Lit Between Storms and Stillness
NewPages Newsletter #234: 130+ submission opportunities, new magazine stand features, and a prompt on numbness and what won’t stay buried
Happy Monday!
After a spring that couldn’t quite make up its mind—other than its commitment to rain—we’ve slipped into a stretch of warmer, drier days. This weekend’s scattered showers left everything smelling musty and damp, that rich, earthy scent that lingers just long enough to slow you down. A perfect excuse to stay indoors and read, write, and edit…or step outside and let the rhythm of the rain do the work for you.
With more rain and storms in the forecast this week, NewPages has plenty to keep you reading, writing, and submitting—no matter which side of the window you choose.
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📰 Recommended Reading: “The Hollow” by N.D. Stone
In a day and age where ICE is everywhere and horror stories abound on the news, N.D. Stone’s “The Hollow” feels less like speculative fiction and more like a distorted mirror of reality. The story follows a narrator trapped in quiet paralysis as people in her community, including her own mother, are taken without explanation. What unfolds is both intimate and surreal, blending domestic detail with creeping horror.
Stone heightens that horror through uncanny imagery: squirrels no longer gather food but instead collect fragments of human identity—fingerprints, keys, green cards, receipts—reducing whole lives to scattered pieces. These grotesque little archivists feel disturbingly bureaucratic, echoing systems that catalog and process people while stripping them of personhood. At the same time, they hint at a strange counterpoint: an “honest census” hidden in the trees, as if truth itself has been displaced from official structures and survives only in fragments.
The story’s emotional core lies in what the narrator cannot do. She watches her neighbor be taken and “eats” her own shouts; she refuses to call her aunt; she withdraws from the world entirely. This quiet complicity isn’t framed as moral failure so much as the numbing effect of fear and grief. Reality itself begins to fracture—faces blur, memory slips, the ordinary becomes unknowable—mirroring the psychological toll of living under constant threat.
What makes “The Hollow” so haunting is its insistence on absence. People vanish, leaving behind wallets, groceries, scraps of paper—the mundane debris of interrupted lives. In their place are systems, silences, and unanswered questions. Stone’s story captures that erosion of identity and certainty with eerie clarity, making it feel uncomfortably close to nonfiction—not because it is literal, but because it is emotionally and politically true.
Read the story in Issue 23 of Variant Literature.
🗞️ Magazine News
Whether you’re riding out a heatwave or listening to the roll of thunderstorms, the Magazine Stand is full of new reading to keep you company.
Cimarron Review – 225
Cimarron Review 225 continues its longstanding tradition of publishing imaginative, truth-driven work, featuring poets Diana K. Malek, A.E. Stallings, and Athena Kildegaard, fiction writers Nona Caspers and JP Gritton, and nonfiction from Andrew Bertaina.
L’Esprit Literary Review – April 2026
L’Esprit Literary Review’s April 2026 issue reflects its High Modernist-inspired mission, publishing adventurous fiction, nonfiction, criticism, and art by contributors including Jessica Faulkner, Miah Jeffra, Daniel Barbiero, Jennifer McMahon, and Amanda Michalopoulou.
The Lake – June 2026
The Lake’s June 2026 issue gathers poetry by Ben Bruges, Clive Donovan, Albert Hwang, and Anya Reeve, alongside reviews by Charles Rammelkamp, Pamela Wax, and Hannah Stone, plus its One Poem Reviews feature highlighting J Brooke and Emma Kate Brown, celebrating contemporary poetry and poetics through diverse voices and perspectives.
🖋️ Inspiration Prompt: The Breaking Point of Numb
Chester Bennington had a voice that could do two things almost no one else could—hold you gently and then break open completely, sometimes within the same breath. In “Numb,” the verses arrive soft, almost resigned: a quiet litany of accumulation. And then the chorus cracks, raw and unmistakable: I’ve become so numb.
It’s both a confession and a protest.
That tension is your prompt this week. Write, draw, or create from the space between those two states—the slow going-quiet, and the part of you that isn’t ready to go quiet. What numbs you: the endless scroll, the bad news that keeps getting worse, the rising costs that grind you down? Or something more personal—a loss, a wound that required you to feel less just to keep moving?
And what still refuses to go quiet?
Create from the litany. Create from the crack in it.
Craft tip: Numbness is hard to write because it’s the absence of feeling. Anchor it in the body instead—what your character stops noticing, stops flinching at, stops reaching for. The void shows up best in the small things that no longer register.
Looking for more inspiration? Stop by our Weekly Roundup of Submission Opportunities for more prompts.
📖Editor’s Choice Book Recommendations
Looking to bulk up your summer reading list? Check out the latest title recommended by NewPages Editor Denise Hill and discover a standout pick worth adding to your shelf.
(Out) On the Road: The Radical Joy of Queer Travel by Lindsey Danis
Lindsey Danis’s (Out) On the Road: The Radical Joy of Queer Travel offers a much-needed, affirming guide for LGBTQ+ travelers often underserved by the industry. Drawing on years of experience, Danis addresses safety, funding, and self-advocacy while encouraging readers to move beyond limiting “safe destination” narratives. Blending practical advice with personal insight, the book empowers queer travelers to explore confidently, build community, and embrace transformative, joy-centered journeys both domestically and abroad.
📣Calls, Contests, & More
Ready to submit your work or attend a literary event? We’ve got 130 opportunities waiting for you this week.
Below is just a sampling of what paying subscribers receive—explore submission calls, contests, fellowships, and events curated to keep you writing, submitting, and connecting.
2026 Oxford Writers Workshop - Scholarships Available! Register Today!
Register by June 14 (Scholarship Deadline May 31)
The Oxford Writers Workshop, hosted August 14–20 by BookGo, invites writers at all levels of experience to gather for a week of development and inspiration, spent in residence at the legendary Oxford University. Grow your writing through daily masterclasses, one-on-one mentorship, guest presentations, and enriching cultural excursions in England’s historic center of literature and learning. Full accommodations will be provided. Scholarships are available! Since talent should never be limited by circumstance, BookGo is proud to extend funding opportunities to emerging authors, teachers, and veterans. We also offer an institutional funding match. More information can be found on BookGo.pub.
Swan Scythe Press announces its 2026 poetry chapbook contest
Deadline: June 15, 2026
Swan Scythe Press announces its 2026 poetry chapbook contest. Entry fee: $18. We are accepting submissions from March 1 to June 15 (postmark deadline). Winner receives $200 and 25 perfect-bound chapbooks. The 2025 winner is Catherine Allen for We Return as Rain. For full guidelines, visit our website and Submittable.
🔔Jerboa Lit 250: Open for Registration!
Deadline: June 26, 2026
The next Jerboa Lit 250 kicks off on June 26! At 10 pm Central, we’ll draw a random prompt (Genre and Character) from our Video Hat, live from our YouTube page. Writers will have until the following Sunday, June 28, 11:59 pm Central, to submit a 250-word story satisfying the prompt. Registration fee of $15, with prizes paid out for first through third – first place takes home $500! Sign up here.
2026 HEART Poetry Award $500
Deadline: June 30, 2026
Nostalgia Press is accepting submissions for the 2026 HEART Poetry Award, offering a $500 prize and publication in HEART #21. A $10 reading fee covers up to 3 unpublished poems and includes a digital copy of the issue. Please include your name, mailing address, and email on each page; identifying information will be removed before judging. Submit your poems via email, and complete payment at the Nostalgia Press website. Visit the website for sample poems, judge information, and full guidelines. Deadline: Midnight, June 30, 2026.
The Slate Roof Press 2026 Elyse Wolf Prize $500
Deadline: June 30, 2026
Member-run Slate Roof Press is pleased to announce the 2026 Elyse Wolf Prize for our annual poetry chapbook contest. The winner receives $500, becomes an active member of the press, and will have their chapbook published by Slate Roof. The runner up receives $100. We publish limited edition, art-quality chapbooks with letterpress covers. Winners make a 3-year commitment to Slate Roof, including monthly meetings via zoom, and share work responsibilities for many aspects of publishing. Submit no more than 28 pages of poetry. $10 reading fee; sliding scale available. Submit May 15 to June 30. Full guidelines at our website.
International Voices in Creative Nonfiction Competition. Prize: $1000 and publication.
Deadline: July 1, 2026 (11:59 PM EEST)
Not all true stories get told. Yours should. Small presses have the power to make a real impact, and at Vine Leaves Press, we take that responsibility seriously. We are committed to giving underrepresented voices the opportunity to build rich, lasting literary legacies. Why? To sustain hope for a more loving, tolerant, and open world. It begins with art. That’s why we invite you to submit your manuscript to the 2027 International Voices in Creative Nonfiction Competition. Prize: $1000 and publication in 2028. Learn more here.
North Street Book Prize
Deadline: July 1, 2026
The North Street Book Prize is now in its 12th year sponsored by Winning Writers. Submit self-published or hybrid-published books to win $10,000. Additional benefits for entrants and winners from our co-sponsors. $23,500 in total cash prizes. Nine categories. Any year of publication eligible. Entry fee: $95. Everyone who submits online can receive feedback from a judge at no extra charge. Deadline: July 1. Learn more at our website.
SUBMIT NOW TO ABLE MUSE (Poetry, Fiction, Essays, Art & More)
Deadline: July 15, 2026
Able Muse is now accepting submissions for our forthcoming issue, winter 2026/2027. Submit poetry, fiction, essays, book reviews, art, and photography. Submission opens yearly January 1 and closes July 15. Read our guidelines and submit at our website.
2027 Press 53 Award for Poetry
Deadline: July 31, 2026
First Prize $1,000, publication, and 53 copies will be awarded to an outstanding, unpublished poetry manuscript. Press 53 Poetry Series Editor Tom Lombardo is the only reader and judge. Prizes awarded upon publication. Deadline July 31. Winner and finalists announced by November 1. Reading fee $30. Complete information at the Press 53 website.
RED WHEELBARROW POETRY PRIZE 2026: $1,000 and letterpress broadside
Deadline: July 31, 2026
Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize 2026: $1,000 for first place and a letterpress broadside, $500 for second, $250 for third. Top five published in Red Wheelbarrow Literary Magazine. Submit up to 3 original unpublished poems. $15 entry fee. Deadline: July 31. For complete guidelines, visit Submittable.
Palooka Seeks Chapbooks, Prose, Poetry, Artwork, Photography
Deadline: Year-round
Palooka is a global literary magazine of daring prose, art, photography, comics, and chapbooks drawn exclusively from unsolicited submissions. We champion underdog voices, read anonymously, and only publish what we love. Bold voices. Brave stories. Learn more.
Want access to the full list of opportunities and upcoming events? Upgrade to a paid subscription for exclusive early access to the full list of vetted and verified submission calls, writing contests, and events!
❧ Give Yourself Permission
Some days call for pushing forward, and others ask something quieter of us. If you’ve felt stuck, behind, or unsure where to begin again, let this be your reminder: not everything unfolds on schedule, and not everything needs to. There’s still time to return to the work, to the page, to yourself.
As always, keep writing words and making art that matters.
— The NewPages Crew
