Get Inspired with New Books & New Issues of Lit Mags + Fall Submission Periods
NewPages Newsletter - Issue 36
It’s the second week of August and as much as we want to avoid the thought of fall and all that means being around the corner, it’s time to face it. In fact, some literary magazines are asking you to embrace fall and its holidays, like Halloween. Don’t forget Parhelion and Club Plum are both seeking literary horror and goosebump-raising stories for their October issues.
Speaking of fall, Sandra Simonds’ Triptychs is due out in November from Wave Books. This collection, which is an intersection of poetic form and the passage of time, was initially crafted in handwritten strips on rolls of receipt paper obtained at a dollar store. You will also be able to grab Burt Kimmelman’s Steeple at Sunrise in November from Marsh Hawk Press. This latest collection sees Kimmelman continuing his exploration of syllabic forms.
While I am sure the majority of us don’t even want to contemplate winter, Jane Rosenberg LaForge’s poetry and narrative memoir My Aunt’s Abortion is due out in February from BlazeVOX. The collection contains a series of poems and two essays that detail the effects of an illegal abortion the author’s aunt underwent in 1960s California.
If you would like to see a full list of new and upcoming books, don’t forget to check out the Books Received August 2022 list! You can also see several of these titles highlighted throughout the week at our Book Stand, including Rilla Askew’s Prize for the Fire, H.R. Webster’s What Follows, Patricia L. Bryan and Thomas Wolf’s The Plea: The True Story of Young Wesley Elkins and his Struggle for Redemption, and Erin Murphy’s Taxonomies, all of which are available right now from their publishers.
In the magazine world, you can now grab a copy of The Main Street Rag’s Summer 2022 issue which features an interview with NewPages Founder and Publisher Casey Hill. Colorado Review Editor Stephanie G’Schwind welcomes readers to the Summer 2022 issue with a tribute to summer while The Georgia Review’s Summer 2022 issue honors April Freely in the feature “Correspondent Life: April Freely (1982-2021).” Climate has never been more of a pressing and well debated topic in these days. The Kenyon Review joins the discussion with their Climate Issue which includes a folio called “Angry Mamas” guest edited by Emily Raboteau and which includes work by mothers discussing the climate crisis and environmental justice. Keep up on more of the latest issues from lit mags you love by stopping by the Magazine Stand.
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NewPages Blog
Stay caught up at our blog. There you can take in short reviews, contest & book award winners, book & literary magazine news, new issues of literary magazines, new and forthcoming titles, and cultural & political news.
Enjoy three new brief reviews at our blog. Cindy Dale talks of the expense of entering contests and how she enjoys how journals, like Crazyhorse, give all entrants subscriptions with their entries. She also tackles their latest issue, Spring 2022, which “is to be savored by readers all summer long” and features the winners of the Crazyhorse Prizes in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry. Meanwhile Kevin Brown dives into Walter M. Robinson’s essay collection What Cannot Be Undone: True Stories of a Life in Medicine which begins with a warning to readers that the book is not full of success stories or happy endings. He also takes on Ruth Ozeki’s The Book of Form and Emptiness in which he says all readers need to know coming into the novel that inanimate objects talk to the main character Benny Oh.
If you’re interested in seeing your own review displayed on our blog, please check out our revised guidelines and consider submitting to NewPages today. It’s free.
Calls, Contests, & More
Check out the latest and featured calls for submissions, writing and book contests, and more in the NewPages classifieds. Please note the ads featured here are paid listings.
Our Doors are Open
Deadline: Year-round
The Blue Mountain Review launched from Athens, Georgia in 2015 with the mantra, “We’re all south of somewhere.” As a journal of culture, the BMR strives to represent all life through its stories. Stories are vital to our survival. What we sing saves the soul. Our goal is to preserve and promote lives told well through prose, poetry, music, and the visual arts. We’ve published work from and interviews with Jericho Brown, Kelli Russell Agodon, Robert Pinsky, Rising Appalachia, Turkuaz, Michel Stone, Michael Flohr, Lee Herrick, Chen Chen, Michael Cudlitz, Pat Metheny, Melissa Studdard, Lyrics Born, Terry Kay, and Christopher Moore. View full information and submit here.
Submit for Interim's Print Issue
Deadline: September 1, 2022
Interim is looking for poems, art, essays and short fiction devoted to music for the 2022 Print Issue. We’re interested in work that is not so much “about” music, but rather enacts or composes, it. Send 3-5 poems, an artwork, essay, and/or short fiction to Claudia Keelan, Editor of Interim through our Submittable.
CHESTNUT REVIEW Invites Submissions Year Round
Chestnut Review (“for stubborn artists”) invites submissions year-round of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, art, and photography. We offer free submissions for poetry (3 poems), flash fiction (<1000 words), and art/photography (20 images); $5 submissions for fiction/nonfiction (<5k words), or 4-6 poems. Published artists receive $120. Notification in <30 days or submission fee refunded. We appreciate stories in every genre we publish. All issues free online which illustrates what we have liked, but we are always ready to be surprised by the new!
Consequence’s Fall Reading Period Now Open
Deadline: October 15, 2022
The reading period for Consequence Volume 15.1 is now open. As always, we are after any and all literary work or visual art that deals with the human consequences and realities of war or geopolitical violence as experienced by combatants, victims, or witnesses. We are especially interested in works of translation and fiction this time around. We also strongly encourage BIPOC and people from other under-represented communities to submit. Please spread the word. Have questions about what work we’re inclined to publish and/or how much we pay? Visit our FAQ. To submit, go here.
Cherry Tree Now Open for Submissions!
Deadline: October 1, 2022
Cherry Tree: A National Literary Journal would like to read your fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction through October 1, 2022. All accepted work is also considered for our distinctive Literary Shade section. Contributors receive $20 and 2 copies of the issue in which their work appears. Our $3 reading fee helps us to pay contributors and 10% of those fees will be donated to Minary's Dream Alliance, a community nonprofit organization with strong mentorship programs for at-risk youth. (The editors make a matching donation.) For more about what we're looking for and to read our guidelines, please visit our website.
Qua Magazine Seeks Submissions for Fall 2022 Issue
Deadline: October 2, 2022
Qua Literary and Fine Arts Magazine is a student-run publication of the University of Michigan-Flint. Founded over 50 years ago, we invite submissions of Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, Visual Arts, and Photography from anyone living in the state of Michigan. No submission fees. For the Fall 2022 issue, all submissions must be made by October 2, 2022 here. (Art by Ra-Londa Southwell, published in the Qua winter 2022 issue.)
Woodcrest Literary Journal Open for Submissions
Deadline: November 1, 2022 (or until we reach our limit)
Woodcrest is pleased to announce an open reading period. Submissions are now open and can be sent through Submittable. The literary journal of Cabrini University, Woodcrest aims to publish work that surprises and challenges the human experience. Please read our recent issue to familiarize yourself with our journal. We accept work from around the world and we want to hear from you. Visit our Submittable account to learn more and submit!
Atmosphere Press Reading Book Manuscripts in All Genres
Deadline: Rolling
Atmosphere Press currently seeks book manuscripts from diverse voices. There's no submission fee, and if your manuscript is selected, we’ll be the publisher you’ve always wanted: attentive, organized, on schedule, and professional. We use a model in which the author funds the publication of the book, but retains 100% rights, royalties, and artistic autonomy. This year Atmosphere authors have received featured reviews with Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Booklist, and have even appeared on a giant billboard in Times Square. Submit your book manuscript at our website.
Plus more calls for submissions at our website:
Submit to Clinch—A Martial Arts Literary Magazine
Sleet is open for Submissions
Call for Submissions: Storm Cellar
Parhelion Annual Halloween Issue
Jokes Review Seeks Pulp Fiction
Awakenings Review Seeks Poetry, Fiction, & Nonfiction
L'Esprit Seeks Consciousness-Forward Fiction and Thought for Issue One
The New Verse News Seeks Current Events Poetry
Rockvale Review Open for Poetry, Short Fiction, and CNF Submissions
Open Call for Prose, Poetry, Art, Graphic Novel :: Sunspot Lit
Literary Events & Writing Programs
The Daphne Review Mentorship Program (Rising Seniors Only)
Deadline: Rolling; Event Dates: Session II: September 5-26, III: November 7-28, 2022; Location: Virtual. Mentorship Program (Rising Seniors Only)! Both mentee and mentorship are now open! Apply to the 2022 Daphne Online Mentorship Program! We will be selecting 5-7 students to work with professional writers on a 1on1 basis. Our students have benefited greatly over the years. They’ve used the time to work on their existing body of work to get them published by literary magazines, win awards at Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, PYAA and gain acceptance to top colleges! Recent Daphne mentees have been accepted to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, and top creative writing programs, e.g., Iowa, Kenyon, Juniper, and Emerson!
Register for Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop (in person or virtually)
Deadline: October 1, 2022 (or until sold out)
The nationally renowned Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop will feature celebrated comedians and authors, including "Cathy" cartoonist Cathy Guisewite, "Saturday Night Live" legend Laraine Newman, New York Times' bestselling authors W. Bruce Cameron and Adriana Trigiani, screenwriter Cathryn Michon, improviser Dion Flynn, and award-winning author Katrina Kittle. Your registration includes meals, keynote talks, choice of dozens of workshops, and a complimentary virtual package of the keynotes and Pitchapalooza. Learn more about in-person and virtual options and join us for a long weekend of laughter and learning!
Writing & Book Contests
$1500 each plus Publication - Poetry & Short Story
Deadline: August 20, 2022
Kallisto Gaia Press sponsors two annual prizes of $1,500 each and publication in Ocotillo Review. Zoë Fay-Stindt will judge the Julia Darling Memorial Poetry Prize; Jen Knox will judge the Chester B. Himes Memorial Short Fiction Prize. Submit up to three poems of no more than 65 lines each or a story of up to 4,200 words with a $20 entry fee, which includes a copy of Ocotillo Review, by August 20. Visit Submittable for guidelines. Proceeds are donated to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Disease and the MD Anderson Foundation for Breast Cancer.
Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest
Deadline: September 30, 2022
20th year, sponsored by Winning Writers. Win $3,000 for a poem in any style and $3,000 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style. Total prizes: $8,000. The top two winners will also receive two-year gift certificates from our co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value). Both published and unpublished work accepted. Winning entries published online. Submit 1-3 poems for a $20 entry fee. Length limit: 250 lines per poem. Judged by S. Mei Sheng Frazier. This contest is recommended by Reedsy. Winning Writers is one of the "101 Best Websites for Writers" (Writer's Digest, 2022). See past winners, advice from the judge, and submit online at our website.
Cleaver's Summer Flash Contest—Deadline Extended!
Extended Deadline: August 15, 2022
Enter Cleaver's Summer '22 Flash Contest judged by Meg Pokrass. Open theme, any topic for flash fiction and nonfiction up to 500 words. Deadline extended until August 15. $500 first prize; $250 second prize, $100 first prize. Prizewinners will be published in Cleaver’s Winter Issue, December 2022. Finalists may also be offered publication.
The St. Lawrence Book Award for Debut Poetry and Prose
Deadline: August 31, 2022
Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The St. Lawrence Book Award for an unpublished first collection of poetry or prose. The St. Lawrence Book Award is open to any writer who has not yet published a full-length manuscript in any genre. The winner of this contest will receive book publication, a $1,000 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes are awarded on publication. For more details and information about how to submit your manuscript, follow this link.
$1,000 + Publication: New Letters Editor's Choice Award
Deadline: October 17, 2022
The New Letters’ Editor’s Choice Award is now accepting entries for experimental work that crosses the traditional boundaries of genre and form. Enter your hybrid work—your lyric essays, prose poems, short-shorts, collages, micro-memoirs. . . whatever you’re doing that’s experimental, that defies easy categorization. The maximum word count is 8,000 and entries must be previously unpublished. The winner will receive $1,000 plus publication in New Letters. Visit New Letters' website for guidelines and to enter online via Submittable.
Button Poetry Seeks Video Submissions
Deadline: August 31, 2022
Button Poetry is now accepting entries for the 2022 Video Contest. We are looking for brave poetry that crosses borders or effaces them completely, work that enters into larger social conversations, work that lives in the world, work with a strong, unique voice and palpable energy. The winner will receive $500 and be featured across our social media, which collectively has 5M+ followers. Finalist Judge: Sabrina Benaim, author of Depression & Other Magic Tricks. The contest closes August 31, 2022. Find guidelines at our website.