone’s
enemy, killing by what’s
known but not seen,
the sensitive spots—
This book is enjoyable because it is so dense with found material and phrases, making it a poetry of such staggering depth that it does feel like a ride on something at once land-bound but also dreamy and useful as a raft to float across rivers and streams, much like the prairie schooners that overran the country. Even their ruts can still be seen where the grass has not grown back. To study these poetic documents with Safdie is an engrossingly epic and jolting ride. You may choose to walk alongside it for a few miles and then jump back in.
The Oregon Trail by Joe Safdie. Spuyten Duyvil, 2021.
Reviewer bio: Susan Kay Anderson lives in Oregon’s Umpqua River Basin. Her newest book is Please Plant This Book Coast To Coast, available from Finishing Line Press. She was a recent volunteer for the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project.
Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.
Guest Post by Natalie Hess.
The concept of Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea is so unique and different. It follows Zachary Ezra Rawlins who discovers some strange books and a mysterious painted door. He must protect the books and learn about them, while also fulfilling his destiny in the strange place beyond the door. Beyond that, it’s honestly difficult to even figure out what else went on in this story. There are so many layers, and stories within the story that are all connected in some way. It is mind-blowing and so much fun.
The fact that this story is really confusing is part of what makes it so enjoyable. Nothing makes sense about the world beyond the painted door, but whatever is going on is absolutely beautiful. None of the characters seeming to know what’s going on just makes it even better.
This is certainly a roller coaster of a story. If you like to know what’s going on in a book, then I don’t think you would enjoy this. But if you like being left with more questions than answers, and reading about a beautiful mess of fantastical elements, this is definitely the book for you!
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. Anchor Books, August 2020.
Reviewer bio: I’m Natalie Hess and I’m simply a high school student who LOVES reading everything from scifi to romance to nonfiction and everything in between. I also love sharing my thoughts and I hope you enjoy!
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Guest Post by Neelima K E.
Jaishree Misra’s Ancient Promises can easily serve as a beginner’s guide to arranged marriages in India. The patrilocal toxicity of Indian domestic framework permeates the novel’s narrative and can be nauseating. Janu, the protagonist is a survivor and in a way the novel is her coming of age story. She makes mistakes, gets out, and finds purpose and will to live again all along the course of the narrative.
The Malayalam phrase ‘manam pole mangalyam’ frames the myth of an ideal marriage where love and affection dance to the tunes of matchmaking aunties and uncles from every nook and corner. The novel attempts to place familial loyalty, affection, and virtue in this mire of duty and stifling morality. Every action has its consequence and Janu learns to fight for her share of happiness in this world of do’s and do not’s.
Within the complicated narrative, the novel conceives a string of unanswered questions. Fate and predestiny elude the protagonist as she struggles to find her place moving against the tide in unforeseen circumstances. Is it wrong to covet pleasure and love outside a frigid marriage? What is it that connects two hitherto strange individuals in a supposedly sacred ritual? The fine lines between love, affection, and commitment makes for an interesting read.
The reader will be moved to tears, choking in helpless agony time and again as the protagonist is loved and betrayed repeatedly. The light at the end of the tunnel couldn’t have come sooner for Janaki and the novel remains a gaping wound for many a day forward, reminding the reader to never give in.
Ancient Promises by Jaishree Misra. Penguin Books, January 2000.
Reviewer bio: I am an Indian girl in love with words. People and life in general fascinate me and I look forward to publishing my books someday.
Guest Post by Chris L. Butler.
In poetry, you often see the connections between people and animals in a way that demonstrates the humanity that can be found in animals. With Good Morning to Everyone Except Men Who Name Their Dog Zeus, Stabile explores the opposite: why men name their dogs Zeus and how that connects to the god’s often overlooked abusive legacy.
What I love about reading Lannie Stabile’s work is that I always learn something. This is absolutely the case with her debut full-length collection, published this month (June 2021). I was immediately drawn to the book because I truly believe the title itself is a poem. I also love dogs and reading mythology.
Stabile places toxic masculinity on trial by unearthing the havoc Zeus reigned among his fellow godly peers as well as humans; while connecting it to modern patriarchal society. With lines like “the beast will burrow himself into the gentlewoman,” Stabile shows many men have a tendency for god-complex thinking and believe that they can do whatever they wish, as Zeus did.
I believe this collection is important not only for the genre of poetry but also could be utilized in women’s and feminist literature courses. We are in a time when we look at art and society for the entire truth, and not the parts we favor most. Good Morning to Everyone Except Men Who Name Their Dog Zeus is a collection that pushes us in that direction by exposing Zeus and the impact he continues to have on the modern male.
Good Morning to Everyone Except Men Who Name Their Dog Zeus by Lannie Stabile. Cephalo Press, June 2021.
Reviewer bio: Chris L. Butler is an African American and Dutch poet and essayist from Houston, Texas living in Canada. He is the author of the microchap BLERD: ’80s BABY, ’90s KID (Daily Drunk Press) which is set to be released on August 2, 2021.
Guest Post by Natalie Hess.
The emotional impact that Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower had on me from the very beginning was incredible. This story is told through letters to an anonymous friend, and it depicts the life of Charlie, a teenage boy, who is simply growing up. Everything about this novel is so real.
Chbosky does not try to sugarcoat the hardships of life and what it’s like to discover those hardships and have to live with them. Charlie experiences everything from the death of a loved one, drugs and alcohol, and sexual assault, to building different kinds of relationships with people and learning to trust and be there for them. Charlie (as well as many side characters) go through so much, and it’s similar to what so many real people experience all the time, which makes this read heartbreaking and exhilarating and confusing and amazing and miserable all at once. But it’s life. And this book did such a good job of depicting real life that I would highly recommend it, especially for those of us who still have some growing up to do.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Pocket Books, February 1999.
Reviewer bio: I’m Natalie Hess and I’m simply a high school student who LOVES reading everything from scifi to romance to nonfiction and everything in between. I also love sharing my thoughts and I hope you enjoy!
Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.
Guest Post by Lawrence Scales.
Even if you’re an avid reader of graphic novels, The Dylan Dog Case Files won’t be on your radar. Yet it’s billed as a book with over fifty-six million copies sold. That’s your first clue: it should be. The decades long Italian series about “nightmare detective” Dylan Dog and his Watson, cast as Groucho Marx (literally), is still releasing new issues. Overseas, Dylan Dog, created by Tiziano Sclavi, is sold in one hundred page black and white editions for a few American dollars.
Stateside, the only English copy of Dylan Dog’s cases— dealing with everything from zombies to invisible men— is this trade paperback collection from Dark Horse Comics released in 2009. The Case Files is a seven hundred-plus page tome containing several stories, with cover art by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. It’ll set you back fifty dollars used. But it won’t be a penny wasted. The first story, drawn in a style akin to Egon Schiele, is the 1986 classic “Dawn of the Living Dead.”
The Case Files is the best drawn depiction of a pulp movie genre from Italy known as giallo. Like much Italian fare of the time, giallo was as known for its slashers and prog soundtracks as much as it’s looseness with copyright.
Likewise, The Case Files is a fast read that goes down like the best popcorn flicks. In print the best comparison would be Tales from the Crypt. Even horror fans unfamiliar with giallo will find a comforting familiarity with the material. The Dylan Dog Case Files may have a niche audience. But for those of us who fit within it, this collection is a delightfully spooky treat with some real scares.
The Dylan Dog Case Files by Tiziano Sclavi. Dark Horse Comics, April 2009.
Reviewer bio: Lawrence Scales is an artist living in Philadelphia. When he isn’t making art, he’s daydreaming about cats. You can find his work here and here.
$500 & Publication for Fiction and PoetryDeadline: July 31, 2021
There is still time to enter your fiction or poetry manuscript for a chance to win $500 and publication by Winter Goose Publishing. Honorable mentions may also receive publication. Submissions are being accepted from 5/1 – 7/31. ENTER TODAY before time runs out!
Guest Post by Harry Okorite Joy.
After reading Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, the most endearing became the phrase, “For you, a thousand times over”, first voiced by Hassan, inarguably the most sympathized with character in the novel. The simply titled yet convoluted novel narrates the coming-of-age story of two boys, discusses the state of a nation, celebrates the bond of friendship and, most importantly, the height and depth love could attain.
While at first, you might perceive Hassan as gullible, Amir as being undeserving of the love Hassan bestows on him, Baba being an impartial father, and Ali a loyal to a fault servant; soon you realize Hassan is an embodiment of selfless love Amir realizes all too late, Baba’s fairness is out of familial piety, and Ali’s loyalty is part due to his debt to Baba and a part special bond he feels with Hassan.
The Kite Runner questions reality and the nature of truth. The reality between the two main characters might be cold but it is the fact: one would always be there, the other loves but would never measure up. And at the end of the novel, only guilt allows Amir to return the favor to Hassan’s offspring. In reality, we also see the box of revelations opened at crucial points about characters like Baba. The nature of truth is tricky—some might say relative—but the unwavering answer is you cannot really judge the lies told in this novel as right or wrong.
While this piece has an optimistic ending, Hassan’s turbulent short-lived life could justify it as a tragedy, and just like me, you might begin to wonder if he died directly or indirectly from being there a thousand times over.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Riverhead Books, March 2013.
Reviewer’s bio: Harry Okorite Joy is an avid reader, budding writer and fashion enthusiast. She adores owls. Reach her via Instagram @o.k.o.r.i.t.e or Facebook @ Harry Okorite.
Guest Post by Anne Richter Arnold.
There is a bigger difference between taking a hike, which almost everyone can do, and thru hiking. Thru hiking, tackling an entire long-distance trail over a period of months, takes a special kind of hiker. Celia Ryker is just that, one with dedication, perseverance, curiosity, and a sense of humor. Walking Home is a memoir of her epic experience hiking the 279-mile Long Trail from the Massachusetts border through Vermont to Canada. Along the way she entertains us with childhood memories and reflections on her life off the trail, interspersed with poetic references to the transforming experience of being in the woods.
With her milestone 60th birthday approaching, Celia decides to hike the Long Trail in Vermont, one of the most challenging trails in the United States, along with her friend Sandy. While Celia has been on some ‘practice hikes’ back in her home state of Michigan, nothing can prepare her for the grueling weeks of hiking through the Green Mountains. From torrential rain, disastrous falls, sickness, and everything in between, she and her hiking partner Sandy are tested daily, yet never fail to meet the challenges head on. Through all of this, she keeps us smiling with her can-do attitude and humorous anecdotes.
Walking Home is not just the story of Celia and Sandy’s multiyear section hiking of the Long Trail; it is a personal journey that the author shares with us as she looks back at her past and, literally and metaphorically, forward to the path of the unknown. We share in her reminiscences on how the woodlands brought her joy as a child and the self-knowledge they bring her as an adult. What lies ahead on the path, who she will meet and what she will discover, keeps the reader eagerly awaiting the next page.
While hiking the Long Trail may not be on everyone’s bucket list, Celia inspires us with her memoir to try something that will truly challenge ourselves, to take risks and to go forward into the unknown. She invites us to find our own way to leave the world behind and see what we can discover about ourselves, as she does, on our own challenging adventure.
Walking Home: Trail Stories by Celia Ryker. Rootstock Publishing, June 2021.
Reviewer bio: Anne Richter Arnold has been a journalist for various publications in New England for a decade, focusing on business and lifestyle topics, including wine and travel. She makes her home on the New Hampshire Seacoast, with her husband, two dogs, two cats, and a multitude of friendly chickens.
Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.
Guest Post by Natalie Hess.
Tara Sim’s Scavenge the Stars is a retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, which follows a girl named Amaya who was sold to a shipowner when she was a small child in order to pay off a debt. She escapes from the ship and is helped out by a rich man who also appears to be landless. He helps her disguise herself and go back into the city she grew up in so she can get revenge on whoever sold her. I was a bit disappointed because I really loved The Count of Monte Cristo, but this novel was still quite entertaining.
There are plot twists I didn’t see coming, and there are some exciting action scenes, with romance that didn’t take over the whole story. It was particularly interesting to find out how some of the characters were acquainted with one another at the end of the story, and that was an unexpected and enjoyable aspect. This was a fairly average book though, and I gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim. Little, Brown and Company, January 2020.
Reviewer bio: I’m Natalie Hess and I’m simply a high school student who LOVES reading everything from scifi to romance to nonfiction and everything in between. I also love sharing my thoughts and I hope you enjoy!
Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.
Guest Post by Carla Sarett.
Just when you think that no one’s writing epic poetry, beat hero Larry Beckett comes to the rescue with his entertaining Wyatt Earp. Wyatt Earp is a legend and Larry Beckett has captured the lonely dusty trails, the saloons, the gunfights, all of it with verve and humor.
This collection is a sublime mash-up of legal records, histories of Tombstone and Earp, Western folklore, and oh those Western movies—Dodge City, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and my favorite, John Ford’s My Darling Clementine. Beckett is a songwriter as well as a poet, and it shows in the musicality of these poems, as well as in the wonderful “Ballad to Maddie.”
Kudos to the publisher for a beautifully designed edition.
Wyatt Earp by Larry Beckett. Alternating Currents Press, March 2020.
Reviewer bio: Carla Sarett’s recent poems appear in Blue Unicorn, San Pedro River Review, The Remington Review and elsewhere. She awaits publication of her chapbook woman on the run (Unsolicited Press) and her novella, The Looking Glass (Propertius) later this year. Carla lives in San Francisco.
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Extended Deadline: June 30, 2021
Winner receives $1,500, publication, twenty-five copies, and promotional support. All full-length fiction manuscripts welcome, including novels; novellas; collections of stories, flash fiction, short-shorts; and linked collections. There is no maximum length. To submit, please access our convenient online submission manager. Final judge is Kristen Arnett, the NYT bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things (Tin House, 2019).
View the full June 2021 eLitPak Newsletter.
Guest Post by Natalie Hess.
What an incredible novel. Laini Taylor’s writing is so beautiful and dreamy and adventurous, which makes this book so much fun. All a reader needs to know about the plot going into it is that it follows a boy named Lazlo Strange who has an obsession for this city referred to as Weep, the real name of which has been lost. Someone from Weep comes to find people who can help the city out of trouble, and Lazlo finally gets to visit this city of his dreams and discover what it truly means to be a dreamer.
Readers make discoveries alongside Lazlo; see the beauty of Weep and what it could be, as well as the horrible things that have happened there; and learn about the past of all the characters. We truly get to know these characters and care for all of them, even the “bad guys,” creating such a roller coaster of emotion and wonder and longing for all of it to be real. Every single aspect of this book was mind blowing and I absolutely cannot wait to read the sequel!
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. Little, Brown and Company, March 2017.
Reviewer bio: I’m Natalie Hess and I’m simply a high school student who LOVES reading everything from scifi to romance to nonfiction and everything in between. I also love sharing my thoughts and I hope you enjoy!
Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.
Don’t forget to check out these great new titles due out this summer from James Braziel, Mark Budman, Daren Dean, William Gay, and Terence Gallagher. We will have open reading once more in mid-August. Fiction only.
View the full June 2021 eLitPak Newsletter.
Happy Publication Month to Diode authors Shanta Lee Gander (GHETTOCLAUSTROPHOBIA), Sally Rosen Kindred (WHERE THE WOLF), Conor Bracken (THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS ME), Teow Lim Goh (FARAWAY PLACES), Joey S. Kim (BODY FACTS), Natasha Sajé (SPECIAL DELIVERY), Amorak Huey & W. Todd Kaneko (SLASH / SLASH), Tyler Mills & Kendra DeColo (LOW BUDGET MOVIE)!
View the full June 2021 eLitPak Newsletter.
Guest Post by Milena Marques-Zachariah.
India is a paradox. To harness the nuances that create its vast and varied canvas and give them life in print can be challenging. But not for a gifted writer like Murzban Shroff, who chose to get embedded in India’s remote villages to unearth India’s heart. It is against this background mostly that his haunting stories play out. Shroff tells his stories with a visceral understanding of human behavior, reeling you in page by page, to mirror the lived realities of people: in villages, in slums, in hill towns, in cities. For further heft, he draws on ancient Indian epics and texts to reveal the spiritual truths of India.
Shroff’s prose is skillfully layered, yielding stories that are gripping and thought-provoking, while exploring issues and social tensions rooted in caste and communal identities. Starting with the first story, the “Kitemaker’s Dilemma” and ending with “An Invisible Truth,” the collection uncoils with an agonizing sense of drama and inevitability. With insights as powerful as Shiva’s third eye, Shroff forages through the attitudes, quirks, and insecurities of his characters to create situations that are uncomfortably real. His women are strong and unafraid, empowered and empowering, as evident in stories like “A Rather Strange Marriage” and “Third Eye Rising.” My personal favorites: “Bhikoo Badshah’s Poison” for its exploration of caste and migrant identities, “Diwali Star” for its family politics, and “A Matter of Misfortune” for its gritty depiction of human greed. By inviting readers into unseen spaces of India, Third Eye Rising makes for a compelling read—from the first story to the last.
Third Eye Rising by Murzban F. Shroff. Spuyten Duyvil, January 2021.
Reviewer bio: Milena Marques-Zachariah is an accomplished advertising writer, columnist, and blogger, whose writings are hugely popular with the South Asian immigrant community in Canada. Her blog ‘Canadian Chronicles’ documents the challenges and successes of immigrants to Canada, while ‘Chasing the Perfect Curry’ is a food adventure blog, where she explores off-the-beaten-path places to enjoy authentic cuisines of the Konkan Coast. She is also the founder of Radio Mango, a Toronto-based broadcast service, and has interviewed eminent authors such as Pico Iyer and Anosh Irani.
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“It’s the best writing conference you’ve ever attended, in book form!”
Books by HippoCampus is excited to announce the publication of an anthology inspired by HippoCamp, an annual nonfiction conference, dedicated to writing creative nonfiction and what it means to be a writer who tells true stories.
Getting to the Truth: The Craft and Practice of Creative Nonfiction, edited by Rae Pagliarulo and Donna Talarico, is set to be released on August 11 and will be available for pre-orders on July 5. It features 20+ craft essays offering thoughtful insights from some of the highest rated HippoCamp speakers. It also features wise writers behind some of Hippocampus Magazine‘s most-read craft columns.
Speaking of HippoCamp, they have released the full schedule for this year’s conference set to to take place August 13-15 in Lancaster, PA. As of this writing, there are only 80 spots currently available.
Extended Deadline: June 30, 2021
Winner receives $1,500, publication, twenty-five copies, and promotional support. All full-length fiction manuscripts are welcome, including novels, novellas, collections of stories, flash fiction, short-shorts, and linked collections. Full-length fiction manuscripts tend to be at least 30,000 words. There is no maximum length. To submit, please access our convenient online submission manager. Final judge is Kristen Arnett, the NYT bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things (Tin House, 2019), one of The New York Times top books of 2019 and a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in fiction.
On Friday, it was announced that poet Natalie Diaz won the Pulitzer for her second book of poems Postcolonial Love Poem. Diaz spoke about her book with The Arizona Republic, saying, “I knew that I wanted my body, the places I’ve come from, the people I come from, to be of consequence to the world and to kind of bring our perspectives and conversations to bear in our larger national conversations.”
Writing on the Indigenous experience, she explains her poetic viewpoint, “I, of course, have an Indigenous lens, but yet I think that Indigenous lens is extremely important to non-Indigenous peoples. We’re all fighting for our water. We’re all fighting for this Earth, for one another against injustice.”
See what else she said about the winning collection here.
Deadline: June 30, 2021
A prize of $1,500 and publication by Barrow Street Press is given annually for a poetry collection. A. Van Jordan will judge. Submit a manuscript of 50 to 80 pages with a $25 entry fee ($28 for electronic submissions) by June 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines: barrowstreet.org/press/submit/.
Guest Post by Natalie Hess.
All I can say is wow. The amount of whimsy and magic in this book blew my mind. It follows a girl named Celia and a boy named Marco who are forced to fight each other in a magical competition which they are bound to until someone wins. Here’s the catch: neither of them are told any rules or boundaries and this competition takes place in a circus which travels all around the world, and is only open at night. This circus is so magical and mysterious that it captures the attention of all who are introduced to it, making them want to revisit it as much as possible, including the reader.
The way Morgenstern describes every little detail brings this world to life so much, and I couldn’t help but wish it were real. Even the simplest things are described as so mysterious and fascinating that this book is impossible to put down. And the relationships between some of these characters are very eye-opening and make you question the morals and intentions of those around you, while others are just flat out wholesome and amazing. Everything about this book was beautiful, stunning, captivating, and I fell in love with it. Definitely a 5-star read, and every fantasy-lover should pick it up.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Anchor Books, 2021.
Reviewer bio: I’m Natalie Hess and I’m simply a high school student who LOVES reading everything from scifi to romance to nonfiction and everything in between. I also love sharing my thoughts and I hope you enjoy!
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Guest Post by Mandi Greenwood.
Doug Stanfield’s poetry is an unfurling of wings and a fanning out in every heartfelt direction, reaching all of life’s heights and depths. There is humility and there is enormous bravery. Within the pages of Lifting Stones there is no finite limit to Stanfield’s poetic skill, nor to his quality.
He owns the journey that is Lifting Stones. He owns it with “bare courage and risk”—his words—and to read this book is to step from one stone to the next in the sometimes calm, oftentimes tumultuous river that he has forged between its covers.
Upon one stone I behold the relatively fresh wound of “Love in the Time of Corona.” Atop another stone I discover the fierce elation of “Borrowed Dust.” I skip to yet another smooth muse of stone and I find “As It Was.” I pause at times, to wipe away the tears, but always I progress to the next verse with intrigue and joy.
It’s difficult to do justice to the raw tenderness of Lifting Stones without falling into cliché. Suffice to say it is a singular collection of clarity, warmth, grief, humor, agony, mortality, recollection, despair, and rebirth. It is an expedition, not a journey’s end. It is a unique work of life via poetry, a kaleidoscopic gallery of this poet’s genuine experience laid bare.
Stanfield writes with a dignity. He writes with a frank self-respect that is, to borrow his exquisite words, “eternally becoming.”
Lifting Stones by Doug Stanfield. Rootstock Publishing, June 2021.
Reviewer bio: Mandi Greenwood is the author of Six Steps Down, Caught Inside, and The Silver Renoir.
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Guest Post by Susan Kay Anderson.
Enticing though it may be to dream of cold landscapes when summer days get a bit too warm (already) it does not exactly seem wonderful to imagine taking a sauna during the pandemic and sweating out life even more, getting exhausted even more. That’s not the point of the sauna, as Cheryl J. Fish seems to report in her book of poems/memoir/travel journal. The sauna is the sacred space for contemplation and just plain bathing and, well, for everything under the sun in order to be close to the sun in the darkness.
Cheryl J. Fish’s The Sauna Is Full Of Maids is an adventure to Finland told with poems, photographs, and lines from the Kalevala, Finland’s origin story/epic/saga.
It is great to look through this book and daydream about journeys and berries and boggy lakes. These are prose poems and travelogues in poem form, told with the sparse flavor of the North. I am really attracted to the ancient lifeways in this book:
“His journey paralleled birds and reindeer. Spread his culture, migrating.”
from “Another Round Of Heat”
“In the Kalevala, birds lay eggs in a barren water-mother’s knee. The bottom half of a smashed egg becomes earth.”
from “Unreliable Snowpack”
It isn’t all ancient lore here. There are meetings with fellow artists and travelers, foragers, dreamers, and recent immigrants to Finland. It is amazing to realize (yet again) that we live on a tiny planet and its inhabitants have been following the flow of the elements forever and that during our lives we get glimpses of what is important, what helps us to be alive. Those things could include the sauna, the icy cold water, vasta birch sprigs, and the steam.
The Sauna Is Full Of Maids by Cheryl J. Fish. Shanti Arts Publishing, June 2021.
Reviewer bio: Susan Kay Anderson lives in Oregon’s Umpqua Basin, author of, Please Plant This Book Coast To Coast, available from Finishing Line Press.
Deadline: July 5, 2021
Our 4th annual first book prize is open. If you have a manuscript or know someone who does, please give us a shot. Awarded annually to a poet writing in English who has not yet published a full-length poetry book, the prize seeks to represent the best contemporary writing in high quality editions of enduring value. Prospective entrants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with Conduit, which champions originality, intelligence, irreverence, and humanity. Previously unpublished manuscripts of 48-90 pages should be submitted through our Submittable page or via the USPS. Bob Hicok is the final judge. Please visit www.conduit.org/book-prizes for details.
Guest Post by Manasi Patil.
Impending Fate is the third book in the series, Shattered Triangle. This novel is told through the point of view of Giovanni Lozano, and progresses with the plots of the other protagonists of the series: Lt. Tom Moran, Giuseppe Lozano, and Giovanni himself.
Three determined people, one genius murderer, and an ‘impending fate.’ After the identity of the murderer of Giuseppe Lozano’s family is revealed in A Consequential Murder, and the story is followed in Beleaguered Truth, I was beyond obsessed with the Shattered Triangle series. William P. Messenger is my new favorite author, and I’m so glad to have had this opportunity of reading the trilogy.
Giuseppe’s relationship with Jackson progresses and it’s a cruel twist when the former first kills Jackson’s partner in order to be with him, and then kills Jackson himself, when he sees him as a potential threat. Giovanni is ready to break the sacrament in order to save the country and do the right thing. He may get banished from his church for doing so, but after three years, he is prepared for the consequences.
Impending Fate is a riveting combination of religion, politics, and mystery. The story of ‘Shattered Triangle’ progresses further and also ends, unfortunately, in this edition. After reading the series, the question is: will the broken shards of the shattered triangle survive?
Impending Fate by William P. Messenger. Black Rose Writing, December 2017.
Reviewer bio: Manasi Patil is a young author with a passion for writing.
Deadline: 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!
Guest Post by Manasi Patil.
Beleaguered Truth is the second book in the series Shattered Triangle. In this second installment, the identity of the killer is known, and they are present right in the front seat, but there is no way to capture them.
Lt. Tom Moran knows the identity of the murderer of Giuseppe Lozano’s family. But there’s no evidence through which he can prove it. And he’s frustrated. Fr. Giovanni Lozano also shares the fate of Tom when the murderer successfully silences him by confessing his sins in a sacred confession in the church. Giuseppe Lozano, in order to fulfill his ambitions, stops at no extent. For him, everything is expendable. Even his family. And the fact that he orders his family to be killed proves him to be an ambitious, but ruthless and cruel person.
After the identity of the murderer of Giuseppe Lozano’s family is revealed in Shattered Triangle: A Consequential Murder, the story left me speechless. It was so unexpected, and yet seemed so real. Beleaguered Truth adds more to the story with Giuseppe’s point of view and how he feels about the consequences he created. William Messenger has done very well in writing out this book, especially in capturing a new point of view. It certainly makes the story more intriguing, as I felt a need to know how Giuseppe feels after murdering his own wife and three children.
Beleaguered Truth is a great political thriller and very captivating, to say the least. The book deals with the impact of the truth on Tom and Giovanni and delves deep into the story that is Shattered Triangle.
The triangle is being shattered. This book questions: will it be broken into pieces, or is it possible to mend them together and reconstruct the once beautiful triangle?
Beleaguered Truth by William P. Messenger. Black Rose Writing, August 2015.
Reviewer bio: Manasi Patil is a young author with a passion for writing.
Deadline: July 31, 2021
Enter your fiction of at least 40k words or poetry manuscripts of around 90 pages for a chance to win $500 and publication by Winter Goose Publishing. Honorable mentions may also receive publication. Submissions are being accepted from 5/1 – 7/31. ENTER TODAY before time runs out!
Booksellers share their experiences selling books a year after George Floyd’s murder led more people to support Black-owned bookstores and purchase more books by Black authors.
PBS News Hour covers this in “Anti-racist reading drove business to Black bookstores. Owners hope that’s not the end of the story.” Find the full article here.
The MFA Program in Creative Writing at Chatham University and literary magazine The Fourth River have announced the creation of the Jeffrey “Boosie” Bolden Series. The first publication will be a special anthology called Black Visions. This anthology was conceived of and will be edited by the MFA Emerging Black Writers in Residence Cedric Rudolph and Caitlyn Hunter along with alums Samantha Edwards and Nicole Lourette.
About this anthology: Are you a black writer, or a writer who is black?
Black artists everywhere are all too familiar with this question and label on their work. Why are Black artists always called upon to write about the Black experience, about Black pain? Where are the discussions about craft, form, and futurisms? This anthology was born out of the need to create more space for Black voices; all Black voices. We want to see how your medium amplifies your voice and who you are as an artist, without the limitations of formality, genre, or subject. We are looking for the musicality, depth, and vibrancy that is Black art.
The anthology is accepting submissions through 11:59 PM on Friday, June 18 with expected publication in fall of this year.
The series is named after Chatham MFA alum and former Fourth River editor Jeffrey “Boosie” Bolden who refused to write prose or poetry restricted by genre and pushed himself to create hybrid flows fusing prose and rap. His mixtape-memoir Wolves was released in November 2020 after his passing in June of 2020.
There is no fee to submit to this anthology and accepted writers will receive a copy of the book and $50 honorarium.
Guest Post by Michael Hettich.
Perhaps the most striking characteristic of Blood Aria, given its poems’ formal dexterity, nuanced tonal shifts, and emotional depths, is that it is Christopher Nelson’s first full-length book of poetry. In its range of subject matter and at times harrowing emotional risk, as well as in the sheer dexterity of its strategies and tones, Blood Aria is a deeply powerful and necessary book, one of the richest first books of poetry I have read in years. This is work that reminds us of the depths of insight and feeling that are unsayable except in the most dexterous, courageous, emotionally capacious poetry; it reminds us as well of an essential human need that finds expression only in the best poetry’s capacity to speak through the blood and guts of being, balanced against the scintillating engagements of the formally-adept mind. Continue reading “Elemental Witness”
Guest Post by Manasi Patil.
A Consequential Murder is the first book in the series, “Shattered Triangle” by William Messenger. This is an uncommon and unique book with complex characters and plots.
The blurb of Shattered Triangle: A Consequential Murder was enough to hook me right in the book. I was certainly expecting a lot from this read, and am glad to say that I had a fulfilling time, and the end left me speechless. It was very unexpected and made me want to read the whole book again just to understand how and why the plot twisted in such a manner. Continue reading “Shattered Triangle Trilogy”
Guest Post by Julia Wilson.
The sense of dread the reader experiences starts with the first sentence of Rumaan Alam’s Leave the World Behind.
“Well, the sun was shining. They felt that boded well . . . ” In fact, it does not.
Alam uses a few methods to keep the reader on edge. He intersperses somewhat alarming but sketchy details haphazardly, and doesn’t always return to explain. For instance, the narrator tells the reader one of the characters always has his epi-pen within reach, then moves on, leaving the reader to wonder: Why is it mentioned? How will it fit into the story? This keeps the reader filled with antsy anticipation.
Then there are the layers of possible menace facing the characters. The first is suspicion based on race. But are there larger threats facing them all as a group? Should they unite and put aside their differences? Alam reveals these details throughout the novel in a slow, tantalizing thread.
And finally, and most impactfully, there is Alam’s use of the omniscient narrator. In this novel, the narrator is used as a technique to impart to the reader information that none of the characters know. For instance, the narrator tells us a tick has burrowed into a boy’s skin, unbeknownst to him or anyone else. Later, when he falls ill, the reader is sure they know what has made the boy sick. But is that really the culprit, or is it something else, with the tick serving as a distraction?
Alam pulls the reader along, dropping asides from the narrator, making it clear that something really big and really bad is going to happen. And the reader watches as the characters try to catch up.
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam. HarperCollins Publishers, 2020
Reviewer bio: Julia Wilson is currently pursuing a Masters in Writing at Johns Hopkins University.
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Deadline: August 16, 2021
Founded in 2020, Nobody’s Home: Modern Southern Folklore is a work-in-progress online anthology of creative nonfiction works about the prevailing beliefs, myths, and narratives that have driven Southern culture over the last fifty years, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The anthology is collecting personal essays, memoirs, short articles, opinion pieces, and contemplative works about the ideas, experiences, and assumptions that have shaped life below the old Mason-Dixon Line since 1970. www.modernsouthernfolklore.com
Deadline: June 15, 2021
Swan Scythe Press’ 2021 poetry chapbook contest is accepting submissions from March 1 to June 15 (postmark deadline). $18 entry fee. Winner receives $200 and 25 perfect-bound chapbooks. The 2020 winner is Lana Issam Ghannam for Evolution of Stone. For full submission guidelines, visit www.swanscythepress.com and swanscythepress.submittable.com/submit.
Deadline: June 15, 2021
Lynx House Press seeks submissions of full-length poetry manuscripts for the annual Blue Lynx Prize for Poetry. The winner will receive $2,000 and publication. Entries must be at least 48 pages in length. The fee for submitting is $28, and includes a copy of a book from our catalog. Previous judges include James Tate, Yusef Komunyakaa, Dorianne Laux, Dara Wier, Melissa Kwasny, and Robert Wrigley.
View the full NewPages May 2021 eLitPak Newsletter. Don’t forget to subscribe today to get it delivered to your inbox every month along with weekly updates on calls, contests, lit mag news, book news, and more.
Check out new titles due out this summer from James Braziel, Mark Budman, Daren Dean, William Gay, and Terence Gallagher. We will have open reading once more in mid-August. Fiction only.
Guest Post by Diana De Jesus.
“I doubt sometimes whether
a quiet & unagitated life
would have suited me – yet I
sometimes long for it.” — Byron
This statement by Byron quoted in the text illustrates what life can be like for someone with mental illness. An Unquiet Mind is a memoir by Kay Redfield Jamison, a Professor of Psychiatry, in which she candidly discusses her struggles with living with bipolar disorder (formally known as manic depression) from a variety of perspectives rather than just one lens.
Jamison references her journey from her adolescent to college years in which her manic depression illness slowly makes an appearance, altering her moods and performance unbeknownst to her at the time. However, as time progresses, so does the state of her illness. Jamison provides in vivid detail the many highs and lows she experiences because of her mental illness, and many incidences occur as a result; for example, extreme spending sprees, mood changes, violent episodes, engaging in uncharacteristic behavior towards her colleagues, and lastly a suicide attempt.
Soon after, she begins to see a psychiatrist at the age of 27, thus, eventually, learning her manic depression is hereditary since her father was dealing with the same affliction when she was a young adult. Moreover, her therapy sessions did not go without problems of course, as she confesses her reluctance to take medication more specifically Lithium. In reality, she learns the hard way eventually realizing medication is a necessity rather than a hinderance; thereby, making peace with herself and her mental illness as she embraces her disease.
Through her writing, Jamison displays much resilience, and courage in spite of her illness. Her honesty and efforts in making sure people with depression and other psychiatric disorders do not feel ashamed nor stigmatized is quite commendable. In my view, she is a warrior and not a victim of her own mind. I recommend An Unquiet Mind to anyone; whereby, hopefully changing any preconceived notions regarding those who struggle with mental health issues.
An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison. Vintage, January 1997.
Reviewer bio: Diana De Jesus is an adjunct professor from Queens, NY, she is a fan of books, 80’s music to rock out too and old television shows. Additionally, she has a blog she is still very slowly and surely updating.
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Deadline: June 15, 2021
Autumn House Full-Length Prizes (Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction): Winners of each prize receive publication of their full-length manuscripts. Each winner also receives $2,500 ($1,000 honorarium and a $1,500 travel/publicity grant to promote the book). The submission period closes June 15 (Eastern Time). To submit online, please visit our online submission manager. The judges for the 2021 full-length prizes are Eileen Myles (poetry), Deesha Philyaw (fiction), and Steve Almond (nonfiction).
Guest Post by Heather McCardell.
Elatsoe (pronounced el-at-so-ay) by Darcie Little Badger follows Ellie Bride, a Lipan Apache teenager, as she, her ghost dog Kirby, mom, and best friend Jay seek to uncover the truth about the night her cousin was found in a single car crash. This hunt takes them to the little town of Willowbee, where Ellie discovers a town secret that haunts her more than the dead she can wake. In this riveting debut novel, Little Badger crafts a world where magic is the norm and passed down through family lines – Ellie can wake the dead, passed down through her Great-Six Grandmother, and Jay is a direct descendent from the fairy king Oberon – and weaves a tale about family, allies and advocacy, and the ongoing colonization of Indigenous peoples. Little Badger handles the topic of colonization with delicacy, approaching it through character dialogue and entwining it with the ending revelation.
One thing I adored about this book was the oral storytelling culture that appears throughout, especially in the tales of Great-Six. These act as teaching moments for both Ellie and the reader, and provide readers a deeper look into Ellie’s family history and relations. At the heart of this novel is a story about a young girl who will do what she can to get justice, and allies who believe and support her and her family when they rightfully claim that her cousin’s death was no accident. In between the detective work, Ellie continues to work on her skill of waking the dead, much to the concern of her mom, but there is one rule passed down with this magic that Ellie plans to abide by: never wake a human ghost. With Dr. Abe Allerton as a suspect, Ellie senses a conspiracy that involves her cousin’s murder, and this is one secret she won’t let stay buried.
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger. Levine Querido, August 2020.
Reviewer bio: Heather McCardell is a graduate student at the University of Windsor, studying English Literature and Creative Writing. When not writing essays, she enjoys writing poetry and hiking.
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Guest Post by C. Jane Taylor.
An Everyday Cult invites the reader to ride the spiritual rapids of the Center for Transformational Learning, a cult whose leader hopes you will drown. Working under the guise of a trusted therapist, the cult’s aloof, captivating, even sexy leader—referred to only as ‘Doug’—gives weekly ‘homework’ assignments that use pathologies, psychological archetypes, and dream interpretation as the foundations for self-annihilation.
The author’s elegant use of language makes An Everyday Cult read like a literary work of fiction and yet her treatment of the subject matter makes the tale race like a horror film. We watch from behind reluctantly parted fingers as the dark reality of the cult unfolds.
The reader travels with Buglion as she falls—simultaneously in love with the cult’s charismatic leader and asleep to her own identity—drifts, sleeps, and then snaps awake to the eighteen-year nightmare she has endured. The narrative reminds us to open our own eyes and stay awake to the dangers of authoritarian leaders claiming to know us better than we know ourselves.
An Everyday Cult by Gerette Buglion. Rootstock Publishing, May 2021.
Reviewer bio: C. Jane Taylor is the author of Spirit Traffic, a woman’s motorcycle journey of family, fear, and fledging. She lives, writes, and rides in Hinesburg, Vermont.
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BookMark Books refashions discarded and unwanted vintage books into lovely, sturdy, unique, blank notebooks. Made with upcycled, vintage covers; recycled interior paper; and hand-waxed thread, they are excellent tools for writers, artists, musicians, teachers, or anyone who loves beautiful books and the act of making their mark. A notebook is an essential tool for writers and artists, and having something beautiful, handmade, and environmentally friendly to use when an idea strikes makes creating even more satisfying. Visit me on on Instagram @bookmark_books for pictures of what I’m working on and a link to my Etsy shop.
$500 & Publication for Fiction and PoetryDeadline: July 31, 2021
Enter your fiction or poetry manuscript for a chance to win $500 and publication by Winter Goose Publishing. Honorable mentions may also receive publication. Submissions are being accepted from 5/1 – 7/31. ENTER TODAY before time runs out!
Guest Post by Natalie Hess.
This was a really weird book, but in a good way. It follows a girl named Jenna Fox who was in a car accident and woke up from a coma with no memories at all. She has to build a new life for herself while also trying to find out about her past.
There are some sci-fi elements in the medical parts of this story as well which made for some really shocking plot twists, and the way that Jenna’s new life is shaped because of those things is so much different than normal people’s lives.
This book also brings up identity and what it means to be yourself and have your own personality and I really enjoyed that part of it. I also liked the whimsical way the story was told. There were parts where I felt like I was reading poetry because the writing is so pretty, but it was really easy to understand, even the more scientific parts.
If you really enjoy stories about medical miracles, or utopian stories, this is a great book to pick up.
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson. Square Fish. 2009.
Reviewer bio: I’m Natalie Hess and I’m simply a high school student who LOVES reading everything from scifi to romance to nonfiction and everything in between. I also love sharing my thoughts and I hope you enjoy!
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Guest Post by Gabrielle Thurman.
Dog Boy by Eva Hornung is the harrowing tale of a young boy raised by wild dogs. Based on a true story, the novel follows Romochka, a four-year-old boy abandoned by his family, as he attempts to survive the Russian winters in the aftermath of perestroika. At its heart, this book is a story about what it means to be an underdog, both literally and metaphorically.
Every scene in this book had me gritting my teeth. I laughed. I cried. I walked away from it in horror and disgust, only to return to it again and again. It’s one of those books that even after you finish reading it, you still think about it. I can’t look at dogs the same way I used to. Hornung does a fantastic job of examining what it means to be a “person.”
The book isn’t perfect. There are parts where the plot gets a bit fuzzy and convenient. She stretched my suspension of disbelief a tad bit too far in places. Overall, though, this is one of my new favorites, and I’ll definitely be recommending it to others. If you love books about dogs, survival, Russia, humanity, violence, family, and hope, then this book is for you.
Dog Boy by Eva Hornung. Viking, March 2010.
Reviewer bio: Gabrielle Thurman is a creative writer, professional editor, queer woman, native Arkansan, and aspiring novelist. Her creative nonfiction can be found in The Elephant Ladder and The Vortex Magazine of Literature and Fine Art.
Guest Post by Kylie Smith.
In Every Last Breath: A Memoir of Two Illnesses, scholar and memoirist Joanne Jacobson strings twelve independently stunning essays together to create a lyrically compressed contemplation of the always frail body.
The essays detail Jacobson’s heart-wrenching experience of discovering her own chronic illness even as she was writing about her mother’s. Both memoir and biography, the book rejects the linear trajectory of conventional narrative to call the reader “out of time” and into the lives of two Jewish-American women as their diseases, one of blood and one of breath, force them to confront “end of life” together.
With the precision of a poet, Jacobson gracefully and honestly explores the ephemerality of time and breath and speaks deeply to the shared human experience of incremental loss. Every Last Breath is a hopeful and hurting reminder that the body is both singly inhabited and commonly shared.
Every Last Breath: A Memoir of Two Illnesses by Joanne Jacobson. The University of Utah Press, 2020.
Reviewer bio: Kylie Smith is a writer based out of Logan, Utah.
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Deadline: June 15, 2021
Swan Scythe Press announces its 2021 poetry chapbook contest. Entry fee: $18. We are accepting submissions from March 1 to June 15 (postmark deadline). Winner receives $200 and 25 perfect-bound chapbooks. The 2020 winner is Lana Issam Ghannam for Evolution of Stone. For full submission guidelines, visit our website and swanscythepress.submittable.com/submit.