Lit That Thunders in the Night
NewPages Newsletter #237: Storms as Giant Creatures, New Lit Mag Issues, New Book Releases, & 130+ Submission Opportunities
Happy Monday!
And just like that, it’s time to wrap up June. This weekend brings Independence Day, and the forecast—true to form—can’t quite make up its mind: hot, muggy, and humid with stretches of sun, then an ever-increasing chance of thunderstorms.
Pretty much par for the course this year.
I hope you’re all staying safe, hydrated, and finding ways to keep cool as another round of heatwaves pushes out last week’s brief cold snap. And if it’s a little too hot (or too humid) to spend much time outside, NewPages has plenty to keep you reading, writing, and submitting while staying hopefully cool indoors.
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📰 Recommended Reading
“Unbound” by A.D. Nauman
A.D. Nauman’s “Unbound” begins like a ghost story, or perhaps a childhood hallucination brought on by abandonment, when the narrator’s father leaves in 1972 and a piano begins to play by itself in the night. But what unfolds is something much larger: a coming-of-age story that interrogates identity, gender, desire, and the cost of forcing oneself into a shape that never quite fits.
Beryl’s relationship with Masha is especially revealing. The two are drawn together because they are both “strange”—outsiders in a world that rewards sameness. Beryl clings to Masha not just out of friendship but out of recognition, a sense of shared difference. Yet even here, identity proves unstable. Beryl tries to make sense of her feelings using the limited language available to her, wondering if she is “homo,” even as her desires resist easy categorization—split between her fascination with boys and the intimacy she shares with Masha.
There’s an irony in the fact that the Quaker school, ostensibly unconventional, becomes a place of relative acceptance, while the larger social world continues to enforce rigid norms. Over time, that tension sharpens: Masha eventually embraces her identity and, in doing so, becomes legible—almost “normal” within a framework that can now name her. Beryl, however, remains caught much longer in that in-between space, unable to fully inhabit any category offered to her.
As the story moves forward, Beryl tries on versions of herself—performing femininity, shaping herself into something recognizable—while the presence of Albert (a remnant of those earlier years when she and Masha claimed to be inhabited by spirits) persists as a deeper truth she cannot fully articulate. Only decades later does she claim it outright: “I’m a gay man in a female body.” What makes “Unbound” so compelling is not just this realization, but the long, uneven path toward it—where belonging is always provisional, and identity resists even the categories that seem, for others, to offer clarity.
Read the story in the Summer 2026 issue of Northwest Review.
🗞️ Magazine News
Heat and storms are back in the forecast—cool down with the latest issues from these stellar lit mags on the Magazine Stand.
Chestnut Review – Spring 2026
Celebrating seven years, this issue features interviews with Kate Garcia and Jad Josey, plus global poetry, prose, and visual art contributors. Includes a YouTube launch reading. Cover art by Emily Rankin explores memory, dreaming, and connection through layered, abstract forms.
Cleaver Magazine – Spring 2026
This issue opens with Visual Poetics Contest finalists selected by Kazim Ali followed by a strong lineup of poetry, fiction, flash prose, and creative nonfiction, plus Clifford Thompson’s visual narrative installment.
Introducing The Blue Bell Review
A rapidly growing, youth-run international literary magazine, The Blue Bell Review publishes quarterly issues featuring writing, art, and multimedia from creators ages 6–16. Founded by Elaine Elizabeth Jinto and inspired by her early experiences with Stone Soup, the journal emphasizes mentorship, detailed feedback, and global accessibility.
Known for its collaborations, workshops, and inclusive outreach, the magazine highlights diverse youth voices while rejecting AI-generated work. Supported by an experienced student masthead and advisory board, it aims to expand into print, paid contributions, and book publishing—continuing to foster emerging writers worldwide.
📖New & Noteworthy Titles
Sailing with Angels: A Poetic Tale of Grief and Grace by Laura Briel Sullivan
A lyrical, illustrated debut, Sailing with Angels follows Princess Briel as she navigates grief after losing an older generation. Guided by symbolic figures like the Judge and Harbormaster, she learns to carry memory and love forward. Inspired by Martha’s Vineyard summers, the book blends gentle rhyme, vivid imagery, and a soothing, fable-like structure. Shortlisted for the Faulkner Society Wisdom Competition, it offers a tender meditation on loss, legacy, and emotional resilience.
Unwrap Your Candy: A Bloomsday Novel by Jesse Miller
Jesse Miller’s Unwrap Your Candy is a stylistically playful, Joyce-inspired novel tracing one chaotic night in the life of Thom Evans. After leaving his job, he wanders through a modern city with his lover, reflecting on memory, desire, and his father. Blending surreal humor with emotional depth, the novel experiments with structure and voice, offering a vivid, tragicomic portrait of contemporary life and a deep affection for language itself.
🏬Bookstore Updates
If the return to 90-degree (and above) temperatures has you sweating at home, there’s nothing like stepping out to enjoy some AC, good books, good company, and maybe a cold drink at your local independent bookstore.
If you’re looking for one near you, or near where you’re traveling this summer, don’t forget to check out our Guide to Indie Bookstores. From romance to political, from literary to genre fiction, from used to new, there’s a little something for everyone on the list.
👉 newpages.com/independent-bookstores
🖋️ Inspiration Prompt: Something in the Storm
During one of this summer’s storms, the thunder got so loud it stopped sounding like weather. It sounded like footsteps, something enormous, closing in one heavy stride at a time, the kind of boom that hits your chest before your brain catches up.
My dachshund Smokey came flying down the puppy stairs and ran straight for the door, barking viciously at the sound. Buford stayed pressed against me, letting out these high, shrieky little barks until he couldn’t take it anymore either, jumped down, and joined Smokey at the door. The two of them stood out on the porch, barking into the approaching storm like they could scare it off.
The wind sent the lightweight porch chairs skidding across the deck. The raised dog bed didn’t move at all.
They kept barking right up until the rain came down like bullets and chased them back inside.
It got me thinking: what if the storm wasn’t weather at all? What if something alive was moving through, and the thunder was just the sound of it getting closer?
This week, write, sketch, or collage a storm that’s actually a creature passing through. What does it want—or does it even notice us? What does it leave behind? And what are the small, ordinary things (two dogs barking at something twenty times their size, a chair gone, a dog bed that didn’t move) happening underneath something that big?
If you write nonfiction, follow the real version instead: the moment dread made you see something that wasn't there, or the small unexplained detail (a dog bed that should have moved and didn't) that's still nagging at you.
Craft tip: Let the small detail carry the scale. You don’t need to describe the creature in full to make it feel enormous, show us what it does to the room (or the porch).
Looking for more inspiration? Stop by our Weekly Roundup of Submission Opportunities for more prompts.
📣Calls, Contests, & More
Ready to submit your work or attend a literary event? We’ve got 132 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 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.
StoryBottle Fiction Chapbook Contest
Deadline: August 15, 2026
StoryBottle Co.’s Fiction Chapbook Contest is now open! We’re looking for the same great, weird fiction we love publishing—just with a little more room to breathe. Submit up to 60 pages of fiction, including flash fiction, short stories, linked stories, story cycles, novelettes, or manuscripts that don’t quite fit anywhere else. The winner receives $1,000, publication as a perfect-bound chapbook, and 25 author copies. All entries will also be considered for publication in StoryBottle. Entry fee: $17. Deadline: August 15, 2026. Send us your fiction object: www.storybottleco.org/contests.
🔔The Headlight Review Seeks Flash Fiction and Prose Poems of 400 Words
Deadline: August 31
The Headlight Review seeks flash fiction and prose poems of 400 words or fewer for our second volume of “Mighty Micros.” Read the first volume here. We will review submissions until August 31. We are open as to what a story or poem looks and feels like to each writer. We love to be surprised. Submit up to 3 pieces in a single document. We aim to expedite review in two weeks or less. For this reason, we will not be offering fee waivers for this project. Pieces will be published on a rolling basis. Submission fee $5. Learn more at our website.
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
To conserve energy. Should we keep moving? Probably. But sometimes what matters more is giving yourself time to rest, recharge, and remain still—saving your energy on these stifling, hot, and humid days.
But keep that notebook or phone close at hand when inspiration thunders through you—like a storm rolling in, something large and approaching.
As always, keep writing words and making art that matters.
— The NewPages Crew
