G. Davis Cathcart is the artist behind this sugar-crazed untitled work of a young man/boy enjoying his morning dose of Sugar Pops on the Winter 2016 cover of The MacGuffin.
Another comic cover on Green Mountains Review (v29 n1) is an illustration by Tim Mayer from OldGuy: Superhero. Selections of both poetry and images from the illustrated chapbook by William Trowbridge are featured within the issue.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
“Ill Met by Moonlight” is the theme of Hamilton Arts & Letters Magazine issue 8.2, which features a collage of works from artists featured in the issue, including “Steve” by Lisa Wöhrle from the portfolio “Then and Now: The (Young) Contemporaries.”
“Crow Chief” by Geri Digiorno is also a collage which invites readers in to the spring 2016 issue of Raleigh Review Literary & Arts Magazine. The publication’s new, larger format provides a spacious canvas for this work.
It helps to see the full spread on this cover art for the spring issue of Arroyo Literary Magazine: “Fiori Bacio (Lovers)” by ALE + ALE.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Field: Contemporary Poetry and Poetics Spring 2016 issue features a strking image – no photo credit given – which shows I’m not always drawn to splashy color covers. You can read some sample poems from the issue here.
Literary Juice is an online bi-monthly of all genres of prose, poetry, and art. As the editors note: “Lately, we’ve done away with all artistrict boundaries.” This issue’s cover photo is “We Almost Rejected the Barn But No One Wants To Be Trolled by Cows” by A. Riding.
“Sad Cactus” by Netherlands photo artist Stanislaw Lewkowicz is featured on the cover of the online Hermeneutic Chaos March 2016 issue. Lewkowicz’s mezmerizing image is the perfect match for Hermeneutic Chaos, which editors consider a collection of “beautifully crafted narrative mindscapes that move us with their linguistic, emotional expanse and powerful imagery.”
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
The Writing Disorder Spring 2016 WAXenVINE Photography
The Beautiful Images of Scott Irvine & Kim Meinelt
WAXENVINE is the collective vision of husband and wife team Scott Irvine and Kim Meinelt. Their work centers around themes of light, shadow, texture and beauty. They are drawn to finding the unusual within the mundane and beauty in unexpected places. Their process often involves blending multiple images together – resulting in a haunting dreamscape that transcends reality and the singular image.
Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built + Natural Environment features some stunning photography on its site that accompanies each written work. Header photo of goshawk in flight by Vladimir Hodac, courtesy Shutterstock.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
I’m a sucker for rich, gorgeous, thick layers of color, and this cover image on Weber 32.1 absolutely satisfies. This “Untitled #1” is a mixed media by Ginger Wallace, whose work is also featured on a ten-page spread inside.
Kenyon Review Editor David H. Lynn tells readers, “Don’t be fooled by the playful beauty of our covers . . . the changes that have come to Kenyon Review over the past year are more than skin deep.” Indeed, while now managing their own electronic versions, writers will be pleased to know the publication has equalized its pay scale between online and print contributors. The cover by artist and illustrator Jon McNaught drew me in to read the rest.
Still Points Arts Quarterly is the beautiful, lavish, journal of arts and literature published by Shanti Arts, which was founded in 2011 by Christine Brooks Cote to celebrate art, nature, and spirit. “Night Flight” by Charlotte Lees is featured on the front cover, while a portfolio of her sculptures is featured inside.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
I simply couldn’t look away from Copper Nickel #22, even though I found it somewhat disconcerting. “Samy” by Christine Stormberg is an oil on canvas.
“Borderlands” is the theme of Hayden’s Ferry Review Fall/Winter. Issue 57. “Borderlands are complex spaces filled with treacherous enthymemes, conflicting traditions, and a certain loneliness and search for identity,” writes Editor Chelsea Hickok in her introductory letter. The cover art (which extends to the back cover as well) by Bobby Neel Adams seems a fitting entryway to the borderlands within.
Now that Antioch Review has your attention… “Funny Bird Sex” by John R. Nelson is the opening essay that the issue takes as its subtitle as well as influencing the cover photo by Dennie Eagleson.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
“Lubbock Woman” by Dirk Fowler takes the cover of Southern Humanities Review 49.2. Visually based on a waitress from Furr’s Cafeteria in Lubbuck, Texas, Fowler writes, “This image began its life in 2003 as a pretty crudely executed letterpress concert poster for the band Sugarpuss. I only made a few of them, but I liked the illustration and knew I wanted to explore it again at some point.”
It’s a dog. Enough said. Margaret Darling is the artist for CutBank 84.
Definitely an eye-catching slight of hand, Cimarron Review Winter 2016 features photography by Bradley Phillips, “Feather,” from the series Abolition of Man.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
This week’s theme seems to be the color – something of a burnt umber – that draws my eye. Main Street Rag 21.1 features the photography and an accompanying interview with Tammy Ruggles. “Afternoon Leisure” is the cover photo.
Saranac Review 11 features cover and full color internal art by Canadian artists, Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber, formerly known as The Royal Art Lodge.
The Rag online monthly “focuses on grittier forms of contemporary short fiction,” with this issue featuring Alan Shapiro’s “Has and Have” with cover art by Matthew Laznicka.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
The Tishman Review quarterly is available online as a PDF, but it’s also wonderful to hold this full-size, 8.5 x 11 perfect bound print copy. The pages provide generous space for art and poetry, with prose cut to two columns for easier reading. The gorgeous cover art Of Skin and Earth by Stephen Linsteadt in just the invitation readers need to continue on inside.
The theme for New Madrid Winter 2016 is “Evolving Islands” and features a selection of essays, poetry, and fiction in response to this theme. The cover art is courtesy of NASA, “Eluthera Island, Bahamas, 2002.”
In keeping with Creative Nonfiction‘s theme “Let’s Talk About the Weather,” this cover image comes from artist and designer Mark Nystrom‘s “wind drawings” series. Driven by the weather, this series is a drawing process Nystrom developed using weather instruments and custom electronics that collect wind data that is then digitally interpreted. Nystrom’s images accompany each essay in this issue of CNF.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
This week’s cover picks’ theme could be whimsy, as there was something in each of these covers that made me laugh, with a blend of curiosity to want to look inside. This cover image of Mississippi Review (43.3) by Allison Campbell is a throwback to the Brady Bunch, with writers included in the issue on featured on both the front an back cover.
The Spring 2016 issue of The Gettysburg Review features a full color section of the paintings and collages of Jacqui Larsen, as well as this cover work (oil and collage), Trotting a Fenced Field.
The most literal of the ‘making me want to look inside’ covers this week is The Missouri Review, themed “Behind the Curtian.” This cover image, “Matter,” by Logan Zillmer reveals summer behind the curtain of winter – appropriate considering the below zero winchill outside.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
The Winter 2015/2016 cover of Beloit Poetry Journal features Alexis Lago’s “Tree of Indulgences,” watercolor on paper, 2009. Lago is a Cuban visual artist now living and working between Toronto and Florida. See more of his works here: www.alexislago.weebly.com.
The Massachusetts Review Winter 2015 includes two outstanding art features: Selections from Chuck Close Photographs which were on exhibit Sept. – Dec. 2015 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Museum of Contemporary Art and Selections from Women’s Work: Feminist Art from the Smith College Museum Art Collection which were on exhibit Sept. 2015 – Jan. 2016. The cover features Bill T. Jones (2008) by Chuck Close.
It would appear that human faces have captured my attention for this week’s picks. The Writing Disorder online lit mag features the illustrative art Alina Zamanova on its homepage as well as with a selection of her works in this quarter’s issue.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
I’m only selecting one cover this week because it is so profound. This cover image for The Georgia Review Winter 2015 is Mavis in the Back Seat by Cynthia Henebry, one of the photographers featured in The Do Good Fund: Southern Poverty Initiative. The Do Good Fund, a public charity based in Columbus, Georgia, is focused on building a museum-quality collection of contemporary Southern photography. Do Good’s mission is to make its collection broadly accessible through regional museums, nonprofit galleries and nontraditional venues, and to encourage complimentary, community-based programming to accompany each exhibition. (Text excerpted from Do Good’s website.)
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
If I had my druthers, Still Point Arts Quarterly would be featured here for every issue, along with just about every page of their publication. Each issue is a true meditation of art an literature. The Winter 2015 issue #20 features Square (XIII) by Susan Breen.
Lalitamba “is a journal of international writings for liberation.” This 2015 cover gets my pick because, in the dead of winter, this says SUMMER to me and definitely liberates my mind from the cold and ice. [No credit given for the photo/model.]
“Equal,” acrylic on canvas by Amy Guidry, graces the cover of Fourteen Hills (22.1: 2016), keeping with the publication’s tradition for catchy, sometimes bordering on (good) bizarre images.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
This striking mixed media, cut and paste collage on the cover of American Short Fiction is “The Swimmer” by B.A. Lampman, an artist in Victoria, B.C. See more of her intriguing work on her website, where she has some original works, prints, and cards for purchase.
I can’t stop loving South Dakota Review‘s larger format publication, giving true space to the work within, as well as to the cover art. The whole publication has a kind of dark chocolate frosting feel: rich and luxurious. Lee Ann Roripaugh is credited for this cover art.Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
The Spring 2015 issue of Stoneboat Literary Journal features “Creation” by Gordon Gohr, a stunning image which will draw interested readers to the photo essay within by Mariko Nagai, “Hiroshima: The Occupation Period.”
Main Street Rag Editor and publisher M. Scott Douglass also contributes to this issue’s cover. A dog will always make my pick for the week, and this one, with animals stacked lazily about just looked too comfortable to pass up.
I guess the theme for this week’s covers could be “things that are stacked” or something like that. Mamalode makes it for its special edition “Better Together.” Jessica Shyba’s photo models are two of her four children and her dog, Theo.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
The Blue Route is an online national literary journal for undergraduate writers, with each author’s school affiliation noted in the table of contents. I like the feel of this cover photo by Taylor Blume, with its intense colors and grainy texture.
This Spring 2015 cover of Tahoma Liteary Review is from a series by southern California artista Wendy Smith called “Inside the Brain.” Inspired by the the work of neuroscientist Camillo Golgi who dyed samples of brain tissue so the neurons could be observed, Smith’s images mimic the technique: color washes to illustrate brain cells.
Arc Poetry Magazine #76 features acrylic on canvas artwork of Christi Belcourt both on the cover and inside the publication in full color. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Gorgeous.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Well, it is Easter, after all. In addition to the cool cover art by Mary Schaubschlager, this spring 2015 issue of Rain Taxi: Review of Books includes AWP features: “Literary Twin Cities: An Incomplete Overview” by Andy Sturdevant; “Ten Things You’ll Need to Survive AWP” by William Stobb; and “[But Seriously Folks] Twelve Tips for Navigating AWP” by Kathryn Kysar.
“An Influence of Snow” by Linda Alexader-Rosas is featured on the cover of the spring 2015 issue of Saw Palm: Florida Litearature and Art, and carries over some of the colors from the cover above while transitioning in image to the cover below.
“Camouflage” by artist Phillip Thomas is the cover art for the spring 2015 issue of The Moth, a print magazine of arts and literature from Co. Cavan, Ireland.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Cold Mountain Review (v43.1) features the photo “Baucho Festival” by Kobby Dagan. I like the mouth set on the young subject, who at first glance made me think of Tom Sawyer, a character sometimes depicted as having a similarly styled hat.
“Aqua Globe” by Sheri Wright adorns the cover of the Winter 2015 issue of Blotterature Literary Magazine, an online (Issuu) publication of poetry, prose, and artwork, with an upcoming Ekphrastic! Issue (submission deadline April 15).
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
This cover photo of Caketrain #12 is “Kingdom of Heaven” by Yonca Karakas Demirel, more of whose work can be found here on his tumblr site. And if you wonder if the cover is refelctive of the contents, you can find out for yourself in a generous 54-page exerpt of the print magazine offered online.
I simply appreciated the simple senitiment on this cover of Apt issue #5. Apt publishes “continously” online, but also offers print publications – holding to their love of long fiction. This issue features only five stories on its 208 pages. There’s still enough winter left to sink into this one and enjoy it.
This cover art by Erkembode on Gigantic Sequins 6.1 just made me smile. Sometimes that’s all it takes.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
I’m going for warm colors here, as once again it is snowing, blowing and below zero windchill outside. This front cover image of Off the Coast (Winter 2015) is “Indigo Meditation” by Iryna Lialko. The issue’s theme “Get You Some Wings” comes from a Clint Smith poem included within.
I love this hypnotic design on the cover of CutBank #82. The image comes from vintageprintable.com with a bit of artistic manipulation by Art Editor Meghan O’Brien.
Parcel Fall/Winter 2014 features artwork by Juliana Romana, both on the cover (which opens to a full front/back of this oil painting to include one more young girl sitting at the foot of the bed) and within with several full-color images. Also included in this issue is a cool print by Giant Pancake, a screen print studio. The design looks a bit like the iconic reindeer sweater needlework, only with a skull and crossbones, tie fighter, and a hot air balloon “stitched” in.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
What’s not to adore about this image on the cover of Grain? The theme for the issue (42.2) became “Artist as Watcher / Writer as Witness” and was influenced by the featured artist Wilf Perreault. “Two Waiting Ladies” (1982) graces the cover.
This cover image of the online poetry journal Angle mesmerized me. Though it’s from the Autumn/Winter 2014, Amy Wiseman’s photo, “Sunset Through Hag Stone on Cromer Beach,” warmed me through and has me looking forward to summer.
The online Adroit Journal regularly features cool cover art. The last several issues have a “floaty” theme about them. “Whirl” is an award-winning piece by Jedidiah Gist, a freshman at Clemson University.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Still in the bleak of Michigan winter, I’m going for color first this week. West Branch Winter 2015 features Wetlands at Dawn by Sophia Heymans (2012, acrylic, papter mache, oil on board).
Inappropriate Fear, mixed paints on canvas by Julian Kimmings is the feature image on the cover of A cappella Zoo. “Fear makes the wolf look bigger,” is the accompanying text, appropriate perhaps for this publication of magic realism and slipstream stories.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Staring out the window at leaf bare trees, snow and ice, and grey skies threatening more accumulation to come, the cover of New Letters brought some much needed warmth of color to my day. “The Books of Common Prayer” by Margaret Brommelsiek is a hand-pieced collage, digitally scanned for archival printing.
Transference is the annual publication of the Department of World Languages and Literatures at Western Michigan University and is available in print and online for free downloading. This year’s cover features Leticia R. Bajuyo’s “Wow and Flutter: Noiseless” – an installment of player piano roll paper, typewriter, metal, and table (2012; photo by Darrell Kincer).
Stunning for its visual composition, The Literary Review (TLR) fall 2014 issue, “Women’s Studies: Not by the book,” features Achim Thode’s 1972 photograph of German visual artist Rebecca Horn, White Body Fan.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
“100 Days of Summer” by poet and photographer Steve Lautermilch graces the cover of Cimarron Review‘s Fall 2014 issue. Images of summer are the perfect antidote to these remaining 100 days of winter.
Because this cover made me look twice and then keep looking to really get the full sense of the image, Fourteen Hills 20.1-2015 makes the post. “Don Pepe” by Camilo Restrepo from the series Los Caprichos (2014) is ink, water-soluble wax pastel, tape, glue, newspaper clippings and saliva on paper. Yup. Saliva.
From the online magazine, Cahoodaloodaling: “Our cover artist, Jenny Schukin, is a 20-year-old artist, born in Moscow, Russia, and currently residing in Israel. Mainly inspired by nature, mythology, and folk-tales, Jenny enjoys surreal, fantasy and animal themed artwork. Her preferred media is traditional and her tools of choice are watercolors, inks, and pencils. Jenny’s plans for the near future include attending an art academy in the field of illustration.” In a word: Gorgeous. More of her work is featured in the online issue.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
This cover of the newest issue of Image (#83) features performance photography by Zhang Huan from his series Breath, 1999, in Miami, Florida. More of his performance and series work can be found on his website.
It must just be the time of year, with snow storms and wind chill temperatures in the negative double digits, that makes me appreciate the brightly colored covers. Sugar House Review #10 celebrates their five-year annivesary with this special double issue packed with poetry. I believe credit goes to Natalie Young, editor and graphic designer.
And then, after the talk of bright colors, I pick this one? For good reason. I love 6×6 for their design. Ugly Duckly Press has been putting this magazine out – six pages of poetry by six different poets – since 2000, using offset printing with lovely inks and tactile papers, and each folded and bound with a sturdy, color coordinated rubber band. It’s a production value that merits special appreciation in our digital age.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
This colorfully fun, free flowing cover image for Pretty Owl Poetry Winter 2014, The Gift of Saturn, was created by featured artist Ernest Williamson III, accomplished and prolific poet as well as artist.
Printer’s Devil Review online literary and visual art magazine published by Black Key Press consistently has some of the most stunning visual art covers I’ve seen. This cover of their fall 2014 issue features Nicola Verlato’s Crash 5 (2012; Oil on canvas, 36 in. x 48 in.).
This cover of Psychopomp (Winter 2015) online journal of prose and visual art caught my eye because it reminded me of Heinz Edelmann, art director for the 1968 animated Beatles film Yellow Submarine. Good times. This piece, Cross Section of a Cloud, is by multi-talented artist Cate Anevski.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Amy Eavou’s cover photo for Iron Horse Literary Review (v16.6), appropriate for this time of year, is likewise aptly titled “Snowy Horse Muzzle.”
Mamalode‘s cover photo by Holly Andres provides the visual understatement of the year for the publication’s December theme: “It’s Complicated.”
Marcello Castellani‘s “Dualidad Prismatica 2” print on canvas creates a stunning cover image for the winter 2014/2015 issue of Zymbol.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
There is just something I can appreciate from such an austre image on the front of a magazine – the kind that draws me in, though I can’t quite say why, and makes it hard to look away. This image on the cover of Brick #94 is a photograph of East Jerusalem street scene by Teju Cole. Though it looks black and white, it is in full color.
I selected this cover image on Green Mountains Review (v27 n2) because the artist, Nancy Dwyer, is featured within the publication as well with a portfolio entitled, “Words are the Furniture of the Mind.” Eight full-color images are featured in addition to this cover.
It was both the image and the opening editorial lines that drew me to this issue of The Molotov Cocktail: “Issue 5.17 will drag you to Hell.” Okay, I’m game. Self-defined as “A Projectile for Incendiary Flash Fiction,” the publication is produced by Josh Goller.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
This issue of Banipal: Magazine of Modern Arab Literature, features a celebration of Saadi Youssef, beginning with this striking portrait on the cover painted by Mansour Mansour.
This cover image on Carbon Culture Review: Techology + Literature + Art is certainly an eye-catcher for its debut issue. Patricia Piccinini’s “The Strength of One Arm (With Canadian Mountain Goat)” is composed of silicone, fiberglass, human hair, clothing, and – yes – Canadian Mountain Goat.
Palooka‘s newest issue (#5) features “Our Bright New Hope” by artist Florian Bo. The theme of light in the dark a fitting one as we approach the longest night of the year – winter solstice.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
This inaugural issue of Profane Literary Journal features “A Feeling of Freedom” by W. Jack Savage, a painting with such rich texture it makes it appear as if the cover is actually canvas.
Each time I look at this cover, I can’t help but hear the song “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’.” They’re not boots, actually, but shoes with pant legs, and a crowd of little people as the shadow of each footstep. The piece is Karma by Do Ho Suh (2003; Urethane paint on fiberglass and resin; 153 1/2 x 118 x 291 inches) and is a fitting image for the theme of the Fall 2014 issue of The Missouri Review: Ultra-Violence.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Issue 63 of Conjunctions is themed “Speaking Volumes,” and Kerry Miller’s mixed media piece Brehm Djurens Liv (Animal Life) does just that in its visual imagery.
To continue the theme of speaking, subtle ceiling is credited for this cover image on issue 44 of Berkeley Poetry Review. The tumblr account, subtleceling.tumbler.com is credited to carolina, a “mixed media maker of things” from California now in Gotenburg, Sweden. The issue itself features many works that create a “collage of discrepant (and sometimes discordant) voices . . . “
This cover image for Gigantic Sequins #52 seemed a natural flow from BPR. And likewise, a natural from book designer, poet, and artist Meg Willing.
And then this nice, natural flow of images to the cover of Black Warrior Review (Fall/Winter 2014): Nager in Cyan by Summer Johnson. Sometimes, these lit mag cover features just take on a thematic flow of their own.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Can I politely say there’s just something compellingly creepy about this image on the November 2014 issue of Poetry that make it difficult to look away? Considering the image, I think that’s a compliment to the artist’s intention, expressed as well in the title of the work, “Entanglement Practice” (2011) by Lise Haller Baggesen.
East Coast Ink covers reflect the theme of each issue, a visual interpretation that can be both challenging and enjoyable. In issue 4, the editors note: “we explored bridges and connections of all kinds, whether they’re being built or burned.” The next issue: Bones.
The Fall 2014 cover of the online journal When Women Waken features Spirit Dancer, a beautifully flowing painted image by Leah Thompson, who says, “My art is about passion. The subject I choose whether figurative or floral is second to my passion for the application of paint and color.” Read more about Leah here.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Madcap Review semiannual of literature and art makes its debut online with this cover image: Ever, November 19, 1910, 2013. Screenprint made with the master printers of the Cabiros Workshops. Click here for more information on the cover artwork.
This photograph, “Longings,” by Malinda Fillingim graces the cover of the Fall 2014 poetry journal Off the Coast. It almost seemed to glimmer gold when caught in just the right light, and there’s just something about it that makes me want to be wandering down those tracks, into the fog.
As a lifetime fan of the movie, Paper Moon, I was of course struck by this image Fall 2014 cover image for Yellow Medicine Review: “Boy in the Moon” by Hulleah Tsinhnahjinne. Though the moon seems a bit sinister at first glance, the more I absorbed the image, the more of the “protector” I could envision in the story of this image.Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Boulevard consistently selects stunning cover art, and the most recent issue (#88) shows no letting up. Steven Kenny’s “The Raft” is an oil on canvas, richly reproduced for the rich depth of contents within (like Bob Hicok, Sheila Kohler, Joyce Carol Oates, and Floyd Skloot).
This 2014 issue cover of Iron Horse is a stunner. “The Kelpies” is a photograph by Rafal Adamczyk. It’s slightly cropped for the magazine cover, so seeing the original adds a greater appreciation for this gorgeous cover shot.
I love the concept of The Healing Muse, published by the Center for Bioethics and Humanities, SUNY Medical University. This journal should be required reading for ALL health care worker programs nationwide. The cover alone is testament to its contents, issue after issue: “Comforting a Friend” by Lynne Feldman. The Healing Muse – keeping the humanities in medicine.
Mia Funk‘s oil on canvas “Labyrinth” draws readers into issue #4 of Hermeneutic Chaos Literary Journal. Funk says of her work: “I try to be provocative and playful and create a visually impacting work using oil on canvas, moving the paint like a dream/nightmare until I’m satisfied with the effect of the images coming through. I think people have a capacity now to accept strange and I hope some of my work holds up to that. I want to disorientate the viewer and make the unfamiliar familiar and vice versa.”
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
If you wonder how we pick Lit Mag Covers of the Week, it really is just looking at the issue and catching ourselves saying, “Oh, that’s a cool!” Exactly what I said when I picked up Whiskey Island issue 64. St. Paul, Minnesota painter Aniela Sobieski, also an MFA candidate at Syracuse University, has her work “Young Buck,” oil on canvas, featured on the cover. While still gorgeous, it’s not quite in full. Visit her website for the whole picture.
This September/October 2014 cover of Ragzine had been showing up on our slider feature, and each time, I am absolutely drawn to this image. “Ida & Disa” is a photo by Mia Hanson whose interview is included in this issue online.
Number 2 Summer 2014 of Red Earth Review struck me because I recognize that precarious-looking train trestel trusted to hold up a ton of freight through wooded swamp. We have a few of those near where I live, in addition to reminding me of the film scene from Stand By Me. “People Get Ready” is the photograph by Wilma Whittaker.
“Two Fates” oil on masonite panel by Alex Hall featured on the online literary magazine decomP is from his latest series “Relativity,” which depicts individuals floating in time and space. Hall says of this series, “I chose to paint the figures with no distinct faces so they would relate to every man and every woman.”
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Arcadia‘s cover issue, as well as a selection included art within the issue, comes from Tammy Brummel, a freelance graphic designer in Oklahoma City. “My process involves compiling a library of photos and layering them on backgrounds,” she writes. “I then add graphics along with other elements until they begin to react with one another and built a story.”
Katelin Kinney contributes the cover art for the latest print edition of Thrice Fiction. She uses the methods learned from her BFAs in fine art painting and fine art photography to “create digital paintings where photos begin to morph into surreal worlds of fantasy and conceptual dramatizations.
Morgan Schweitzer created this cover art especially for The Normal School. “We stumbled on his work for another magazine and flattered him relentlessly until he agreed to do our cover,” write the editors. “A longtime pro in animation and commercial illustration, he has a ton of range, so when we cut him loose on the cover we didn’t really know what style would emerge, only that we were going to be excited about it.”
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Geogrpahic Tongues is a photo series by Elisabeth Hogeman featured both on the cover and the inside of Issue 33 of Merdian. And yes, it’s really tongues. And yes, they really are quite lovely.
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Aptly entitled “Rust,” this image by nyk fury sets the theme for issue 34 of Slipstream: Rust, Dust, Lust.
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Room‘s cover art by mixed media artist Sandra Chevrier is a beautiful expression of this issue’s theme “Geek Girls” (37.3). The piece is “La Cage aux fenêtres laissant entrées un soleil déja mort” (2013).
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Gargoyle‘s covers are regularly striking, but this issue in particular for its lack of any identifying information about the publication printed over the image, “Urban Graveyard Crows,” © Donna Snyder 2010.
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“Disambiguation” is the name of this photo by Nosael Gleason on the Summer 2014 cover of Cimarron Review. Despite the vividly images prickly spindles, I was completely drawn to grab up this issue and run my hand across its cover.
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There’s just something hauntingly sweet about this cover image, “Birds” by Jennifer Balkan, on the second issue of The Austin Review.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
It wasn’t my intention when I started posting covers here, but it seems I found myself in a “white” theme that worked out fairly well for the week.
The cover of Nowhere Number 12, an online journal of literary travel writing, is a strongly composed image of balanced whites and beige. A very simple but striking image, a still life that moves the reader to travel to the inside.
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This rainbow greyhound on the cover of the Winter 2014 Permafrost issue is a stand out. Of course, generally anything with a dog will garner my attention.
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The Literary Review‘s Summer 2014 cover is in keeping with the publication’s theme, “The Glutton’s Kitchen: Tales of Insatiable Hunger.”
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To finish out the covers comes this one from the online publication Chagrin River Review, which features a painting by JenMarie Zeleznak.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Is it a jinx or good luck to select Issue 13 of Superstition Review to feature for cover of the week? I’m going with luck considering the beauty of Melinda Hackett’s watercolor. More of her works, along with those from a number of other artists, can be found featured in this online publication.
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Big Fiction‘s cover caught my eye and my touch, being hand-set letterpress printed by Bremelo Press. Maybe selecting it is cheating just a bit, because it’s a cover that really deserves to held to be best appreciated. Here is is full print, unfolded. Truly, letterpress is art.
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The cover of West Marin Review Volume 5 made me smile, reminding me of high school days gone by (and maybe a few college days) of sneaking in or breaking in after finding myself locked out. Jasmine Bravo, Grade 12, Tomales High School contributed this digital photograph entitled “Sister’s Keychain” (2013).
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Poetry Northwest Summer & Fall 2014 features the stunning marine photography by Adam Summers: “Hedgehog Skate.” More inside the publication as well.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
This cover of Southern Poetry Review features Cocoon Series #115 by E. E. McCollum, an artist from Fairfax, VA that focuses on the human figure through his fine art photography.
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The cover of The Fiddlehead‘s latest issue may be mostly black, but the color of it is stunning. It’s Black Tulip by James Wilson.
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If with this cover Fence wanted to stand out in the pile of literary magazines, they certainly have. The artwork is a video still from Priapus Agonistes by Mary Reid Kelley with Patrick Kelley.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
The colors of this cover of Able Muse are absolutely brilliant and eye-catching. Look closer and you’ll see that she is rising out of lava and fire. The image is called “Element Fire” by Catherine Langwagen.
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Apalachee Review‘s current cover features the artwork of Susan Stelzmann, Occupy My House. A detail from her Blow Your House Down is featured as the frontispiece.
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The Lindenwood Review‘s latest cover features the feet of a doll, just disappearing off the top of the page. The viewer is left to guess what’s going on in the scene. And, in fact, Eve Jones has more of these photographs throughout the issue, all giving a unique view.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Cover art for this issue of The Cincinnati Review is called Shallow Water, a 16in by 20in acrylic by Felicia Olin who also contributes a portfolio within the issue, all included pieces worth discovering.
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The cover art for the “Reimagined: Bridging this World and Others” issue of Nimrod is a photograph by Brooke Golightly with just as an enticing of a title, “Beneath the Skirt of the Sea.”
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Notre Dame‘s “Listen Here” issue features cover art by Gail Schneider. On the front cover, Right Ear made with clay and mortar. ” terra cotta. I wasinterested in the contrast of the soft sensuousness of the human body, the fragility of body parts such as the heart and ear and the impenetrable stability of brick,” she writes.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Passages North‘s 2014 cover is simple but effective. It’s done by Jennifer Burton of Vermont: “Her work draws on imagery from old photographs found in family albums, both her own and those of others.”
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Okay, this cover of Frogpond looks so tasty that I could lick it, seriously, but not really. It certainly says, “Hey, it’s a hot summer day. Open me up; it’ll be refreshing.” The design and photo is by Christopher Patchel of Mettawa, IL.
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The cover illustration for Sterling‘s latest issue is done by Bill Frenec, but, unfortunately, that’s all we know about it. It is, however, an excellent homage to Minneapolis—the unofficial theme of the issue—including the iconic Spoonbridge and Cherry. (Plus some awesome buttons featuring elements of the cover art.)
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Magical. That’s the word I would use to describe this cover of Cutbank. It’s called Cosmic Forest by Matt Green and was created with acrylic on a wood panel.
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Smartish Pace‘s cover is fun, with a mixed media piece called I’m Dying, It’s Okay. Let’s Go! by Rashawn Griffin with chocolates, fabric, needles, nuts, paper, pigment, plastic, reed, resin, screws, spray paint, and water soluble water paint.
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The design of the cover of The Stinging Fly summer issue is fun, and it just makes me smile. It’s designed by Fuchsia MacAree. See more of her work here.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
This cover features an old passport of Mavis Gallant, the writer who is being honored and feature within the first half of this new issue of Brick.
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The Meadow‘s 2014 issue features cover artwork from Marti Bein titled “Aurora View.”
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It’s rare that I don’t like a cover from Parcel. This one is by Cable Griffith, an artist and curator living in Seattle whose work also graces the inside pages. “Return to the Source” and “Gallatin Passage” are two of my favorites.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Cimarron Review‘s front cover message states, “Don’t worry, nothing is wrong everything is fine, seriously.” It’s very tongue-in-cheek as right below the message is a tank of dead sea animals. This piece, along with the image on the back cover (“Keep up the good work” alongside a dead flower), are excerpts from Kat Eng’s comic Everything is Fine.
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Room‘s cover features Jade Hill’s Dancing with Fire, digital documentation of a fire poi performance. “I take inspiration from the beauty I may find present in all circumstances,” she writes, “and from the relationship between life and myself.”
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Green Blotter‘s 2014 issue features cover art by Dylan Rigg. I’m not entirely sure what to think of this cartoon elephant headed man, but it has me thinking, and that’s the important part.
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
Simple, yet a perfect spring cover for Natural Bridge. The illustration and design is done by Nathaniel Gibson.
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This image on Rattle‘s cover is breathtaking, especially in your hands and not on the screen. By Sebastian Lauf.
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Kim Aubrey writes in Grain‘s editor’s note: “The haunting prints of our featured artist, Sean Caulfield, show an organic world worked upon by technology and ask questions about what survives from that familiar natural world and what changes beyond recognition.”
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
This cover of New England Review is titled Blue Vault by Ra
Lit Mag Covers :: Picks of the Week
The cover of the latest issue of Hayden’s Ferry Review features Seba Kurtis’s Mirrors. It’s even more magnificent inside the issue where it is also printed, with more true color and clear image.
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In the editor’s note of this issue of december, Gianna Jacobson writes that “inspiration is a miraculous notion.” And so the cover art, by B