Submissions accepted year-round.
The Blue Mountain Review launched from Athens, Georgia in 2015 with the mantra, “We’re all south of somewhere.” As a journal of culture the BMR strives to represent life through its stories. Stories are vital to our survival. Songs save the soul. Our goal is to preserve and promote lives told well through prose, poetry, music, and the visual arts. Our editors read year-round with an eye out for work with homespun and international appeal. We’ve published work by and interviews with Jericho Brown, Kelli Russell Agodon, Robert Pinsky, Rising Appalachia, Nahko, Michel Stone, Genesis Greykid, Cassandra King, Melissa Studdard, and A.E. Stallings.
George Mason University’s Creative Writing Program Launches New Center
George Mason University’s creative writing program has recently announced the creation of Watershed Lit: Center for Literary Engagement and Publishing Practice. This new center “represents a commitment to the dynamic ways literature connects people” as well as to students’ professional development. The name emerged from the importance of place and a connection to geography.
Gregg Wilhelm, director of Mason Creative Writing, says “if students graduate from the program without being more thoroughly prepared for the job market, we think that’s a disservice. The many ways students can get involved with Watershed Lit make for unique experiential learning, resume building opportunities.” With the new center, students will be able to explore traditional publishing, digital publishing, literary arts festival management, the evolving roles of literary journals, and so much more.
Watershed Lit’s leadership team consists of representatives of the English Department and the partner enterprises: Fall for the Book, Stillhouse Press, Cheuse Center for International Writers, Poetry Daily, Northern Virginia Writing Project, phoebe, and So to Speak.
A temporary website has launched at watershedlit.gmu.edu. Read the full press release.
Weekly Round-up of Calls & Contests :: January 22, 2021
Did you know the January 2021 eLitPak was mailed to our newsletter subscribers last week? Not a subscriber? Join our list today! It’s free. Plus you get early access to ads being posted to NewPages throughout the week along with lit mag, program, event, & book news.
Call for Submissions Round-up
You can view all active calls for submissions by visiting our website. Plus, if you have a young writer in your house, don’t forget you can find publications for them to submit to in our Young Writers Guide.
Girls Right the World Issue 5
Extended Deadline: January 31, 2021
Girls Right the World is a literary journal inviting young, female-identified writers and artists, ages 14–21, to submit work for consideration for the fifth annual issue. We believe girls’ voices transform the world for the better. We accept poetry, prose, and visual art of any style or theme. We ask to be the first to publish your work in North America; after publication, the rights return to you. Send your best work, in English or English translation, to girlsrighttheworld@gmail.com by January 31, 2021. Please include a note mentioning your age, where you’re from, and a bit about your submission.
Call for Submissions: Essential Voices: A COVID-19 Anthology
Deadline: February 15, 2021
While the pandemic has ravaged our world, certain populations have been impacted more deeply than others. Essential Voices strives to give voice to those who have been silenced. Send us your poems, stories, recipes, or works of art that reflect upon the experience of COVID and COVID related issues in your life. This anthology will be published by West Virginia University Press. Visit us at www.essentialvoicesanthology.wordpress.com for guidelines before submitting to essentialanthology@gmail.com. [Read more…] about Weekly Round-up of Calls & Contests :: January 22, 2021
Sponsor Spotlight :: Gemini Magazine
Founded in 2009, online literary magazine Gemini was started by editor David Bright with the goal of presenting high-quality prose, poetry, and art in an appealing, easy-to-read format. 12 years later, they are still going strong. Check out their December 2020 issue which features their Flash Fiction Prize winners (Harper Darnell and Barbara Ritchie) and honorable mentions along with a poem by Travis Stephens, cartoon by Bill Thomas, and a story from their archives.
They are currently open to submissions for their 12th Annual Short Story Prize through March 31. First place receives $1,000 and publication.
They publish a new issue every two to three months and also feature the occasional short play, memoir, poetry music videos, though-provoking lists, and more.
Stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more.
Sponsor Spotlight: Fjords Review
Fjords Review is an annual print literary magazine featuring a wide range of diverse voices on a variety of topics. They also offer exclusive online content including reviews and interviews. Recent interviewees include Italo-Brazilian artist Laura Pretto Vargas and artist Jerry Anderson.
They celebrated 10 years of publication in 2020 and received a 2021 Pushcart Prize. They are open to submissions year-round and offer a free download of their Women’s Edition for a taste of what they like. They participate in Choice Magazine Listening which provides free audio recordings to the visually impaired.
While waiting for the release of their 2021 Edition, grab a copy of the 2020 issue, peruse their website content, and subscribe today. Don’t forget to stop by their listing on NewPages to learn more about them.
Call :: Mistake House: a space between ordinary and odd
Mistake House Magazine seeks work that speaks to the heart in a complex global context. Submissions, including work in translation, accepted through March 15, 2021 from students currently enrolled in graduate or undergraduate programs worldwide. See guidelines at www.mistakehouse.org/submit/. Mistake House: a space between ordinary and odd.
Contest :: 2021 Nervous Ghost Press Book Prizes for Poetry and Prose
Deadline: January 31, 2021
Nervous Ghost Press is currently accepting manuscript submissions for the 2021 Nervous Ghost Press Prizes for Poetry and Prose. $1000, publication, author copies, and a California reading tour to each winner (virtual tour depending on Covid-19 travel restrictions). $24 entry fee via Submittable – discounts and fee waivers are available. All genres are accepted except for work in translation. Open to those with a valid US mailing address. Deadline: January 31, 2021. Judges are Debra Moore Munoz (prose) & Michale Graves (poetry). For more information and complete guidelines, please visit: www.nervousghostpress.com/prizes or contact ghosts@nervousghostpress.com.
Event :: Driftwood Seminars for Fiction Writers & Poets
Deadline: February 14, 2021
Event Dates: February 15 – March 19, 2021 Event Location: Virtual
Both of our beloved seminars have returned! Whether you’re a fiction writer looking to improve your craft or a poet looking to build a chapbook, we have a seminar ready for you. Both seminars will run concurrently, from Feb 15th to Mar 19th. Check out the testimonial below, and make sure to join your course before the seats fill! “[Instructor James’] sincerity and love for the “craft” (and for literature itself) came through loud and clear in this seminar. It is clearly a daily labor of love to maintain an exemplary literary journal like Driftwood…. You have given us a candid glimpse behind the curtain.”—Richard Ellett Mullin, on the Editors & Writers Seminar. “The Driftwood Press Chapbook seminar is an insightful look into an often-overlooked way to collect work. Led by a strong coach, the five-week course was insightful and engaging even for experienced writers.”—Anonymous, on the Chapbook Seminar
January 2021 eLitPak :: CARVE Magazine: Get 30% off a One-year Subscription
Exclusive for NewPages fans: Get 30% off a one-year print or digital subscription to CARVE. That’s four issues featuring new HONEST FICTION, poetry, essays, interviews, illustrations, and more. Discover a new borderless and diverse community within the pages of CARVE. Use code NEWPAGES21 at checkout—hurry, our next issue ships soon! Discount expires 2/28/2021. Visit our website.
View the full January 2021 eLitPak Newsletter. Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on our weekly newsletter and monthly eLitPaks.
January 2021 eLitPak :: Explore Your Wild at the Elk River Writers Workshop
The Elk River Writers Workshop takes place at Chico Hot Springs, Montana, bringing together some of the country’s most celebrated nature writers with students who are serious about fostering a connection with the environment in their writing. This year, we are thrilled to welcome faculty members Rick Bass, Linda Hogan, J. Drew Lanham, William Pitt Root, and Pamela Uschuk.
View the full January 2021 eLitPak Newsletter. Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on our weekly newsletter and monthly eLitPaks.
January 2021 eLitPak :: $5,000 Miller Williams Poetry Prize
Submit to the $5,000 Miller Williams Poetry Prize, selected by Patricia Smith! Submission deadline: September 30, 2021.
View the full January 2021 eLitPak Newsletter. Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on our weekly newsletter and monthly eLitPaks.