News from NewPages
Hopefully you were able to have a relaxing holiday with some time off to rest, recharge, read, write, and enjoy yourself. Besides opportunities to submit your writing, NewPages offers a great feature to help you market your books to independent bookstores, public libraries, and academic libraries. Learn more about our mailing lists here.
Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday. If you are enjoying our newsletter and haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription, we hope you will consider doing so. Your support means so much to us. You can use the button below to upgrade to paid and get first access to calls, writing contests, and events. You can also support NewPages with a one-time donation.
Love to support literary and alternative magazines? Consider purchasing single copies of these recent issues, purchase a subscription, or maybe give your favorite online read a donation.
The Fall 2022 issue of Months to Years features writers and artists whose works explore mortality and terminal illness, including Jenny Flores, Kathleen Quickley, Francis Fish, and Liz Grisaru. Cutleaf’s Issue 2.23 is now available to read online and includes work by Hussain Ahmed, Nathan Alling Long, Sara Siddiquil Chansarkar, and more. Volume 10 Number 7 of The Woven Tale Press features Julie Harrison’s rich artwork along with works by Mary-Jo Adjetey, Ea Anderson, L. Shapley Bassen, Chao Ding, Ron Eigner, Julie Harrison, Karen Kilcup, Elizabeth Kirkpatrick-Vrenios, Kim McAninch, Pawel Pacholec, and Gregg Maxwell Parker.
The November 2022 issue of online journal Plume features “In conversation with the world: Three Poems & an interview with Vivek Narayanan by Leeya Mehta” and an essay by Charles Coe introduced by Chard DeNiord, “ROOM AT THE TABLE” along with its usual doses of new poetry. Speaking of Plume, their 10th anniversary anthology is now available! The November 2022 issue of Space and Culture features more than 200 pages of critical interdisciplinary theory and research on social spaces and spatializations, and much more.
Love work that takes risks and evolves the narrative form? You’ll want to read The MacGuffin’s Fall 2022 issue which features Lisa L. Leibow, Derek Updegraff, A.J Cunder, Janée J. Baugher, Andrew Wyeth, and Len Krisak. The Summer 2022 issue of The Missouri Review is themed “Rescue Me” and features work from Caroline Casper, Christopher Kempf, Rachel Richardson, and more. Don’t forget to stop by the NewPages Magazine Stand throughout the week for more new issue announcements from Raleigh Review, Colorado Review, Terrain.org, and Blink-Ink.
Look no further than the NewPages Book Stand to help find a gift for the bibliophile in your life. Jasminne Mendez’s YA memoir Islands Apart: Becoming Dominican American is about growing up Afro Latina in the Deep South. Part of the Roosevelt High School Series, discover Zakiya’s Enduring Wounds in which a family tragedy tears Zakiya apart just as things were finally coming together for her.
Lori Horvitz’s Collect Call to My Mother: Essays on Love, Grief, and Getting a Good Night’s Sleep is forthcoming in February 2023 and explores the author’s experiences as a queer Jewish New Yorker living in the South and looking for love in the internet age. Discover Kathleen Founds’ fable for grownups, Bipolar Bear and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Health Insurance which manages the delicate balance of addressing society’s ills while simultaneously presenting a hopeful vision for the world.
Mark Belair’s sequel to Stonehaven, Edgewood: A Fictional Memoir in Prose Couplets is available and finds the young, small-town, 1950s family in the onset of the Late 1960s - an era troubled over Civil Rights and the Vietnam War. Daniel Thomas’ poetry collection Leaving the Base Camp at Dawn draws from both Eastern and Western spiritual traditions and explores how a long relationship of love is like a spiritual practice. Discover Otilio Quintero’s memoir The Sign Catcher where he writes that he found his calling at an indigenous ceremony during The Longest Walk, a 3k-mile march across the country.
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, David Sohboff gives his thoughts on Prince Shakur’s debut memoir When They Tell You To Be Good, which “speaks to the power of ‘Who Am I’ [. . .] and ultimately transcends to a universal query in this artful debut.” Mark Guzman enjoys Claudia Putnam’s short memoir Double Negative which is both cerebral and genuine and follows Putnam as she loses her son early in his infancy. Meanwhile, Raymond Jenkins enjoys J.J. Anselmi’s retelling of an American Boomtown’s prosperous and turbulent history in Out Here on Our Own: An Oral History of An American Boomtown which chronicles Rock Springs, Wyoming’s booms and busts via personal narratives from locals.
Colm McKenna tackles the re-release of Jim Dodge’s 1990 cult classic Stone Junction which appeals to both “young and old readers” with its “emotionally intelligent coming-of-age story” that “also engages with adult themes, ranging from grief to impotency.” Marc Martorell Junyent gives his views on The Book Collectors of Daraya by Delphine Minoui which offers a glimpse into the drama of the Syrian Civil War and a secret library project which French author Minoui believed deserved to be told.
The Slain Birds by Michael Longley is “is less an Adamic naming than an honoring, an affirming of love, family lore, and local custom.” Check out James Scruton’s thoughts on this book.
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 25 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 via email. 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.
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!
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.
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 website.
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.
Seeking Stories of Sexual/Sensual Exploration and Discovery Post-Abuse
Deadline: December 20, 2022
Celebrations of Healing is seeking autobiographical stories of meaningful, uplifting, sensual and/or erotic moments of intimacy and discovery written by people of all genders, sexualities, abilities, and ethnicities who have previously experienced sexual abuse. People who have not often seen themselves reflected in the existing discourse about sexual recovery are especially encouraged to submit. Submissions are due December 20, 2022. For more information, please see Celebrations of Healing website.
Faith Journal The Unmooring Seeks Nonfiction & Art
Deadline: December 1, 2022
The Unmooring Journal is open for submissions of writing (essays, articles, liturgies), art, and photography from women and female-identifying contributors for Issue 5—which is not a themed issue—and we will accept pieces covering a broad range of faith topics. All published pieces receive $50 stipend. Submission fee of $3 waived if financial need. Submit at our website through December 1, 2022. For more on The Unmooring’s (a 501c3 organization) mission of amplifying the voices of women of faith, go to our website. International contributors welcome.
Sky Island Journal: Issue 23 Call for Submissions
Deadline: December 31, 2022
Sky Island Journal is an independent, international, free-access literary journal dedicated to publishing the finest poetry, flash fiction, and creative nonfiction. We publish accomplished, well-established authors—side by side—with fresh, emerging voices. We provide over 115,000 readers in 145 countries with a powerful, free-access, advertising-free literary experience that transports them: one that challenges them intellectually and moves them emotionally. We publish quarterly, and our average response time is 9 days. Every submission receives a prompt, respectful response detailing what we appreciated. Enjoy our previous issues and submit to our stunning Issue 23 before midnight on December 31st at our website.
Call for Non-binary and Trans Writers
Deadline: December 31, 2022
In each edition of Jelly Bucket, our special section is devoted to publishing underrepresented voices. For issue 13’s special section, we’re looking for creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, 10-minute plays and art from non-binary and transgender writers and artists. Send us your best work via Submittable by December 31st. No fee to submit.
Heron Tree: Call for Found Poetry Submissions
Deadline: January 15, 2023
Until 15 January 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. For detailed submission guidelines, visit us at our website.
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. View schedule of upcoming events.
Uncommon Hours: Design and De-stressify the Writing Life
Deadline: Year-round
Event Dates: Beginning January 11, 2023, monthly on second Wednesdays
Event Location: Virtual
Tap into the science of productivity for creative people. Gain emotional fortitude and mindful resilience. And write those beautiful pages with us. Join our warm and welcoming Uncommon Hours community, which is alive with writers and creatives like you who want to finish their passion projects—and do it by activating their joy, imagination, and inner wisdom. Find out how potent the combination of contemplation, creative visualization, and solidarity with a creative, supportive community can be. Second Wednesdays at 6 p.m. Mountain Time via Zoom.
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 via email. 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.
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.
Sandy Crimmins National Prize for Poetry
Deadline: November 30, 2022
The Sandy Crimmins National Prize for Poetry is an annual national poetry prize featuring a first place $1,000 cash award. Three runners up will each receive a $250 cash award. The winning and runner up poems are published in the Spring issue. These poems and honorable mentions appear online. The Crimmins Prize celebrates risk, innovation, and emotional engagement. We especially encourage poets from underrepresented groups and backgrounds to send their work.
DISQUIET Literary Prize
Deadline: January 2, 2023
Submissions are now open for the DISQUIET Prize for writing in any genre. Three winners will be published in Granta.com (fiction), NinthLetter.com (nonfiction) or The Common (poetry). One grand prize winner will receive a full scholarship, accommodations, and travel stipend to attend the eleventh annual DISQUIET International Literary Program in Lisbon taking place June 25 – July 7, 2023. Runners-up and other outstanding entrants will also be considered for financial aid. Submission fee: $15. Visit website.
The swamp pink Prizes in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry
Deadline: January 31, 2023
Formerly known as the Crazyhorse Prizes, the swamp pink Prizes award $2,000 and publication to a story, essay, and poem. From January 1 to 31, submit a story or essay of up to 25 pages or a set of 1–3 poems via Submittable. This year’s judges: Jamil Jan Kochai (fiction), Melissa Faliveno (nonfiction), and Matthew Olzmann (poetry). The entry fee is $20; all entries will be considered for publication. Submit here starting January 1.
Burnside Review Press Book Contest
Deadline: December 31, 2022
Manuscripts of 50-100 pages of poetry will be accepted until December 31, 2022. Jaswinder Bolina will judge. The winning book will be published by Burnside Review Press in 2024. The author will receive a $1,000 prize, plus ten copies of the book. A $25 entry fee must be paid at the time of submission. Contest entrants will receive one Burnside Review Press title. The editors may select an additional manuscript from the submission pool for publication. Visit Burnside Review Press website for complete guidelines.
The 2023 Orison Prizes in Poetry & Fiction
Deadline: April 1, 2023
The 2023 Orison Prizes in Poetry & Fiction offer $1,500 and publication by Orison Books for a full-length manuscript in each genre. Judges: Pádraig Ó Tuama (poetry) & David Heska Wanbli Weiden (fiction). Entry fee: $25. Entry period: December 1, 2022–April 1, 2023. For guidelines visit the Orison Books website.
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.