Incendiary Lit

So I hope you have your Poet’s Market dog-eared, Duotrope and New Pages bookmarked, and a pantsload of postage ready. To refresh on what you really need to submit: a manilla envelope large enough to not have to fold your submission (it’s a professionalism thing, which I learned from an editor at the Iowa Review, thank you Nic, for helping a yound writer out) a standard business sized envelope (for your Self Addressed and Stamped Envelope. (That’s right, M. Doughty, join the 5% Nation of SASE), a brief cover letter that says the bare essentials of information for your submission (name, address, phone, email, like a 30 word bio, the titles of the piece(s) submitted, and you know, a little schmoozing goes a long ways. Now, don’t go overboard and gush and gush about a journal you’ve never read, but if you have read it before and can remember a piece from it, mention liking it. It’s just a little coutesy to the editors who have no clue if people are liking what they’ve chosen to include. Or, if you are familiar with an editor’s work, let them know what you liked. As a writer myself, I know the very few times I’ve ever heard about my work I’ve glowed about the compliment. It’s a rare thing to get an unsolicited compliment about your writing, and editors are people and writers too. Be kind to them. Great Writing- If you haven’t read much contemporary poetry, or fiction, try to read a copy of the journal you’re submitting to. Now, with the smaller journals especially, it can be hard to get ahold of one, and buying 20 different sample copies may be a little difficult, but at least, at least read a couple sample pieces on the journal’s website. Most have a couple posted to cut down on the inappropriate submissions. I’ve been guilty of submitting inappropriate work to journals, I think it’s part of the trial and error style of submissions that most novice writers go through before they learn the ropes from either an editor, a fellow writer, or another source (I highly recommend Poet’s Market for poets. It’s a tactile, and very helpful source that you can flip through while bored. It even lists a few writers who’ve been published there, so you can have something of a gauge even before you read it what they like, though most journals are ridiculously ecclectic. And finally, stamps. Here’s a simple guide: it is $1.17 for 3 ounces first class postage for your large manilla envelope along with a single page cover letter (for your own bennefit, don’t even come close to hitting a second page), and 6 more pieces of paper. Be it four single page pieces and one 2-pager, one six page piece, or whatever, 7 total pieces of paper. If it’s one more piece of paper you have to add an additional $.17 stamp. If you have 15 pieces, again, add another $.17 stamp, and so forth. Get these stamps from the post office, or wait in line to weight each envelop and mail them like that if you’re unsure about the postage. And never send it certified… journals don’t sign for submissions. It’s just not how they do it. Trust in the USPS, at least a little. And finally, you need some understanding of the journal publishing world. You don’t need experience, but knowledge that most journals can only (and I mean they only have the page space possible, regardless of quality) accept under 10% of the work submitted to them. So there will be a lot of rejection. Even famous writers… David Kirby’s poem “At the Grave of Harold Goldstein” was rejected on 17 separate occasions before it was finally accepted at Parnassus, and then it went on to be selected for that year’s Best American Poetry. So don’t let some rejection bother you. Maybe it had been an especially competitive month, or year even. Journals will get spikes in good submissions some years, and the bar for acceptance will be significantly higher. Sometimes you’ll have an editor in a bad mood, or if you’re lucky, a good mood. Editors are people too, and they are flawed, and subjective. Realize that, and be cool about it. I’ve probably got at least 300 rejections in my files. Maybe more. It happens. But it makes those acceptances all the sweeter. Have at it guys. Get organizing and figure out who you want to send which pieces. Huzzah!

This is an interesting list of submission turn offs from the editor of The North American Review Vince Gotera. Those who are thinking about starting to submit their work for publication should check over this list, maybe even print it out. Those who already are submitting, look it over to make sure you’re not accidentally breaking submission etiquette. Everyone that has a Facebook profile should go here and friend “Friends of the North American Review”

Okay … for me, the “turn-off” is different for each poem I ultimately reject. Here are a few immediate turn-offs, in no particular order:

• Botched ending … forced, too explanatory, too “universalized”
• Clumsy use of form … for example, if sonnet or sestina, etc.
• Slow getting going … should rock from first line down
• Too much full rhyme … I prefer slant rhyme
• Uninformed line breaks … be aware of lineation effects
• Abstract or image-less … unless experimental
• Superficial topic or handling
• Obviously unaware of poetic tradition(s)
• Cover letter explains poem … inexperienced submitter
• Poem sent with vita or résumé … very inexperienced submitter
• Says “copyright …” … does writer think I’ll steal the poem?
• Centered lines … unless important for theme
• Badly edited … errors, typos, grammar, etc.
• Font too small … many editors are older and have old eyes
• Monotype font or font too fancy … hard to read quickly
• Pseudonyms … let’s back up our writing with our names, ppl
• Handwritten … usually from prisoners, though I’ve accepted
poems by prisoners.

There are other turn-offs but that’s all I can think of at the moment.

I do want to say that I don’t just drop the poem. My eyes touch every word. I read very quickly and wait for the poem to say, “whoa, you’re reading too fast.”

I love Duotrope. Don’t get me twisted, but sometimes I get a hankering for something to hold in my hands and look at while I’m watching Top Chef or The Office or MST3K or whatever. That’s when I bust out the good old Poet’s Market (used 2007’s at amazon for under $3!) and start flipping through it. I have the last 5. It’s definitely a nice tool to have, Writer’s Digest does a good job on them. I’ve read almost all of the articles in each one, and it’s definitely helped me find journals that seem likely to be more sympathetic to my type of poetry. Of course, there are other all prose journals, and probably at least another dozen or two magazines that accept submissions over the summer, but many don’t. So here’s a bunch of good ones (and some links to help you along), (e)= accepts email submissions and NoSS= doesn’t accept simultaneous submissions.

A-C

ACM (Another Chicago Magazine), Apalachee Review, Arable (e), Artful Dodge, Asheville Poetry Review, Backwards City Review (e), Baltimore Review, Barrow Street, Beloit Poetry Journal NoSS, Bitter Oleander NoSS(not in July), Black Warrior Review, Burnside Review (e), California Quarterly (CA residents only), Carolina Quarterly NoSS, Chaffin Journal (Only accepts during summer), Chattahoochee Review NoSS, Chautauqua Literary Review, Christian Science Monitor (keep in mind their positive sensibilities), Cimarron Review, Coal City Review NoSS, Common Ground Review NoSS, Connecticut Review, Cottonwood Review NoSS, Crab Creek Review, Cranky (e), Crazyhorse

D-L

Diner, Edgz, Epicenter, 5AM NoSS, Gargoyle Magazine (e), Good Foot, Hanging Loose NoSS, Harpur Palate, Hazmat Review NoSS, Hiram Poetry Review, Hudson Review NoSS, Indiana Review, The Journal, Lake Effect, The Ledge, Louisville Review, Lungfull! Magazine

M-P

Main St. Rag, Manoa, Margie, Massachusetts Review NoSS, Michigan Quarterly Review NoSS, Midwest Quarterly, Miller’s Pond, Mudfish, Nerve Cowboy, The New Criterion, New Letters NoSS, New Zoo Poetry Review, Nexus, Nimrod, North American Review NoSS, North Dakota Quarterly NoSS, Northwest Review NoSS, One Trick Pony NoSS, Pacific Coast Journal, Pebble Lake Review, Pennsylvania English, Pikeville Review NoSS, Pleiades, Poet Lore, Poetry NoSS, Portland Review

Q-Z

Quercus Review NoSS, Rainbow Curve, Raintown Review, Redgreene Review, Redivider, River Styx, Roanoke Review, Sewanee Review NoSS, Slipstream, Smartish Pace, Southeast Review, Southern Humanities Review NoSS, Southern Poetry Review, Southwest Review NoSS, Sow’s Ear Poetry Review, Spillway, Spinning Jenny (e) NoSS, The Sun NoSS, Texas Poetry Journal (e), Third Coast, Threepenny Review NoSS, Timber Creek Review (short poems only), Verse, Virginia Quarterly Review NoSS, Westview, Whiskey Island.

These cover letters are fairly similar to the cover letters in Poet’s Market, which are pretty simple templates but helpful for those just starting to submit to literary magazines.

Click here to see the post at Poetic Asides.

The Writers @ Work (where hip meets lit according to their website) is a conference held in Utah June 23rd-27th. Yes, just days after my birthday and I didn’t win free tuition from a pool of hundreds. So sad. Anyway, here are the winners. Go here to check out more information about the conference. It looks really cool.

(from their website www.writersatwork.org)

Winner: Margot Wizansky, Brookline, MA, for “Cosmography”

About “Cosmography,” Ms. Addonizio had the following comments:

“The author of ‘Cosmography’ has a gift for narrative and for language which creates an experience of lived life for the reader. I admired this writer’s ability to convincingly render the voice of an eighteenth-century midwife in the ambitious opening poem. Like the description of a steak in ‘Breakfast at the Retirement Home,’ the writing here is often ‘luscious, blood-rare.’ ”

1st Honorable Mention: Keegan Goodman, Chicago, IL, for “Four Poems (’Residence’ and others)”

About “Four Poems: (”Residence” and others):

“From an autobiography written by a dead man to a woman attempting to construct human beings out of grease fat and coffee grounds, these prose poems create their own marvelous and off-kilter worlds.”

—

I don’t know about you guys, but that first honorable mention sounds awfully interesting. Russell Edson-esque is what I’m hoping for, but we’ll see. These winners will be published in an upcoming Quarterly West, and will receive free tuition to the Writers at Work conference. The poetry winners were chosen by Kim Addonizio, fiction by Steve Almond, nonfiction by Abigail Thomas. The other winners were (fiction)

Winner: Ben Roberts, Ogden, UT, for “The Three Nephites”

About “The Three Nephites,” Mr. Almond had this to say:

“My God. I was absolutely blown away by this story, which does what every great short story must: it creates its own world and sucks the reader into that world and horrifies us and at the same time (and this is the miracle, I think) makes us never want to leave. The voice is absolutely fearless, ecstatic, and dangerously wise. I could feel my heart thumping as I read the last line, and for a long time after.”

(not exactly a scathing review) and nonfiction:

Winner: Valerie Due, San Diego, CA (Yay San Diego), for “The Skinning Board”

About “The Skinning Board,” Ms. Thomas has the following comments:

“I love the emotional restraint coupled with the ravishing prose of the piece. It serves so perfectly the young narrator whose initiation into the harsh realities of life–and death–on a farm is being presented here.”

Guerilla Poetry is just like guerilla warfare or guerilla adrvertising (stickers and posters a street signs, walls etc.) only with poetry. Guerilla Poetics is one group that does this, and Incendiary Lit would like to be another, but we’d need your help! We’re planning on making little photo bookmarks mostly (so very short lined poems are ideal), taking them into all the bookstores and libraries we (and anyone who’d be willing to help, we’d send the  bookmarks to you and everything) can find and hiding them in popular books, as well as some more traditional flyers, to put around various college campuses, malls, maybe solicitor style under windshields with a christmas poem at christmas time. Who knows. We’d like to see/hear your ideas or poem suggestions (yours or others’) to zebulonhuset (a-t) yahoo (diz-zot) com(edy). Hopefully that’ll avoid spammers, or just comment here. Word. Any photographers or artists who’d be willing to help with graphics would be greatly appreciated as well.

Jessica and I are working on an independent study class right now that involves reading as many 2007 journals that we can find, and pick the ones we like the most. The project still has a ways, but I’ve really started noticing some of the same names, especially in the smaller journals like Cairn and the Pacific Review the Willow Review and the like. Patrick Carrington, Sean Kilpatrick, Jonathon Wells, Emma Bolden, Geof Hewitt, Gary Nowacki, and Marilyn Ringer. This, of course, is merely coming from some guy who thinks he’s learning to become a poet, so take it with a grain of salt. The names may be terribly familiar, or new, but check out their poems when you come across them, at very worst they’ll be decent poems. I guarantee it.

We’re on Spring Break in San Diego, and no, that’s not a new reality show on VH1, though it could be. They’re about ready to catch up to Real World San Diego… but yeah, so we’ve been quite busy. One thing people should check out, though, is AgentQuery.com It’s a very useful site for those seeking representation. Kind of like a duotrope for agents. I’ll write more about that when we return to Long Beach.

Though more journals end their submission periods after next month, this month has quite a few, including:

Buffalo Carp, Crab Orchard Review, Cream City Review, Crucible (4/15), Epoch (4/15), Grasslands Review, Lips, Notre Dame Review, Paterson Literary Review, Saranac Review

They’re just awesome, and I heart them. Just wanted to say that. They keep in touch with you throughout the whole process of publishing your work, they offer helpful editorial suggestions, but work with you on them. They understand when you can’t get back to them right away, and they just have a great eye for writing. Well, I exclude my own writing from that, of course, because I don’t want to sound cocky, I mean all the poetry they choose is excellent, and all of the poems give you more than one rewarding reading.

Bret Lott has sadly left TSR to return to teaching, but that should be nice for him. Also, he has a son named Zeb, so he’s automatically cool. But the whole TSR staff are wonderful, and I would highly recommend sending them your very best work. But the new editor is also a very capable writer: Jeanne Leiby (you may have read her award winning collection Downriver, released just last November).

OK, I’ll stop gushing now. But, be sure to check out the Spring 2008 issue which will include my poem “When someone suggested mushrooms on the pizza” and tell me how cool I am, or how much I suck. I’m open to varying opinions.

It’s actually really cool. At the Donald Maass Literary Agency website there’s a list of possible books that each agent would like to read. They’re big on sci-fi, Donald Maass, for instance, wants the next Dune… they go into somewhat decent detail about what they’re looking for also, which is awesome, because it’s almost like a writing exercise on a very large scale, if you’re trying to figure out what your new novel about. Every month they update the list of novels they want to read, I believe. YA, fantasy, sci-fi, political thrillers,

This is a very informative, and interesting interview with Lynn Nesbit, partner of Janklow and Nesbit Associates, big time New York Literary agents. She’s represented Tom Wolfe, Michael Crichton and Hunter S. Thompson amongst other literary luminaries. She discusses Print on Demand, the fracturing of publishing giants, the eccentrics, including a funny anecdote about Hunter S. Thompson, and discussion of the “Hollywoodization” (my retarded term, not hers) of the publishing industry. Definitely something to check out. Thank you again Poets and Writers. Looking forward to the first issue of the new subscription I just, finally renewed.

There are those who have a blind hatred for the sci-fi/fantasy and won’t crack the cover unless looking for something to take a jab at. Funk those people. The majority of people who read (and more importantly, who buy books) look for entertainment within their substance, and will suspend disbelief for a good enough yarn. What elevates a good science fiction/fantasy novel from the base term of “genre” is usually the development of characters. All other factors are important, but the thing that is the same about almost all “genre” novels, is the cast of half sketched archetypal, flat characters, while lavish details of scene and exposition of the ‘world’ thicken the book without connecting, thus slowly disconnecting the reader from the character. Good fiction develops interesting characters until you feel like you know them, and when their decisions surprise you, even then you understand the choices. So, for those who write something they despise being considered “genre-dreck” or whatever, consider the strength of your characters as well as the people you’ve chosen to share your work with. Some have plugged their ears entirely, but most just need a little extra convincing. But don’t forget that people love a good saga. Just ask Issac Asimov, JRR Tolkien, Ursala LeGuin, CS Lewis, Frank Herbert etc etc.

To set up a scholarship in perpetuity, as in, one time fee for virtually eternity of every year payouts. The Academy of American Poets works with colleges to set up writing scholarships at schools. A one time payment of just $2,500 gets a $100 scholarship/prize every year. That could fund a small college journal’s contest perhaps. With $25,000 (about) you can get $1,000. Did anyone say book contest? By arranging contests and scholarships at your school press it could do a few things. You can set up a class dedicated to the selection and production of the prize winning book, like Fresno State’s “Philip Levine Prize.” You can raise the quality of submissions to your journal, because, lets face it, we break out the bigger guns for cash. As a writer it’s great to actually get paid for your efforts in cashy money. This means a general increase in the quality of work submitted, as most contests say all work submitted will be considered for publication… See, like Admiral Akbar so cleverly observed “It’s a trap!” But it will result in more exposure to your magazine, and better quality work, making it even more of something that people are excited to be published in. Even if your magazine’s already really good, it will also bring you the satisfaction of doing your part to help young writers getting the attention they deserve. Here’s a link to more official looking information about setting up a scholarship/prize in perpetuity on The Academy of American Poets website. One that doesn’t have pictures of star wars characters on it, I guess.

A) I mean, come on guys, why don’t you know this already. If statement A doesn’t apply to you because B) you have already submitted, take this as a “Good one,” a pat on the back for supporting your literary community, if it doesn’t apply to you because of C) You don’t care, then tell me how little you care about these contests. Most creative wins a prize. Something glorious. Anyway October 31 is the deadline for:

James Hearst Poetry Prize c/o North American Review which is $18 to enter (includes a year subscription to NAR, which is well worth the $18 by itself) five poems (2 copies of each, no name on them for the blind reading, so make sure to also include braille prints. Or, maybe you can skip them this time.) for the $1000 grand prize.

Also, there is the prestigious APR/Honickman First Book Prize, judged by none other than the great Tony Hoagland. Go buy What Narcissism Means to Me this very instant. Even if you already own it. Someday you’ll need to send a writer a gift, and what finer gift can one hope to receive than one of the most entertaining books of poetry in the last decade? Anyway, basic specifications: $3000 prize for a book of 48 pages or more (by someone who hasn’t published even a long chapbook- over 25 pages). Entry is $25, but this is definitely one of the more prestigious of first book prizes.

November 1 deadlines (remember, that’s only 1 day later)

Bakeless Literary Prizes. This prize is issued in three categories (all for a writer’s first book): Poetry, Fiction, Non Fiction (no scholarly works for non fiction)You win no cash, but get publication by Houghton Miflin, and a free ride to the Breadloaf Writer’s Conference at Middlebury College in Vermont (a $2,200 value for the 11 days and room and board). The entry fee is just $10, so why not, right?

Briar Cliff Review’s prizes in Poetry, Fiction, and Non Fiction. Entry is $15 for the $1000 prize. Up to 3 poems, or one story for each fee. Each entry gets you a copy of the wonderful journal. Here’s my review of the last issue. It’s a very spectacular journal, and you won’t regret entering once you see what a great piece of art the journal is.

For more prize information check out the amazing New Pages contest page… for book contests check the link on the top right of the page. Poet’s and Writers also has a great contest calendar here.

The Mid-American Review’s annual Sherwood Anderson (fiction), James Wright (poetry) and Creative Non Fiction contests are all nearing their postmark deadline of October 20th (Saturday). MAR’s a really cool journal with accessible, well crafted work. The contest judges are David Kirby(poetry), Anthony Doerr(fiction), W Scott Olsen(cnf). I’m really excited about the James Wright prize because I love David Kirby’s work. I know this has no effect on luck I’ll have, but still, the possibility of David Kirby reading my poems is pretty awesome. The entry fee for each contest is $10 (which includes a copy of the winning issue) and the prize is $1000 in each division. Send up to 3 poems, or 6,000 words for prose. Also, if you enter more than one contest, you can also move your second free copy to the next issue (ostensibly)  so it’s like you get a year’s subscription… Here’s the rest of the information about it. It’s a good opportunity to justify buying a sample issue of a journal you’ve never seen at Barnes and Noble at the very least. You get the satisfaction that you made strides to get your work the acclaim it rightly deserves (right?) and you get to read wonderful work, as well as see what a potential market publishes. Win win win.

Let’s just pretend this is the exact predicament you are in: You’ve gotten really serious about your poetry recently, and finally feel like you have a small base of poems (at very least 5, though you can start submitting with as few as 3) that you feel are publishable, and you’re feeling lucky, punk. You should be at least mildly familiar with the journal you’re submitting to. Most literary publications have a website, and the majority of them have sample poems from recent issues. You’d be surprised what some people consider good poetry. That goes both ways, either it’s so weird or unintelligible, or it’s more plainspoken/prosey than an anecdote told at the bar after last call. There’s definitely a home for both in the various literary magazine world. Anyway, you have the faith in your work, and a thick enough skin to accept the inevitable string of rejections. There are very few stories that involve “published on first submission” that didn’t involve some sort of nepotism. The physical items you need are as follows:

9×12 Manila envelopes. Most drug stores sell 3 or 5 packs for a couple bucks. If you think you’ll remain serious about writing, I suggest you make a trip to an Office Depot or Staples or some other big chain of office supply stores. I just got a 100 pack at Staples for $7.29 so it won’t exactly break the bank.

Business sized envelopes. Every submission needs an SASE.

Stamp. OK, here’s the breakdown. Your SASE gets a $.41 stamp, a submission of 7 sheets of paper (don’t forget to include your cover letter in that count) and your SASE is one $.41 stamp, and one $.17 stamp. If your submission is more than 13 pages you need to add another $.17 stamp. If the submission is more than 19 pages add another $.17 stamp. You can usually get the $.17 stamps, as well as the $.41 stamps from a post office’s little stamp vending machine After that rates go up quite a bit. Consult USPS about it. There’s a postage calculator there, just add an ounce for every 6 pages.

Poet’s Market. OK, this is more of a strong suggestion. I haven’t had a chance to see 2008, but 2006 has almost everything that the 2007 has, minus a couple journals you can find on duotrope.com (which is a tremendous resource once you get used to the whole process) and when you get the slightly older version you get it for under $2.50 instead of $25.  If money is not an issue, go here and get the brand spanking new version. The reason I suggest Poet’s market so strongly is they have great stuff like sample cover letters, round table conversations with editors, clear categorizations, and it’s all in the same place, and one you can have on the coffee table to read on South Park commercial breaks.

OK, to summarize, a typical submission (of mine at least, because I generally write one page poems) includes:

1 9×12 manila envelope with one $.41 stamp and one $.17 stamp.

1 SASE (business sized envelope and $.41 stamp)

1 Cover letter with some sort of proof that you’re familiar with the magazine, if applicable. If you flip through a journal at Barnes and Noble even, and liked a poem or story, try to remember that in case you submit. Editors like to know that the people who submit care, even just a little bit, about those struggling to put new journals and books into the world.

5 poems, usually one 2-pager and four 1-pagers. If I think that two 2-page poems would fit the magazine especially well, I may include another one or two of the two page poems that don’t get submitted quite as often. If you write more specialized stylistic stuff that has more of a specific audience, then definitely spring on the extra $.17 stamp to send the poems that are most appropriate.

Other things in formatting of individual poems: Make sure to have your address and phone number (and email if you want to be really hip) on all of your poems and your cover letter. If a poem is more than one page, be sure you have page numbers at least… some editors say they want a header to pages with “continued from” then the last line on the first page. Some say not to staple submissions.

Also, you need to track your submissions. What poems go to what magazine, when is helpful, and what its status is (don’t delete the rejected submissions so you can make sure you don’t accidentally submit the same poem to the same journal twice). This way if a submission’s been at a journal for well after the response time quoted on the website (or in Poet’s Market) you can send an email to the editors with all the information to make their lives easier.

Be sure to check out the journal’s website for specific instructions they may have. For instance, Blue Mesa Review needs 2 copies of each poem with no personal info on them, but only in a cover letter. Concho River Review doesn’t like to get manila envelopes, and prefers folded submissions in a regular business size. The website is also the best place to find out the current position on simultaneous submissions. Hope this helps you with your first submission and thereafter. Soon I’ll have some sample cover letter and submission tracking sheet to help.

So you have your poems collecting dust, the journals they’ve been in are sitting on your bookshelf, or worse even, in a box somewhere. Now what? Put together a book of course. But you don’t want to just slip through the waters of the poetry world and sink to the bottom, you want to make a splash! Well, that’s a lot tougher than it seems like it should be. But your first book winning a prize, that’s a little something extra to put on a resume. Here are some First Book Awards that are coming upon their deadline still in the ‘07 year:

The Gatewood Prize Deadline: October 1 (for only women between 18 and 39)
The Gerald Cable Book Award Deadline: October 15
Three Candles Press First Book Award Deadline: October 15
APR/Honickman First Book Prize in Poetry Deadline: October 31
Patricia Bibby First Book Award Deadline: October 31
Lexi Rudnitsky Poetry Prize Deadline October 31 (For only an American woman)
Walt Whitman Award Deadline: November 15
Yale Series of Younger Poets Deadline: November 15
Perugia Press Prize Deadline: November 15 (for only a woman’s first or second book)
New Issues Poetry Prize Deadline: November 30
A Poulin Jr. Poetry Prize November 30

The Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship is one that falls through the cracks sometimes at it’s deadline of October 15th, and not as many people seem to know about it, as should. So here’s what the deal is: Poets who want to live abroad as some sort of writing fodder, for an entire year (costing in the ball park of $49,000) should apply for this scholarship. Past Lowell Scholars are Nick Flynn, Robert Bly, Phillis Levin, Galway Kinnell, Edward Hirsch, and even Stanley Kunitz (in 1954). To apply you send either a published work and 20 pages of recent work, or if you haven’t published a book, up to 40 pages, as well as a simple application, including a brief travel synopsis. I’m applying, anyone else?

Thank you to the wonderful people at www.newpages.com who offer writers one of the most valuable websites online, behind, of course, icanhascheeseburger.com for their lolcats. Everyone should bookmark New Pages, and move that bookmark to the top of their bookmark list. No scrolling through old links to get to that one. Same with Duotrope.com. Anyway, the point of this is to link to New Pages’ recent literary magazine reviews, which include 6×6, Brilliant Corners (jazz literature), Cave Wall, Columbia, Diner, “Forklift, Ohio” High Desert Journal, Insolent Rudder, Iowa Review, The MacGuffin, Missouri Review, Polyphony HS, Quarterly West, Quay, Smartish Pace, and Versal. That’s a mouthful. Then there’s links to a whole bunch of other reviews. It’s always a good thing to get an outsider’s perspective of a magazine you’re thinking about submitting to. Usually journals don’t like to say what they tend to publish, claiming eclecticism, and though that’s usually the case to an extent, everyone has their own personal lean.