Plot Twist: When a Name Rewrites the Story
NewPages Newsletter #187: Celebrate independence—with literature that questions, resists, and reimagines.
Just when you think the heat wave has broken... it resurges with a vengeance. If we think cool enough, will we have a Fourth of July weekend that is not sweltering? We take what we get and must be satisfied, I guess? At least with the brief cooldown from the high 90s to the 80s, country dwellers got to see deer invading the fields again. Fun to watch... unless you’re a farmer, of course.
It’s officially the last day of June. This means there are several submission opportunities closing today and tomorrow, like the HEART Poetry Prize and Winning Writers North Street Book Prize! Don’t miss out.
If you’re fortunate enough to take a vacation, don’t forget to check out the local indie bookstores in your vacationing area to pick up some rainy day “just in case” reads—and maybe even a nice, cold drink.
📩 If this email gets cut off, click ‘View Entire Message’ at the bottom or head to Substack to read the full newsletter!
🌟Sponsored Read
The Cobbler’s Crusaders by Rick Steigelman
Nine-year-old Jacquelyn Pajot navigates a mischievous Parisian summer with two spirited French girls. Dodging trouble—and her strict grandmother—Jacquelyn’s journey is full of humor, heart, and cultural misadventures. A whimsical, intergenerational tale perfect for fans of The Elegance of the Hedgehog.
Come back to the NewPages Blog tomorrow to learn more about Neal H. Paris’ Fragments of Cerulean.
📚 In Magazine News
Looking for some inspiration or good literature to read over the long weekend? Dive into the Magazine Stand.
New England Review 46.2
Showcases powerful prose, radiant poetry, and a special folio on contemporary Salvadoran writing. Editor Carolyn Kuebler reflects on literature’s role amid rising threats, affirming NER’s commitment to truth and creative freedom.
Hiram Poetry Review Spring 2025
Continues its legacy of showcasing “outlaw poets” with new work from Fred Arroyo, Katie Berta, JR Solonche, Claire Scott, and more. Editor Willard Greenwood reflects on the journal’s roots in publishing bold, boundary-pushing voices, beginning with Charles Bukowski.
Come back to the Magazine Stand later this week for new issues of Zone 3 and The Shore. Need more? Our full roundup of June literary magazine releases is coming soon. Stay tuned!
📖 Book Spotlight
NewPages Editor Denise Hill frequently shines a light on titles with her Editor’s Choice picks. This week, enjoy learning more about Arcana: The Lost Heirs by Sam Prentice-Jones.
Arcana: The Lost Heirs by Sam Prentice-Jones
A tarot-inspired YA graphic novel about five teens uncovering magical secrets, ancestral curses, and forbidden love. As they challenge the powerful Arcana organization, they must confront destiny and reclaim their futures. A bold debut blending fantasy, mystery, and queer romance.
🔍 In Review
Lost in your local bookstore’s bookshelves, uncertain of which title to choose? Stop by the NewPages Blog where our reviewers leave their recommendations to help you out!
To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause by Benjamin Nathans (review by Aiden Hunt)
Explores the Soviet dissident movement’s principled resistance from the 1960s to the 1980s. Drawing on declassified archives and underground literature, Nathans reveals a nuanced, deeply human story of reformers crushed by the state. A Pulitzer-winning, essential read for our times.
Spent: A Comic Novel by Alison Bechdel (review by Kevin Brown)
A fictional yet deeply personal comic novel about fame, creative control, and the cost of success. Through a goat-farming graphic novelist’s struggles with selling out and digital burnout, Bechdel explores how we spend our time, energy, and values—and where we might find hope again.
✍️Inspiration Prompt: What’s in a Name? More Than You Think.
A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet, but Anne wasn’t so sure Shakespeare got that right (remember, she thought Ann was just dreadful).
In an era of high infant mortality, Japanese children were often given temporary names to ward off misfortune—only receiving their “true” names once they reached a safer age. The belief was simple but profound: names carry power.
Even in nature, names shape perception. Every plant has at least two: the scientific name—precise but often forgotten—and the common name, which varies by region and culture. Take the autumn olive, for example. Despite its poetic name, it’s not an olive tree at all. Scientifically known as Elaeagnus umbellata, it also goes by Japanese silverberry, spreading oleaster, and autumn berry. It sounds lovely, doesn’t it? Yet in the U.S., it’s considered an invasive species—beautiful, but disruptive to native ecosystems.
It’s strange how something so beautiful can be misunderstood—or misjudged—because of a name.
In some communities, a family name alone can open doors—or close them. In schools, neighborhoods, and small towns, your last name might precede you like a rumor. Some names are spoken with admiration, others with disdain, long before anyone meets the person behind them. Maybe your uncle made headlines. Maybe your cousin got expelled. Maybe your last name means you’re always the troublemaker because of older siblings—or never taken seriously.
Somewhere out there, there’s a person whose entire job is to receive new products—lotions, gadgets, teas, sneakers—and test them, not for quality, but for identity. Their task? To find the name that tells a story, sparks curiosity, and makes someone fall in love at first glance. A name that whispers a story before the product is even touched. Imagine the power in that.
So, do you believe in the power of names? Have you ever liked something until you learned what it was called? Or disliked something, only to be won over by its name?
This week, let names guide your writing. Explore how they shape identity, perception, or even destiny. What stories lie hidden behind the names we give—or the ones we’re given?
Calls, Contests, & More
Below is a small preview of this week’s 60 writing contests, calls for submissions, and literary and writing events.
Barrow Street Poetry Prize
Deadline: June 30, 2025
The 2025 Barrow Street Poetry Contest is now open for submissions, and we are absolutely thrilled to share that this year’s judge is John Murillo. Our winner will receive $1500 and publication with Barrow Street Press. An additional manuscript will also be chosen for publication as the winner of our Editors' Prize. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline is June 30, 2025. Learn more here.
HEART Poetry Award $500.00 - Deadline June 30
Deadline: June 30, 2025
Going strong since 1986! The HEART Poetry Award is open to entries of unpublished reflective modern prose poems through June 30! $10 fee to enter up to 3 poems. Winner will be awarded $500 and publication in HEART 20 (Fall/Winter 2025). This year’s judge is Grey Held. Visit Nostalgia Press to view the judge’s bio and submit.
Sky Island Journal: Issue 32 Call for Submissions
Deadline: June 30, 2025
Sky Island Journal is an independent, international, free-access literary journal publishing the finest poetry, flash fiction, and creative nonfiction. Accomplished, well-established authors appear side-by-side with fresh, emerging voices. We provide over 150,000 readers in 154 countries with a powerful, focused, advertising-free literary experience that transports them: one that challenges them intellectually and moves them emotionally. Our average response time is 9 days, and every submission receives a respectful response detailing what we appreciated. We have a family of over 1,000 contributors, and writing we published won the Pushcart Prize and BOTN last year. Enjoy our previous issues for free at our website, and submit to Issue 32 before June 30th.
Slate Roof Press 2025 Elyse Wolf Prize $500
Deadline: June 30, 2025
Member-run Slate Roof Press, now in our 21st year, is pleased to announce the 2025 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, and share work responsibilities for many aspects of publishing. Submit no more than 28 pages of poetry. $10 reading fee; sliding scale available. Deadline June 30. Full guidelines at our website.
2026 Embracing Our Differences Exhibition Featuring
Deadline: July 1, 2025
Embracing Our Differences is seeking submissions for an outdoor exhibition featuring 50 billboard size images and original quotations created by local, national and international artists and writers reflecting the theme "embracing our differences." The exhibition will be on display mid-January through mid-April 2026 in two outdoor parks in Sarasota and Pinellas counties in Florida. Cash prizes totaling $10,000 will be awarded. Call is open to artists and writers of all ages. Quotation submissions must be 20 words or less. Learn more here.
International Voices in Creative Nonfiction Competition! Prize: $1000 and publication
Deadline: July 1, 2025 (11:59 PM EEST)
Small presses have potential for significant impact, and at Vine Leaves Press, we take this responsibility quite seriously. It is our responsibility to give marginalized groups the opportunity to establish literary legacies that feel rich and vast. Why? To sustain hope for the world to become a more loving, tolerable, and open space. It always begins with art. That is why we would love for you to enter your manuscript into the 2026 International Voices in Creative Nonfiction Competition! Prize: $1000 and publication in 2027. Learn more here.
North Street Book Prize
Deadline: July 1, 2025
11th 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. $22,000 in total cash prizes. Eight categories. Any year of publication eligible. Entry fee: $85. Everyone who submits online can receive feedback from a judge at no extra charge. Deadline: July 1. Learn more at our website.
EXTENDED DEADLINE JULY 15: New American Fiction Prize
Extended Deadline: July 15, 2025
2025 New American Fiction Prize Extended Deadline: July 15, 2025. Winner receives $1500, publication, 25 copies, and promotional support. Send full-length fiction manuscripts of 100+ pages in any form—novels, novellas, story collections, flash fiction, and hybrids. Submit via our online submission manager. Omit identifying details from the manuscript file; editors read blind. Entry fee: $25. Simultaneous submissions encouraged—please notify us if accepted elsewhere. Final judge: Clancy Martin, author of How Not to Kill Yourself: A Portrait of the Suicidal Mind. More at our website.
Gutsy Great Novelist Page One Prize
Deadline: July 16, 2025 5PM ET
The Gutsy Great Novelist Page One Prize is awarded for an outstanding opening page of an unpublished novel. First prize is $1,000; 2nd is $500; and 3rd is $250. The prize is open internationally to anyone over 18 writing a novel in English in any genre for adult or YA readers (fiction only). Winners will be announced August 22, 2025. Learn more here.
Submissions Open for Housatonic Book Awards
Deadline: July 18, 2025
The Housatonic Book Awards are now accepting submissions of all books published in 2024. Authors or agents are welcome to submit poetry, fiction, and nonfiction manuscripts for consideration in the HBAs. All manuscripts will be reviewed by a committee and the winners will be notified in October 2025. Each award carries a $1,000 honorarium and $500 travel stipend in exchange for the author appearing at either WCSU's fall or summer writing residency. Entering a title implies the author’s willingness to attend the WCSU MFA residency to host a 2-hour workshop. We look forward to considering your work! Learn more here.
2026 Press 53 Award for Poetry
Deadline: July 31, 2025
Publication, $1,000 advance, and 53 copies will be awarded to an outstanding, unpublished poetry manuscript. If Runner-Up is also selected, publication, $500 advance, and 25 copies. 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 our website.
RED WHEELBARROW POETRY PRIZE 2025: $1,000 and letterpress broadside
Deadline: July 31, 2025
RED WHEELBARROW POETRY PRIZE 2025: $1,000 for first place and a letterpress broadside, $500 for second, $250 for third. Top five published in Red Wheelbarrow Literary Magazine. Final judge is Stephen Kuusisto. Submit up to 3 original unpublished poems. $15 entry fee. Deadline: July 31. For complete guidelines, see our submissisons manager.
The Coniston Prize
Deadline: August 1, 2025
Radar Poetry is now open to submissions for the 12th annual Coniston Prize, judged by Diane Seuss! The Coniston Prize recognizes an exceptional group of poems by a woman writing in English. Any poet who identifies as a woman is eligible. The winner will receive $1,000, and up to 10 finalists will be awarded $175. The winner and finalists’ poems will also be published in the prize issue. Submit 3-5 poems via Submittable with no identifying information. Entry fee $20. Deadline: August 1. Submit now.
NOMAD Review Seeks Your Work on the Theme of "Fragility"
Deadline: August 1, 2025
The NOMAD Review (formerly NOMADartx Review) curates fresh voices in creative arts and literatures. We especially love to support emerging/underrepresented creators, and to see how different forms of creation intersect in potentially unexpected ways. June 1-August 1 of 2025, we will read submissions on any theme, but our current contest seeks submissions on the theme of "fragility." One winner in each of these six categories will be selected for a $75 prize: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, visual arts, industry specials, and criticism/reviews/interviews. Please see our website for more detail about these categories and how to submit.
Inverted Syntax's Poetry Book Contests
Deadline: August 15, 2025
Inverted Syntax [est. 2018] is a press where the margins take center stage. We're now accepting submissions to our annual poetry book contests: the Sublingua Prize for Poetry (1st Book Award) for exceptional debut collections by female-identifying writers, and the Aggrey & Tabbikha Prize for Poetry for writers with first or second collections who identify as Black and/or part of the S.W.A.N.A diaspora. We welcome intersectional, hybrid, experimental, and speculative poetry—including visual work and multilingual text, as long as the manuscript is primarily in English. Winning entries receive $500, publication and more. We're also open to submissions in all genres for Fissured Tongue Series Vol. VII. Learn more here.
The Headlight Review presents the Anthony Grooms Prize in Fiction
Deadline: August 31, 2025
First prize of $750 is awarded to the winning writer, along with 20 copies of the winning chapbook, published by The Headlight Review Press. The chapbook will be perfect-bound and feature a four-color cover. Submissions will run through August 31. Manuscripts are not to exceed 12,500 words. The content may include a single story, multiple stories, multiple flash stories, or a stand-alone novel excerpt. Finalists will be revealed by October 15 and will be judged by the esteemed author James Cherry. Visit site to learn more.
The Branches Fall 2025 Call for Submissions - VOICE
Deadline: September 13, 2025
The Branches is seeking submissions of previously unpublished written and visual work for our fall 2025 theme VOICE. We are especially interested in cultural criticism, personal essays, and book/movie discussions and also publish poetry, short fiction, art, and photography on the theme of VOICE. We recommend reading some of our previous issues (click issues on our website) to get a feel for what we publish. Give us your big ideas and small thoughts, the ways you’re interacting with and understanding the world. We love Joan Didion, C. S. Lewis, Ada Limón, Susan Sontag, Flannery O’Connor, Patti Smith, and (hopefully) you! Off-theme submissions welcome. Visit website.
Fiction on the Web Critique Service
Looking for detailed, personalized feedback on your short story? Fiction on the Web now offers a critique service led by our editorial team. Whether you're revising or preparing to submit, we’re here to help strong ideas become stronger on the page. Each critique includes strengths and areas for improvement, sentence-level notes, and a scorecard evaluating major craft elements. Our editors are experienced in the litmag scene and know what makes a story stand out. Learn more or request a critique at our 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. View submission guidelines at our website.
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🎆 Until Next Time…
Wishing you a safe, joyful, and refreshingly cool Fourth of July weekend—whether you're watching fireworks, reading under a shady tree, or just enjoying a quiet moment. We'll be back next week with more literary goodness. Stay cool and keep reading!
—The NewPages Team
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