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NewPages Blog

At the NewPages Blog readers and writers can catch up with their favorite literary and alternative magazines, independent and university presses, creative writing programs, and writing and literary events. Find new books, new issue announcements, contest winners, and so much more!

Submissions :: Kudzu 2.1.08

From Ashley Mullins, editor: “Kudzu is a small literary magazine published by Hazard Community and Technical College. We publish once a year in the spring with openings for essays, reviews, poetry and short fiction and nonfiction. We also have two contests with a $5 reading fee, one for poetry and the other for short fiction. We also choose a few pieces of black and white photography or pen and ink drawings for every issue. In the past we have published works by or about Gurney Norman, Frank X Walker, Kelly Ellis, G. C. Compton, Miriam Woolfolk, and Scott Russell Sanders. February 1st is the deadline for our 2008 publication.”

Submissions :: Cezanne’s Carrot 2.20.08

From Editors Barbara Jacksha & Joan Kremer: Cezanne’s Carrot is now reading for its 2008 Spring Equinox edition and beyond. Deadline for the spring issue is midnight, February 20, 2008 (US Mountain time). Current needs: fiction (short stories and flash), creative nonfiction, and visual art. We’re especially interested in work with a metaphysical bent – work that pushes beyond the physical world as we know it. Full submission guidelines, including the email addresses for submitting work, are available at the website.

Cezanne’s Carrot publishes high-quality literary work that explores spiritual, transformational, visionary, or contemplative themes. We are most interested in the personal quest for evolution and understanding, whether that quest takes place within the context of a religious tradition, an inner temple of your own making, or a seemingly mundane neighborhood or backyard. Cezanne’s Carrot appears quarterly, each Equinox and Solstice, in alignment with the Earth’s rhythms.

Submissions :: TGAPS

“The Great American Poetry Show is a hardcover serial poetry anthology open year-round to submissions of poems in English on any subject and in any style, length and number. We have three editors who can handle a lot of submissions. So please send us a lot of poems. If we do not accept your poems, please send us another group to go through. Simultaneous submissions and previously published poems are welcome. Response time is usually 1-3 months. Each contributor receives one free copy of the volume in which his/her work appears. Volume 2 of the Great American Poetry Show is now taking submissions by email and by regular mail. Volume 2 is scheduled to appear in 2008 if we have enough good poems (about 120); if not, we will wait until we do. Please take a look at our website where you can preview Volume 1 of TGAPS and also purchase a copy.”

AWP Off-site Events Listing

In addition to letting us here at NewPages know about your AWP events, if you are hosting any kind of event off-site in New York, meaning any event that is NOT taking place at the AWP Conference Hotels, AWP will help you promote this event. Please visit the Writers Circle on-line, and post your event on the discussion, and AWP will include it in a list of off-site events to be posted on their web pages. AWP hopes that those who are not able to register for the conference will still attend these off-site events, which are open to the public. The more word on the street, the better.

AWP Announcement :: Redivider

Redivider will be hosting, for the second time, an “AWP Quickie” contest for short-short fiction, short-short nonfiction, and poetry. There’s no entry fee and the first prize winners will receive $50.00 and publication in the fall 2008 issue of Redivider. The judges are Brock Clarke for fiction, Ravi Shankar for poetry, and Lee Martin for nonfiction. In order to participate, conference attendees just need to stop by Redivider‘s table, grab a quickie card, then write their story, poem, or essay the back and return the card by the end of the bookfair.

Jobs :: Various

The English Department of Bowling Green State University seeks strong applicants for the College of Arts & Sciences Distinguished Visiting Writer. Dr. Kristine Blair, Chair. February 1, 2008.

Franklin Pierce University-the College at Rindge invites applications for an Assistant Professor position in English-Creative Writing/Composition to begin Fall 2008. Apply online. Interviews will be conducted at the 2008 AWP Conference on Thursday or Friday (January 31 or February 1, 2008).

The English Department at Illinois College is now accepting applications for the newly-established Claridge Writer-in-Residence, a one-semester teaching position in Creative Writing, for the fall semester 2008 (August 25-December 12) or spring semester 2009 (January 12-May 15). Professor Robert Koepp, English Department Chair. March 1, 2008.

The Department of English at Gettysburg College seeks an Emerging Writer Lecturer. Professor Fred Leebron. January 26, 2008.

The Creative Writing Program at Arizona State University is seeking a fiction writer of national/international reputation.

The Creative Writing Program at Oberlin College is looking for a fiction writer to fill a temporary full-time faculty position in the College of Arts & Sciences. Sylvia Watanabe, Co-Director, Creative Writing. February 15, 2008.

Youngstown State University invites applicants to apply for the position of Instructor/Assistant Professor in Creative Writing & Fiction. Dr. Gary Salvner, Chairperson. February 2, 2008.

The Columbia College Chicago – Elma Stuckey Liberal Arts and Sciences Emerging Poet-in-Residence. Annual, one-year nonrenewable position: starts August 2008. Tony Trigilio, Director, Creative Writing – Poetry. March 1, 2008.

New Issues Online :: Spindle Magazine

A note from Guy LeCharles Gonzalez, Editor & Publisher Spindle Magazine:

Spindle Magazine is an online literary magazine with a twist, featuring creative non-fiction, poetry and short fiction by, for and about New Yorkers – literal and spiritual. Showcasing emerging writers, artists, musicians and other notable New Yorkers, it offers a multi-faceted look at New York City and the world beyond through the eyes of both those who love it and hate it, and in many cases, a peek inside the minds of the people themselves.

Like New York City, Spindle Magazine is best experienced with an open mind and a healthy dose of intellectual curiosity. There are no tour guides here, so readers are encouraged to take their time and casually explore the site, whether a section at a time, via the “related article” links, or by doing a keyword search.

Log on now for new poetry and fiction from Larry Jaffe, Kevin MacDonald, Marie-Elizabeth Mali and Skip Shea, plus the debut of our newest column, Stephanie Myers’ “Myers Music Experience”.

NOTE: We’ll be updating weekly in January, so be sure to sign up for our RSS feed and our mailing list to keep abreast of the latest content, features and announcements.

Books :: Mary Oliver

Book Review Excerpt from LA Times Books by Susan Salter Reynolds, January 6, 2008:

Our World by Mary Oliver
The photographs of the late Molly Malone Cook, with a text by her partner, poet Mary Oliver
Published by Beacon Books
ISBN: 978-080706880-9
Pages: 96

Used to be, if you telephoned the poet Mary Oliver, her partner Molly Cook would invariably answer. She’d ask you to hold on a moment, feign footsteps and return to the phone as Oliver, making no pretense at a different voice (editors across the country routinely played along). Cook was, for many years, Oliver’s agent. Oliver, everyone understood, was a bit of a recluse. She needed nature and solitude to create her poems. “Writers must . . . take care of the sensibility that houses the possibility of poems,” she wrote in “A Poetry Handbook.” Cook, who died in 2005 of lung cancer, at 80, was the sociable one.

These days the phone goes pretty much unanswered. “From the complications of loving you,” Oliver wrote in “A Pretty Song,” “I think there is no end or return. / No answer, no coming out of it. / Which is the only way to love, isn’t it?”

Molly Malone Cook was a photographer, but she was far more comfortable promoting the work of others (Edward Steichen, Berenice Abbott, Minor White, Harry Callahan and Ansel Adams, to name a few) in her Provincetown gallery than with the idea of making her own work public. Cook wouldn’t put her photographs into a book, no matter how often people, including Oliver, asked. After she died, Oliver decided to do it. She went through thousands of negatives, many never printed, and boxes and boxes of photographs…[read the rest]

Fellowship :: Image

The Luci Shaw Fellowship at Image

“The purpose of the Luci Shaw Fellowship is to expose a promising undergraduate or graduate student to the world of literary publishing and the nonprofit arts organization, and to introduce fellows to the contemporary dialogue about art and faith that surrounds Image, its programs, its contributors, and its peer organizations. In short, we’re looking for summer fellows who share our vision for the place art has in the life of faith, and who are also diligent, meticulous, and responsible about the daily details.”

Eligibility: Any person currently enrolled in a four-year undergraduate institution or graduate school.

Applications are due February 1, and applicants will be notified by February 15.

More information and an application can be found on Image’s website.

Submissions :: The Rambler

“The best stories are sometimes the most personal ones, and we want to hear yours. In each issue of The Rambler we feature stories from you, our readers, based on a photograph of a moment from ‘out in the world’ we offer for inspiration. Your story might not have anything to do with the chosen image directly (or maybe it does), but we hope the images here trigger a story inside you that needs telling.” Visit website for images, guidelines and deadlines.

Borders Open Door Poetry

Borders has created an online presence for poets – Open Door – and features an upcoming poetry contest judged by Mark Strand (my guess would be that he’s the “final” judge). The site also includes the opportunity to submit poetry questions, some of which will be selected and answered onsite by Paul Muldoon, and a “Gather and Write” space lead by Anthony Tedesco. There’s also the “Poetry Show,” Episode 1 of which includes videos of the following poets reading their works: Donald Hall, Taylor Mali, Oveous Maximus, Valzhyna Mort, Paul Muldoon, Patricia Smith, Mark Strand, Buddy Wakefield.

Poets and Poems :: Library of Congress

Something done right by our government is the Library of Congress online resource for poetry, which includes news and events, information about the current Poet Laurate (Charles Simic) (really? did I need to add that for you?), resources for teachers and students – including the “Poem a day for American high schools” (Billy’s legacy), and two webcast series:

Poet Vision Series featuring “great poets reading and talking intimately about their work. Originally filmed and broadcast in Philadelphia from 1988-90, the 12 episodes capture for posterity insights from and about Lucille Clifton, Rita Dove, Allen Ginsberg, Louise Gl

Book :: The Creative Imagination

Imagination in Action
Edited by Carol Malyon
The Mercury Press

“This book is a collection of essays and articles by Canadian painters and sculptors, musicians and composers, poets and novelists and journalists. Teachers, choreographers, actors, book-store owners, cooks, farmers, needle-workers… Trying to understand the world and our place in it; to bring order out of chaos; to figure out who we are, where we are, what we are doing here. Sometimes trying to communicate with others. Who are you? What are you doing? Here’s what I’ve been creating. This is my version of the world. Is it the same as yours? Creative folks discuss what they do, and why, and how they do it. Apparently there’s not one correct way. Forget those how-to books. Find your own method. You too can be creative.”

Wine & Stories :: 2nd Story Monthly & Annual Festival

“The best stories I’ve ever heard come from hanging out with friends over a good bottle of wine. That’s when people really start talking, really get to the meat of their experiences—the wild beauty of it all, the destruction and the hope. That’s the feeling we’re going for: the crowd at Webster’s Wine Bar has the intimacy of my own living room and the crazy, wine-warm secrets that have been told there.”
—Megan Stielstra, Director of Story Development

“2nd Story is a hybrid performance event combining storytelling, wine, and music that is produced by the Serendipity Theater Collective as both a Monthly Performance Series and an Annual Festival. A typical 2nd Story evening goes something like this: you hang out with your friends at Webster’s Wine Bar and eat and drink and make merry, and four or five times during the night, the lights go down, a spot comes up on somebody—maybe the person sitting next to you!—and they tell you a story. It’s a great time, and our hope is that if we do our job right, you’ll leave telling your own stories.”

View a schedule of monthly meetings as well as videocasts from previous readings.

Digital Storytelling :: In the Community, Classroom, and Online

Every community has a memory of itself.
Not a history, nor an archive, nor an authoritative record…
A living memory, an awareness of a collective identity woven of a thousand stories.

“The Center for Digital Storytelling is a California-based non-profit 501(c)3 arts organization rooted in the art of personal storytelling. We assist people of all ages in using the tools of digital media to craft, record, share, and value the stories of individuals and communities, in ways that improve all our lives.

“Many individuals and communities have used the term ‘digital storytelling’ to describe a wide variety of new media production practices. What best describes our approach is its emphasis on personal voice and facilitative teaching methods. Many of the stories made in our workshops are directly connected to the images collected in life’s journey. But our primary concern is encouraging thoughtful and emotionally direct writing.”

Included on the site currently: over a dozen digital stories, information about workshops (with on-site and online classes, and a certificate program), and a wealth of resouces for digital storytelling and storytelling in the curriculum.

Submissions :: Rural Medicine Anthology 2.1.08

Beyond the Country Doctor
Published by Kent State University Press and Hiram College Center for Literature, Medicine and Biomedical Humanities

It is more than Marcus Welby or the country doctor taking care of the farmers/ranchers. Today a diverse group of clinicians, have added cell phones and PDAs to their black bags and minister to a multi-colored patchwork quilt of patients.

This anthology means to show the breadth of rural medicine in the United States today. Seeking poems, essays, and short stories (fiction and creative nonfiction, max 5000 words) written by health professionals (doctors, nurses, midwives, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, social workers, mental health providers and students of all of the above) that address the following:

–Who you are (exploring diverse providers)
–Who you serve (exploring the variety of patients)
–Where you are (sense of place)
–The resources you have and the challenges you face (i.e. tele-medicine, electronic health record, part of larger health systems, limited services, insurance, etc.)

There is no pay for contributions. The book will be published in Fall, 2009. Already published work considered with permission to reprint. Work should not include the identifying information of patients unless permission is granted. Authors with contributions published in the collection will receive a free copy of the anthology.

Submission due by February 1, 2008 by email attachment to:
zink0003(at)umn.edu or mail CD to UMN address.

For further information:

Therese Zink, MD, MPH
zink0003(at)umn.edu (replace (at) with @)
Dept. of Family and Community Medicine
University of Minnesota
MMC 81
420 Delaware Street SE
Minneapolis MN 55455
612 625 9197 phone
612 624 2613 fax

Submissions :: Poemeleon 2.28.08

The editors of Poemeleon: A Journal of Poetry are now reading persona poems for Volume III Issue 1, slated for release in early June. They are also interested in relevant essays, book reviews and interviews.

Also, the first Mystery Box Contest winner has been announced, and a new box is up for viewing. There is no deadline. There is no entry fee. There are no rules. The only requirement is that the poem must somehow respond to the box. The most stunning poem will be featured in an upcoming issue.

Past contributors include Jimmy Santiago Baca, Tony Barnstone, Catherine Daly, Ann Fisher-Wirth, Richard Garcia, Eloise Klein Healy, Bob Hicok, Roy Jacobstein, Christina Lovin, Shin Yu Pai, William Reichard, Dana Sonnenschein, Kathrine Varnes, Cecilia Woloch, and lots more.

All submissions must come through our new online submissions process. Please visit the website for full guidelines.

Deadline for this issue: February 28, 2008.

Lego Poetry

Bill Ward, Lego Professional, whose profile succinctly tells visitors, “I’m Male and Taken.” built lego models to illustrate scenes from poetry by A. E. Housman and Robert Frost. They were orginally built for BrickFest 2006 and later featured in the MOC display area. Bill Ward collaborated with Holly Ward for this display. Visit this lego tribute on his flickr site.

Submissions :: Switched On Gutenberg 3.1.08

Switched-on Gutenberg is looking for poems that explore scientific puzzles, use wonderfully obscure terminology, formulae or other forms of discourse usually foreign to the ‘hazy’ world of poets. They don’t mind if you want to take on the issues of the day (global warming, genetic engineering, etc), but make it marvelous.

Poems on the theme: Science and Technology.
Submissions for the next issue: December 1, 2007 to March 1, 2008.
ONE POEM ONLY, not to exceed 48 lines, original and not simultaneously submitted (previously published work is okay if credits are included).

Festivals :: Faith & Writing 4.08

The Festival of Faith & Writing
April 17-19, 2008
Calvin College
Grand Rapids, Michigan

The goal of the festival is to provide a vibrant community where readers and writers come together to discuss, celebrate, and explore the ways in which faith is represented in literature and how it plays out in our world today. Speakers include Elizabeth Berg, Michael Chabon, Gail Godwin, Mary Gordon, Edward P. Jones, Yann Martel, Kathleen Norris, Katherine Paterson, Luci Shaw, Krista Tippett, Franz Wright and many others.

AWP NYC 2008

NewPages in New York City!

We’ll be there – TABLE 215 – Stop by and see us!

If you’ll be attending, let us know. If you have readings, parties, panels, parties, off-site events, parties, nearby bars/restaurants to recommend – drop us a line (esp. for good Thai food and microbrew beer). We’ll post what you want made public here on the blog and keep the rest to ourselves.

580 Split – 2007

580 Split calls itself “A Journal of Arts and Letters.” If there is any overall theme to its roughly one hundred and thirty pages of poetry, short fiction and single interview, it can be “seeking.” Many of the poems and characters in the prose seem to be searching, not necessarily for something, but in an existential manner. The poetry is quite modern. Derek Pollard’s “Vine Street Lightens the Streetlights Out” is arranged visually in something of an octagon, with words overlaid to the point of unreadability, yet readable enough to pass on a message, which manages to be stronger than the striking visual impact. Continue reading “580 Split – 2007”

The Antigonish Review – Summer 2007

The journal that calls itself “Canada’s eclectic review” very nearly earns the title based on the cover photograph alone. “Miss Julie” lounges in a flowered black overshirt, high-gravity malt liquor in hand, infinite stories to be told with her painted lips. Inside, Alberto Manguel’s essay could be a case for eclecticism. He contrasts the inclination of the great artist to produce a diverse range of works with posterity’s tendency to remember a single one the artist may not feel is representative. Nature themes abound, appropriate in a Nova Scotia-based publication. Eleonore Schönmaier’s poem, “Tracks,” features a protagonist challenging her place amongst the trees and clouds and snow. Karen Shenfeld’s poem, “Bathurst Manor,” evokes a simpler time “When the summer air cooled like bath water,” and time was passed by “squinting through the deepening dusk / to wait for the wishing star.” Human nature arises in Christine Birbalsingh’s story “Trapped,” which depicts a young mother whose eagerness to care for her children is her undoing. Continue reading “The Antigonish Review – Summer 2007”

Banipal – Spring 2007

This issue of the UK’s Banipal: Magazine of Modern Arab Literature features Lebanese poetry. The five prose selections are all novel excerpts – some contemporary, some from decades ago. Both poetry and prose are Arabic translations. This may be one reason why it took me so long to get through the journal. Another may be the very reason why I reviewed it: to relieve my ignorance to a culture’s literature. Continue reading “Banipal – Spring 2007”

Canteen – 2007

Inspired by owner and chef Dennis Leary’s Canteen restaurant in San Francisco, which has hosted a number of “literary dinners,” “Canteen aims to engage readers with both the arts and the creative process,” say publisher Stephen Pierson and editor-in-chief Sean Finney. A prominent example of this intent is the poem “Song” and its accompanying close reading and reflective essay by Julie Orringer and Ryan Harty. I knew that it was only a matter of time before the words from the Magnetic Poetry Kit jumped off refrigerator doors and other metal surfaces to land – where? Here? In analyzing their process of cutting and sticking these dozen lines and photographing them, Orringer and Harty demonstrate and evaluate one experience of this gimmick’s effect on word choice and syntax. I’ve played this “poetry game” in several languages, but never have I believed that the restrictions it imposes are worthy of serious effort. Now I know why. Conversely, Katie Ford’s poem “The Vessel Bends the Water” deserves the reader’s attention for its pure beauty and, I think, perfect slipperiness. Continue reading “Canteen – 2007”

Conveyer – Summer 2007

Although unique is almost a clichéd word, one cannot but apply it to Conveyer. Conveyer is a literary journal, which, according to its title page, is in the business of “articulating and documenting Jersey City’s sense of place though image making and storytelling.” This second issue of the journal fulfills this purpose in a variety of ways. The first section is hand-drawn grid maps with accompanying pictures and anecdotal commentary. The comments are both quirky and informational and give an insider’s sense of place in specific neighborhoods. Continue reading “Conveyer – Summer 2007”

The Journal – Spring/Summer 2007

This issue of The Journal reads geologically: something is always happening but its effect is perceptible only with the distance of narrative. A tornado, referred to “in code” by one family, is revisited decades later in “Finding Oz,” The Journal’s William Allen Creative Nonfiction Prize Winner. Connie Vaughn rediscovers affections for her father she had long since dispelled: “If our differences are the centrifugal forces that have sent us flying apart throughout our lives, the tornado might be a form of centripetal action bringing us back together.” That thesis-sounding sentence – and the tidy structure – are more essay-ish than creative nonfiction, but it’s a damn good story regardless. Continue reading “The Journal – Spring/Summer 2007”

The Malahat Review – Fall 2007

This issue marks the publication’s fortieth anniversary with an entire issue in tribute to the founder, long-time editor, and guiding spirit, Robin Skelton. Here we have a “collage” of pieces from students, friends, peers, and people who never even met him – the “composite,” as Editor John Barton said, “emerging from the overlapping and multilayered reminiscences, essays, and poems by forty-one contributors from five countries is not exact, but the likeness suits our beloved, be-ringed, pentacled, cape-draped and walking-stick-strutting master.” Continue reading “The Malahat Review – Fall 2007”

NANO Fiction – 2007

NANO Fiction is a small booklet, not much bigger than the size of my hand, and only about sixty pages. A wistful-looking woman adorns the cover, her shock white hair blowing in the wind, looking forward; the surrealistic scene continues on the back where a girl has antlers growing out of her eyes, flowing to connect with the hair of the woman on the front. Swirling strokes of blues, greens, reds, oranges and yellows engulf the two figures. The artist, Nomi Meta-Mura, has three enigmatic black and white drawings in the journal. Enigma is appropriate for a journal that consists of short-shorts. Continue reading “NANO Fiction – 2007”

New York Quarterly – 2007

Reading the NYQ, founded in 1969 but new to me, I felt as I used to when I met a man I’d later love. At first it was not terribly attractive; I did not think it was my type. These poems were not what I’m usually drawn to – new formalism, or free verse in which formal elements break the surface like shark fins, or tight lyrics that startle like a butterfly rising, or narratives that travel some scenic route, climaxing, not toward resolution but breath… Continue reading “New York Quarterly – 2007”

Oleander Review – Fall 2007

Oleander Review’s debut issue has a lot going for it: a couple translations of Kostas Karytoakis’ dark poems, some solid poetry and prose, and interviews with Elizabeth Kostova and Robert Pinksy. Karyoatakis’ poems are selections from Battered Guitars: Poems and Prose of Kostas Karyotakis. His haunting poem, “Optimism” begins its concluding stanza: “Let’s assume that we have not reached / the frontiers of silence by a hundred roads, / and let’s sing.” Joshua Olsen’s poem, “I thought I saw my mother in Detroit” reveals his mother’s sad past and then concludes “She seemed lost and I wanted to help her find her way / but didn’t, fearing it really was her.” And Emma Morris’ “Water/Music” demonstrates, once again, that water is an amazing property, and she does so in a much more artistic and compelling way than a high school chemistry book. Continue reading “Oleander Review – Fall 2007”

Slice – Fall/Winter 2007

Slice Magazine is a high-quality production with a layout that is both stimulating and friendly to the eye. The inaugural issue appropriately takes shape around the theme of firsts and new beginnings. Jonathan Galassi, president of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, shares a short but moving account of how books being present during his childhood left “ineradicable interfused impressions” on him. Continue reading “Slice – Fall/Winter 2007”

Virginia Quarterly Review – Fall 2007

The Virginia Quarterly Review’s Fall 2007 issue, “South America in the 21st Century,” is a must-read for anyone interested in Latin American politics and culture, as well as those fond of New Journalism – using the fiction writer’s tools, like scene setting, character development, and dialogue to build news stories. The techniques have been accepted for decades now, but here they are spit shined to gleaming. I read the magazine from cover to cover. The poetry, fiction, cartoons, and collages are note-worthy, especially Chilean poet Marjorie Agosín’s poetry of exile; but the journalistic impulse dominates the writing and photography. Continue reading “Virginia Quarterly Review – Fall 2007”

Watershed – 2007

For their 30th anniversary edition, Watershed’s editors decided to choose one selection from each of the years 1977-2007 and arrange these selections in chronological order. While reading these pieces, I traveled both through the history of Watershed and also through the history of our nation and the world. Many – though definitely not all – of the poems respond to or refer to current events. For example, Greg Rappleye’s “Letters to Yeltsin” is a response to NPR’s statement that Boris Yeltsin suffers from weariness: “Word arrives in the steamy depths / of the American summer, / the torpor so general / I cannot rise from my couch. / I share your struggles, comrade.” Continue reading “Watershed – 2007”

White Chimney – Summer 2007

White Chimney – “The Creative Arts Journal” – hails from England. The slim, magazine-size, thirty-page journal packs a punch. The cover art, by Christophe Reme, harks back slightly to the psychedelic sixties’ art, with fantastic smoke emerging from a building, and skulls peering from a cloud; bare trees in the foreground, jagged hills in the background – an incongruous yet interesting rendering that mimics the variety in this journal. It contains two literary interviews, six drawings or photographs, seven poems, and six short stories – my personal high point. The art is first-rate – engaging and well-chosen. Margaret Murphy, a crime-fiction writer, and the poet Jacob Sam La Rose, are both interviewed capably by Caroline England and Chishimba Chisala. Continue reading “White Chimney – Summer 2007”

World Literature Today – September-October 2007

World Literature Today, published by the University of Oklahoma-Norman, is international in scope, focusing on languages and cultures worldwide. It ambitiously considers the ways in which language and art are defined by culture, emphasizing that our own culture can only be enriched by exposure to others. In this way, it speaks against xenophobia, not through polemics but by its mere presence. Continue reading “World Literature Today – September-October 2007”

The Adirondack Review – 2007

A fascinating feature of this online magazine is that each issue is published “as it comes together,” right before your web-weary eyes. It is a double treat to witness the process as some of the finest poetry, fiction, and art available are assembled; however, that pleasure doubles a reviewer’s troubles. The “emerging” Fall issue waits while I offer a response to the summer issue. Continue reading “The Adirondack Review – 2007”

Painted Bride Quarterly – November 2007

The Painted Bride Quarterly, published four times a year online and annually in print, has a long and proud history of giving voice to new and established talent. For over thirty years, PBQ has consistently sought and published writers whose very individual work seems to rush us to the edge of the known world, and then signal us to risk the leap; yet, as innovative and personal as these works are, they seem to belong, too, to the communities and cultures that gave rise to them. Perhaps more remarkable is that although PBQ is sponsored by great institutions and organizations (Drexel University is home), the magazine has retained its authenticity. Continue reading “Painted Bride Quarterly – November 2007”

Submissions :: Paddlefish 2.29.08

The editors of Mount Marty College’s literary journal Paddlefish are interested in poetry (3-5 poems), short/short fiction (2,500 words or less), graphic fiction, nonfiction, illustrated essays, graphic memoir and narrative documentary photography in all genres and styles. Their online extension is also accepting a variety of media arts including: video, motion graphics and animation (submitted via CD/DVD and limited to ten minutes). Submission Dates: November 1st, 2007 – February 29th, 2008

Submissions :: Poetry Midwest 2.16.08

Poetry Midwest, a downloadable online literary journal, seeks poetry, micro-fiction, and creative non-fiction brief (prose limit is 350 words) for the Winter 2008 and other future issues. Poetry Midwest is published three times per year as a downloadable Adobe Acrobat PDF document. Deadline for the Winter 2008 issue is February 16, 2008, or thereabouts.

MLA Chicago 2007

NewPages had the honor of attending Modern Language Association convention in Chicago this past weekend (December 27-30). I love Chicago – even in the dead middle of winter. It is a friendly, easy-to-get-around-in city. Anytime we found ourselves a bit lost, we only needed to stop and ask anyone for directions. People are, as my brother says, “Midwesterners,” and that is enough explanation for why they are so curteous and helpful.

I attended MLA in Chicago eight years ago, and it was a flashback to be walking the Hyatt halls again, surrounded by English folk (you know who you are). The conference is one of the best organized and tightly run events I have attended. There isn’t a hall or corner without a person there to help attendees, which is essential for a convention spread across the river in two hotels.

The exhibitor floor was spacious and well organized. There were no major gaps from absent participants and plenty of room to enter in bookseller areas or stand in the aisleway without getting bumped. There was very little representation of small presses. I don’t dare say “independent” presses, because as I was corrected by one publisher, many university presses are “independent.” I’m still thinking about that one. I’m sure some non-univeristy affliated independents would be better posistioned to call these U presses brethren or not.

It’s evident that larger presses, as we’ve known for some time, are delving more into the market of alternative titles, translations and speciality publications. Given as they have the money to enter such ventures with less of a loss to their overall budget should the return be moderate to even negative, this is not surprising to see. Nor is it cheap for them to attend the MLA – with exhibiting costs in the thousands, they really are hoping for several academic sales from this conference. I can see how it would make it difficult for small presses/publications to be well represented here, if at all. This is something NewPages is talking about being able to provide for next year’s MLA, so interested presses/publications, contact Casey (new.pages-at-live.com).

There was also the individual sale aspect happening in this area, as writers pitched their book ideas to publishers, and publishers had signs on their tables with “calls for proposals.” Another area the small presses might want to consider, given the type of acadmic authors in attendance.

Of the sessions we attended, while interesting, they really are geared toward their specific academic areas of interest and research. I was disappointed to sit through several more “paper lectures” than actual talks or discussions. I realize presenters need to present, but given the repeated cut-offs for Q&As, there is more conversation that begs for time. And that’s really what this kind of convention is mostly about: like-minded and interested people being able to gather and have critcally thoughtful conversations that they might otherwise never have the opportunity to enjoy. I mean, how many people in one college department are interested in really talking about Wolfgan Iser or Margaret Fuller? It takes joining cross-national panelists who then gather a cross-national group of interested attendees to create exactly the kind of community necessary for these engagements.

The sessions were all extremely well attended – though we weren’t there the last day to see the usual gotta-catch-a-plane drop off. For a conference that begins two days after a major holiday and in some pretty crappy weather for travel, numbers were great, and the experience enjoyable overall. Next year, though, MLA 2008 will be in San Francisco. I won’t be complaining about the time of year to travel west for a little bit of sun and warmth!

Cool Stuff :: Northland Poster Collective

Northland Poster Collective online gallery and catalog store featuring the art of social justice, the tools of grassroots union organizing and labor activism, and the craft of union workers: Posters, Labor Books, Buttons, Bumper Stickers, Calendars, Note Cards, Iraq Note Cards, Holiday Cards, T-Shirts, Baby Clothes, Vietnam Era Originals, Vintage Poster Sets, Mugs, Mouse Pads, Coasters, Postcards, CDs, Cloth Hangings, Decals, Sweatshirts, Books & Videos, Hats, Signs. Featuring Immigrants Rights, Political Campaigns, Anti-WalMart, Iraq Art Project.

AWP 2008 Sold Out!

The AWP 2008 Conference & Bookfair in NYC is sold out. No more passes will be sold. No onsite registration will be available (presenters will be allowed to register onsite if they have not done so already). Over seven thousand people will be attending the NYC conference. Only pre-registered individuals possessing a registration badge will be admitted into the conference events & bookfair.

It’s Time You Knew PEN

PEN American Center
Best of 2007
“Arthur Miller once suggested that PEN exists to remind us that humanity’s survival transcends any nation’s political interest, and that ‘the most convincing example—if not proof—of humanity’s essential oneness [is] the universality of the best literature.’ For years, PEN American Center and its Members have worked tirelessly to advance literature, defend free expression, and foster an international community of writers. Not until recently have we had the means to share our concerted efforts. PEN is pleased to present The Best of PEN 2007, featuring exclusive online conversations, essays, poetry, translations, audio clips from PEN programming, and photo galleries. Check back each week for new additions.”

2008 PEN LITERARY AWARDS
Call for Submissions
PEN American Center is currently accepting nominations and submissions for the 2008 Awards. Honors will be awarded in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, translation, and children’s literature.

PEN History
“The P.E.N. (poets, playwrights, essayists, editors, and novelists) American Center was founded in New York City in the spring of 1922. A year earlier in London, the first seed of building an international organization had been sown: Mrs. C. A. Dawson Scott, a Cornish novelist, and John Galsworthy, a well-known literary figure, together founded the first P.E.N. organization, and decided to call it “The P.E.N. Club.” This Club was borne out of Mrs. Dawson Scott’s “unshakable conviction that if the writers of the world could learn to stretch out their hands to each other, the nations of the world could learn in time to do the same.” The idea could not have come at a more appropriate time, as bitter hatred existed between the nations following the First World War.”

National Poetry Series Open Seeks Student Submissions 2.15.08

The National Poetry Series seeks book-length manuscripts of poetry written by American citizens. All manuscripts must be previously unpublished, although some or all of the individual poems may have appeared in periodicals. Five manuscripts will be chosen, each winning $1,000 and publication by one of the NPS participating publishers: HarperCollins, Penguin Books, Coffee House Press, Fence Books and another press to be announced. New for 2008, NPS is teaming up with mtvU to promote poetry to college students nationwide. One of the five winning NPS titles will be chosen from college student entrants to receive the NPS and mtvU prize. The winning manuscript will be published by HarperPerennial, and the winning student will have the opportunity to interview judge Yusef Komunyakaa on mtvU. Entry period January 1 through February 15, 2008.

Submissions :: Ninth Letter 2.08

“Ninth Letter will publish a special section in the upcoming Spring 08 issue featuring poems about music. All music. Jazz, Blues, Classical, Reggae, Funk, Country, etc., etc., etc. For the first time, we will be accepting submissions via e-mail as well as traditional postal service.”

Comment 1/3/08: jodee stanley said…
Just a couple corrections to note: we are reading in the spring for the music poetry feature, but the feature will actually appear in the Fall 2008 issue. And we have opened an online submissions system, but we still do not accept submissions via email attachment–please use our electronic submission database as indicated in our guidelines. Thanks!

Submissions/Peer Reviewers :: Digital Humanities Quarterly

Digital Humanities Quarterly (DHQ) is an open-access, peer-reviewed, digital journal covering all aspects of digital media in the humanities. Published by the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO), DHQ is also a community experiment in journal publication, with a commitment to: experimenting with publication formats and the rhetoric of digital authoring; co-publishing articles with Literary and Linguistic Computing (a well-established print digital humanities journal) in ways that straddle the print/digital divide; using open standards to deliver journal content; developing translation services and multilingual reviewing in keeping with the strongly international character of ADHO.

DHQ will publish a wide range of peer-reviewed materials: Scholarly articles; Editorials and provocative opinion pieces; Experiments in interactive media; Reviews of books, web sites, new media art installations, digital humanities systems and tools; A blog with guest commentators.

Digital humanities is a diverse and still emerging field that encompasses the practice of humanities research in and through information technology, and the exploration of how the humanities may evolve through their engagement with technology, media, and computational methods. DHQ seeks to provide a forum where practitioners, theorists, researchers, and teachers in this field can share their work with each other and with those from related disciplines.

Call for Reviewers
DHQ is recruiting peer reviewers in all areas of digital humanities. Visit the Peer Reviewing page for more information or to volunteer.

Call for Submissions
DHQ welcomes submissions of articles, reviews, and opinion pieces in all areas of the digital humanities. All materials are peer-reviewed. Consult the Submission Guidelines for information about content and format requirements.

Submissions :: Babel Fruit

Babel Fruit, the online journal for “writing under the influence of the other,” welcomes submissions for the February spring issue. Poetry, prose, and creative non-fiction are welcome. For reviews and previews please query first. Babel Fruit accepts previously published work if it is not available online. babelfruit.org is an independent initiative in cooperation with the International Cities of Refuge Network.

Submissions :: Apple Valley Review 2.15.08

The Apple Valley Review, a semiannual online literary journal, will be accepting submissions of poetry, short fiction, and essays for its Spring 2008 issue until February 15, 2008.

All work must be original, previously unpublished, and in English. No genre fiction, explicit work, or anything particularly violent or depressing. Also, no simultaneous submissions. All published work is considered for the annual editor’s prize.

The Fall 2007 issue of the journal featured fiction by Miriam Sagan, Barry Jay Kaplan, Fraser Sutherland, and Robert Miltner; essays by Jo Barney and Chantel Acevedo; a series of short texts by John Taylor; creative nonfiction by Cathy Warner; an author interview with Sue William Silverman conducted by Angela M. Graziano; poetry by Kenneth Pobo, Rob Hardy, David Cazden, Kevin McLellan, Martha Christina, Bonnie Bolling, Bob Bradshaw, Francine M. Tolf, Rodger LeGrand, Maureen Tolman Flannery, Michael Trammell, Jennifer Armentrout, Richard Stolorow, Kendra Aber-Ferri, Deja Earley, Perry Higman, Christine Vovakes, Shoshauna Shy, Kyle Hemmings, Christopher Kelen, William Reichard, Kimberly L. Becker, Janice D. Soderling, Chris Anderson, Matthew Schoesler, Thomas D. Reynolds, Randall Horton, Daniel Sumrall, M.L. Liebler, C. Delia Scarpitti, Gloria J. Bennett, Karen Schubert, Katie Fesuk, and Tom Harmon; and artwork by Michael Abraham