An online journal devoted to brevity and where genre isn’t important. The work that appears in concīs shows up first on the homepage and then is later compiled into a seasonal issue. One thing is for certain: concīs proves that length matters not when it comes to quality and the Spring 2017 seasonal issue bears this out.
NewPages Blog :: Magazines
Find the latest news from literary and alternative magazines including new issues, editorial openings, and much more.
Mudfish – 2017
With no offense to anyone, it is refreshing to review a multi-genre collection coming from outside a university. That doesn’t make the contributors any better or worse from either source, but it does provide an added perspective. As a group, the contributors to Mudfish 19, are not aspiring student writers; they are practiced artists providing us with practiced skills that encourage thoughtful reading and reflection. The independence of a private press also gives us a much larger selection of authors, painters, and photographers than we can hope for in any one issue of a university press.
Foundry – June 2017
Foundry online poetry journal is true to its name in that it views poems as “manufactured objects—the intangible cast into forms.” But unlike the foundries of yore, Foundry magazine is a great deal more flexible in its production, supporting an array of poetic forms and styles. In fact, in searching for a singular descriptor for the type of poetry readers can expect to find here, it was not possible. The editors encourage poems that “feel as much as they think,” and that’s probably the best descriptor I could imagine to draw readers in.
Big Muddy – 2017
Published out of Southeast Missouri State University Press, Big Muddy showcases works and authors “related to the Mississippi River basin and its bordering ten-state area.” While that might at first seem limited, there is no sense of that limitation in reading this publication. On the contrary, the genre styles, subject matter, and author backgrounds are so broad, “big” is even an understatement. More like its river’s namesake, this Big Muddy meanders, rages, roils, and gently laps through the gamut of literary creative expression.
elsewhere – Issue 12
In their “about us” section, elsewhere says it cares “only about the line/no line. We want short prose works (flash fiction, prose poetry, nonfiction) that cross, blur, and/or mutilate genre.” And, true to their word, that’s exactly what the work in the latest issue achieves. Filled with evocative language and eerie imagery, the pieces here straddle the lines between prose poetry and flash fiction, sometimes almost seamlessly.
Literary Juice – June 2017
There’s that famous line in Forrest Gump that many people (even people who haven’t seen the film) will know: “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” That’s honestly what went on in my mind while reading through the latest issue of Literary Juice. The most current issue has four poems, one fiction piece, and one super-micro story comprised of only 25 words (which is a neat concept unto itself) under a heading labeled “Pulp.”
Chtenia – Spring 2017
Chtenia is a unique publication that focuses on translating, sharing, and re-discovering Russian literature, both classic and modern. Each issue has a special theme and Volume 10 Issue 2 focuses on happiness. It contains a variety of pieces, including plays, poems, short stories, and chapters of books, each one circling around the theme of happiness.
The Gettysburg Review – Summer 2017
A mystical melancholy permeates the summer issue of The Gettysburg Review. In fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, writers have tapped into the underground spring of emotion and pulled up some of the ambivalent detritus that accompanies life. This is not to say that the themes in the works included in this issue are dismal; there is a life-affirming quality in acknowledging human emotion in literary texts where strength can be summoned in what may seem like weakness but is more resolute and evolutionary.
The Briar Cliff Review – 2017
The Briar Cliff Review, a publication of Briar Cliff University in Sioux City Iowa, has published its 29th issue, and for 29 years it has held to its mission “to discover and support new and mid-career writers and artists, to keep literature and art alive for future generations.” This it has done in a beautiful issue of art, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that serves readers finely-crafted portions of each genre. The annual publication is worth the wait.
Cimarron Review – Winter 2017
With prosy poems and poetic prose, Cimarron Review provides fodder for intelligent readers. Founded in 1967 and a member of CLMP, the magazine regularly nominates its writers to “notable contests.” The Winter 2017 issue is a clean, slim volume, the pages almost square and formatted with a lot of white space so the reader can breeze through. Of the 25 writers, 14 are male, and a different 14 had published one or more books, while 8 were either MFA graduates without publications, or had published in fairly-unknown magazines.
The Fiddlehead – Spring 2017
It may be halfway through summer, but it’s not too late to enjoy the Spring 2017 issue of Canadian literary journal The Fiddlehead. This issue holds timeless treasures, including the winners and honorable mentions of the Ralph Gustafson Prize for Best Poems and the Short Fiction Prize.
The Lake – July 2017
Living in Michigan, it’s hard not to be near water. Surrounded by the Great Lakes and oodles of smaller inland lakes and rivers, residents are never farther than a few miles from fresh water. Whether one enjoys swimming, fishing, kayaking, or tanning on the sidelines, they never need to travel far. The Lake, the online, UK-based, poetry magazine, fulfills a similar function: editor John Murphy provides readers with poetry and book reviews that refresh and entertain. With a new issue arriving every month, readers are never very far away from new poems.
Blood Orange Review – May 2017
Blood Orange Review has existed for eleven years and has continued to stick to their founding mission: “to create a home for the emerging and established writers.” The May 2017 issue gives a home to twelve writers and one interview with Rita Wong.
Dogwood – 2016
This issue of Dogwood features winners and finalists of their annual prizes for poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Opening the publication is nonfiction winner “Sweet Dreams are Made of This” by Anna Leahy, which sets the tone for this issue. Neither the contest nor the issue were themed, but nostalgia would be the single emergent concept from Leahy’s essay that by pure coincidence runs through the rest of the publication. I can honestly say, of all reviewers, this focus fell on the wrong person. The last thing in the world I want to spend my mind space on is waxing stupidly over the past. Fortunately, Leahy’s essay does more than set a tone, it sets a whole new attitude about nostalgia.
Vestal Review – Spring 2017
There is something mesmerizing about a lightning storm; each flash lasts for only a moment, but holds tremendous power that electrifies the air and the imagination. Good flash fiction has the same effect on the senses of the reader, and the online magazine Vestal Review delivers the same power with each story. Ever since its debut in March 2000, Vestal Review has published exclusively flash fiction and is “firmly established as an exciting venue for exceptional flash by both emerging and well-known authors.”
Weber – Spring/Summer 2017
Weber: The Contemporary West, published by Weber State University, highlights literary and artistic talents from its home state of Utah and along the Wasatch mountain range. Among outstanding work included in this season’s issue is David Lee’s lengthy poem, “Postmortem: After the Obsequies,” which blew me away.
The Hollins Critic – April 2017
The Hollins Critic is a unique literary magazine focusing on a serious survey of a contemporary writer’s work, while also sharing book reviews and poetry. Each cover features a unique portrait image of the writer made especially for the publication by Susan Avishai.
Big Muddy 2016 Flash & Short Story Contest Winners
The most recent issue (17.1) of Big Muddy: A Journal of the Mississippi River Valley features winners of two of the publication’s annual contests:
2016 Mighty River Short Story Contest
$1000 Award and Publication
“In the Jungle” by Jeremy Griffin [pictured]
2016 Wilda Hearne Flash Fiction Contest
$500 Award and Publication
“Frayed Cords and Pink Underwear” by Shannon Sweetnam
Word Fountain – Spring/Summer 2017
With so much to do in a day and so much to read in a lifetime, I always appreciate a little magazine that I can read in one sitting or fit into the straining seams of my bag. Word Fountain fulfilled my little lit mag needs, the Spring/Summer 2017 Issue a 50-page companion I carried with me for the past week. Produced by the Osterhout Free Library in Wilkes-Barre, PA, each issue makes sure to feature a portion of regional writers, seven of whom are in this edition.
Animal – June 2017
At the beginning of each month, Animal: A Beast of a Literary Magazine brings readers one piece each in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, all with an animal theme. With only three pieces per issue, readers can fully enjoy each piece at their own pace, strengthening their appreciation for animal inspiration.
Alaska Quarterly Review – Winter/Spring 2017
Regular readers of the Alaska Quarterly Review should already know that this journal rarely disappoints. This issue of the review meets the highest of expectations as it has set the bar in so many issues at an altitude that allows the inclusion of veteran writers as well as those writers only just setting out on their professional journeys. This issue contains works that may set the standards for contemporary literature even higher still.
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Raleigh Review – Spring 2017
The Spring 2017 issue of the Raleigh Review provides its own summary in the editorial preface: it “captures the harmful attempts of the erasure of lineage, erasures of peoples, of civilizations, of families, of languages, of dialects as it relates the self to history and to place.” The poetry, the fiction, and the art direct us to a thoughtful reflection on our times and to an enriching artistic experience.
CutBank – Spring 2017
If you appreciate finely-crafted stories that draw you into their worlds so that you become unaware of yourself as a physical being, then you will want to read this issue of CutBank. The poetry, nonfiction, and fiction pieces blend language and form in such ways that permit them to exist somewhere in a writerless universe where they come into being, yet seeming to have always been there. The writing is done with such skill and attention that makes it possible for readers to be unaware of the writing in a metaphysical sense. For me, this is the best type of writing: work that does not draw attention to itself as writing but rises above its own existence to breathe the air of higher altitudes; readers enter this oxygenated space for the duration.
Ecotone – Fall/Winter 2016
As a person who has left the hustle of city life to seek out the quieter world of a rural town myself, I loved every page of Ecotone’s Country and City Issue. Each piece highlights the beauty of country life or the flurried activity of city life, celebrating how we live in both worlds.
Poetry East – Spring 2017
If readers aren’t hungry before reading the Spring 2017 issue of Poetry East, they will be by the time they are done. The Food themed issue, dedicated to James Reiss who passed away in December 2016, is organized in seven sections for the seven courses of “the perfect meal.” Images throughout the issue, taken by the journal’s editors, feature Mary Jo McMillin’s “perfect meal,” and every other aspect fits the theme: the table of contents is a menu, recipes end each section, and paintings of food and meals adorn glossy pages. Like introducing a friend to your favorite dishes at your regular restaurant, let me tell you my favorites in the Spring 2017 menu.
True Story – May 2017
Every month, it’s a struggle not to pick up True Story and immediately begin reading as soon as the new issue arrives at the office. As a fan of both the little, single-author nonfiction magazine and true crime, Issue 7 reeled me in and refused to let go. I had to read the first few pages at my desk. While not for the faint of heart, Andrew Maynard deftly balances fact and feeling in this issue’s timely story “Take Your Son to Work Day.”
Cargo Literary – Spring 2017
I’m admittedly a bit of a homebody, but the idea of travel always sounds exciting, and Cargo Literary offers up that exciting feeling of going somewhere new, all from the comfort of your computer chair, or, if you’re less of a homebody than I am, your airplane seat on the way to your next destination.
Nano Fiction – Fall 2016
Having read the Fall 2016 issue of Nano Fiction, I am sorry to see that this will be their last issue. After ten years, the editors of this publication have chosen to end their journey in the world of underappreciated forms. This issue is a beautiful, final foray into the world of flash fiction, sharing works from both published and unpublished authors, as well as several articles on the “State of Flash.”
Hunger Mountain – Spring 2017
Published out of Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA), this issue of Hunger Mountain is themed Masked/Unmasked: the perfect umbrella to explore the uncomfortable and jarring side of literature. The poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction pieces unmask us, forcing readers to tackle our culpability and shame in order to approach art with greater humanity, vulnerability, and an open mind.
Cherry Tree – 2017
The annual literary magazine Cherry Tree was founded three years ago by Maryland’s Washington College. Several longer stories dominate their plump 2017 issue, one of which is R.M. Fradkin’s stand-out “Out-of-Office.” If you have ever been frustrated by your email system, you will identify with her story-in-reverse about a librarian named Shavani and a gentleman, Valentine Izzo, who has an overdue library book.
Jabberwock Review – Winter 2017
Looking back through old family snapshots, a majority include a four-legged family member: Sadie our German Shorthaired Pointer. It has been almost ten years since she passed away, but every time I see the same breed of dog as Sadie, I can’t help thinking of my childhood companion. Upon seeing the German Shorthaired painting by Katie Erickson on the cover of the Winter 2017 issue of the Jabberwock Review, I was flooded with nostalgia, a bittersweetness that followed me throughout the issue.
Iron Horse Literary Review – Open Issue 2016
In the 2016 Open Issue, Iron Horse Literary Review opens its doors to two new types of writing: translation and graphic literature. It’s the graphic piece that opens this issue which ultimately grabbed my eye and ushered me in to the rest of the work.
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The Write Place at the Write Time – Winter/Spring 2017
The Winter/Spring Issue of The Write Place at the Write Time reminds us of the power of words in the Editor’s Note: they can comfort and create, and they can dismantle and harm. This issue achieves the former, providing readers with a place to chill out, unload, and just read. The editors go above and beyond as they create an issue filled with timely poetry, prose, interviews, and more.
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The Hudson Review – Autumn 2016
Since 1948, The Hudson Review has served as a platform for emerging authors and poets in a wide variety of genres, appealing to many aspects of American literature and culture. The Autumn 2016 issue shares poetry, fiction, essays, review, chronicles, and comments, each one truly unique and showcasing a wide variety of talents.
Thrice Fiction – December 2016
Unlike so many other literary magazines, Thrice Fiction is, in itself, a work of art. It captures the spirit of each piece of fiction within its pages through original artwork and bends the concept of “short fiction” to encompass truly creative works that defy traditional short story formats. Self-identified as an alternative zine, each page tells a unique story from a unique voice, illustrated with unique art.
Conjunctions – Fall 2016
One of my favorite David Bowie songs and music videos is “Loving the Alien” from his sixteenth studio album Tonight. The silver, almost robot-like characters in the video and haunting lyrics (“And your prayers they break the sky in two / Believing the strangest things, loving the alien”) invoke feelings of awe and discomfort about those who are different or “other” from ourselves. The Fall 2016 issue from Conjunctions literary magazine mirrors the powerful emotions of Bowie’s work in “Other Aliens.”
Consequence – Spring 2016
American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman once said, “War is Hell,” but Consequence magazine takes the hellish landscape of war and transforms it into inspiring works of art, fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Consequence is “an international literary magazine published annually, focusing on the culture and consequences of war.” The cover art of the current volume of Consequence exhibits this goal in a powerful illustration of life and beauty rising up from a mouth of suffering alluding to Picasso’s Guernica.
Tar River Poetry – Fall 2016
The Fall 2016 issue of Tar River Poetry is filled with the work of experienced poets; each piece reveals an attention to form and function in a linguistic mélange of technique containing a bounty of literary treasures. The issue is one to keep by the bedside for easy access to multiple reads.
Gigantic Sequins – January 2017
The pieces in Issue 8.1 of Gigantic Sequins have an otherworldly quality to them and feel linguistically linked. In her introduction, Editor-in-Chief Kimberly Ann Southwick tells readers that “the fiction in this issue roars and then gives birth,” and I am inclined to extend this metaphor to encompass the poetry and creative nonfiction in the issue as well. The works seem to have a common source with connections to surrealism and themes of nature, violence, blood, and the moon. From p.e. garcia’s opening poem “animal considers animal,” to Craig Chisholm’s review of Anthony Michael Morena’s The Voyager Record: A Transmission (Rose Metal Press, 2016), the issue exemplifies careful editing and consideration in creating a cohesive collection of creative work that stimulates the imagination and lingers long after reading.
World Literature Today – March/April 2017
World Literature Today certainly lives up to its name, containing amazing pieces of literature from all over the world. This particular issue focuses on Dystopian Visions and the country of Montenegro, but also contains fiction, essays, nonfiction, reviews, and poetry from other countries, with many of the pieces translated from their original language to English.
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The 2River View – Winter 2017
There’s something unassuming about The 2River View. They reject the flashy for a simple, quiet website. This doesn’t work against them, though. Instead, the simplicity is welcoming and calming, the homepage pointing readers in the direction of whatever they seek: an issue archive, information about their “2River Favorite Poem Project,” and, of course, the current issue. The current Winter 2017 issue is paired with three images of winter, the scenes whited-out with snow. Many of the pieces found in this issue coincidentally left me with the chills, fitting choices for inclusion in a winter issue. In addition, each poet provides a voice recording of their poetry, resulting in a complete, cohesive collection as it intimately connects reader to writer.
PANK – 2017
PANK publishes work that plays with form and expectations to confound readers with possibility.
Creative Nonfiction – Winter 2017
Issue 62 of Creative Nonfiction (CNF) is dedicated to Joy. The published essays can be divided into two segments: essays about the craft of writing and essays following a more literary and narrative vein. Both segments best utilize the theme of joy when the authors bring the reader into the moment so we experience joy by their side.
Witness – Spring 2017
Chaos is the theme of this year’s issue of Witness, and there is plenty of it going on. Start with cover photos by Alexandre Nodopaka, who interprets the chaos of the cosmos. Artists use all sorts of unexpected media, but Nodopaka looks no further than a parking lot surface underfoot to discover “cosmic inspiration in seagull guano.” He states, “The guano, in their ethereal impacts on the macadam, up close, portray the likeliness of astronomical photographs of the heavens.” A series of his “highly light-contrasted” photos, some resembling Rorschach tests, are featured within.
Camas – Winter 2016-17
In a tribute to the major changes the United States has undergone since the election last November, the editors of Camas chose to make this issue one that commemorates the many beautiful aspects of our country. Through poetry, art, photography, fiction, and nonfiction, each piece celebrates the beauty of nature, diversity, and the true American spirit.
New Letters – Spring/Summer 2016
In Volume 82 of New Letters, The University of Missouri-Kansas has provided us with one of those always delightful choices of literary direction and entertainment, and for some of us there also memories of past enjoyment. Those of “a certain generation” will recall (some thirty or forty years ago) the popularity of Caribbean novels, a series of enjoyable and enlightening stories which included a history and a heritage totally different if not totally new to the average reader of novels and short stories. The art critics would/could call them “primitive” if they were paintings, but the content told of experiences that we had not even thought about.
21st National Poet Hunt Contest Winners
The Fall 2016 issue of The MacGuffin features the winners of the 21st National Poet Hunt Contest along with commentary from Judge Li-Young Lee.
First Place
“Pedro” by Elisabeth Murawski
Honorable Mentions
“Things to Know if You Live Here” by Marc Sheehan
“A Woman, Conjured” by Janet Greenberg
The 2017 contest will be judged by Naomi Shihab Nye.
Cover image: “Happy Summer from My Ivory Tower” by Roopa Dudley.
jubilat – 2016
I always look forward to seeing the cover art of jubilat’s new issues, often featuring bright colors or eye-catching images. However, their latest issue caught my eye because it doesn’t fit their usual look. Instead, the editors chose a plain black background behind their title text for this special issue that presents 108 poems by 105 writers who share what’s been on their minds since November 8, 2016. With this issue, jubilat creates something beautiful out of rubble, giving readers something to hold onto when we may feel hopeless, wordless, or disconnected.
The Florida Review – Fall 2016
This issue of The Florida Review begins with a Pulse tribute featuring five Orlando authors—queer authors, Latinx authors, authors from the Orlando community. Lisa Roney in her editorial describes “feelings of being both inside and outside of the events of that day [the Pulse shooting].” The published pieces reflect similar contradictions. The fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and graphic narrative draw tension from contradictions and juxtapositions, striking a balance.
Broad Street – Spring/Summer 2016
Published out of Virginia Commonwealth University, Broad Street: A Magazine of True Stories, bridges personal and researched knowledge in creative nonfiction. The journal furthers what it means to tell true stories. This issue, themed Maps & Legends, goes where no map can lead to find truth: exploring what it means to be a foreigner.