I’m counting down the days until my new book of poems, Tamp, will be published by Mercer University Press. The magic date is Tuesday, April 4, 2023!
Here are some very generous, advanced words about Tamp from others.
“Denton Loving’s Tamp reminds us that to grieve is to love, a sacred act that aims for clarity, and yet, mourning, too, makes us acutely aware of the profound questions that agitate the living. Loving’s poems, deeply attuned to the richness of a rural sacred order, both honor and attempt to name that complexity with a music that feels movingly restorative.” —Major Jackson, author of The Absurd Man
“Each poem in Tamp is a world in its own right: each a timeless praise song to the earth, to solitude, loss, and love. With bucolic sensitivity shared by few, Loving has crafted the most convincing wake-up call–gentle, surefooted, hypnotic, and insistent. Tamp is a rare trove of honest, measured assurance, a blessed reminder of what matters most.” — Shawna Kay Rodenberg, author of Kin: A Memoir
“In Tamp, his radiant new collection of odes and elegies, Denton Loving represents the works and days of rural Appalachia, and far beyond, with deep knowledge and delicate authenticity. Loving’s poems occupy the ideal cross-section between two of poetry’s oldest poles, the lyric and the narrative. It matters little whether readers greet these poems as stories that sing or lyrics that bind us in their telling, because the scenes and voices we discover will travel with us deep as treasured memories. Galway Kinnell once said that another word for poetry could be ‘tenderness,’ and this is the quality Loving brings most acutely to the loved people and places he offers tribute in Tamp.” — Jesse Graves, author of Merciful Days
It took me years to write these poems and understand how they could work together as a collection. Now, I’m so excited to know the book is near at hand, arriving into the world and into the hands of readers like you.
The fact that you already read, follow and subscribe to this blog is a great support to my writing, and I’m so grateful. If you’re inclined to support me again, I’d be grateful for you to pre-order Tamp, and there are a lot of simple ways to do so.
You can order directly from Mercer University Press. You can support your favorite indie book store by ordering from Bookshop.org. If you don’t have a favorite indie book store, you can order from one of mine, City Lights in Sylva, North Carolina. It’s also available for pre-order at the usual online sellers such as Amazon.
For Tamp to find its way to readers, there’s a ton of work for me still to do, and I’m sure I’ll be back here soon, begging for reviews and announcing readings, etc. Until then, thank you!
This Valentine’s Day is maybe the coldest I ever remember. If you’re stuck inside, I hope this list of journals and contests will inspire you to start submitting. Until next time, stay safe and stay warm.
Litbreak Writers are invited to submit prose and poetry to Litbreak, an online literary journal that publishes poetry, fiction, book reviews, and essays on literary subjects. All prose submissions should range from 500 words to a maximum of 5,000 words. Submission is open year-round. We pay all contributors on a case-by-case basis from $25 upward. There is no submission fee. With regard to fiction, there are no specific requirements on style and content. Some literary sites suggest you look at what they publish to get an idea of what they would accept. We would rather suggest that you look at what we have published and come up with something else. We will consider excerpts from novels. For book reviews, although we are paying special attention to contemporary releases, we won’t rule out reviews of older books or critical surveys of a writer’s body of work. For poetry, we suggest but don’t require a minimum of one hundred words. We may also accept essays on literary subjects or ideas. https://litbreak.submittable.com/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/
Bearings Online Bearings Online is accepting poetry submissions. We are seeking clear, accessible poetry (30 lines or less) that addresses faith, culture, or what it means to be human. Submit as a Word document to poetry editor Susan Sink: ssink (at) collegevilleinstitute (dot) org. https://collegevilleinstitute.org/bearings/submission-guidelines/
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. https://scholar.valpo.edu/vfr/guidelines.html
Booth Booth was established in 2009. Our staff is comprised of MFA faculty and students in the Butler University graduate writing program. Booth publishes one new piece or author every Friday, square on our home page. We are now open to new submissions in all genres. All accepted work will appear on our website and may appear in our subsequent print issues. Submit up to 3 poems or up to 7,500 words of fiction or creative nonfiction. https://booth.submittable.com/submit
Copper Nickel Copper Nickel accepts submissions of poetry, fiction, essays, and translation folios through March 1, 2021. Please submit four to six poems, one story, or one essay at a time. For prose we do not have any length restrictions—but longer-than-normal pieces have to earn their space. http://copper-nickel.org/submit/
Pittsburgh Poetry Journal Pittsburgh Poetry Journal PPJ seeks work that clangs with grit, passion, and a multitude of voices. We want poems that celebrate or break traditions and strive for progress. We do not restrict our journal to Pittsburgh poets or poetry. All writers and themes are welcome! Please submit no more than three (3) poems, or seven (7) pages total. Our open reading period runs through March 21, 2021. https://pittsburghpoetryjournal.submittable.com/submit
The Hudson Prize in Fiction / The Hudson Prize in Poetry Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The Hudson Prize for an unpublished collection of poems or short stories. The prize is open to new, emerging, and established writers. The winner of this contest will receive book publication, a $1,000 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes awarded on publication. $27 Submission Fee. Deadline: March 31, 2021. https://blacklawrencepress.com/submissions-and-contests/
The National Poetry Review The National Poetry Review is an annual online journal of poetry (previously a print journal published from 2003 to 2015 by our sister press, The National Poetry Review Press). Our reading period is January 1 – April 1 annually. Please submit all poems in one file. Include a brief bio with previous publications. http://www.nationalpoetryreview.com/
Landlocked We love found pieces, eco-poetics, works about displacement, and stories of how your body fits (or how it doesn’t) into the world. Imagism and hybrid genres, including experimental and visual works, lyric essays, and prose poems are all welcome. Please send 3–5 poems per submission with no more than 10 pages in total. We want stories of literary quality and encourage fantastic, speculative, and weird literature. Send us your most imaginative and challenging writing in 4,000 words or less. We also encourage flash fiction of 1,000 words or less. Finally, we are especially drawn to nonfiction pieces that challenge the boundaries of the genre, incorporate fictional and poetic elements, and make us question how “creative” nonfiction can be. As far as length, we prefer under 4,000 words. Landlocked is open for submissions through April 1, 2021.https://landlockedmagazine.com/submission-guidelines/
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. Deadline: May 18, 2021. http://www.benningtonreview.org/submit/
Posit Journal Posit is currently considering submissions for late 2021 and beyond. 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: May 31, 2021. https://posit.submittable.com/submit
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.
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.
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.
Pithead Chapel electronically publishes art, literary fiction, nonfiction, and prose poetry monthly. At present, we only accept submissions under 4,000 words.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
We’re nine days into the new year, and I already feel behind on my goals! I hope you’re off to a better start. Here are 10 new submission opportunities that I hope will help with your submission goals. Good luck!
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.
Cagibi’s 2020 Macaron Prize is now open for entries. We are accepting fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and cartoon submissions until midnight January 20, 2020. There is a $20 entry fee. In Fiction, submit one story per entry, maximum 4,000 words. In Poetry, one entry is up to three poems. In Nonfiction, one entry is a personal narrative essay, maximum 4,000 words. In Cartoon: one entry is one cartoon or a series. The 2020 Macaron Prize judges are Andre Dubus III in Fiction, Jill Bialosky in Nonfiction / Memoir, Nick Flynn in Poetry, Emily Flake in Cartoon. Winners of the Macaron Prize will receive $1000 and publication in Cagibi’s 2020 print issue. Winners will be invited to read their work at a public Reading and Issue Launch Celebration in NYC in the fall. Finalists will also be published in the print issue. All entries will also be considered for publication in Cagibi’s quarterly online issues.
Qwerty is currently seeking ECOLOGY-THEMED SUBMISSIONS for our SPRING ISSUE now thru January 31, 2020. For this special issue, Qwerty invites decolonial, innovative approaches to and encounters with the environment—its physical, social, and linguistic spaces. Send previously unpublished fiction and creative non-fiction up to 5,000 words in length. You may submit up to 6 pages of poetry.
For its Spring 2020 issue, Arts & Letters seeks fiction, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Send 4-6 poems per submission, fiction manuscripts up to 25 pages, 1-3 pieces of flash fiction up to 1,000 words each, and creative nonfiction manuscripts up to 25 pages. Deadline for our regular reading period is January 31, 2020.
Lambda Literary Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices
The Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices was established in 2007 and is the first of its kind ever offered to LGBTQ writers: a one-week intensive immersion in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, genre fiction and playwriting. The cost of the Retreat, which includes room and meals, is $1725. Travel expenses are not included. Ability to pay is in no way part of the decision-making process and robust scholarships are available. Applicants of the Retreat submit prose, poetry or theatrical manuscript pages that are evaluated for craft, creativity and originality. For Fiction, Nonfiction, or Young Adult Fiction, submit up to 25 pages maximum. For Playwriting, submit up to 10 to 20 page excerpt/2,500 words from a full-length work, short play or piece of theatre. For Poetry, submit 10 pages maximum. Deadline is February 2, 2020.
Fiction International will accept submissions in response to the theme of Algorithm through February 4, 2020. Fiction, non-fiction, and indeterminate prose texts of up to 5,500 words as well as visuals which address the theme of “Algorithm” are welcome.
We look for writing that pushes on our expectations of narrative and fulfills its own ambitious charge. Unsolicited manuscripts of fiction, essays, interviews, reviews, and poetry are welcomed through February 15, 2020. Poetry submissions should be comprised of 3-5 poems; fiction and non-fiction manuscripts should generally consist of no more than 15 pages.
Tiferet invites poetry submissions to be submitted for consideration in the journal until February 29, 2020. All submissions will be considered for the upcoming Spring 2020 issue. Tiferet: Promoting Peace through Literature and Art is a nonreligious journal that seeks to find the truth of the human experience through art. We particularly encourage submissions from marginalized and underrepresented groups within the literary community.
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.
Fiction and NonFiction Editorial Positions at Orison Books (Volunteer Positions)
Orison Books is seeking fiction and nonfiction editors. Orison Books is a non-profit literary press focused on exceptional literature that engages the life of the spirit from a broad and inclusive range of perspectives. We are a labor of love, so the editorial positions are on a volunteer basis. If you have experience as a fiction or nonfiction author and/or editor and are interested in this opportunity, please write Luke Hankins at editor (AT) orisonbooks (DOT) com. People of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and the differently abled are encouraged to apply. www.orisonbooks.com
Sundress Seeking Development Director (Volunteer Position)
An extension of Sundress Publications, the Sundress Academy for the Arts (SAFTA) is an artists’ residency on a 45-acre farm in Knoxville, Tennessee, that offers residencies to writers in all genres including literary, nonfiction, journalism, and academic. With two residency rooms and a dry cabin on site, we offer a rotating space for nationally recognized and emerging artists in multiple disciplines. SAFTA also hosts weekend workshops, a reading series, and yearly retreats. This position will run for one year from your start date with a chance to be renewed the following year. The development director’s responsibilities includes working with a team of interns and other directors to research grant opportunities, draft potential grants, coordinate between SAFTA department heads, work with our budget office, and lead a team of two to four people to write, edit, and submit national, regional, and local grants. To apply, please send a resume and a brief cover letter detailing your interest in the position to Erin Elizabeth Smith at erin (AT) sundresspublications (DOT) com by August 15, 2019.
For Issue #24, Whitefish Review seeks essays, fiction, poetry, art, photography, and songwriting about our awakenings and our teachers. We will accept submissions through August 15, 2019.
Send us your poems about writs and wills. About medical charts and shift logs, foreclosures and permits. About being identified, misidentified, lost. About identity theft, deportation, detention. About being documented. About not being safe even with the right documents. We are “permitted” by the right paperwork, or so we imagine. Identity theft, fraud, a bad marriage, and a host of other mishaps can complicate the link between our “identity” and our “papers.” Sometimes no amount of paperwork “permits” a life, as when a black man is shot by police before he can reach into his wallet, or Latinx immigrants are jailed or deported because new administration changes the “rules.” To be published by Main Street Rag. Submissions close August 31, 2019.
the museum of americana accepts submissions of original fiction, nonfiction, poetry, book/chapbook reviews, writer interviews, music, photography, and art. We seek work that showcases and/or repurposes historical American culture. This is, of course, an enormous and diverse tub of spare parts, and we want to see if you can turn them into a hot rod. August is an open reading month, so have a look at our guidelines, and send us your best by month’s end—and don’t forget, we’ll be reading submissions of humor, too.
Change Seven, an online literary journal, seeks submissions for an official relaunch in Fall 2019. The editors seek poetry, prose, artwork, photography, multimedia, and book reviews from both new and established talents. We most enjoy writing that comes from experience, is well-crafted, lyrical, distinctive, and accessible. Give us something that in some way resonates with us deeply like only the human heart in conflict with itself knows how to do. Open submission period through August 31, 2019.https://changesevenmag.com/submissions/
Talking Writing
We’re looking for short personal essays or first-person features that grapple with transitions of all kinds: from one stage of life to the next; across artistic genres; in work and daily life; in belief; in the natural world, cities, or neighborhoods. We’ll consider a mix of visual art and text on this theme as well, but no political diatribes, life hacks, or lyrical experiments. Feel free to query us first about the subject for your essay or feature. Word count: 500 to 1,500. Deadline: Sept 9, 2019.
The MacDowell Colony is accepting applications for residencies between Feb 1 – May 31, 2020. The colony provides time, space, and an inspiring environment to artists of exceptional talent. A MacDowell Fellowship, or residency, consists of exclusive use of a studio, accommodations, and three prepared meals a day for up to eight weeks. There are no residency fees aside from a nonrefundable processing fee of $30 (U.S.) which is required with each application. Include a 10-page writing sample completed within the past two years, related as closely as possible to the proposed project. Upload a PDF file of a one-page Executive Summary of your C.V. Applicants who are enrolled in undergraduate or graduate degree programs as of the date of application are ineligible to apply. Doctoral candidates who have finished all coursework may apply. Artists are responsible for the cost of travel to and from the Colony. We are pleased to offer stipends to artists in all artistic disciplines so that they may take advantage of a residency at the Colony. Funding is also available to help reimburse artists for costs associated with travel, including shipping of materials. Financial aid forms are available upon acceptance and aid is awarded based on need. Deadline: Sept 15, 2019.
Salt Hill is now accepting fiction, nonfiction and poetry submissions. We are interested in work that shines, work that represents a broad spectrum of experience, and work that makes us feel in new and exciting ways. Please submit no more than five poems at a time, and no more than thirty pages of prose. Send us your most honest work. We will consider all nonfiction, but are most interested in creative nonfiction, including personal essays, lyric essays, memoir, literary journalism, and other literary forms. Deadline: Sept 30, 2019.
Located on the beautiful waterfront campus of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, this writers’ conference features professional writers at the top of their form spending quality time with motivated and talented participants seeking an intimate, unhurried climate for learning…in paradise.
2020 workshops will be led by Gregory Pardlo, Michael Koryta, Laura Lippman, Stewart O’Nan, Andre Dubus III, John Dufresne, Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Ann Hood, Les Standiford and Sterling Watson. Dozens of fellowships and scholarships are available. Apply by November 1, 2019.
The 11th Annual Mildred Haun Conference invites papers that consider, but are not limited to, the following broad areas of interest: Conference theme: “Of Jack Tales and Sleeping Birds: Youth, Literacy and Appalachia;” Mildred Haun’s The Hawk’s Done Gone and other stories; scholarship related to any of the following: classic and contemporary Appalachian literature, including poetry, the novel, short fiction, nonfiction and film; multiculturalism in Appalachia; personal and cultural stories associated with Appalachia; treatment of stereotypes in Appalachian literature and popular culture; creative writing and publication; art or music projects/presentation. Submit abstracts (not exceeding 350 words) along with a brief third-person bio (not exceeding 150 words) before November 1, 2019.
Here are 10 submission opportunities for writers. If you’re writing and think that your work is ready to send out into the world, I truly believe these are some outlets that you should consider. Good luck!
Key West Literary Seminars Scholarships
KWLS is accepting applications for its teacher and librarian scholarships, emerging writer awards, and workshop financial aid program. Submit your application by July 12, 2019.
New Limestone Review / Gurney Norman Fiction Prize
New Limestone Review, formerly Limestone, is seeking submissions for the Gurney Norman Summer Prize for Fiction, judged by Andrew Milward, which opens today and runs until July 15th! Prizes are $500 for 1st place & $250 for 2nd place. Publication guaranteed for the top three finalists. All submissions will be considered for publications. We are also always seeking submissions in all genres for our monthly issues. New Limestone Review is published by the University of Kentucky’s MFA Program in Creative Writing, Department of English. We offer monthly online issues and one annual print publication. All accepted submissions will be for the web first and will be eligible for publication in the print issue.
We want to publish good poetry, no matter where or who it comes from. We’re looking for an array of styles, from narrative to abstract to form. Fast-track submissions and regular submissions are open until July 31, 2019.
We welcome all styles of poems, and look for work which is well-crafted, reflects passion, originality, engagement with contemporary culture, and a love affair with language. We consider 3 to 5 poems in one submission. Deadline: July 31, 2019.
Submissions open through July 31, 2019. Submit poetry of all types and length, short fiction between 2,000–8,000 words, and nonfiction between 3,500–9,000 words. We are generally not interested in genre fiction (such as romance, science fiction, or fantasy). We publish literary, art, and cultural criticism; reportage; historical and political analysis; and travel essays. We publish few author interviews or memoirs. In general, we are looking for nonfiction that looks out on the world, rather than within the self. Submissions are limited to one prose piece and four poems per reading period. For poetry, we pay $200 per poem, up to 4 poems; for a suite of 5 or more poems, we usually pay $1,000. For short fiction, we generally pay $1,000 and above. For other prose, such as personal essays and literary criticism, we generally pay $1,000 and above, at approximately 25 cents per word, depending on length. https://www.vqronline.org/about-vqr/submissions
Gold Line Press Chapbook Competitions
This year’s chapbook judges are Bhanu Kapil (nonfiction), Diana Khoi Nguyen (poetry), and Myriam Gurba (fiction). Each winner receives $500, publication of her/his perfect-bound chapbook with ISBN, and 10 contributor copies. Gold Line Press sends out 30 copies on behalf of winners to respected literary venues for review. Manuscripts must be 20-30 pages in length for poetry entries, and 7,500-15,000 words for fiction and nonfiction entries (not including the title page and table of contents). The $20 entry fee includes a copy of the winning chapbook in your genre. Deadline: August 1, 2019.
The Donald L. Jordan Prize for Literary Excellence
This annual prize carries a $10,000 award for an unpublished novel, collection of short stories, memoir, or essay collection. The winner will be offered a publishing contract with a new imprint at Columbus State University, DLJ Books. Deadline: August 15, 2019.
Sundress Reading Series (Knoxville, TN) Looking for Readers for Fall
The Sundress Reading Series is an award-winning literary reading series in the heart of Knoxville, TN, just miles from the Great Smoky Mountains. An extension of Sundress Publications and the Sundress Academy for the Arts, the Sundress Reading Series features nationally recognized writers in all genres from around the US while also supporting local and regional nonprofits. We are currently curating our fall reading series schedule on October 13, November 10, and December 8, 2019. Our readings take place monthly on Sundays at 1PM at Hexagon Brewing Company. To apply to read for the fall, send 6-8 pages of poetry or 8-15 pages of prose, a 100-word bio, CV, and preferred reading dates to sundresspublications@gmail.com. Please make sure the subject line reads “Reading Series Application.” Application deadline: August 15, 2019.
The Coachella Review accepts original work that is vibrant, thoughtful, and precise. Whether your work is innovative or traditional, we strive to celebrate writing that holds readers in awe. We welcome creative nonfiction of all kinds. Submissions should not exceed 6,000 words. We invite poets to send up to five poems per submission. Include all works in a single attachment. There are no restrictions on form or length. We welcome short stories, novel excerpts, and experimental forms. Both literary and genre works are invited. Submissions should not exceed 6,000 words. Deadline: October 20, 2019.
BCR is published annually. Submissions for issue 16 (Spring ’20) of Bat City Review will be accepted through November 1, 2019, with responses typically sent within two months of receiving a submission. We are interested in poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction (personal essays, memoir, commentary) that experiments with language, form, and unconventional subject matter, as well as more traditional work. Send us writing that plays, that strikes out, that enjoys itself, that makes its own rules. http://www.batcityreview.la.utexas.edu/guidelines.php
Here’s a new batch of 13 writing opportunities, just in time for the end of the semester and beginning of summer. Good luck with your writing and submitting!
Tinderbox Poetry
Journal
Tinderbox Poetry Journal is open for submissions until May 15. Tinderbox has been the original home of poems appearing in Best of the Net, Best New Poets, and Bettering American Poetry anthologies. We are a paying market that offers contributors $15, regardless of how many poems are selected. We offer fee-free submissions year-round, but to offset the costs of running our journal (and to continue offering no mandatory fees), we recommend Tip Jar ($3) and Requesting Feedback options ($5) for folks with the means to make a donation. Please send no more than four poems (six pages). We aim to respond within three months or sooner.
Inch is now a quarterly journal focused on the miracles of compression. Each “issue” is a micro-chapbook featuring the work of a single author. We are currently reading submissions through May 15, 2019. Inch loves to see collections of short-short fiction. Submit your collection of a minimum of three stories. Similarly, submit your collection of a minimum of three essays. Though we no longer have a line limit for poetry, we’re still looking for poems that celebrate compression. Submit your collection with no more than one poem per single-spaced page. Collections should be between 8-14 pages in length. Include a title page with your contact information, a table of contents, an acknowledgements page (if needed), and an “about the author” page, none of which will count toward those 8-14 pages. Up to 75% of the pieces in your collection may be previously published, but we do require that at least 25% of the pieces in the collection be unpublished at the time of acceptance.
Nashville Review will accept submissions during the month of May. We welcome flash fiction, short stories, and novel excerpts of up to 8,000 words. We welcome creative nonfiction up to 8,000 words. We’re open to anything: memoir excerpts, essays, imaginative meditations. Send us up to 3 poems per reading period.
Mary Jo Bang will judge this year’s Oversound Chapbook Prize. The winner will receive $1000 and 25 copies. There is an $18 fee to enter. All entrants will receive a subscription to Oversound. Send your submission by May 31, 2019. Manuscripts must be between 15 and 30 pages. For a manuscript outside this range, please contact us prior to sending.
A writing practice requires us to slow down, reflect, attend. HeartWood Literary Magazine & West Virginia Wesleyan’s MFA Program seek to honor this practice with an annual broadside series and contest. Partnering with West Virginia letterpress company Base Camp Printing, we print the winning entry (poetry or flash prose) on a limited-edition letterpress broadside featuring an original image inspired by the text. The annual broadside serves as artifact companion to the fall issue of the digital magazine. Both the handmade and the electronic HeartWood venues aim to showcase work that gets to the heart of the matter. Savannah Sipple will judge this year’s contest. Submit by June 1, 2019.
We believe poetry is contrary by nature and we look especially for plurality of meaning, for dual reverberation of beauty and concern. Contrary’s poetry in particular often mimics the effects of fiction or commentary. We ask our fiction writers to imagine their readers navigating a story with one finger poised over a mouse button. We have published long stories on the belief that they succeed, but we feel more comfortable with the concise. We favor fiction that is contrary in any number of ways, but our fiction typically defies traditional story form. “Commentary” is our word for the stuff that others define negatively as non-fiction, nominally as essay, or naively as truth. We favor commentary that delivers a message less through exposition than through artistry. The commentary we select is often lyrical, narrative, or poetic. Deadline: June 1, 2019.
Submissions received through June 25, 2019, are considered for the summer issue, published in late early Aug. With fiction, feel encouraged to push boundaries. We have diverse tastes; try us out. Length is up to you, but a story over 10,000 words will only be considered if it is of exceptional quality (and nothing over 12,000 words, please). Only send one story at a time, unless you are writing flash fiction (or stories under 500 words), in which case you can send up to three. We’re also looking for poems of any length (including sequences and long poems). You may also send up to four poems at a time. We are no longer accepting essays through our regular submission process, but we encourage interested writers to pitch us at essays@puritan-magazine.com. Pitches should be no more than 500 words, and contain a clear, succinct description of the proposed piece and a rationale for why it would be a good fit for The Puritan.
The award is open to writers who have published a novel or a book-length collection of fiction with a reputable book publisher, or a minimum of three short stories or novellas in magazines or journals of national distribution. The award is open to writers in English, whether or not they are citizens of the United States. Eligible submissions include an unpublished manuscript of short stories; two or more novellas (a novella may comprise a maximum of 130 double-spaced typed pages); or a combination of one or more novellas and short stories. Novellas are only accepted as part of a larger collection. The prize carries a cash award of $15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press under its standard contract. Deadline: June 30, 2019.
As a rule, critical articles should be about 1200 to 2500 words, Table Talk items 1000 words or less, stories and memoirs 4000 words or less, and poetry 100 lines or less. (Exceptions are occasionally possible, but longer pieces will have a much harder time getting accepted.) We prefer to read prose submissions that are double-spaced; poetry can be single-spaced or double-spaced. At present The Threepenny Review is paying $400 per story or article, $200 per poem or Table Talk piece. Deadline: June 30, 2019.
The BLR seeks high-caliber, unpublished work, broadly and creatively related to our themes of health, healing, illness, the mind, and the body. We seek character-driven fiction with original voices and strong settings. We do not publish genre fiction (romance, sci-fi, horror). Our word max is 5,000, though most of our published stories tend to be in the range of 2,000-4,000 words. We are looking for essays that reach beyond the standard ‘illness narrative’ to develop a topic in an engaging and original manner. Incorporate anecdotes that feel alive, and dazzle us with thoughtful and creative analysis that allows these anecdotes to serve a larger purpose. Please, no academic discourses or works with footnotes. Maximum 5,000 words. Poetry submissions should have no more than 3 poems. Please include all poems in one document. Deadline: June 30, 2019.
Announcing the inaugural Orison Chapbook Prize! Orison Books announces The 2019 Orison Chapbook Prize, judged by founder and editor Luke Hankins. Submissions are open to all genres (poetry, fiction, nonfiction, hybrid). The winner receives $300 & publication by Orison Books. Manuscript length should be between 20 and 45 pages. Entry fee: $12. Deadline: July 1, 2019.
The Writer’s Block Prize in Fiction will accept submissions through August 1, 2019. Award-winning novelist Garth Greenwell will judge. Winner will receive $500 and publication in The Louisville Review, the literary magazine of Spalding University’s nationally distinguished low residency MFA in Writing program. Winner also will be invited to read the winning story at the 2019 Writer’s Block Festival in Louisville, KY. Submit up to 3 stories, 4,000 words maximum. There is a $12 submission fee.
For apt’s (howapt.com) tenth print issue, we are seeking to publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, and comics that address climate change, the defining challenge of our lifetime. It is, of course, not the only major, systemic issue we face and, for many, it is not the most important in day-to-day lives marked by injustice and inequality in a system that privileges the few. But it is an issue that touches nearly everyone and that permeates our systems, exacerbates inequality, and sharpens injustice. We encourage all types of work, but please proceed with these facts in mind: climate change is real, it’s caused by humans, there’s still time to fight it. On that note, we’re excited to read your words and hear your ideas on the topic. Keeping in line with our usual wish list, the following issues aren’t meant to be exhaustive, but to provide potential areas we’d love to see addressed: Environmental, economic, and intergenerational justice; Community-based responses to climate change; Physical and mental health impacts of climate change; Biodiversity, species, and ecosystem conservation; Environmental policy and programs; Intersectional views (e.g. indigenous communities, re: contested lands and their stewardship; the vulnerability and strength of racialized and classed neighborhoods; the challenges faced by disabled people and those with mobility constraints). As always, we seek longer work for our print issues in order to publish and promote narratives that engage deeply with a subject and take time to explore it fully. For this issue, we will also read shorter work (5,000 words minimum for prose, 1,000 words/100 lines/7 pages minimum for poetry) that falls within our theme. If you have work that comes close to these constraints but doesn’t quite meet them, submit it and we’ll figure out the rest. Payment: authors included in the issue will receive a $50 payment and a copy of the issue. Deadline: Aug 31, 2019.
Denton Loving 