MFA Spotlight :: Saint Mary’s College of California

red background with Saint Mary's College of California in whiteThe Saint Mary’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing degree program offers a campus environment that feels like a writing retreat within the San Francisco Bay Area. The two-year MFA program at Saint Mary’s offers concentrations in creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, combining a studio writing workshop component with an analytical component. SMC MFA faculty are award-winning writers, poets, and committed teachers who offer decades of experience mentoring emerging writers.

Each year the MFA program invites Visiting Writers to work with MFA students. These groundbreaking writers add to the program’s inclusive community with their diversity of experience. Recent visitors include Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Marie Mutsuki Mockett, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Ada Limón, and Margaret Wilkerson Sexton. Learn more…

Hippocampus AWP 2021

The Association of Writers and Writing Programs (aka AWP) will have their annual conference and book fair this year and it will be completely virtual. Hippocampus Magazine an Books will be participating. Besides being available during regular Book Fair hours, they are hosting two author meet and greets. The first is with Rebecca Fish Ewan on Friday, March 5 from 4-5:30 PM EST. The second is with Sam Chiarelli on Saturday, March 6 from 2-3:30 PM EST. You can even pick up some virtual AWP-exclusive downloads and enter to win swag at their virtual booth.

If you aren’t a subscriber to their newsletter yet, what are you waiting for? They hope to announce an official update soon about their annual creative nonfiction conference HippoCamp. Plus, you can keep on top of the latest issues of the journal as well as cool events they host, like their recent Doodles & Discussion with Rebecca Fish Ewan.

Sunday Short Reads

Love creative nonfiction in bite-sized form? Literary magazine Creative Nonfiction has you covered with Sunday Short Reads. This is flash nonfiction delivered weekly straight to your inbox. The pieces featured in this mailing are hand-selected from the archives of Creative Nonfiction, Brevity, Diagram, River Teeth, and Sweet Lit. They will also sometimes feature the occasional original works, too.

Check out past issues here, and consider subscribing today to satisfying your nonfiction cravings.

Interested in submitting your own nonfiction? They are open to submissions of nonfiction by older writers (age 60+) through February 22.

Grand Little Thing Launches The Umbran Project

The Umbran Project logoGrand Little Things, an online literary magazine devoted to showcasing formal verse and free verse using typical versification techniques, has announced the creation of The Umbran Project. The name comes from The Umbra Poets who are known for skirting the line between “Art for Art’s Sake” and “For the Culture.”

The idea of the Umbran Project came about as the editor realized there are “a limited number of avenues that are specifically targeting African American Writers.” They hope to publish the Umbran Project twice a year and would love to feature at least 30 poets per issue.

The first issue’s deadline is April 14, 2021.

Contest :: The Journal’s Non/Fiction Collection Prize at The Ohio State University

The Journal Issue 44.2 coverDeadline: March 21, 2021
Submission Dates: February 1 – March 21, 2021. The Non/Fiction Collection Prize is awarded annually to a book-length collection of short stories, essays, or a combination of the two. This year’s judge is Nick White, author of How to Survive a Summer and Sweet and Low. A $1,500 prize and publication with The Ohio State University Press is awarded for a collection of short stories, essays, or a combo. $23 entry fee (reduced fee for BIPOC writers). Visit thejournalmag.org/book-prizes/prose-prize for guidelines.

Able Muse YouTube Channel: Readings & Book Trailers

If you weren’t able to attend the virtual reading and Q&A with Able Muse Press authors Carrie Green, Hailey Leithauser, and Sally Thomas on January 27, they have uploaded a recording of the event to their official YouTube Channel.

Don’t forget to subscribe for more content…like their recently released book trailer for William Baer’s New Jersey Noir: Cape May. This is the second book of the Jack Colt Murder Mystery Novels Series. It was released on January 15 of this year. They are hoping to bring even more book trailers in the new future.

Plus! Don’t forget their 2021 contests are open to submissions! You can submit fiction and poetry to their Write Prize for publication in their literary magazine Able Muse through March 15. You can submit full-length poetry collections to their Book Award through March 31.

The Iowa Review’s Veteran’s Writing Gallery

Literary magazine The Iowa Review, whose Fall 2020 issue was released last month after unexpected delays due to the pandemic, offers a web-home for veterans’ writing as well as resources for veteran writers with their Veteran’s Writing Gallery. In it they feature all work in its entirety by veteran writers who were published in the Spring 2013 and Spring 2015 issues.

Screenshot of The Iowa Review's Veteran's Writing Gallery

They also offer a biennial writing contest for veterans, the Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award for Veterans. The winners and runner-ups of the 2020 contest will be published in the Spring 2021 issue. First place was James Janko’s “Fallujah in a Mirror”; second place was Jerri Bell’s “He Said, She Said”; and runners-up were Erik Cederblom, Ashley Hand, and Brian Kerg. Their next contest is slated for a May 2022 deadline.

If you are a veteran writer, do check out their resources page which offers a guide to publishing venues, workshops and classes, and writing contests devoted to veterans and active-duty military and reservists.

Doodling for Writers: Rebecca Fish Ewan in Conversation with Donna Talarico

Doodling for Writers book coverLast year Hippocampus Books released Rebecca Fish Ewan’s Doodling for Writers which is filled with “wit and wisdom with practical, engaging prompts and activities to illustrate how simple sketching can get you over hurdles, bring back memories, and even provide a roadmap for where your story needs to go.”

To celebrate the anniversary of its release, they are hosting a virtual event with Rebecca Fish Ewan in conversation with Hippocampus Books publisher Donna Talarico. This will take place February 9 at 7:00 PM EST. There will be an audience Q&A and an optional, fun, no-pressure draw-along.

There are also chances to win Doodle On! to-shirts and mini notebooks.

Book sales are encouraged through Midtown Scholar Bookstore which is hosting the event.

Write in Brooklyn with the MFA at St. Francis College

The low-residency MFA in creative writing at St. Francis College offers a lecture series called Write in Brooklyn which features prominent writers from a range of genres. In 2019, they launched their own YouTube channel allowing you to view these discussions online. Participants in this series have included Mahogany Brown, Dominique Morisseau, Jason Reynolds, and Amber Tamblyn.

The low-residency program meets in-person twice a year in January and June. The January residency this year was moved completely online. They offer separate genre tracks in fiction, poetry, and dramatic screenwriting/playwriting. They have a 6-to-1 student to faculty ratio that offers “an intimate, focused environment for aspiring writers to flourish.”

Stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more.

Malahat Review Extends Deadline of Long Poem Prize

The Malahat Review Long Poem Prize extension bannerLiterary magazine The Malahat Review has announced they have extended the deadline for its biennial Long Poem Prize. If you missed yesterday’s deadline, you’re in luck! There is still time to submit. The new deadline is February 5 at 11:59 PM PST.

The Long Poem Prize awards two cash prizes of $1,250 CAD and is open to both Canadian and international writers across the globe. The two winning poems will appear in the the Summer 2021 issue. This year’s judges are Meredith Quartermain, Armand Garnet Ruffo, and John Elizabeth Stintzi.

This year, in addition to the cash prizes and publication, The Malahat Review is giving away poetry books to one lucky contest entrant. All submissions to the contest are entered into this giveaway. Books being given away are Salt and Ashes by Adrienne Drobnies, Re-Origin of Species by Alessandra Naccarato, Visual Inspection by Matt Rader, and Pockets by Stuart Ross.

New Orleans Review Issue 45: Queer Issue

New Orleans Review Issue 45 cover art by Julie Buck
Julie Buck, Hidden in Plain Sight, 2018, Digital Ink Print.

In Fall of 2020, literary magazine New Orleans Review released its first-ever issue devoted entirely to poetry and prose by queer writers. The issue also featured interviews with four artists from the LGBTQAI2+ community. Editor Lindsay Sproul, the first queer editor of the journal, states in the Editor’s Note: “As editor, I will continue to seek out the work of queer writers, and to hold intersectionality and advocacy at the center of our journal.”

Contributors in the Fall 2020 issue include Cassidy Wells, Jordan Lassiter, Lisa Ahima, Kimberly Pollard, Jason Villemez, Kate Milliken, Buzz Mauro, Corinne Manning, Rita Mookerjee, Kathleen Balma, Ava Dadvand, Zach Linge, Steven Cordova, Danley Romero, Eleanor Garran, and Jennifer Steil.

Read this issue and consider submitting work to future issues. For the month of February, Black History Month, black writers can submit their work for free.

Becka McKay on The Poetry of Language / The Language of Poetry

Becka McKay, director of the MFA in Creative Writing at Florida Atlantic University as well as poet and translator, was featured in the podcast series In Conversation: An Arts and Letters Podcast. This podcast features Michael Horswell, dean of FAU’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, talking with various faculty members “about research and creative activity that spans the arts, humanities, and social sciences.” New episodes are released on the second Tuesday of the month.

Screenshot of Becka McKay's Interview in the In Conversations podcast

The podcast episode was recorded from a video call back in December 2020. The first question asked was about Becka’s journey of poetry and translation. Her answer: “I have been writing poetry since I could write.” She talked about running away from poetry for awhile and how she majored in history in college and even had thoughts of going to veterinary school. With all of this she had the idea, though, that she wanted to be an historian who writes poetry.

Check out the full podcast here and don’t forget to learn more about the MFA program here.

High Desert Journal “In the Time of COVID”

Screenshot of High Desert Journal's Virtual Salon In the Time of COVIDOnline literary magazine High Desert Journal launched a new series “In the Time of COVID” – a virtual salon – back in October 2020. In this series, HDJ gathers together the best of their writers and artists to read from new works, share passages from classics, and open their hearts to discuss the current pandemic.

The first episodes of the series sees editor Charles Finn discussing life and art making in the time of COVID-19 with Robert Wrigley, Kim Barnes, Brooke Williams, Shann Ray, CMarie Fuhrman, and Joe Wilkins. The second episodes features poets laureate Kim Stafford, Paulann Petersen, Tami Haaland, and Sheryl Noethe. The third episode has Charles Finn being joined by visual artists Bobbie McKibbin, Barbara Michelman, and Karen Shimoda.

Drop by their website to watch the videos and don’t forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel.

More to Enjoy from the Kenyon Review – A New Issue of KROnline + Poetry Today

Screenshot of KROnline Jan/Feb 2021 IssueDon’t forget that besides having its six print issues a year, literary magazine The Kenyon Review has a separate online component called KROnline which is published every two weeks and features innovative fiction, poetry, and essays.

The January/February 2021 KROnline is now available. The issue features three poems by Jenn Blair; “Hello, Walt Whitman” by Siamak Vossoughi; “A River Passes By Here” by Caroline Tracey; “Elation” by January Gill O’Neil; “Man Goes to Check” by Libby Flores; and “The Pupil” by Lesley Jenike.

Need more from Kenyon Review? How about checking out “Poetry Today: Emma Hine and Ignacio Carvajal” by Ruben Quesada. The Poetry Today series features living poets answering questions about poetry and poetics. You’ll get a short bio, an introduction, their thoughts on poetry’s potential, and information about their latest releases.

The Kenyon Review has so much to offer readers and writers! Don’t forget to subscribe to their journal and stop by their website for their frequent digital content.

Did You Know? Ruminate’s Online Component The Waking

screenshot of The Waking: Ruminate OnlineRuminate, a reader-supported, contemplative quarterly literary arts magazine, has a regularly updated online component called The Waking. This features short nonfiction, short fiction, ruminations, reviews, interviews, and more.

Recent pieces includes “If Party Wolf Jumps,” short fiction by Ryan Rickrode; “Mourning Together: An Interview with Colombian Artist Erika Diettes”; “Wait for Me,” short nonfiction by Adriana Añon; and “‘Holding a Stuffed Raccoon Up to the Sky’: A Review of Erin Carlyle’s Magnolia Canopy Otherworld” by Sarah Bates.

The Waking: Ruminate Online is currently open to submissions of short prose, book reviews, and interviews. There is no fee to submit.

Don’t forget to subscribe to Ruminate‘s quarterly issues to support them.

Able Muse Virtual Reading & Q&A with Carrie Green, Hailey Leithauser, Sally Thomas

Literary magazine and press, Able Muse is hosting a virtual reading and Q&A with authors Carrie Green, Hailey Leithauser, and Sally Thomas on January 27 at 7PM EST via Zoom. The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required to attend.

The event will be hosted by Katie Harstock, author of Bed of Impatiens: Poems (Able Muse Press, 2016).

Did you miss out on their last reading with authors John Beaton, Emily Grosholz, and A.G. Harmon? It’s now available online to view.

Sponsor Spotlight :: Gemini Magazine

Gemini Magazine cover artFounded in 2009, online literary magazine Gemini was started by editor David Bright with the goal of presenting high-quality prose, poetry, and art in an appealing, easy-to-read format. 12 years later, they are still going strong. Check out their December 2020 issue which features their Flash Fiction Prize winners (Harper Darnell and Barbara Ritchie) and honorable mentions along with a poem by Travis Stephens, cartoon by Bill Thomas, and a story from their archives.

They are currently open to submissions for their 12th Annual Short Story Prize through March 31. First place receives $1,000 and publication.

They publish a new issue every two to three months and also feature the occasional short play, memoir, poetry music videos, though-provoking lists, and more.

Stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more.

Sponsor Spotlight: Fjords Review

Fjords Review 2020 issueFjords Review is an annual print literary magazine featuring a wide range of diverse voices on a variety of topics. They also offer exclusive online content including reviews and interviews. Recent interviewees include Italo-Brazilian artist Laura Pretto Vargas and artist Jerry Anderson.

They celebrated 10 years of publication in 2020 and received a 2021 Pushcart Prize. They are open to submissions year-round and offer a free download of their Women’s Edition for a taste of what they like. They participate in Choice Magazine Listening which provides free audio recordings to the visually impaired.

While waiting for the release of their 2021 Edition, grab a copy of the 2020 issue, peruse their website content, and subscribe today. Don’t forget to stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more about them.

Glass Mountain Goes Digital

Literary magazine Glass Mountain has launched a new website as they transition from a print journal into an online-only journal. They are also working on digitizing their past volumes. You can keep up on the status of this project on their archives page.

Glass Mountain Volume 25 feature

Glass Mountain was conceived of in 2006 by the undergraduate students of the University of Houston and was designed as a counterpart to their literary magazine Gulf Coast, which is edited by graduate students in the creative writing program. It’s name hails from Donald Barthelme’s short story “Glass Mountain.”

This journal is ran and edited by undergraduate writers and is dedicated to showcasing the writing of fellow undergraduate writers from across the country. They accept submissions year-round from emerging and undergraduate writers. They do not charge a submission fee.

You can read their current Fall 2020 issue in its entirety online. It features the winners of the Robertson Prize, Sarah Han Kuo (fiction), Yasmin Boakye (nonfiction), and Stephanie Lane Sutton (poetry).

They also hold an annual conference dedicated to emerging writers. The 2021 Boldface conference will be conducted virtually May 24-28.

Don’t forget to stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more, too.

The Write Place at the Write Time 2020 Holiday Bizarre

The Write Place at the Write Time 2020 Holiday Bizarre

Online literary magazine The Write Place at the Write Time has created a virtual holiday bizarre to help bring people together and offer support during these troubling times. They are featuring vendors who are WPWT authors, artisans, artists, and staff as well as friends and family connected to WPWT.

From their Facebook page:

The Facebook page will feature, in addition to the individual vendors, holiday facts from around the world and across time as well as uplifting posts (links to heart-warming stories, quotes, holiday communications from WPWT to let you know you are thought of and cared about in this season and always) and of course an awesome raffle… We already have one of our NYT best-selling authors helping to spread holiday cheer by donating books to our raffle and other great authors, sites are joining.

Currently the bizarre is up and running now and will extend through mid-January, although they may choose to extend the bizarre past that. You can find stories, traditions, and great items for yourself and others in your life. They also have resource pages if you would like to reach out and help to support others during this time. They also plan on offering up writing prompts to help inspire.

Sponsor Spotlight :: River Styx

River Styx Issue 103/104 coverRiver Styx is a print literary magazine that was founded in 1975. Since their founding, they have remained a non-profit literary organization free of institutional ties. They feature thoughtful yet accessible literature and art.

Along with their biannual issues, they also host two reading series and offer online individual critiques and online workshop critiques in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. They are open to submissions year-round, but will take a few breaks during the year to catch up.

Their annual Microfiction Contest is currently accepting submissions of stories under 500 words through December 31. The winner receives $1,000 and publication. Plus, if you aren’t already a subscriber, don’t forget to sign-up for a subscription. They will be releasing issue 103/104 soon.

Stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more.

Rain Taxi 2020 Benefit Auction

Rain Taxi Review of Books 100th issueRain Taxi Review of Books is an award-winning quarterly connecting readers to books of merits that might go otherwise overlooked. They cover fiction, poetry, nonfiction, art, graphic novels, translations and more. Rain Taxi exists not just for readers and writers, but also for literary publishers of all shapes and sizes, booksellers, educators, and kindred spirits. They do their best to help keep books flourishing in a distracted society.

Besides their magazine, they also have a publishing arm which produces chapbooks and broadsides and they host a reading series and annual Twin Cities Book Festival. Each year, Rain Taxi also hosts a benefit auction. Their current auction runs through December 16th (only one more day left!). It officially ends at 5 PM CST.

This year’s auction includes first editions by Raymond Carver, Isabel Allende, and Paul Auster; counter-culture tomes; quirky titles from Bette Midler, John Updike, and Sharyn McCrumb; collectible treasures; and much, much more. Swing by their auction page to learn more and don’t forget to drop by their listing at NewPages.

Rain Taxi is also celebrating milestones, i.e. 25 years of publication and 100 issues published!

Creative Nonfiction Holiday Sale Ends Tonight!

Don’t forget that Creative Nonfiction‘s holiday sale officially ends tonight at 11:59 PM EST. They have some amazing deals going on perfect for the creative nonfiction lover in your life.

You can get 50% off a subscription to Creative Nonfiction and single issues for only $2.50. Like their long essay magazine True Story? You can get single issues for just a $1. They also have their books available for $8 and have even created special bundles of their favorite issues. These bundles include Animals, Exploration, Food & Drink, History, Home, Pushcart Nominees, Starting Over, Teaching & Learning, Technology, and Women Write.

Love T-Shirts? They have those available for $5, too.

Want to gift a writer or your self with an online course in nonfiction? Creative Nonfiction is currently offering 11 online classes. You can save $50 off the cost if you enroll by December 21.

Creative Writing in the Heart of Brooklyn

Long Island University, Brooklyn MFAThe MFA in Creative Writing at Long Island University is an innovative program centering on world literature, multi-genre education, and publishing. They prepare their students to be “professional writers in the world and visionary literary citizens.”

The LIU Brooklyn MFA is a two-year residency program that also helps prepare its students for careers in creative writing, academia, translation, and publishing. Students have the option of studying poetry, fiction, nonfiction, playwriting, and translation to receive a robust multi-genre education.

Students are able to learn about commercial, independent, and academic publishing during the course of their study while studying directly with professionals at the heart of the publishing industry. Current faculty include Zaina Arafat, Rita Banerjee, and Robin Hemley.

The priority deadline to apply to the program is February 15. Learn more by stopping by their listing on NewPages.

Sponsor Spotlight :: Eastern Michigan University Interdisciplinary MA in Creative Writing

The MA in Creative Writing at Eastern Michigan University is distinguished as one of the only interdisciplinary programs for creative writing in the country. They accept applications year-round with January 10 being the priority deadline for the fall term.

“Locating the writer’s work along the frontiers of social imaginaries and civic possibilities, our program nourishes opportunities to develop a conceptually rigorous and imaginatively engaged writing.” The program also emphasizes the importance of aesthetic risk and social application while also offering writers opportunities to explore multiple arts and mixed genres.

Core faculty for the program are Rob Halpern, Carla Harryman, Christine Hume, and Matt Kirkpatrick. Recent visiting writers include Latasha N. Nevada Diggs, Nathaniel Mackey, Ted Pearson, Joanna Rocco, Daniel Borzutzky, Wayne Kostenbaum, Kevin Killian, Sarah Schulman.

They also have a literary magazine, BathHouse Journal, and a reading series, BathHouse Reading Series.

Stop by their listing at NewPages to learn more about the program.

Sponsor Spotlight :: Stickman Review

Stickman Review V19 N1 coverStickman Review is an online literary magazine celebrating 19 years of publication. Founded in 2001, the journal is dedicated to providing a platform for great fiction, poetry, essays, and artwork for artists all over the world.

Stickman Review publishes two issues a year and especially encourages submissions that employ diverse forms and points of view. Their latest issue, V19 N1, features poetry by Jo Ann Baldinger, Marc Darnell, Vern Fein, John Grey, Paul Ilechko, DS Maolalai, Dan Overgaard, and Yvette A. Schnoeker-Shorb. Plus, read fiction by Tim Poland.

If you’re a writer, browse through their issue archives to familiarize yourself with what they publish and maybe consider submitting your own work when they re-open on February 1. Stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more about them.

Join Radar Poetry’s 2-day Virtual January Cleanse Workshop

white crocus on black backgroundOnline literary magazine Radar Poetry will be hosting a two-day virtual intensive workshop, January Cleanse. This will take place via Zoom on January 17 and January 24, 2021 from 2:00 to 4:00 PM.

Seasoned poetry editors Dara-Lyn Shrager and Rachel Marie Patterson will be leading this interactive and dynamic workshop dedicated to guiding writers through a fresh start on their poems. Registration officially opened on November 30. Cost for the workshop is $250—space is limited.

The Fourth River: A Journal of Nature & Place

Screenshot of Fourth River WebsitePublished by the MFA program in creative writing at Chatham University, Fourth River is an online and print journal focusing on nature and place-based writing. They publish “works that are richly situated at the confluence of place, space, and identity.”

Fourth River takes its name from a subterranean river beneath Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a city at the confluence of three rivers. The unseen fourth river is indispensable to the city’s ecosystem. “The journal grew up from the “idea that between and beneath the visible framework of the human world and built environment, there exist deeper currents of force and meaning supporting the very structure of that world”

They publish one print issue and one online issue a year. Check out the Fall 2020 online issue, “Futures,” and don’t forget to stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more about them.

I-70 Review: Writing from the Middle & Beyond

painting of people

Now in its 19th year, the I-70 Review is an annual literary magazine whose title comes from the interstate that runs through thirteen states. They publish short fiction, poetry, and art from new, emerging, and established writers and artists from all over the Americas and overseas.

They seek to offer readers a wide variety of styles, voices, and diversity. They like narrative, but also celebrate the quirky and startling different and hold constant to work that is surprising and fresh. They are currently open to submissions through the end of December 2020.

Every four to five months, they feature the work of a single poet on their website. This includes a brief bio, a picture, and up to five poems (previously published or unpublished). Their current featured poets is Hadara Bar-Nadav.

Stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more and consider subscribing to their journal.

Variety Pack Seeks to Offer Diverse Writing by & for a Diverse Community

blue and red colorblocks

Founded in 2020, Variety Pack is an online journal seeking to offer a “variety” of work in all genres, including literary fiction, historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, humor, micro-fiction, flash fiction, form, poetry, prose poetry, haikus, and more.

They publish quarterly issues along with special issues, called mini-packs, editor choice features published in-between their regular issues. Their first Mini-Pack featured short fiction by Timothy Day. Variety Pack also have special issues dedicated to standing in solidarity with marginalized voices in the literary community. The most recent special was Black Voices of Pride guest edited by Dior J. Stephens.

Their last issue of 2020 was just published this month. Give it a read & swing by their listing on NewPages to learn more about them.

Persephone’s Daughters – A Literary & Arts Journal for Abuse Survivors

hand holding a persimmonPersephone’s Daughters is a print and online literary journal for abuse survivors of all gender identities. Founded in 2015 by author, domestic violence worker, and artist Maggie Royer, they take their name from Persephone, Greek goddess of vegetation and queen of the Underworld.

Persephone’s Daughters seeks to uplift the voices of those pursuing peace after trauma and provide community and calm through healing art and storytelling. They use the proceeds from their film division Girls Don’t Cry and print copies of their journal to donate money to organizations around the world focused on issues of domestic and sexual violence, the health and well-being of women of color, and LGBTQ+ survivor advocacy.

The journal publishes poetry, prose, and art of all forms. Their 2020 issue is slated for publication on December 15. Stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more.

 

Poor Yorick Reading Series “Year End”

skull on black and pink backgroundPoor Yorick is an online literary journal edited and published by the MFA Program in Creative and Professional Writing at Western Connecticut State University. Their focus is on rediscovering the past through objects, memories, relationships, traumas, cultures, and ghosts (literal and figurative) and to celebrate the joy, fear, hardship, and wonder of being human.

They are continuing their monthly reading series with a virtual open mic and fireside chat on December 17 from 7-9 PM. This will be hosted on Microsoft Teams and you can contact the Poor Yorick team for an invitation. The theme for this reading is “Year End.”

The editor will be on hand at the open mic to talk submissions, too, in case you’re interested in submitting fiction, nonfiction, poetry, digital art, photography, and other innovative works.

Swing by their listing on NewPages to learn more about them.

Sponsor Spotlight :: SWWIM Every Day

Online literary magazine SWWIM Every Day publishes a single poem every weekday from women-identifying/femme-resenting poets. They feature both emerging and established writers and strive to present a diverse range of voices, ages, cultures, styles, and experiences.

The journal was founded in 2017 in order to raise women’s voices on a daily basis. Poems are featured on their website and delivered to subscribers’ email inboxes every weekday.

SWWIM also hosts various writing contests, produces a reading series, and offers writing residencies in conjunction with The Betsy Hotel-South Beach. Stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more.

Sponsor Spotlight :: Wordrunner eChapbooks

Have you caught up with Wordrunner eChapbooks lately? Each triannual issue features work by one author in a mini, digital chapbook. The journal also produces annual themed anthologies, and many issues are new dimensions to the online reading experience with the use of hyperlinks to photos, videos, background articles, maps, poetry, and artwork. A great companion for the chapbook fan on the go.

The Adroit Journal Celebrates Ten Years

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

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

Hippocampus 2020 Contest Winner Announced

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

photographs of 2020 Remember in November contest winners

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

The runner-up an finalists are:

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

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

2020 Coniston Prize Winner & Finalists Announced

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

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

Mudfish Writing Workshop Goes Virtual

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

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

CRAFT 2nd Annual All-Flash November

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

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

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

Girl floating in book outside a white house

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

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

Into The Void Releases We Are Antifa Anthology

Into the Void Antifa Anthology flierAt the beginning of the month, literary magazine Into the Void released it’s We Are Antifa: Expressions Against Fascism, Racism and Police Violence in the United States and Beyond. The anthology features creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry from diverse writers all over the world, i.e. the US, Canada, Ireland, the UK, Greece, Nigeria, and more.

Into the Void will be donating 100% of proceeds from the anthology’s sales to Black Lives Matter Canada. In order to maximize profits, the book will only be available via Amazon in ebook and paperback formats.

We Are Antifa was edited by Heath Brougher, Jay C. Mims, Amanda Gaines, Andrew Rihn, and Philip Elliot. It features “breathtaking writing condemning fascism, racism and state-sanctioned brutality through powerful expressions of grief, rage, hope and love.”

The title is a response to Donald Trump’s declaration that the US will be designating Antifa as a terrorist organization. The editors encourage readers to check out “A Brief History of Anti-Fascism” in Smithsonian Magazine to better understand why they published this anthology and “how anti-fascism and anti-racism are inextricably linked in the fight against oppression and supremacy.”

Cave Wall Offering Fall Subscription Deal with Feedback

cover of Cave Wall's Winter 2019/Spring 2020 issueFall Subscription Deal: The first 20 people who purchase a 2 year (4 issue) subscription OR a set of back issues may receive feedback on one poem from one of the following Cave Wall editors/poets: Rhett Iseman Trull (Editor), Sandra Beasley (Editorial Advisory Board), Sally Rosen Kindred (Contributing Editor), Renee Soto (Contributing Editor),  Lisa Ampleman, Cathy Smith Bowers, Lauren Camp, Julie Funderburk, Jennifer Grotz, Terry Kennedy, Sandy Longhorn, Amelia Martens, Dayna Patterson, Joel Peckham, Jim Peterson, Molly Spencer, Matthew Thorburn, or Lesley Wheeler.

Visit our subscription page here, if you are interested: www.cavewallpress.com/subscribe.html.

Once you make your purchase, we will email you to set up the details of your poem feedback. Some subscribers have taken us up on this offer but we have 12 spots remaining.

An MFA in the Pandemic

Guest Post by Samantha Tucker

Ohio State University logoWhen I applied to MFA programs, it was with the intention of finding a writing community. During my time at The Ohio State University, I was lucky to foster strong relationships with my classmates through our shared experience and dedication to the written word. To this day, I continue to edit and be generously edited by a group of talented writers, most of whom I met in my very first class, a nonfiction workshop with the writer Lee Martin.

But what is a writing community when the people sharing their art are only able to do so virtually? And when writers find themselves in the middle of so many American catastrophes, where do we find the urge to create at all? I asked Lee Martin, College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of English at Ohio State, for insight on his teaching and writing life during a pandemic.

How have your workshops/classes adapted to being online?

Lee: We seem to be adapting well. I love my students, and the level of engagement seems to be high. It’s not quite the same, of course, as sitting around a table, but we’re doing fine. I’ve had some students comment on how our Zoom meetings give them a chance to feel a part of our writing community, so that’s a good thing. I just wish we could do the things we used to do—go out for $4 burger night at Brazen Head Pub, have spaghetti dinners at my and Cathy’s house, have bowling parties, etc. Ah well, I hope we’ll be able to do those things and more very soon.

How has your writing changed, if at all?

Lee: I find myself writing steadily as a way of escaping the reality of what’s going on in the world around me. It’s a comfort to me to escape into the worlds of my own making in novels and stories set before the pandemic. I’m only now working on something more current that, of course, will eventually have to face the pandemic head-on.

What are your words of wisdom as to finding the space in this chaos to create art?

Lee: I’ve been thinking a lot about how to stay in the present moment of what delights me rather than thinking about all that depresses me or makes me fear for the future. Silence is a good thing. If we can find those places of silence we can fill them with the efforts of our own choosing rather than the worries and the fears that the current climate places upon us. Today, for instance, Cathy and I went out to Inniswood Metro Gardens and disappeared into the natural world and immediately felt our breath coming more easily. Such places and moments are all around us. All we have to do is look for them.


Reviewer bio: Samantha Tucker is an anti-racist essayist in Columbus, Ohio. Find her words at www.theamericandreamstartshere.com.

Spalding University’s School of Writing Launches Good River Review

Good River Review website screenshot

Spalding University’s School of Creative and Professional Writing, home of the flagship low-residency Spalding MFA in Writing program, is launching a new online literary magazine, Good River Review. The first issue will appear in Winter 2021.

Good River Review resides at Spalding in Louisville, Kentucky, which sits on the Ohio River, providing inspiration for the name: Ohio is a Seneca word for good river. Issues will appear twice a year. Between issues, the website will regularly publish interviews; book reviews; reviews of new plays, television, and films; craft essays; and literary news.

“We intend to publish the best writing in all the genres we teach in our graduate writing programs,” Kathleen Driskell (chair of the School of Writing who will serve as editor-in-chief) said. “We love writing that blurs boundaries, so contributors will find their work published as prose, lyrics, or drama.” The journal will also publish writing for children and young adults, as well as original web, TV, and short film productions.

The journal’s submission period will be ongoing. Good River Review allows for simultaneous submissions and does not charge reading or submission fees. For more information, email [email protected].

Tint Journal Hosts Online Reading Event “Tinted Tales”

tinted tales reading event posterEvent Date: October 27, 2020 at 8PM CET; Location: Virtual
“Tinted Tales. reading across cultures” will take place on October 27, 2020 at 8 PM (CET). The reading will be broadcasted via a livestream on Tint Journal’s YouTube. Seven ‘tinted’ writers from all around the world will perform their short stories, essays and poems. Also, Vienna based singer-songwriter Ulli Grill will join our reading with her latest songs. You can find out more about the event here, and watch their video trailer.

River Teeth Launches Weekly Online Magazine of Micro-Essays

Screenshot of River Teeth's online column Beautiful Things

In April 2020, biannual print literary magazine River Teeth launched the online weekly journal Beautiful Things. This publication is devoted to very brief nonfiction that finds beauty in the everyday. Readers can subscribe to receive the latest micro-essay in their inbox every Monday morning. Today’s essay is “Before the First Frost” by Stacy Murison.

Beautiful Things was inspired by Michelle Webster-Hein’s essay “Beautiful Things” which was originally published in Volume 15, Number 1 of River Teeth. This column is co-edited by Michelle Webster-Hein and Jill Christman.

River Teeth is devoted to publishing the best creative nonfiction, including narrative reportage, essays, and memoir. Stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more about them and their new online publication.

EVENT Virtual Fall Reading Series

Have you been keeping up with EVENT Magazine‘s Fall Reading Series? Each week, they’re introducing one writer, along with a video of each author reading their work from the safety of their homes. So far, they’ve featured John Elizabeth Stintzi, Rose Cullis, and Jane Eaton Hamilton.

Stay safe at your own home and check out the videos on EVENT‘s YouTube channel, or via their blog. A great activity for these rainy, cool fall days we now find ourselves in.

Hippocampus: Devoted to Memorable Creative Nonfiction

Hippocampus website screenshotLaunched in 2011, online literary magazine Hippocampus was first dreamed about by founder and editor Donna Talarico when she was working on her MFA in creative writing at Wilkes University. Talarico wanted to create not just a literary magazine, but also develop a venue to education and inform those interested in reading and writing creative nonfiction.

Their sea horse logo was created since the hippocampus, the part of the brain dealing with memories, is sea-horse-shaped.

Over the years, they have launched a nonfiction writing contest, an annual nonfiction writing conference, and now a book publishing division. They are open to submissions annually from March through December.

Their September 2020 issue features work by Katie Parry, Kirsten Reneau, Rachel Fleishman, Brad Wetherell, Daniel K. Miller, Gwen Niekamp, and more.

Learn more about this magazine by stopping by their listing on NewPages.

Find Nature with Humana Obscura

Online and print literary magazine Humana Obscura publishes the best new, emerging, and established writers and artists in the “nature space.” As their name applies (obscured human), they focus on works where the human elements is concealed, but not entirely absent, aiming to revive the genre of nature-centric poetry and art.

They publish two issues a year featuring poetry, short prose under 1,000 words, and artwork in various mediums. Their inaugural issue features poetry by James King, Emily Hermann, Danielle Zipkin, David Baker, Mary Buchinger, and more; prose by Kathleen Deep, Nick O’Brien, Maggie Maize; and Angela Shen; with art by Margaret Dries, Kyra Schmidt, J. T. Bruce, and more.

They are currently open to submissions for their second issue. Learn more here. Don’t forget to stop by NewPages to discover more about this fledgling literary magazine.

Sponsor Spotlight :: EVENT: The Douglas College Review

cover of EVENT Issue 49-1Founded in 1971, EVENT is a literary magazine dedicated to nurturing writers and presenting readers with the best contemporary writing from Canada and abroad. They strive to publish a diversity of voices and literary styles and have published many distinguished writers before and after they gained national or international recognition, i.e. André Alexis, George Bowering, Charles Bukowski, Esi Edugyan, Jack Hodgins, Annabel Lyon, Pablo Neruda, Alden Nowlan, Nino Ricci, Diane Schoemperlen, Carol Shields, Timothy Taylor, and Madeline Thien.

Each year they host a Non-Fiction Contest. The contest awards $3,000 in prizes ($1,500 First Place, $1,000 Second Place, $500 Third Place) plus publication in the Spring/Summer issue. This is the longest-running contest of its kind in Canada. The deadline to enter is October 15 annually. Check out Issue 49/1 to view the winning pieces of their 2019 contest: “Judge’s Essay” by Anthony Oliveira, “The Dead Green Man” by Jane Eaton Hamilton, “Things You Think When Your Husband Has a Heart Attack” by Mary Steer, and “My Beautiful Madness” by Rose Cullis.

Besides publishing issues three times a year, EVENT also offers a reading service for writers. Stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more.