News from NewPages
Happy Monday! Guess what? Our monthly eLitPak newsletter will be hitting inboxes Wednesday, February 15, so stay tuned for even more writing programs, contests, calls for submissions, and upcoming event announcements. Interested in participating in an eLitPak newsletter? Learn more here.
Our Big List of Literary Magazines was recently updated, so if you haven’t already viewed this page recently, take a gander to find some great literary journals to read or possibly submit to. Do you have young writers at home? NewPages offers a guide to publications geared towards young writers as well as a vetted list of writing contests for young writers (the majority of which do not charge entry fees). Stop by the Young Writers Guide to learn more.
Speaking of publications, let us introduce you to Intrepidus Ink, a young publication created as Editor-in-Chief Rhonda Schlumpberger wanted to showcase “alarmingly individual characters through a distinct lens of intrepid culture.” Later this week, NewPages will introduce you to Chinchilla Lit, so stay tuned.
Now let’s check out some new issues of literary magazines recently posted to our Magazine Stand, shall we?
The Kenyon Review returns to a quarterly publication cycle with the release of their Winter 2023 issue. The issue includes a folio of fiction guest edited by Laura van den Berg and Paul Yoon as well as the winner of the 2022 Nonfiction Contest judged by Maggie Nelson. Volume 25 of Steam Ticket: A Third Coast Review features a craft talk from Joy Harjo as well as excerpts from craft talks given by writers who have visited the University of Wisconsin LaCrosse over the years.
Walloon Writers Review is an annual collection of short stories, poetry, and other forms of creative writing, along with nature photography inspired by the natural beauty and uniqueness of Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. Their 2022 issue features work by Susan Allen, Karen Walker, Jennifer Uehlein Reynolds, Lauren Driscoll, Susan Kirt, and many more. The February 2023 issue of The Lake is online and features works by Michele Bombardier, William Ogden Haynes, Mary Beth Hines, Julie Allyn Johnson, Haro Lee, Juan Pablo Mobili, J. R. Solonche, Sarah White, and Rodney Wood.
Keep dropping by our Magazine Stand throughout the week to discover more issue announcements from River Heron Review, Dreamers Magazine, Jelly Bucket, and Kaleidoscope.
Love discovering recently published and forthcoming titles from independent and university presses? Then you’ll love the NewPages Book Stand. Recently featured, discover Lisa St. John’s debut collection of poetry Swallowing Stones released last month from Keslay Books. In this collection St. John explores the process of finding a space for grief and regaining joy.
Joseph Hutchison, former Colorado Poet Laureate, gathers together twenty years of writing in Under Sleep’s New Moon: Rescued Poems 1970-1990. Barry Wallenstein’s It’s About Time continues with the poet’s time-honored theme of time’s swift passing and its attendant thoughts and emotions.
Discover more titles by Jaya Stenquist, Richard Kostelanetz, Rachel Zucker, Trevor Ketner, Jennifer A. Reimer, Clint Margrave, and H Warren later this week.
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.
Get even more reading recommendations from our reviewers. Colm McKenna tackles Lina Meruane’s Nervous System today which offers solace even while evoking the universal fear of illness and death on nearly every page.
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.
Below are this week’s writing contests, calls for submissions, and literary and writing events. Enjoy 20+ opportunities to get your work published or to enhance your writing craft. Paid subscribers get first and early access to these opportunities every Monday afternoon. Free subscribers receive access to these opportunities the following Monday afternoon.
Calls, Contests, & More
Here are the latest and featured calls for submissions and writing and book contests. Please note the ads featured here are paid listings. Subscribers with paid subscriptions receive early access to ads before they are posted to our site.
Calls for Submissions
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.
Open Call for Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, & Craft Essays
Deadline: March 15, 2023
Allium, A Journal of Poetry & Prose publishes three issues each year: two online issues (Fall and Summer) and one print issue (Spring). Allium accepts simultaneous submissions, requests a maximum page length of five pages for poetry, fifteen pages (3,750 words, double-spaced, using a 12 pt. Times Roman font) for craft essays, fiction, hybrid, nonfiction, and creative nonfiction, and does not seek previously published work. We publish diverse creative voices, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and neurodiverse communities that have been underrepresented in literature, and recognized and emerging writers. Our submission period begins October 15 and ends March 15. Visit Submittable.
Applause International Undergraduate Literary Journal Open For Submissions—Paying Venue
Deadline: February 14, 2023
Applause Issue 33: The (In)Evitable Ending. Evitable; adj. That admits of being avoided; avoidable. Applause is looking for the most interesting angles we can find as your work approaches its “evitable ending.” We begin knowing there’s an end, but the ending doesn’t have to be inevitable to satisfy the reader. Sometimes the end of “what actually happened” is really the poem, story, or essay’s beginning. Sometimes the piece decides the end. We’re looking for original poems, stories, essays, and visual art that showcases what happens when we avoid the avoidable. Imagine the ending. Avoid it. Send it to us.
Grants for Writers. Apply Now!
Deadline: February 15, 2023
If your writing explores issues and challenges of migration, immigration, or refugee experiences, you’re eligible to apply for the newly launched $7000 LANDO writer’s grants. The LANDO grants, in addition to the $7000 Courage to Write grants, are sponsored by The de Groot Foundation and are designed to encourage and support emerging writers writing in any genre. This year ten $7000 grants and up to ten Writer of Note $1500 grants will be awarded. Learn more and apply at our website. Applications close February 15, 2023.
Heron Tree: Call for Found Poetry Submissions
Extended Deadline: February 15, 2023
Deadline extended to 15 February 2023! We are accepting found poems composed from sources published in or before 1927. We are interested in any and all approaches to found poetry construction and erased or remixed texts. Accepted poems will be published weekly on the Heron Tree website starting in February 2023 and will be included in a free, downloadable PDF volume available later in 2023. No fee. For detailed submission guidelines, visit us at our website.
Seeking Positive Stories of Sexual Intimacy after Abuse
Extended Deadline: February 28, 2023
Submit to submissions@celebrationsofhealing.com by February 28, 2023. Are you a writer and survivor of sexual abuse? Since you began your recovery, have you begun to experience moments of meaningful, joyful, sexual or sensual intimacy and exploration? Celebrations of Healing would love to hear your stories of sexual awakening and/or reawakening. We want to publish them to inspire other survivors and give hope to those who are just beginning their recovery journeys. All sexualities and genders are encouraged to submit. Stories can be published under pseudonyms to protect privacy. Deadline extended to February 28, 2023. For more information, see the Celebrations of Healing website.
Plant-Human Quarterly Seeks Poems and Essays for Upcoming Issues
Deadline: Year-round
Plant-Human Quarterly reads year-round. We seek unpublished or published poetry and essays that explore the myriad ways writers manifest their relationship to the botanical world—whether through heavily researched pieces, keen observation, or more intuitive ways of knowing—that attempt to communicate across boundaries and approach a plant’s-eye-view of the world. Send no more than 5 poems or an essay of no more than 1500 words (flash essay or essay excerpt) in a single word document. Past contributors include Ellen Bass, Forrest Gander, Kimiko Hahn, Brenda Hillman, Jane Hirshfield, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Pattiann Rogers, Scott Russell Sanders, Arthur Sze. Submission guidelines at our website.
Consequence Reading Period Now Open
Deadline: April 15, 2023
The reading period for Consequence Volume 15.2 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. 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. Thank you. View submission guidelines.
Third Street Review Open for Submissions
Deadline: March 24, 2023
The Third Street Review, a new quarterly literary journal, is open for submissions until March 24, 2023. We are looking for fiction, nonfiction, and creative nonfiction of under 1000 words, as well as poetry, art, and photography. We are a paying market looking for under-represented and new creators. Send us your wild, weird, uncanny and unclassifiable, or more traditional work. Situated in Laguna Beach, CA, we are literally on the edge. View website for more info.
Qua Magazine Seeks Submissions for Winter 2023 Issue
Deadline: March 5, 2023
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, Photography, etc. from anyone living in the state of Michigan. No submission fees. For the Winter 2023 issue, all submissions must be made by March 5th, 2023 here. (Art by Ra-Londa Southwell, published in the Qua Winter 2022 issue)
Woodcrest Magazine Call for Submissions
Deadline: March 10, 2023
With the events that occurred earlier this year regarding the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe vs Wade, we’ve had to participate in some difficult conversations regarding human rights, bodily autonomy, and protecting historically marginalized communities from being violated. We at Woodcrest invite you to participate in the conversation as we continue to navigate these issues moving forward. Please send us your poetry, prose, art, and photos so we can elevate the voices who have been affected but not heard. Please submit via our Submittable page.
Submit to Mistake House Magazine
Deadline: March 20, 2023
Mistake House Magazine publishes fiction and poetry by students in graduate or undergraduate programs worldwide. We seek inventive work that speaks to the heart in a complex global context, including work expressive of documentary poetics. Submission window: October 15, 2022 to March 20, 2023. Submission fee: $5. Guidelines at our website.
Book of Matches Seeks Submissions
Deadline: April 7, 2023
In an age dominated by our worst tendencies for tribalism, it's more important than ever to celebrate the best in humanity through the very real magic of words. Book of Matches is always interested in protest—interested in protest against the unknowing alive in human existence, in protest against the knowing, too. In essence, Book of Matches celebrates what burns in the dark, and too the assurance of how little this illuminates before going out. Send your most meaningful lies, real lives, and poetry of both that we may see a bit more clearly the stormy seas around us all. Visit website for more info.
Call for Submissions: Jewish Fiction .net
Jewish Fiction .net, a prestigious literary journal, invites submissions for its Spring 2024 issue. We are the only English-language journal devoted exclusively to publishing Jewish fiction, and we showcase the finest contemporary Jewish-themed writing (either written in, or translated into, English) from around the world. In our first 12 years we have published over 500 stories or novel excerpts, originally written in nineteen languages and on five continents, and we have readers in 140 countries. We’ve published such eminent authors as Elie Wiesel, Savyon Liebrecht, and Aharon Appelfeld, alongside many excellent, lesser-known writers. For submission details, please visit our Submissions page at our website.
Walloon Writers Review Call for Submissions
Deadline: March 15, 2023
Walloon Writers Review is designed to share on the reading table at the cottage, on the bookshelf of the cabin, on hand at camp, and can be found on the Michigan shelves of independent bookstores throughout the state. Writers and photographers are welcome to submit their best "up north" materials as we welcome contributors where they are in their craft. The publication attracts both nationally recognized contributors alongside those just getting underway. The passion for the region is clear in each accepted selection. For information and Submissions Guidelines, visit our website.
Literary Events
Tremont Writers Conference in Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Application Deadline: April 30, 2023
Event dates: October 25-29, 2023
Event location: Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, Townsend, TN
Join renowned authors and professional park educators for a writers conference like no other. Set on a lush, secluded campus in America’s most-visited national park, this five-day intensive will be offered to a small group of selected writers. Faculty members Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, Janet McCue and Frank X Walker will lead small-group workshops in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. MacArthur Fellow and Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Powers will lead multiple sessions for the entire group. Writers will also join Tremont naturalists for guided explorations that tap into the region’s cultural and natural history to spark curiosity and wonder. Apply by April 30.
Writing & Book Contests
The Anthony Grooms Prize in Short Fiction
Deadline: April 1, 2023
The Headlight Review Presents: The Anthony Grooms Prize in Short Fiction, a literary award honoring the work and literary contributions by former Kennesaw State MAPW Director, Anthony Grooms. Winning Entry will receive $250 and 25 free copies of their story (5.5” x 7.5”, saddle-stitch binding). Runners Up will be offered publication in The Headlight Review. The winner and runners-up will also receive a signed copy of Grooms’ book, The Vain Conversation. Entry fee $12 (via Submittable, payable by debit/credit card). Submission period: February 1 to April 1. For more details, go to our website.
Prime Number Magazine Awards for Poetry and Short Fiction
Deadline: March 31, 2023
$1,000 first prize in each category plus publication in Prime Number Magazine. Two Runners-up in each category also published in Prime Number Magazine. Reading fee $15. Poetry judged by Felicia Mitchell, author of Waltzing with Horses. Short Fiction judged by Dennis McFadden, author of Jimtown Road: A Novel in Stories, winner of the 2016 Press 53 Award for Short Fiction. Open January 1 to March 31. Submit online through Submittable. Details at the Press 53 website.
Cleaver's Form & Form-Breaking Poetry Contest
Deadline: March 31, 2023
Judge: Diane Seuss. $500 First Prize; $250 Second Prize; $100 Third Prize. Deadline: March 31. Show us your poems that hold up the perfect iambic pentameter of a Shakespearean sonnet or crash it on the rocks of free verse. Show us a villanelle with textbook patterning or show us the villanelle who just crashed her car. The one requirement is that your work engages with a form of poetry; whether it gets married to that form or breaks up at the last couplet is up to you. Prizewinners will be published in Cleaver's Fall Issue, September 2023. Finalists may also be offered publication. Visit website for more information.
2023 New American Poetry Prize
Extended Deadline: February 15, 2023
2023 NEW AMERICAN POETRY PRIZE. $1,500 and book publication. Final judge: Jamaica Baldwin, author of Bone Language (forthcoming 2023). Extended deadline: February 15, 2023. Minimum length: 48 pages (no maximum). Reading fee: $25. Online submissions only, please. Complete guidelines at the New American Press website.
New American Voices Award for Immigrant Writers
Deadline: March 31, 2023
The $5,000 post-publication book prize from Fall for the Book and the Institute for Immigration Research recognizes prose works that illuminate the complexity of the human experience as told by immigrants. Two finalists each will receive $1,000. All finalists will appear at the Fall for the Book Festival in October 2023. Past winners are Sindya Bhanoo, Patricia Engel, Lysley Tenorio, Melissa Rivero, and Hernán Díaz. $20 entry fee. Visit website.
Georgia Author of the Year Awards
Deadline: March 15, 2023
The Georgia Author of the Year Awards (GAYA) celebrates the best literature by Georgia writers. Published authors from or currently residing in Georgia are eligible for nomination. Awards in a variety of categories are announced and presented in June at the GAYA ceremony. We are interested in the following categories: Biography, Children's Book, Cookbook, Detective/Mystery, Essay, First Novel, LGBTQIA+, Graphic Novel, History, Inspirational, Literary Fiction, Memoir, Poetry Chapbook, Poetry Full-Length Collection, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story Collection, Specialty Book, and Young Adult. Visit website for more info.
The Nimrod Literary Awards in Fiction and Poetry
Deadline: April 1, 2023
Submissions are open for the Nimrod Literary Awards, the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry and the Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction, with prizes of $2,000 and $1,000 and publication, as well as Awards Ceremony readings. Finalists and selected semi-finalists will be published and paid $10/page. For poetry, submit 3-10 pages; for fiction, one story, 7,500 words maximum. Manuscripts may be mailed or submitted online. Each entry must be accompanied by a $20 entry fee (additional $3 for online submissions), which includes a one-year subscription. Open internationally. Email nimrod@utulsa.edu or visit our website for complete rules.
2023 Able Muse Contests :: Submit Now (Poetry / Fiction / Poetry Manuscripts)
Deadlines: March 15 (Write Prize) & March 31 (Book Award)
2023 Able Muse Contests :: Submit Now—Write Prize (poetry & fiction): $500 each + publication. Final Judges: Chelsea Rathburn (poetry), Terese Svoboda (fiction); $15 entry; deadline: March 15, 2023. Book Award (poetry): $1000 + book publication. Final Judge: David Yezzi; $25 entry; deadline: March 31, 2023. Enter now—go to our website for details.
First Pages Prize Opens March 1st!
Deadline: April 10, 2023 (April 24 extended)
First Pages Prize invites you to enter your first 5 pages of a longer work of fiction or creative nonfiction. Prizes in both fiction & creative nonfiction. Open to un-agented writers worldwide, the prize supports emerging writers with cash awards, developmental mentoring, & an agent consultation. Prize closes April 10th (24th extended). Fee to submit. Visit our website.
2023 Tennessee Williams Contests: Poetry & Short Story
Deadline: March 11, 2023
In commemorating Tennessee Williams’s 112th Birthday, the Tennessee Williams Museum in Key West, Florida, hosts a poetry and short story contest that is open to everyone. There is no specific theme for the 2023 writing competitions; however, your submission must in some way reference Tennessee Williams. Authors may choose to write about Williams, his family, one of his characters, or one of the actors/actresses who played a role in his plays or films. First place receives $200 while second place receives $100. Contests Information, Rules and Submission information can be found by visiting our website.
The Poetry Box Chapbook Prize–2023
Deadline: March 15, 2023
It’s time for our 6th Annual chapbook contest, which awards publication to three poets, plus honorariums of $500/100/50 for first, second, and third place winners. This year’s contest is judged by award-winning poet, Andrea Hollander. Contest is open February 1 – March 15, 2023, with winners announced in July. Details & Guidelines at our website.
Sand Hills Literary Magazine Open for National Contest: $250 Prize per Category
Deadline: March 31, 2023
Sand Hills Literary Magazine, published since 1973 out of Augusta University, is now open for its annual national writing contest in poetry and prose for the Fall 2023 print issue. Sand Hills is delighted to have two highly accomplished guest judges: Latria Graham (prose) and Ashley Jones (poetry). Winners in both categories will each receive $250, and the deadline to submit is March 31st. The contest fee is $12, and all entrants will receive a copy of the new issue. Please submit with up to 3 poems or a prose piece no longer than 5,000 words. The editors are excited to read your work! Visit site for more info.
Find more great calls, events, and contests on our website.
The NewPages Classified section is updated throughout the week giving you news and info on the latest contest and calls.