We hope everyone had a safe Memorial Day weekend. Happy Tuesday. Are you back at work, or have you managed to have a full vacation this week? Whether you want to shake off the Monday blahs which have surfaced on a Tuesday or just enjoy some good literature and art or looking for more submission opportunities, NewPages is here to help.
Let’s kick it off by enjoying some lovely cover art, shall we? This week, Editor Denise Hill has selected three more covers to enjoy. First, we have the Spring 2024 issue of Pleiades which has as special folio “On Disability.” The cover art is by Lacey Lynn Tink and is “Organic transitions of her body, coming to terms with disabling chronic illnesses, and other lived experiences are cataloged and processed through the images that she makes.” With summer around the corner, the latest edition of Rattle is perfect for the season with two basketfuls of blueberries in Edward Fielding’s “Blueberry Baskets” photograph. Lastly, we have The Amphibian Literary and Art Journal Issue 6. The issue is themed “Healing” and features “pretty cover art for your eyes’ by Daniel Ablitt. Once you are done admiring the amazing art, don’t forget to enjoy the work between the covers.
Want more literary magazine goodness? Discover fledgling publications and the latest issues of your favorites on the NewPages Magazine Stand. The latest issue of Mudfish features the winners of the 17th Mudfish Poetry Prize judged by Deborah Landau: Tim Nolan, Doug Smith, and Francis Klein as well as featuring great poetry and fiction. Come back later in the week to learn more about Bloodletter in our New Lit on the Block series. This horror journal was founded by filmmaker and writer Ariel McCleese with the mission to “to reimagine the horror genre in feminist terms.”
In book news, stop by the NewPages Book Stand to discover new titles to add to your must-read lists. Mark Cox pulls no punches in his latest collection, Knowing. Enjoy poems about family, relationships, loss, regret, growing older, and our human condition. Come back to the Book Stand later this week to discover more about Cemetery Citizens: Reclaiming the Past and Working for Justice in American Burial Grounds by Adam Rosenblatt.
Get book recommendations from our reviewers. Kevin Brown covers Xochitl Gonzalez’s second novel, Anita de Monte Laughs Last which tells two parallel stories about women in the art world. “Through her two main characters, Gonzalez crafts realistic portrayals of the challenges women have and continue to face, along with the importance of role models as one means of pushing through those struggles.” Brown also reviews Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman which follows a small group of workers who arrive to prepare for the opening of a big-box store. “Waldman creates real characters with real struggles that will persist for most, if not all, of their lives.”
Enjoy a review of Mary Ann Redmond’s Boopable! later in the week at the NewPages Blog.
While Memorial Day has become a kickoff to summer and there are many fun vacations and festivities, it obviously has its own deeper meaning and roots. A friend took his mother to the graveyard to put flowers on the graves of their family members who served in the military, and he also visited the graves of friends from high school who made it home from the war only to sacrifice their lives in another way.
With the holiday meaning so many different things to different people, let that inspire your writing. What is Memorial Day to you? Is it the gateway to your summer and fun? Did you have family or friends lost in combat? Lost to suicide? Do you have any memory of Memorial Days past that stands out to you?
Calls, Contests, & More
Below are this week’s writing contests, calls for submissions, and literary and writing events. Enjoy 41 opportunities to get your work published or to enhance your writing craft. Please note: only paid subscribers get access to this information! You can become a paid subscriber for only $5 a month and get early access to submission opportunities and events before they go live on our site.
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