The Awakenings Review is an annual lit mag committed to publishing poetry, short story, nonfiction, photography, and art by writers, poets and artists who have a relationship with mental illness: either self, family member, or friend. Our striking hardcopy publication is one of the nation’s leading journals of this genre. Creative endeavors and mental illness have long had a close association. The Awakenings Review publishes works derived from artists’, writers’, and poets’ experiences with mental illness, though mental illness need not be the subject of your work. Visit www.AwakeningsProject.org for submission guidelines. Check out our latest issue featuring work from Lora Keller, Cornelia A. Blair, Jennifer Fulco, Judith Levison, Jacalyn Shelley, Janet Garber, Aden Ross, Shao Wei, Fred Yannantuono, Jean Tucker, Alan Sugar, and more.
Poetry
Sponsor Spotlight :: Michener Center for Writers MFA in Writing
The Michener Center for Writers is the only MFA program in the world that provides full and equal funding to every writer, yet it is the extraordinary faculty and sense of community that most distinguishes them. Theirs is a three-year, fully funded residency program with a unique interdisciplinary focus. While writers apply and are admitted in a primary genre—fiction, poetry, playwriting, or screenwriting—they also study a secondary genre during their time in Austin.
Enrolled students have no teaching duties, allowing them to fully commit themselves to their writing. Only 12 writers are admitted to the program each year so that faculty have ample time to devote to every writer. Current faculty includes Joanna Klink, Lisa Olstein, Roger Reeves, Dean Young, Edward Carey, Oscar Casares, Peter LaSalle, Bret Anthony Johnston, Elizabeth McCracken, Deb Olin Unferth, Stuart Kelban, Richard Lewis, Cindy McCreery, Beau Thorne, Annie Baker, Liz Engelman, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Kirk Lynn, and KJ Sanchez.
Writers also have the opportunity gain professional editing experience with literary magazine Bat City Review; a collaborative process between the Michener Center for Writers, the New Writers Project, and Studio Art.
Stop by their listing at NewPages to learn more.
Call :: Rockvale Review Issue 7
Deadline: September 30, 2020
We love image-driven poetry that is both bold and vulnerable. Send us 1-3 poems in a single document through Submittable. Every submission is given careful consideration and is read by multiple editors. We care about your work! We also love blending poetry with art and music. All accepted poems are paired with an original piece of art and 5 are chosen for a musical response. Please read all guidelines carefully. We read blind, so no names on the uploaded poems please. To submit, visit: rockvalereview.com/submissions/.
Call :: Nzuri Seeks Work for Fall 2020 & Spring 2021 Issues
The objective of Nzuri (meaning Beautiful/Fine in Swahili) is to promote the artistic, aesthetic, creative, and scholarly work consistent with the values and ideals of Umoja community. African American and Other Writers and Artists are urged to submit their best written or artistic work for consideration. Check out open submission opportunities for Nzuri Journal of Coastline College at nzuriumojacommunity.submittable.com/submit. We are now accepting submissions in all categories for the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 issues. Essays and fictional pieces should be a maximum of 4,000 words. Website: nzuriJournal.com.
Reminder :: Chestnut Review Invites Submissions Year Round
CHESTNUT REVIEW (“for stubborn artists”) invites submissions year round of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, art, and photography. We offer free submissions for poetry (3 poems), flash fiction (<1000 words), and art/photography (20 images); $5 submissions for fiction/nonfiction (<5k words), or 4-6 poems. Published artists receive $100 and a copy of the annual anthology of four issues (released each summer). Notification in <30 days or submission fee refunded. We appreciate stories in every genre we publish. All issues free online which illustrates what we have liked, but we are always ready to be surprised by the new! Check out the Summer 2020 issue featuring work by Victoria Nordlund, Juliana Chang, James Owens, Wolff Bowden, Steven Ostrowski, Rick Rohdenburg, Richard Newman, Elisabeth Sharber, Carrie Albert, Angelica Esquivel, Adriana Morgan, Jamie Tews, Erin Little, and William Crawford. chestnutreview.com
NewPages Mag Stand: upstreet
In this issue of upstreet, Vivian Dorsel interviews David Jauss. Fiction by Joseph Bathanti, Lee Martin, Midge Raymond, and more; nonfiction by Mason Cashman, Barbara Haas, Jericho Parms, and others; and poetry by Jennifer Barber, Vincent Bell, Patricia Clark, and more. See other contributors at this week’s Mag Stand.
NewPages Mag Stand: Crazyhorse
The Spring 2020 issue is here and it features the winner of the Crazyshorts! Short-Short Fiction Competition (“Spinning Stories” by Bailey Cunningham) alongside outstanding stories, essays, and poems by Rebecca Morgan Frank, Afabwaje Kurian, Iheoma Nwachukwu, W. Scott Olsen, Ira Sukrungruang, Amy M. Alvarez, and more. Find other contributors at the Mag Stand.
NewPages Mag Stand: Cimarron Review
In the Winter 2020 issue featured this week at NewPages: poetry by Allison Hutchcraft, Jennifer Funk, Toshiaki Komura, Amy Bilodeau, Monica Joy Fara, Darren C. Demaree, Laura Read, Isabelle Barricklow, Amber Arnold, Meriwether Clarke, Amie Irwin, Ben Swimm, Sophia Parnok, Brooke Sahni, Will Cordeiro, and Patrick Yoergler; fiction by Nancy Welch, Dan Pope, and Michael Deagler; and nonfiction by R Dean Johnson and Jon Volkmer.
Reminder :: Center for Creative Writing Offers Virtual Opportunities for Writers
Deadline: Year-round
The Center for Creative Writing has been guiding aspiring writers toward a regular writing practice for more than 30 years. Our passionate, published teachers offer inspiring online writing courses in affordable six-week sessions, as well as one-on-one services (guidance, editing) and writing retreats (virtual for 2020). Whatever your background or experience, we can help you become a better writer and put you in touch with the part of you that must write, so that you will keep writing. Join our inclusive, supportive community built on reverence for creativity and self-expression, and find your way with words. Creativewritingcenter.com.
Baltimore Review Summer 2020 Contest Winners
Have you visited the latest issue of Baltimore Review yet? In the Summer 2020 issue, readers can find the latest contest winners.
Flash Fiction
“Telephone” by Cara Lynn Albert
Flash Creative Nonfiction
“Kept Miniature in Size” by Ellie Roscher
Prose Poetry
“Absence Archive” by Anita Olivia Koester
Check out the full new issue, or spend some time just taking in the contest winners. Either way is a great way to spend some of your Sunday.
Sponsor Spotlight :: Radar Poetry
Radar Poetry is an online literary magazine devoted to publishing poems from both established and emerging writers. The journal was founded in 2013 by Rachel Marie Patterson and Dara-Lyn Shrager. Each issue features pairings of poetry and visual art, selected by the editors and contributors. They seek to feature visual art that interprets, reimagines, or responds to the poem with which it appears.
Issues are published quarterly and the founders and editors also host workshops and retreats.
Each year, Radar Poetry hosts the Coniston Prize. This award is open to female-identifying poets writing in English. The prize is currently accepting submissions through September 1. This year’s judge is Ada Limón. The winning poet receives $1,500 and publication. $10 reading fee.
Issue 27, published in July, features poetry and art by Lauren Camp, Walker Evans, Jen Jabaily-Blackburn, Dante DiStefano, Honour Mack, Martha McCollough, Jack Delano, and more.