News from NewPages
Happy Halloween! It’s a great time of year to gain inspiration and practice writing tales and verses of ghoulish proportions. If you’re not in the mood for that, how about for discovering literary magazines? Featured recently in our “New Lit on the Block” series is Rivanna Review. This literary journal began as a response to a need and has become a vital component in building a literary community. Learn more here. Speaking of literary magazines, find out which of your favorites have recently published a new issue with our round-up of New & Noted Lit & Alt Mags for October 2022.
Want to learn even more about some of these issues? Don’t forget to frequent our Magazine Stand! Here you can enjoy discovering bioStories’ latest nonfiction prose from contributors Alisa Vereschagin, Janes Frances Hacking, Elizabeth Bird, and more. They publish two print issues a year and feature one piece a week on their homepage. Beginning in 2023, The Awakenings Review will become a biannual publication. Enjoy their last annual issue featuring works by Bibhu Padhi, Zac Walsh, Liza Potvin, Pauline Milner, and Arya F. Jenkins to name just a few of their contributors.
With this week going to be mild with temperatures possibly getting close to 70 in portions of the Midwest, it will be a great time to enjoy the Summer 2022 issue of Spoon River Poetry Review (SRPR). This year’s Illinois-featured poet pairing features poetry by Tara Betts with an interview of Betts by Bryanna Lee. Along with more great poetry, don’t forget to check out “Redefining Our Futures: Recent Abolitionist Poetic Practice” by Allison Serraes whose essay reviews books by DaMaris B. Hill, Mahogany L. Brown, and Shayla Lawz.
The Fall 2022 issue of online journal The Apple Valley Review is now available and features short fiction by Emmanual Nwafor, creative nonfiction by Yuko Iida Frost, and poetry by Eric Braude. See more contributors here. The 2River View is available to read online and can also be downloaded as a PDF or in a “Make the Mag” format. Enjoy the Fall 2022 issue featuring new works by Sara Ries Dziekonski, Anon Baisch, Blair Benjamin, Daniel Bourne, Brian Builta, Andrew Cox, Nicelle Davis, Michael Hettich, Sharon Venezio, Patricia Whiting, and Jane Zwart.
Chestnut Review is more than just a literary magazine, offering affordably-priced workshops, writing retreats, chapbook editing, and so much more. Their Fall 2022 issue is now available and opens with a conversation with Seif-Eldeine Och, the winner of their Poetry Chapbook Contest, and Chapbook Editor Mark Blackford. Meanwhile, Issue 34 of Radar Poetry celebrates the winner and finalists of their annual Coniston Prize, judged by Dorianne Laux.
Looking for your next great read? The NewPages regularly updated Book Stand is here to help you out. Discover Kathryn Jacobs’ and Rachel Jacobs’ A Life Lived Differently which offers readers a portrait of autism in verse and prose and Sydney Vogl’s debut chapbook collection of poetry, California is Going to Hell, which weaves themes of family, sexuality, trauma and healing with nostalgic images.
Michael Robins’ fifth collection of poetry, The Bright Invisible, investigates domesticity and desire, reenactment and reclamation, as well as the promise of love alongside the certainty of absence. A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling of Public Education and the Future of School by Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire is forthcoming in February 2023. The popular co-hosts of education podcast Have You Heard expose the potent network of conservative elected officials, advocacy groups, funders, and think tanks that are pushing a radical vision to do away with public education.
Coming in April 2023 and currently available for pre-order is Chloe N Clark’s Patterns of Orbit. This poetry collection spans genres, perspectives, and styles to articulate uncertainties in a rapidly changing world. Speaking of poetry collections, Lauren Hilger’s Morality Play is currently available. In this book Hilger forges a restless path between the impressionable folly of youth and the boundlessness of individual becoming.
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.
In reviews, Jennifer Grotzinger dives into “Leaving” by Jesús Papoleto Meléndez which can be found in his poetry collection Borracho [Very Drunk]: Love Poems & Other Acts of Madness. Sophia Kaawa-Aweau gives her thoughts on Sydney Vogl’s “In January, My Body Becomes a Graveyard of Want” published in Booth 8. Sade Frame tackles Ben Learner’s short story “Café Loup” which was featured in The New Yorker.
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 more than 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.
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.
RCC MUSE art + literary journal – poetry and prose submissions open
Deadline: December 15, 2022
MUSE is especially looking to publish work from under- or misrepresented groups, such as people of color, disabled people, LGBTQ+, present/formerly incarcerated people, and others from a culturally and linguistically diverse background. Through DEC. 15: submit one short story or CNF 1500 words max; up to three poems. Mail to RCC MUSE, Riverside City College, 4800 Magnolia Avenue, Riverside, CA 92506 or email muse@rcc.edu. If email, send as attachment with “Last Name – Genre – Title of Submission” in the subject line (e.g., Smith – Prose – “In Summer”). Please include contact information. See full submission guidelines at the RCC Muse website.
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!
Driftwood Press - Anthology & Book Manuscript Submissions Open Now
Driftwood Press is happy to share a plethora of submission opportunities for writers and artists! For our yearly print anthology, we are looking for poems, short stories, comics, and visual art that will wow our readers, accepted as both contest and normal submissions. We are a paying market, and our published writers also get to take part in bespoke interviews about their work! Driftwood is also on the hunt for amazing book-length titles to grow our catalogue. If you have a novella, poetry collection, comic collection, or graphic novel manuscript, we would love to read it! If you have any writing or art that fits the above call, Driftwood Press would be honored to read it. Visit us here for our Submittable page, and we encourage you to follow us on social media (@driftwoodpress) to learn about even more submission opportunities!
LIGHT Seeks Creative Submissions: Win Prize & Publication
Deadline: November 1, 2022 by 11:59PM CST
LIGHT is calling for submissions for the second issue of the LIGHT Journal, a biannual literary journal in public health that connects, creates, and curates content for the public by the public. We are interested in learning how everyone views healing in mental health through art, letters, stories, and poetry following the pandemic and invite everyone to share their lived experiences of healing and health. There is no entry fee! Prize money (1st: $500, 2nd: $375, 3rd: $125) will be given to the top three contestants of each category. Visit our website to learn more and to submit via Submittable.
Actual Left Seeks Fiction, Nonfiction Focusing on Social Justice
Deadline: Year-round
Actual Left Publications seeks novels, novellas, memoirs, and biographies focused on social justice issues. Head to our website for submission guidelines.
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.
Third Street Review
Deadline: Rolling
Third Street Review is a new online literary journal for flash fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, art, and photography. We are a paying market and welcome work from writers and artists from all cultural backgrounds and experience levels. For complete submission guidelines, please visit our website.
Palooka Seeks Chapbooks, Prose, Poetry, Artwork, Photography
Palooka is an international literary magazine. For over a decade we’ve featured new, up-and-coming, and established writers, artists, and photographers from around the world. We're open to diverse forms and styles and are always seeking unique chapbooks, fiction, poetry, nonfiction, artwork, photography, and graphic narratives. Submissions open year-round; visit our site for more information.
Kings River Review Call for 2-Year College Student Submissions
Deadline: March 15, 2023
The Kings River Review publishes artwork, creative nonfiction, short fiction, and poetry of current 2-year community college students. Submission Deadlines: March 15 for the spring issue and October 15 for the fall issue. Submission Requirements: up to 5 pieces of artwork and photography sent as .JPEG files; creative nonfiction and fiction of up to 3,000 words; and up to 5 poems. Go to our website for full submission guidelines.
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.
Literary Events
Apply Now for the Looking Glass Rock Writers' Conference
Deadline: December 15, 2022 Event Dates: May 18-21, 2023 Event Location: Brevard, North Carolina. Located in the mountains of western North Carolina, the May 18-21, 2023 Looking Glass Rock Writers’ Conference will explore the theme “A Sense of Place” with faculty Camille Dungy, Jamie Ford, and Margaret Renkl leading workshops on poetry, fiction, and nonfiction writing. A partnership between the Transylvania County Library and Brevard College, the annual conference consists of writing workshops for select participants and community readings by the workshop leaders. Workshops are limited to 12 participants and scholarships are available. Acceptance is competitive and based on manuscript evaluation. There is no charge to apply. For more information visit our website.
Affordable, Online Poetry, Publishing, & Critique Workshops
Caesura Poetry Workshop aims to support, inspire, and energize poets through affordable monthly Zoom workshops hosted by award-winning poet, editor, and teacher John Sibley Williams. All workshops include poem analysis, active group discussion, and writing prompts. Hosted by award-winning poet, teacher, editor, publicist, and agent John Sibley Williams. Upcoming class themes include experimenting with punctuation, sharpening poem titles, erasure poetry, the haibun and golden shovel forms, building a chapbook, monthly critique workshops, and more. 1-on-1 poetry editing and coaching, book publicity assistance, agent/publisher targeting, and more also available.
Writing & Book Contests
RCC MUSE literary journal – Holden Vaughn Spangler Award for a poem about a child or childhood
Deadline: December 15, 2022
MUSE is especially looking to publish work from under- or misrepresented groups, such as people of color, disabled people, LGBTQ+, present/formerly incarcerated people, and others from a culturally and linguistically diverse background. Winner receives $200 and publication in Spring 2023 edition of RCC MUSE. $5 submission fee, by check payable to “RCC MUSE” or Venmo @RCCMUSE. Submit up to 3 poems about a child or childhood, through Dec. 15: Spangler Award, RCC MUSE, Riverside City College, 4800 Magnolia Ave., Riverside, CA 92506. Also accepting submissions at muse@rcc.edu. Please email attachment (prefer .doc) with "LastName – Spangler Award – Title" in the subject line. Do not put submissions in the body of the email. Please include contact information. IG: @rccmuse. See full submission guidelines at our website.
MAYDAY Creative Nonfiction Prize
Deadline: November 1, 2022
$1,000 award and publication. Extended Deadline: November 1, 2022. To submit, send an essay (2,000–7,500 words) exploring the theme of “Disappearance” (of people, places, things, etc.). Final judge: Darin Strauss, bestselling author of several books, including the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning memoir Half a Life and most recently the acclaimed novel The Queen of Tuesday: A Lucille Ball Story. Reading fee: $20. Online submissions only, please. Complete guidelines at the MAYDAY website
2023 Press 53 Award for Short Fiction
Deadline: December 31, 2022
2023 Press 53 Award for Short Fiction is awarded to an outstanding, unpublished collection of short stories. Reading Fee: $30. Award: $1,000 cash advance, publication, and fifty copies (35 softcover/15 hardcover). Enter: Submit online with Submittable or by mail from September 1–December 31, 2022. Press 53 short fiction editor in chief Claire V. Foxx will serve as the only judge. Winner and finalists announced by May 1, 2023; advance review copies sent to major reviewers and outlets; publication in May 2024. Complete details at Press 53's website.
2023 New American Poetry Prize
Deadline: January 15, 2023
2023 NEW AMERICAN POETRY PRIZE. $1,500 and book publication. Final judge: Jamaica Baldwin, author of Bone Language (forthcoming 2023). Deadline: January 15, 2023. Minimum length: 48 pages (no maximum). Reading fee: $25. Online submissions only, please. Complete guidelines at the New American Press website.
Interim Poetics: The Test Site Poetry Prize
Deadline: December 15, 2022
Interim will choose two winning books for the series—one title publicized as the winner of The Test Site Poetry Series and the other as the Betsy Joiner Flanagan Award in Poetry. Both winners will receive $1,000 and their books will be published by the University of Nevada Press. Submit by: December 15. Visit Interim Poetics website.
Up to $1000 for Fiction or Nonfiction Story
Deadline: November 15, 2022
Megacity Review (MCR) is currently holding its inaugural writing contest in both fiction and nonfiction. Underrepresented voices, new and existing authors, as well as people of color and their allies are encouraged to apply. MCR is a non-profit literary arts journal with a focus on the impact and influence of major cities on culture and community. The journal is distributed online and through NFT beginning in January 2023. Please visit our website for details.
6th Annual Jane Underwood Poetry Prize
Deadline: December 1, 2022
The 6th annual Jane Underwood Poetry Prize is accepting submissions! Open to all poets, the prize is awarded for a single poem. For a fee of $15, submit one entry of up to three poems. The prizewinner will receive an award of $500, online publication of the winning poem, and an invitation to do a featured reading. This year's final judge is Sharan Strange. Full guidelines can be found at The Writing Salon website.
2022 WaterSedge Poetry Chapbook Contest
Deadline: December 16, 2022
2022 WaterSedge Poetry Chapbook Contest: $500; publication of poetry chapbook in print and e-book formats; Amazon distribution; 25 free print copies. Page count: 24–48 pages. Judge: Luisa A. Igloria, Virginia's Poet Laureate and author of 14 books of poetry and 4 chapbooks. Contest ends: 12/16/2022. Entry fee: $20. Sponsored by Writer’s Relief, Inc. Visit website for full guidelines.
Carve Magazine 2022 Prose & Poetry Contest
Deadline: November 15, 2022
Carve Magazine's Prose & Poetry Contest is open October 1 - November 15. Accepting submissions from all over the world, but work must be in English. Max 10,000 words for fiction and nonfiction; 2,000 words for poetry. Prizes: $1,000 each for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. All 3 winners published online in Spring 2023. Entry fee $17 online only. Guest judges are Maurice Ruffin for fiction; Thirii My Kyaw Myint for nonfiction; and David J. Daniels for poetry. See our site for more information.
A High School for Creative Writers: Win a Scholarship
Deadline: Sunday, November 6, 2022
Join a high school that values the arts and nurtures your creative writing talent. Enter the Virginia B. Ball Creative Writing Competition for the possibility of a full-tuition scholarship to attend Interlochen Arts Academy’s creative writing program. The contest is open to all students in grades 8-11 during the 2022-23 school year. Students must submit writing samples in two of the following genres: Fiction, Poetry, Spoken Word, Personal Essay/Memoir, Screenwriting, Playwriting, Comics, and Experimental/Unclassified Writing. Visit our website for more information.
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.