Tag: literature

Submission Calls for Writers 6/2/2022

Denton Loving3 Comments

One of my top priorities for the month of May was to compile a list of submission calls to share here. If you have followed my posts for a while (and if you’ve only recently subscribed, thank you and welcome), then you may be aware that there was no list last month. I build these lists in part to share with writers, but I also depend on the process to ensure that I’m submitting my own work. Anytime that I haven’t shared a list, it’s a safe bet that I probably haven’t been submitting either. Such is life, I suppose. But I like to be intentional about these kind of priorities. So here, finally, is a list of journals, presses and contests open this month. Good luck submitting!

Carolina Quarterly The Carolina Quarterly welcomes unsolicited submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art. Submissions are accepted year round. As of Winter 2020, we pay contributors to our print volumes $50 upon publication, plus a free copy of the issue in which the work appears. Submit no more than 6 poems at a time. Submit no more than one prose piece, per genre, at a time. We charge a $2.50 submission fee. https://thecarolinaquarterly.submittable.com/submit

Kestrel Kestrel is now accepting submissions year-round. Kestrel publishes fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction by established and emerging writers. We are especially happy to publish work by West Virginia and Appalachian writers. Kestrel features reviews and visual art in each issue. All accepted work is for the print publication; select work may be featured on our website. Kestrel submits each issue to Verse Daily, Poetry Daily, and Vox Populi, and, therefore, work published in Kestrel may be chosen for reprint in those venues. https://www.fairmontstate.edu/kestrel/submission-guidelines

Monologging For Monologging’s Autumn 2022 edition we are seeking stories and artwork that explore the theme of Influence. Who influences us? What compels a person to urge another to follow their lead, and when we follow? What questions of morality arise from these relationships? Our 2022 edition will be an exploration of the realms of influence, a profound meditation on evolving online ethics and etiquette as well as a quest to celebrate the lives of friends, neighbors, loved ones and mentors who have been our most devoted anchors, advocates, muses and guides. http://monologging.org/submit/

32 Poems We welcome unsolicited poetry year round and accept simultaneous submissions.  As a rule we publish shorter poems that fit on a single page (about 32 lines), though we sometimes make exceptions to accommodate remarkable work that runs a little longer.  We charge a $3 reading and processing fee. http://www.32poems.com/submission-guidelines

Florida Review & Aquifer: The Florida Review Online We are looking for innovative, luxuriant, insightful human stories—and for things that might surprise us. Please submit no more than one piece of fiction, nonfiction, graphic narrative, review, or digital story at a time. Poets and visual artists may submit up to (but no more than) five poems or artworks as a single submission. We charge a $2 or $3 submission fee depending on category. https://floridareview.submittable.com/submit

2022 New American Fiction Prize The New American Fiction Prize is awarded each year to a full-length fiction manuscript, such as a story collection, novel, novella(s), or something that blends forms, like a novel in verse. The winner receives $1,500 and a book contract, as well as 25 author’s copies and promotional support. Final judge is Weike Wang, the author of Joan Is Okay (Random House 2022) and Chemistry (Knopf 2017). Deadline is June 15, 2022. There is a $25 submission fee. https://newamericanpress.com/category/new-american-fiction-prize/

Los Angeles Review The Los Angeles Review is open for general submissions year-round. (Submissions for the Los Angeles Review Awards are open through June 30, 2022.) Send fiction, flash fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, translations and book reviews. We charge a $3 submission fee. http://losangelesreview.org/submission/

Cheap Pop Cheap Pop is open for submissions during the month of June. We’re looking for your best work in 500 words or less—please, nothing greater than that. We don’t differentiate between Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and anything in-between, nor do we have restrictions on genre—if it pops, it pops! What we want to see is good writing, your best writing, and that’s it.  Please note: CHEAP POP does not publish poetry, so please do not send it. Deadline: June 30, 2022. http://www.cheappoplit.com/submit

Black Lawrence Press Through our annual contests and open reading periods, we seek innovative, electrifying, and thoroughly intoxicating manuscripts that ensnare themselves in our hearts and minds and won’t let go. During our June open reading period, we accept submissions in the following categories: novel, novella, short story collection (full-length and chapbook), poetry (full-length and chapbook), biography & cultural studies, translation (from the German), and creative nonfiction. We also enthusiastically accept hybrid submissions. https://blacklawrencepress.submittable.com/submit

Alien Magazine Alien Magazine is currently open for all types of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art submissions. We are nice people; don’t be afraid to send us anything. We are not a science fiction magazine, though we are open to SF work. By “Alien” we mean “outsider” or anything that exists outside the societal norm. Deadline for Fiction and Poetry: July 1, 2022. https://alienmagazine.submittable.com/submit

The Orison Chapbook Prize We are accepting submissions through July 1, 2022, of chapbook manuscripts (20 – 45 pp.) in any genre (poetry, fiction, nonfiction, drama, or hybrid) for The Orison Chapbook Prize, judged by Orison Books founder and editor, Luke Hankins. The winner will be awarded publication, a $300 cash prize, a 2-year Duotrope membership ($100 value), and 20 copies of the chapbook, in addition to a standard royalties contract. We plan to announce the winner and finalists by October 15, 2022. Submission fee is $12.00. https://duotrope.com/duosuma/submit/orison-chapbook-prize-6T0fK

Asheville Poetry Review We are open for regular submissions through July 15, 2022. Please send 3–6 poems of any length or style. http://www.ashevillepoetryreview.com/submissions

Thanks for reading. In the coming weeks, I’ll share my conversations about writing and publishing with Patti Frye Meredith and Tony Taddei. To receive posts like these directly in your inbox, subscribe here:

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Conversation with Christopher Linforth

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I first met Christopher Linforth in 2014 at Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Our paths crossed again in 2019 at Writers in Paradise – Eckerd College Writers Conference. Christopher is a graduate of Virginia Tech’s MFA program, and recently, he was appointed Editor-in-Chief of Atticus Review. Christopher’s first two books are When You Find Us We Will Be Gone (Lamar University Press, 2014) and Directory (Otis Books/Seismicity Editions, 2020).

His third collection of short fiction, The Distortions, was named winner of the 2020 Orison Books Fiction Prize and has just been released by Orison Press. The Distortions is a beautiful collection of stories, thematically linked by the Croatian-Serbian War, particularly its aftermath. In each story, the weight of the past continues to press against the present. For many of these characters, historical events have had generational effects. These are not war stories although the war is a villainous character, always looming in the background. More than war stories, these stories are often about love–all kinds of love including the kinds that are sadly insufficient as well as the kinds that keep trying.

Christopher is a gifted writer. His own experience living in Zagreb was surely useful in writing these stories, but each story is subtly elevated by detailed knowledge that must have required significant research. In the same way that these are not war stories, this is also not a book about Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, etc. as much as it’s a book about displacement and identity and the universal ways we humans struggle to put the past behind us. Christopher agreed to answer some questions about The Distortions as well as about his writing and publishing.

DL: Your new collection of short stories, The Distortions, centers on the aftermath of the Yugoslav Wars, mostly focusing though on the Croatian-Serbian conflict. Although you lived in Zagreb for some time, you come from a very different background. Did you find your outside perspective to be helpful or more challenging as you wrote these stories? Can you talk about how the kinds of research that were required for these stories?

CL: In some ways, my position as an outsider helped me to broach the aftermath of the war in new and different ways. Josip Novakovich talks in the afterword to Infidelities about the reluctance of people in the former Yugoslavia to talk or write about the war. Though this has changed in recent years and has led many writers from those countries to write compelling novels about the war, I still felt I had something to say. Over the years, to aid my poor memory, I read dozens of history books on the subject and watched documentaries, and delved into tranches of original documents and news reports, and I talked with people from that area. Much of that information, though, never appears in the book. Instead, I focused more on the characters and the stories while hewing—as much as one can—to the historical, political, and cultural realities of the time.

DL: So much of the tension in your stories comes from the weight of the past pressing into a character’s present. Moving back and forth through time can be tricky, but it can also enrich a narrative as it clearly does in your stories.

CL: Whenever possible, I try to eschew as much backstory as possible and instead focus the story on the present action. With the stories being set in former Yugoslavia and revolving around a major but little-known war, I tried to strike a balance of including information (in non-expository ways) that would help an American audience understand the ramifications of the war for the characters while also keeping the pacing tight and the stories interesting.

DL: Two of my favorite stories in The Distortions are epistolary. I’m thinking about “brb” (seemingly told through a long Instant Message) and “Sojourn” (told through a more traditional letter). What I appreciate about both stories are their gestures toward the confessional. Do you have advice for writers who want to explore the epistolary form? Does a story told through a letter have special considerations?

CL: It’s funny. For me, “Sojourn,” is an imagined letter, not an actual one. The story reads and feels like a letter and perhaps contains a vestigial element of that form. The story, to me at least, has an uncertain form: part letter, part monological confession, part a story being told. The hybrid nature perhaps also reflects the vacillating nature and identity of the narrator. Similarly, “brb” uses misdirection about the narrator’s identity to say something about the stylized IM form. The intersection of the confession and the letter form, or variants thereof, often work well together. They allow a “natural” unfolding of thought on the page addressed to someone off it. For me, that is where the intimacy and magic of the epistolary form lie.

DL: I’ve been working on a collection of short stories for several years, and through that time, the manuscript keeps shifting. How long did it take you to write and shape these stories? What was the submission and publication process like for The Distortions?

CL: The earliest stories were drafted around 2014 and the latest around 2019. It was a long process of revision and then discarding the lesser stories (perhaps another six or seven). Some stories, like “brb,” emerged fully formed, with only minor edits later. Others, like “The Little Girls,” I rewrote several times over the years. I entered the manuscript into a handful of contests in late 2019 and early 2020, perhaps only five or six altogether, while constantly fine-tuning it the whole time. The collection won the Orison Fiction Book Prize in July 2020 and then underwent another year of refinement.

DL: What are you working on now?

CL: I’m working on two books. One is a sister project to The Distortions. Tentatively titled The Homeland War, it’s centered on two young men in Zagreb just before the outbreak of war. The novel explores toxic masculinity and social class and the football hooliganism endemic in the 1990s. The other book, currently untitled, examines the intersections of internet culture and the New York art scene. Stories from this collection are forthcoming in Cutleaf and in the Irish magazine, Banshee.

DL: Are there any opportunities coming up for readers to meet you or study with you via Zoom or in person?

CL: Yes, I teach online creative writing classes for The Writer’s Center in DC, and I take on private editing clients now and again. I’m also available for workshops and readings and so forth. I also have some more on the origins of the book over at Necessary Fiction.

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Submission Calls for Writers 3/9/2022

Denton LovingLeave a comment

For those of you who aren’t in submission mode but are rather needing some inspiration for generating work, I hope you will refer to some of my recent blog posts. Since my last list of submission opportunities, I’ve posted conversations with Lauren Davis and Walter Robinson about their new books. I’ve also posted generative writing exercises (Exercise 22.3 and Exercise 22.4) from both writers. And I’m looking forward to speaking with additional writers in the next few weeks.

As I’ve been collecting and organizing this list of opportunities today, I’ve been thinking a lot about the AWP Conference that is coming up in Philadelphia at the end of the month. I’m planning to be there along with the other EastOver Press editors. If you’re going to be at AWP, I hope you will let me know or at least stop by our small corner of the bookfair to say hello.

Until then, here are a dozen submission opportunities for writers. There’s something here for you regardless of what genre you’re writing in. So happy submitting, and good luck!

The Madison Review The Madison Review accepts  poetry, fiction, and art submissions during our reading period. We publish two issues, one online in fall and one physical in the spring. Fiction submissions should be no longer than 30 pages. Send up to 5 poems. https://madisonreview.submittable.com/submit

Sepia Journal Sepia is committed to showcasing the work of both emerging and established artists. We are open to submissions all year, and we aim to reply to all submissions within three months. We welcome submissions of both fiction and creative nonfiction. We prefer work that is below 8,000 words long. Submit up to five poems at a time. https://thesepia.org/submission-guidelines

Real Karen Fiction Contest Got a great original story that includes a well-written character named Karen? We welcome flash fiction, multiple submissions, simultaneous submissions, and work that has been published elsewhere for which you hold the copyright. We prefer not to publish work from authors who use and or have used the word “Karen” as a slur in their other writing. Stories should be less than 8,000 words in length. https://www.therealkaren.com/inspired-fiction/submit-your-fiction

Berkeley Fiction Review The Berkeley Fiction Review is a forum for short fiction, published annually. We invite submissions of previously unpublished short stories from around the country and the world year-round. There is no minimum required page count, but submissions should not exceed 30 pages in length. https://berkeleyfictionreview.org/submit/short-fiction/

Movable Type: 1455’s E-Magazine 1455’s Movable Type publishes every other month. Each issue provides a forum for a diverse array of poets, masters of prose, essayists, educators and anyone with passion for written expression. Each issue revolves around a theme. Please see the themes for 2022 and send your original work. https://1455litarts.org/movable-type/

Cortland Review TCR considers poetry, translations, book reviews. We accept simultaneous submissions, but kindly ask that you notify us as soon as possible when you have placed submitted work elsewhere. Submit  up to 5 poems at a time. https://www.cortlandreview.com/submissions/

Salvation South Salvation South accepts submissions in two broad categories: stories that address critical issues facing the South and stories that celebrate the culture of the South. In our submission form, you will find several more specific options. Please choose the one that best applies to your submission. We also accept Southern short fiction and poetry. https://salvationsouth.submittable.com/submit

Rust and Moth We are accepting submissions for the Summer 2022 issue. At this time, we publish only poetry. Submit up to three poems in any style. Deadline: March 31, 2022. https://rustandmoth.com/submissions/

Split Lip Review Split Lip Review is a literary journal of voice-driven writing with a pop culture twist. We publish online monthly and in print yearly. We accept fiction between 1,000 and 5,000 words, flash fiction under 1,000 words, and memoir up to 2,000 words.  We accept only one (yes, just one) poem at a time. Please do not send us more than one poem. Send your best poem, but only one. We mean it. Submissions are free through the month of March. https://splitlipthemag.com/submit

Passages North Passages North is open to submissions of poetry, short-shorts, nonfiction, and hybrid work from through April 15, 2022. Please submit a packet of 1-5 poems. Send up to three short-shorts or five mircos (fiction, nonfiction, prose poems, hybrids). We’re looking for all manner of well-written, innovative creative nonfiction (up to 8000 words) including, but not limited to, lyric essays, personal essays, memoir, and literary journalism. https://www.passagesnorth.com/submit

Posit Journal Posit is currently considering submissions for 2023. Send 1-3 pieces of prose, including fiction and hybrids, but no nonfiction please, 1000 words or less each. However, if you are submitting very short pieces, please send us at least three to choose from. Please include a minimum of five and a maximum of six poems for us to consider. Deadline: June 15, 2022. https://posit.submittable.com/submit

Rhino Our diverse group of editors looks for the best-unpublished poems, translations, and flash fiction/nonfiction by local, national, and international writers. We welcome all styles of writing, particularly that which is well-crafted, uses language lovingly and surprisingly, and feels daring or quietly powerful. Send 3-5 poems or flash fiction/nonfiction pieces (500 words or fewer), totaling no more than 5 pages. Submissions are open until monthly caps are reached through June 30, 2022. https://rhinopoetry.org/submit-1

Writing Exercise 22.3

Denton Loving2 Comments

If you missed my previous post, please check out my conversation with Lauren Davis about her new poetry collection, Home Beneath the Church. Lauren talked about how difficult it was her to write deeply personal poems about her body and health. The poems in Home Beneath the Church also explore holy spaces. Those holy spaces begin and end with the body, but there are also churches, French basilicas, and other spaces reserved for traditional religious figures. And there is also the outside world. Lauren’s poems are never far from nature. It’s clear that she is a gifted student of observation, although I must assume there’s some amount of research that supports her knowledge of the natural world.

Two of my favorite poems in this collection are “If I Were a Resurrection Fern” and “I am a New Caledonian Owlet-Nightjar.”

If I Were a Resurrection Fern

And you were the wind-shipped rain,
I’d draw you up. My fronds bright soaked

without shame. Imagine my grief this past
drought. I shivered in my little

plot of lack. Come my mineral nip,
my sky-dropped lake.

Nothing can keep us apart,
not even climate nor gods.

You come down and down
and never stop coming down,

and I revive, baptized.

I am a New Caledonian Owlet-Nightjar

Unseen since 1998,
I am nearly a lost breed.

No one has heard my voice but you—
a different genus of bird
who sought and discovered me.

I beat my wings against yours
unable to mate, but look

how groomed my semiplumes.
I pluck them into dead air.

Now I am ready
to be collected beneath
your breast.

Let scientists say I dared to survive—
that you came down from your perch

to quiver against me,
my last known touch.

They will find me in the brushweed,
virgin. But a song in my throat.

In both poems, the narrator takes on the identity of non-human forms in order to express very human yearning. One poem is qualified with the word “if.” The second poem is more declaratory: “I am.” But in both poems, the narrator embodies another form.

For this writing exercise, start with a quick online search for vulnerable species in the region where you live or within a geographic area that has significance for you.

Reading these poems prompted me to think about what animal or plant I would choose to speak through in a poem. So I started with a quick online search for “endangered birds of Appalachia.” The first link expanded my original idea by taking me to a website that listed vulnerable species beyond birds. I chose to search for species in Appalachia because that’s where I live, and it felt more appropriate for my writing.

I love that a minimal amount of research can keep me from feeling that I don’t know what to write. So once you’ve selected your species, see what you can find about their behaviors. This will help you embody that species for yourself by borrowing where they are and what they do.

Notice that in both poems, the narrator speaks directly to a beloved by addressing that person as “you.” Do the same in your poem by speaking directly to someone.

Speaking from a non-human voice is not limited to poetry. A New Caledonian Owlet-Nightjar likely would have just as much to say in a short story as she does in a poem. The same is true in an essay, and in an essay, there’s even more room for research. Whatever form you’re writing in, you may find it wonderfully freeing to speak through this other voice.

Huge thanks to Lauren Davis for speaking to me about her new book and for inspiring this writing exercise. If you enjoyed Lauren’s poem, you’ll want to hear her read from Home Beneath the Church on Tuesday March 1, 2022 at the Birch Bark Editing Reading (online). For more opportunities to hear Lauren read, keep on eye on her event listings online.

Conversation with Lauren Davis

Denton Loving5 Comments

Lauren Davis is a writer who lives on the Olympic Peninsula. I first met Lauren when we were both MFA students at Bennington College. Since that time, Lauren has published two chapbooks of poetry, and, most recently, a full-length collection, Home Beneath the Church. “Lauren Davis is the poet you need to be reading,” says Kelli Russell Agodon, and I couldn’t agree more.

Home Beneath the Church includes deeply personal poems about the body and then moves into writing about religious spaces. Clearly, the body is one such religious space, perhaps even the holiest. But there are also churches, French basilicas, grottoes reserved for anchoresses and saints. And there is also the outside world: the forest, the bay, the moon, and everything that lives and endures in that outside world. Davis finds the holiness in it all.

Lauren agreed to answer some questions about Home Beneath the Church as well as about the writing and publishing process. Come back tomorrow for a writing exercise inspired by Lauren’s new collection.

DL: So many of the poems in Home Beneath the Church explore deeply personal material about your body and particularly your health. I often feel that we poets are inherently confessional, but can you talk about the process of writing these poems?

LD: I sometimes wept while putting pen to paper. One thing that kept me going was my absolute rage at the shame that surrounds women’s bodies. There was nothing for me to be ashamed of in these poems, and yet, I struggled. I found this struggle infuriating, so I pressed forward.

DL: Do you have advice for writers who are attempting to write about the body? Were there other poets or specific poems you referred to for guidance?

LD: Read, read, read. That’s my advice. Somewhere someone has taken the plunge, or they’ve taken a similar risk. I turned many times to Sharon Olds and Jason Shinder. I also made use of therapy. There’s so much to unravel when we talk about bodies.

DL: One of the questions I’m asked the most, especially by poets early in their career, is how to not sound overly prosaic. What kind of craft elements do you employ to identify and modify those prosaic turns of phrase?

LD: We’re not supposed to be overly prosaic? That’s news to me! I often find the opposite situation in new writers. They’re writing in such a complicated or elevated manner that the music, imagery, and meaning gets lost. But my advice, whether the new writer is dealing with either side of the spectrum, is to read, read, read. There is no substitute. And read living poets. Give the Greats a rest for a moment. Come back to them in a couple of years. For now, find those writers that are winning awards and branch out from there.

DL: In my conversation with Rosemary Royston last month, she said that it took her about six years of reorganizing, resending, and hoping before she found a publisher for her most recent collection of poems. How long did it take you to write and shape this collection? What was the submission and publication process like for Home Beneath the Church?

LD: Oh, Lord. Who really knows how long this took? Five years? And forty-eight rejections, I think. Each rejection helped shape the book in its own way. The publication process was a little rocky. We entered the pandemic shutdown, and I just took my hands off of it. Full surrender. And I could not be happier with the final product that Fernwood Press delivered.

DL: I know you have another collection of poems already in the works. If it’s not too early, can you tell us when that will be available? And what are you working on now?

LD: When I Drowned will be available in Winter 2023 through Aldrich Press. At the moment, I’m working on a novel titled The Sleeping Cure, and I’m seeking a publisher for my short-story collection The Milk of Dead Mothers.

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My next post will feature a writing exercise inspired by one of Lauren Davis’s poems in Home Beneath the Church, as well as more information about where you can hear Lauren read this spring.

Submission Calls for Writers 2/8/2022

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This has been a hard winter, in large part because we’ve all been enduring a difficult two years. When the weather is as cold as it’s been, I especially want to do nothing but hibernate. But yesterday and today, the sun has felt a little stronger, and I’m finding just enough energy to think about the future. That includes finding the courage to submit new work. In that vein, here are a dozen submission opportunities for writers. There’s something here for you regardless of what genre you’re writing in. So happy submitting, and good luck!

The Barcelona Review     The Barcelona Review is presently accepting submissions for previously unpublished short fiction, articles and essays. We do not accept poetry submissions. Submit one story at a time for consideration to the editor. Word length: 4,500 words max. Articles/Essays should be related in some way to the world of books and writing; creative non-fiction (e.g., personal essays) that fits with the review is welcome. Word length: preferably under 3,000 words. https://barcelonareview.com/mis/subguide.htm

The Manifest-Station     We are looking for honest writing that has heart. We want to be moved. Nonfiction submissions should be no longer than 3,000 words. Fiction submissions should be no longer than 5000 words. http://themanifeststation.net/submissions/

Regal House Publishing     We are currently seeking manuscripts within the genres of literary fiction, contemporary fiction, historical fiction, and memoirs. For submissions, please send us: A query letter, a one-page synopsis of your story, and the first three chapters of your novel or the first fifty pages, whichever is more. https://www.regalhousepublishing.com/submissions/

Barrow Street     We are currently open for poetry submissions. There is a $3 charge per submission. Submit up to five manuscript pages. http://barrowstreet.org/press/submit/

Western Humanities Review     Western Humanities Review accepts unsolicited submissions of original poetry, fiction, nonfiction, hybrid work, audio/visual work, essays, and reviews year round. Because of the volume of submissions we receive, we are only able to publish about 2% of them—so please send us your best work. We’re looking for dynamic writing that engages, surprises, and moves us, work that is, in fact, out to get us. http://www.westernhumanitiesreview.com/submissions/

Valparaiso Fiction Review     Publishing since 2011, Valparaiso Fiction Review is a biannual publication of Valparaiso University and its Department of English. Valparaiso Fiction Review is seeking submissions of short stories for its upcoming 2019 issues (Summer & Winter). Submissions to VFR should be original, unpublished works that range from 1,000 to 9,000 words. There is no set deadline, and submissions are considered on a rolling basis. Current and archived issues of the journal can be found online. https://scholar.valpo.edu/vfr/guidelines.html

Orange Blossom Review     We are excited to announce the open call period for submissions to Orange Blossom Review, the peer-reviewed, digital-format literary journal of the Florida College English Association. OBR publishes innovative poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, and visual art. Submit short fiction and creative nonfiction up to 5,000 words. Submit up to five poems. Deadline: February 15, 2022. https://orangeblossomreview.org/

Echolocation     For the very special 20th (!) volume of Echolocation, the theme is Everything Is Free – an aptly contradictory idea for this year (2021-2022). Our theme calls for writing that explores the costs of being alive, in whatever way you may interpret this; let the theme serve as a springboard to loosely guide your submission. We want you to send us your writing, no matter how subtle, explicit or tenuous the connection may appear.  Please submit 1 or 2 pieces of prose, or 1-4 poems, or 1 piece of prose and 1-2 poems. Submissions close March 1, 2022. https://www.echolocationmagazine.com/submit

Embark     Embark is a literary journal designed for novelists, and features the openings of unpublished novels. The opening of your novel should be a minimum 2,500 words and a maximum 4,000 words. The novel in question must be unpublished at the time of submission. Submissions received by March 1, 2022, will be considered for our sixteenth issue, which will be released in April 2022. https://embarkliteraryjournal.com/submissions/

Orange Blossom Review     We are excited to announce the open call period for submissions to Orange Blossom Review, the peer-reviewed, digital-format literary journal of the Florida College English Association. OBR publishes innovative poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, and visual art. Submit short fiction and creative nonfiction up to 5,000 words. Submit up to five poems. Deadline: February 15, 2022. https://orangeblossomreview.org/

Salamander     Salamander, which is published biannually, features poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Submit no more than five poems at a time. Submit one story or memoir at a time, or up to three flash pieces in either fiction or nonfiction at a time. Our current reading period closes April 1, 2022. http://salamandermag.org/how-to-submit/

Bennington Review     Bennington Review is published twice a year in print form, Summer and Winter. For poetry, please send no fewer than three and no more than five poems per submission. For fiction and creative nonfiction, please send no more than thirty pages per submission; any excerpts from a longer project must work as self-contained essays or stories. Our current reading period will end on May 8, 2022. http://www.benningtonreview.org/submit/

Jeff Hardin’s “Seed Heads Bursting Gold Light”

Denton Loving3 Comments

The first book I read this month was Jeff Hardin‘s collection, Notes for a Praise Book, published by Jacar Press. Jeff Hardin’s poems are always thoughtful and beautiful, and here’s one I wanted to share:

SEEDS HEADS BURSTING GOLD LIGHT

We need to busy ourselves with memorizing autumn
in the puddles down the drive. A single
forgotten reflection
makes all the others tremble.

I didn’t think twice as a boy, lying prostrate
to watch a dandelion bend with the breeze.
Amazing!
I knew already what to do with my life.

I’d wager Solomon, had he lived nearby,
would have taken long walks in the sage grass field,
just to watch how seed heads
burst with gold light.

I’m an advocate of letting things lean as they must.
When one tree rests its dying toward another,
I go among them
to listen in and take my place.

No big difference, I say, between years that lean that way
and a shared gaze between me and some friend’s eyes.
Some weakness unspoken
may be the strongest voice we have.

Submission Calls for Writers 5/18/2020

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submissions

Here are 10 opportunities for writers, many with upcoming deadlines. Good luck submitting your work!

 

Another Chicago Magazine Seeks Volunteer Fiction Reader

The fiction reader reads and evaluate fiction and participate in phone meetings with fiction editor and other readers. Please send your resume/cv and a note telling us why you’d like the position and how your reading and writing experience has prepared you for the job. Please also tell us what you think of a few of our published stories. Unfortunately, none of us is paid. We hope to someday change that.

https://anotherchicagomagazine.submittable.com/submit

 

Cortland Review

TCR considers poetry, translations, book reviews. Editorial decisions are based on content and quality. Submit 3-5 poems at a time. Please query first before submitting a book review.

https://www.cortlandreview.com/submissions.php

 

Off the Coast

Off the Coast is a biannual online journal at offthecoastmag.com. Issues are published June 15th and November 15th. Submitters will be notified within three (3) months of submission. Send 3–5 previously unpublished poems, any subject or style.

https://offthecoast.submittable.com/submit

 

Pithead Chapel

Pithead Chapel electronically publishes art, literary fiction, nonfiction, and prose poetry monthly. At present, we only accept submissions under 4,000 words.

www.pitheadchapel.com

 

GreenPrints

GreenPrints is the “Weeder’s Digest,” the only magazine that shares the personal side of gardening: the joy, the humor, the headaches, and the heart—in wonderful stories and beautiful art. Greenprints is always looking for great, true, personal stories. We are a paying market. Deadline: May 27, 2020.

https://greenprints.submittable.com/submit

 

Cider Press Review

Cider Press Review publishes online issues four times per  year–January, April, July, and October.  Issues may be periodically compiled into ebook volumes. CPR considers only poetry or translations of poetry in English, and  reviews of poetry books of approx. 500 words. Submit up to 5 poems at a time by May 31, 2020.

https://ciderpressreview.submittable.com/submit/

 

Indianapolis Review

The Indianapolis Review is a quarterly publication featuring poetry and art. We work to promote artists and writers from our region, but we also showcase work from around the country and the world. We don’t limit ourselves to one particular school or style of poetry; we simply want poetry that moves, surprises, sings and makes us think. You may submit up to 5 poems at a time in a single attached file. Please do not exceed 10 pages total. Deadline: May 31, 2020.

https://theindianapolisreview.com/submit/

 

Pinwheel

Pinwheel reads unsolicited poetry submissions once per year during the month of May. Submissions should consist of 3-5 poems (up to 10 pages). We look at excerpts from longer poems, too. Deadline: May 31, 2020.

http://pinwheeljournal.com/about/

 

The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts

We accept fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, mixed media, visual arts, and even kitchen sinks, if they are compressed in some way. For all submitters, we aren’t as concerned with labels—hint fiction, prose poetry, micro fiction, flash fiction, and so on—as we are with what compression means to you. In other words, what form “compression” takes in each artist’s work will be up to each individual. Our response time is generally 1-3 days. Also, our acceptance rate is currently about 3% of submissions. We pay writers $50 per accepted piece and signed contract. Deadline: June 15, 2020.

http://matterpress.com/submissions/

 

New American Press Fiction Award

All full-length fiction manuscripts are welcome, including novels, novellas, collections of stories and/or novellas, novels in verse, linked collections, as well as full-length collections of flash fiction and short-shorts. Full-length fiction manuscripts tend to be at least 100 pages. There is no maximum length. Winner receives a publication contract, including a $1,500 advance, 25 author’s copies, and promotional support. $25 submission fee. Deadline: June 15, 2020.

http://www.newamericanpress.com/contests/fiction2020.php

Submission Calls for Writers 4/15/2020

Denton Loving1 Comment

submissions

Although these are strange and worrisome times, I hope that this list of opportunities for writers might be helpful to some of you. Stay safe and healthy, and good luck sending your work out into the world.

Closing the Distance: New Spaces for Community

Bomb Magazine has created an excellent list of publications currently accepting pitches and remote job opportunities. If you’re looking for writing gigs that can be accomplished while self-isolating, this is the place to start.

https://bombmagazine.org/articles/covid-19-creative-community-resources

 

PEN America Writers’ Emergency Fund Grants

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, grants of between $500 and $1,000 will be awarded in support of writers demonstrating an inability to meet an acute financial need, especially one resulting from the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. The fund is intended to assist fiction and nonfiction authors, poets, playwrights, screenwriters, translators, and journalists. To be eligible for a grant, applicants must be based in the United States, be a professional writer, and be able to demonstrate that a small, one-time grant will be meaningful in helping them to address an emergency situation.

https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/rfps/rfp11070-pen-america-invites-applications-for-writers-emergency-fund

 

American Chordata

Currently open only for works of nonfiction. We have no formal word limits or stylistic constraints but look for work that is brave, illuminating, and emotionally detailed. We are looking for nonfiction that tells a story that no one has heard before, or tells us an old story in a way we never expected to read it. We are just as interested in great writing as we are in great stories.

https://americanchordata.submittable.com/submit

 

Redivider

Redivider seeks previously unpublished works from emerging and established writers. We welcome general submissions year-round. We are proud to offer free submission, with the exception of the summer months. We seek fiction and nonfiction submissions up to 8,000 words. We ask that poets send no more than five poems

http://www.redividerjournal.com/general-submissions/

 

Juked

There are no limits on word count for prose—we like narratives and essays of all sizes, so long as the colors fit. (However, it’s unlikely we’d be able to publish, say, War and Peace, Part Deux.) If it’s a short story, send us one piece at a time—please wait to hear from us before sending another. If you’re working with the short short form, please send three to five selections in the same submission. Submit a maximum of five poems.

http://www.juked.com/info/submit.asp

 

Southern Poetry Review

Southern Poetry Review welcomes previously unpublished poetry submissions from all writers. We read year-round and respond within three months. Please note that submissions are limited to five poems (1 file), and should not exceed ten pages.

https://www.southernpoetryreview.org/journal/submissions

 

New World Writing

We are reading new submissions of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Response time varies but is reasonably quick, all things considered. New World Writing posts new material upon acceptance.

http://newworldwriting.net/submissions/

 

Ascent

Ascent publishes stories, poems, photographs and essays. Ascent opens for submissions on the first of April and will read through the end of May.

http://www.readthebestwriting.com/

 

Foglifter

Foglifter welcomes daring and thoughtful queer work, in all forms, and we are especially interested in cross-genre, intersectional, marginal, and transgressive work. We want the pieces that challenged you as a writer, what you poured yourself into and risked the most to make. But we also want your tenderest, gentlest work, what you hold closest to your heart. Send us 3 to 5 poems, up to 7500 words of prose (up to three flash fiction pieces), or up to 20 pages of cross-genre work, text-image hybrids, or drama. Deadline for our Fall issue: May 1, 2020.

https://foglifterjournal.com/submit/

 

Newfound

We welcome short stories and self-standing novel excerpts of any length, creative nonfiction pieces of any length, up to 6 poems totaling no more than 10 pages, and up to 3 flash fiction stories per submission. Flash, micro, and hybrid work—if it’s brief (<1,000 words) and cutting edge, fiction or nonfiction, we’re publishing it. Deadline: May 14, 2020.

https://newfound.org/submit/

 

Bennington Review

We aim to stake out a distinctive space for innovative, intelligent, and moving fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, film writing, and cross-genre work. We are particularly taken with writing that is simultaneously graceful and reckless. We welcome submissions from established and emerging writers alike. For poetry, please send between three and five poems per submission. For fiction and creative nonfiction, please send no more than thirty pages per submission; any excerpts from a longer project must work as self-contained essays or stories. We are additionally interested in publishing translations: translators should have permission from the copyright holder and a copy of the work in the original language. We pay contributors $100 for prose of six typeset pages and under, $200 for prose of over six typeset pages, and $20 per poem. Deadline: May 15, 2020.

http://www.benningtonreview.org/submit

 

Cow Creek Chapbook Prize

The Cow Creek Chapbook Prize is a poetry chapbook contest brought to you by Pittsburg State University and Emerald City. We’re open to all styles and subjects. As long as the poems challenge and capture the imagination, we want to see them. The winning poet will receive $1,000 and 25 author copies. The chapbook will be published as a perfect bound book and sold both online and in limited bookstores. Submit 15-30 pages of poetry with a $15 entry fee by May 15, 2020.

https://www.cowcreekchapbook.org/

 

 

Submission Calls for Writers 3/21/2020

Denton LovingLeave a comment

submissions

What better time than in self-isolation to write and submit your writing? Here are 10 magazines and journals with open submission periods. They’re waiting for you to send your work, even in these strange days. So wash your hands, stay healthy, and send your words out into the world even if you’re stuck at home.

 

Whitefish Review

In these times of unexpected challenges that touch everyone (e.g., COVID-19, political unrest, sudden loss of income) we felt it was important to hear from artists and writers at this moment, so we can make sure that we are illuminating what is most vital and essential. We are seeking submissions through March 31, 2020. Send us 1 story (fiction or essay) or up to 3 poems (all in one Word document).

https://whitefishreview.submittable.com/submit/163232/25-new-work-for-the-current-times

 

11th Annual Spirit First Poetry Contest

Poetry submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of Meditation or Mindfulness. Poems may reflect any discipline, any faith, or none. Poems must be previously unpublished. Poems not on the themes of meditation, mindfulness, stillness, or sacred silence will not be included in this meditation poetry event. Enter up to three submissions. Deadline: March 31, 2020.

https://www.spiritfirst.org/poetry_contest2020Entry.html

 

The Masters Review New Voices

Submissions for our New Voices category are open year round. New Voices is open to any new and emerging author who has not published a work of fiction or narrative nonfiction of novel length. All submissions must be less than 7,000 words.

https://themastersreview.submittable.com/submit/26106/new-voices-free

 

Valparaiso Fiction Review

Submissions to VFR should be original, unpublished fiction. Submissions should range from 1,000 to 9,000 words with possible exceptions. Please no novels, poetry, or children’s fiction unless otherwise noted. Excerpts from novels are acceptable only if selected piece operates as a stand-alone story. There is no submission deadline. Submissions are considered on a rolling basis.

https://scholar.valpo.edu/vfr/guidelines.html

 

Posit

Posit is interested in finely crafted, innovative literary and visual art. Submit 1-3 pieces of prose, including fiction and hybrids, but no nonfiction please. 1000 words or less each. However, if you are submitting very short pieces, please send us at least three to choose from. Please include a minimum of five and a maximum of six poems for us to consider. Deadline: April 15, 2020.

https://posit.submittable.com/submit

 

Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel

For Volume 23, we are asking for your poems, short stories, essays, flash pieces and black and white 2D art on encounters with the edge, however you define it. Unpublished work is preferred, but we aren’t sticklers. Send us your best creative work exploring Appalachian Edge. Submit up to 5 poems for one piece of prose up to 3,000 words. Deadline: April 15, 2020.

http://www.sawconline.net/pmsg-submission-guidelines.html

 

EPOCH

EPOCH magazine publishes fiction, poetry, essays, cartoons, screenplays, graphic art, and graphic fiction. In continuous publication since 1947, the magazine is edited by faculty in the Department of English Program in Creative Writing at Cornell University. For poetry, submit no more than five poems in one envelope. For fiction, submit no more than one story per envelope and no more than three short short stories per envelope. We consider fiction in all forms, short short to novella length. Deadline April 15, 2020.

https://english.cornell.edu/epoch-magazine-0?

 

Rattle Poetry

Themed Issue: “Service workers.” This may include those in the hotel, lodging, food service, tourism, or customer service industries, as well as many others. Poems may be written on any subject, in any length, but the poet must currently be, or have been, employed as a service worker for a significant period of time (years, not months). Please include a brief note about your background in the service industry and what effect it’s had on your poetry (if any). Submit up to four previously unpublished poems (or four pages of very short poems). Deadline: April 15, 2020.

https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/34383/service-workers

 

The Fiddlehead

The Fiddlehead is open to good writing in English or translations into English from all over the world and in a variety of styles, including experimental genres. Our editors are always happy to see new unsolicited works in fiction, including excerpts from novels, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Work is read on an ongoing basis; the acceptance rate is around 1-2% (we are, however, famous for our rejection notes!). A short fiction or nonfiction submission should be one story or essay, double spaced and maximum 6,000 words. Unless a story is very, very short (under 1000 words), please send only one story per submission. Please submit no more than 6 poems per submission. Deadline: April 30, 2020.

https://thefiddlehead.ca/submit

 

Birmingham Poetry Review

Unsolicited manuscripts of no more than five poems are welcomed. Pay is one copy of the Birmingham Poetry Review. Submit now through May 15, 2020.

https://www.uab.edu/cas/englishpublications/bpr/submit