My flash story “Forever Red” has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by the lovely editor of Club Plum, which published the piece in October. I’m stunned and grateful. May the New Year bring us all joy! Here is the story: https://clubplumliteraryjournal.com/donna-shanley/
This one makes me want to sing. Startling and enveloping with its lovely refrain. Congratulations, Donna, on the story, the publication and the nomination!
I was also supposed to have a quirky little holiday story come out this month in Call Me [Brackets], put out by the U of Alabama, but the issue has apparently been delayed. Is this story of mine jinxed? The last time it was accepted a year ago in a different journal, the editor promised me it would appear in their December issue. The issue never got published and hence neither did the story. Is this a repeat of that situation? I hope not. They have three days left to make good on their word.
And this month I received a personal rejection letter from Shenandoah, asking me to submit again: "It really stood out among the submissions this semester! Ultimately, we are passing on the opportunity to publish it in Shenandoah, but please know it was quite accomplished. Journey to the Center felt so solid, the backstory you invented so complete, and music 'insider'-y, affirmed by one of our readers who felt so drawn in by the resonance of the 'one note'. (Out of curiosity, I had to google Journey to the Center to see if it was a phenomenon I had somehow missed and was so delighted to see it was your invention!)
Sorry for being so wordy here, but I am proud of my accomplishments!
Polly, your Newsweek piece is so well done. It’s an important essay, and I’m so proud of you for bravely sharing your valuable insight/experience. Congrats on a very successful month.
Truly that is conveyed in yr writing. I loved how you related the image of the lady’s foot, who you had come to know so well, formulated your own foundation later in life, as though nothing could ever make you lose your balance. And having her name accompanying the painting, cements the women’s identity to yours. Powerful indeed
Congrats on all the pieces, but particularly the Newsweek essay. Sharing that experience took courage, and I believe it will make people more aware and empathetic.
My brag is a bit tangential but here goes. It does involve many poems that first appeared in lit mag's. I learned that my 2021 poetry collection, Sufficient Emptiness from Deerbrook Editions, is in 22 libraries around the country. To name a few: Princeton, Columbia, the N.Y. Public Library system, Stanford, Johns Hopkins and Harvard! The whole list is like that! As a widely unknown 77 year old poet, this is very exciting news - knowing that some of my work is out there in prominent public locations brings joy and satisfaction.
Give yourself a little time (LOL?). This happened as a result of Small Press Distribution closing its doors, which is a sad story, but I assume from my experience that many books were donated to libraries.
Congrats! We're the same age Marjorie, and I too am amazed that I've been so productive and fortunate enough to have been published fairly widely [18 countries with South Korea being the most recent].
Awesome track record, Nolo!!! Applause!! I just got an acceptance from a Pakistan lit-mag ("The Literary Review") . . . . maybe in 10 years I'll catch up to you. LOL
What a jolting lesson in your early life about the beauty of your writing. “Born to be a writer,” as your brother said just before his untimely death. That had to have been a driving force as you continued writing your poetry, or as most writers do, living life in lyrical rhythm everyday. I’m happy your brother conveyed to you his thoughts when he did. And a blessing he typed for you to keep always.💗💙✝️☮️🫶🏻
Wow! Thank you for this moving response! I had no idea anyone would go to my website after reading my brag. I am deeply touched by your words. Blessings to you.
Such an encouraging month here! While on a drive back from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Rhode Island after Thanksgiving, we were stopped at a play area for the kids (and a coffee for the parents) when I found out that a short essay of mine, "Soft Appeal," had been published in the New York Times Metropolitan Diary: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/01/nyregion/metropolitan-diary.html And after much anticipation... the latest New England Review (45.4) arrived in print, featuring a remarkable folio of writing that celebrates or engages with Wong Kar Wai's film Chungking Express around the 30th anniversary of its release: https://www.nereview.com/vol-45-no-4-2024/ It was an absolute thrill to have my hybrid Hong Kong travelogue, Irish family history, and Covid memoir included in such a special issue. Wishes for a happy and peaceful new year to all!
Oh, I should add: if anybody's interested, I recently started a Substack to share my latest writing -- with a bit of context behind each piece: https://seancarlson.substack.com/
I also heard that Loch Raven Review nominated my essay, "The Gravity of Years," for a Pushcart, which was exciting. I shared that essay last month, but I'll use this as an excuse to brag again! https://thelochravenreview.net/elizabeth-bird/
Thanks, Becky, for everything you do; finding Lit Mag News was so important to me!
I'm glad to know about Orange Blossom Review and all the others featuring your work. Some I'd not heard of. While writing my memoir I've often asked my older sister about the time that so and so happened and she'll say she doesn't remember. So much for collaborating. But some stuff we do remember similarly. Always fascinating. As for your mom, I remember walking out on my kids for a good cry now and then. Once I climbed into my neighbor's kids treehouse and sat there in the dark for a moment or two enjoying the quiet. I love how you noticed the coal smear on her cheek and deduced where she'd been. Vivid writing.
Polly, I've heard from so many people about similar experiences with childhood memories! We each create our own story, I suppose, with plenty of overlaps with others on the way. Loved picturing you in the treehouse! And congratulations on all your successes - I am in awe. Newsweek and the Sun in one month!
I remember "Flashbulb" fondly and very much enjoyed "The Gravity of Years." In the latter, I particularly admired your paragraph on the flicker of time and also your excellent ending. Congratulations!
Love your essay in Loch Raven Review. I've been published with them a couple of times. It's a nice journal. Congratulations on your Pushcart nomination. It's a wonderful piece!
Thanks, Kresha! This was my first time submitting to them, after this piece was rejected by a few other places. I found my experience with them a bit unusual -- I got an acceptance through Submittable, telling me it would be published Dec. 15, and nothing else. No direct communication with any editor, ever. Usually there is some back and forth between acceptance and publication. Oh well, I was happy to have it accepted! There are lots of journals from which I've been rejected several times; it always feels rather random!
I've had a couple of experiences similar to yours with OBR--reminding me that a thoughtful rejection can sometimes feel more intimate than a form-letter acceptance. Of course, once I've studied the magazine and worked hard to submit, I'll always prefer the acceptance! Thanks for sharing your experience, another feature of this writers' gab I thoroughly enjoy.
I so enjoy hearing other people's experiences! And I agree - although OBR seemed a little impersonal, it was still an acceptance, and I'll take that any time!
Elizabeth, huge congratulations on your Pushcart nomination! I loved "The Gravity of Years!" I have been to those caves in France and been similarly awed by the beauty of that art.
Thanks, Carol! The non fiction editor, Caryn Coyle was great. She insisted on some edits that at first I didn't like, but quickly realized they made my piece better.
Becky, thank you so much for these little brag pages. Not only do we get to toot our horns, but learn and cherish what others have done. A long the way, read some awesome stories and submit to those pubs, thus making Lit Mag News as my main source for finding new pubs. 2024 was a wonderful year, seven stories published, one short story collection short list, one story quotation, one non-fiction (here in LitMag News), one award. Then this month I received the news that Sequestrum accepted one of my stories, and it will come out on 2025.
The second best part of 24 was how some pubs, like the Missouri Review, Reed Magazine, and Black Warrior Review, took the time to write some incredibly moving rejections. I know, I know, why didn't they publish the stories? It is what it is, and I take their motivation and encouragement any time, since along the way, I have also received just through Submittable 186 rejection for 2024.
Good for you, Luis. RE: those "wonderful personal rejections" . . . I just got one yesterday from The Rumpus, saying my poems made it through to the final round, that they loved my writing, that I must submit again . . . . and it's awfully bittersweet to hear a lit mag editor conclude with "unfortunately, we have to reject great writing all the time." Well, ouch. (It is what it is.)
Yeah, but Luis, don't you hate that feeling of being so close yet so far? What I don't get is, if they like something that much, then why not make room for it, at some time in the future if necessary?
Happy New Year fellow writers! I learned my short piece "Perfidy" won a prize for micro fiction in Writer Advice. It will go live there on January 14th. I'm happy to say I had only submitted it to a handful of publications when I heard the news. I'm getting published on a regular basis now, and I'm excited for what 2025 will bring!
Totally unexpected! It’s so tough to get published, and even more rare to have a piece recognized. Just when acceptances slow down, a gift like this can keep me going.
This is my second piece published with JMWW and my second positive experience. The editors are helpful but respectful in suggesting changes. They are organized and publish when they say they will. A bonus: they used my friend’s photo to accompany the piece so she got an unexpected publication for herself.
And yes, Becky, I absolutely come to this conversation to search for new markets. Thanks for the opportunity to brag and browse!
I loved both pieces especially the piano one. My passion is choral singing and I’m working on a nonfiction essay about singing in the Messiah, so thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you. My students sang the hallelujah chorus every year. Sometimes with an orchestra sometimes just piano accompaniment. Such a tradition! You are part of a worldwide phenomenon. Good luck with your essay.
Becky, thanks as always for this monthly forum! To echo your comment, among the dozen or so fiction publications I had this year, three of them were in lit mags I learned about here: Yellow Mama, Suddenly and Without Warning, and The Odd Magazine.
As far as most notable, that would probably be the story that came out in Feign (no relation). I sent the first version of this out in 2002, and then sporadically over the years since to the tune of close to 30 rejections. Now it's here (and been nominated by the editor for Best of the Net):
I love this sort of story. When you KNOW that your story is strong and it goes through all these rejections and then when it finally gets out there, the positive reaction is so good and it gets nominated. All the feels. Congrats.
I’m so glad you shared your story and its backstory with us. It’s very encouraging to hear about your success with this after so many rejections. You did such a great job with the dialogue in this one, and the ending was so good! Congratulations!
Thanks for reading, and the comment. The story evolved over the years, helped by a few "editorial rejections" here and there with suggestions I eventually acted on.
Thank you, Abby, I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment. Paul was the center of the story from the beginning. Well, and the chimp. That came from a dream I had, many years ago.
So many good lines in "Zeus," but this one: "She is still certain that music is the great love of her life: she simply finds it harder to locate this certainty amongst the violent, visceral hatred she feels towards it" is written like a true creative. LOL
This December, Eat, Darling, Eat published my essay "Mincemeat and Memories" for their Christmas edition. I originally wrote this essay for a contest hosted by Roxanne Gay which called for food-themed submissions. Aimee, the editor, was wonderful to work with. She suggested a few small edits to add context, and she was infinitely patient with me as I sifted through boxes of old photos to find pictures of my mother and grandmother to appear with the essay. The final result was published on December 20 at this link: https://www.eatdarlingeat.net/
My best publication for 2024 was a piece published this summer in Newsweek. I originally wrote this for Under The Sun Magazine, but it was rejected. Luckily, it found a new home with a larger circulation. The editor assigned to me was very kind and helped with a few small edits as well. He is based in the UK, so I communicated with him in the very early hours of the morning, editing in my pajamas. The link to this essay can be found here: https://www.newsweek.com/i-had-heart-transplant-strokethen-set-myself-huge-challenge-1915165
Thank you for letting us share our work here with you!
First, thanks for teaching me about mincemeat. I beieve my gradmother used to serve it with hard saue at Christmas dinners anf though I didn't care for it as a chid, it was particularly Christmasy and will forever remind me of my grandmother. Secondly, congrats on your Newsweek essay. That's an amazing feat, getting to the top of that mountain after surgery. I'm so glad they took your story.
What would The Wife of Bath be like in the modern world? In my stage play ---- “A Worthie Woman All Hir Live” ---- which first met its audience in a theatrical production in San Francisco, California, Chaucer's Allisoun was re-born as Allison Bathfield, Ph.D., a professor of medieval lit and an accomplished murderess.
Then I revised “A Worthie Woman All Hir Live” as an 11-minute radio drama. Here in NYC, Columbia University’s radio station broadcast it once.
In order to bring “A Worthie Woman All Hir Live” to a much wider audience, I revamped as a short story. The Yard: A Crime Blog just published my third rewrite:
Thank you for reading “A Worthie Woman All Hir Live,” dear Chaucer fan! Mr. Perkins broke into Allison Bathfield's house because he blamed her for poisoning his sister-in-law. The reader learns that Perkins knows quite a bit about her late husband - - ex: he liked to drink beer with his meals. Also he claimed John Bathfield was having an affair with his sister-in-law - - and was going to leave Allison for her.
Thank you so much, Donna. When I was 9 years old, I started my long affair with Geoffrey Chaucer. My first graduate degree was in Medieval Lit. Along the way to earning your degree, medievalists will learn how to poison people as effectively as Nannie Doss. :-D When I was writing “A Worthie Woman All Hir Live” (for the third time) in the format of short fiction, my primary thought was, "Now I won't have to spend time with an actress doing all of that Medieval dialogue coaching" so Allison Bathfield could learn how to pronounce her lines. LOL
This month, "Reaching Back" came out from Stillpoint Quarterly in a special issue on Self Portraits. They illustrated my essay with gorgeous images by Mary Cassatt and others. My piece asks, "When did I become alive to myself?" It had previously received 7 rejections.
Another essay, "The Fervent Finger of Blame," was published by The Quiet Reader after being rejected 4 times. This piece was unique for me in that writing it greatly changed my perspective.
By the way, one of the pleasures of seeing one's publication in a literary journal is taking the time to read all the other essays, stories and poems in the issue that published one's own work.
Happy New Year everyone, and may your literary ambitions bear fruit in 2025!
I particularly enjoyed "The Fervent Finger of Blame" for its hindsight and, as you mentioned, change in perspective. In my own work, I've grown to love those events that stubbornly stay with me until I finally understand why. Congratulations, Marcia!
Stillpoint Arts Quarterly is consistently beautiful and affecting, a wonderful combination of art and reflections. Every issue has a theme. I ordered two of their themed back issues, each of which I admired and enjoyed.
Another fruitful month: I wrote three new personal essays in December past month, two of which were accepted quickly (yay!). And the only prose poem I've written in, well, forever was accepted after nine rejections. Years ago I experimented with this form and the idea for the poem came to me, as many do, when walking my dogs. Oh, and another essay of mine will appear in January's Lit Mag News. This one is satire. :-) Which will bring me close to 90 lit mag publications or acceptances in the last 3.5 years. Plus a handful of short stories, and more work is due out after January.
Mille grazie! This may make you smile: back in the summer of 2021 when I had turned from working on my 28th book to write essays and short stories, I told my husband, :It would be nice to publish a handful, maybe even half a dozen by New Year's. So, yeah, maybe 100 by next August but it was always about following my Muse.
I organized a successful book fair for the Arlington Author Salon (Arlington is a close suburb of Boston) and purchased one of the newly published novels, Randy Susan Meyers' The Many Mothers of Ivy Puddingstone, intrigued by the title. Since I have written several book reviews for the Washington Independent Review of Books over the past two years, I contacted the editor to ask if she might be interested. My review appeared last week. (The WIRB only pays $25/review, but it is an online publication that I admire so I'm always glad when I get to participate.)
I think I mentioned this in the LitMag zoom chat last week - Academy of the Heart and Mind is publishing a memoir piece of mine called "Pretty is as Pretty Does" in late Feb. It's a converstaion I had with my mom a few years and gives good insight to what our relationship was like (hint: not really good). It was rejected over 20 times. AHM published another non fiction story of mine back in May called "Nebular".
I also got a very positive rejection from Hex for a story I've writtne called "Permission". They liked the character interactions and said the story was "not our usual decline" which tells me it was probably came thisclose to being accepted.
My flash story “Forever Red” has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by the lovely editor of Club Plum, which published the piece in October. I’m stunned and grateful. May the New Year bring us all joy! Here is the story: https://clubplumliteraryjournal.com/donna-shanley/
This was the first story I read in this thread, and it set the bar very high.
Immersed in imagery.
Thank you for reading, Michael, and for your kind comment!
Donna, the link.....? And, yes, much applause. Would love to read it in Club Plum.
Oops! Here it is (thanks, LindaAnn.) https://clubplumliteraryjournal.com/donna-shanley/
Wow! Beautiful story. "Outside, clouds panicked and fled from the crescent moon’s claw." was one of many favorite lines.
Thank you so much for reading, Jack, and for this kind comment!
Spectacular! Congratulations.
Thank you, Mauro!
Donna, I think this is a very powerful story, extremely well-crafted. It feels primordial... I was totally captured and engaged. Brava!
Thank you so much for reading, Cynthia, and for your lovely comment!
This one makes me want to sing. Startling and enveloping with its lovely refrain. Congratulations, Donna, on the story, the publication and the nomination!
Thank you so much, Lisa, for another kind and generous comment. I wish you much creative joy in the new year!
You're welcome, Donna. Sending creative-joy wishes your way as well!
I just finished reading your story, Donna. I am in awe. Brilliant and beautiful. Congratulations.
Thank you so much for reading the story, Susan, and for your lovely comment!
Congrats, Donna!
Thank you, David!
Wow. What a brilliant interweaving of fairy tale elements. Congrats on the deserved Pushcart!
Thank you so much for your lovely comment on the story, Kresha!
Congratulations Donna.
Thank you, Carla!
Congratulations, Donna.
Thank you, Aysu!
Well done Donna. Congratulations.
Thank you, Dennis!
Congratulations on you wonderful story!
Thank you, Nancy!
Congrats! I love Club Plum and its editor, Thea Swanson. Good luck on your Pushcart nomination!
Thanks so much, Andrew! Yes, Thea is a gem.
Donna, this is exceptional! What a wild ride of a story. Congratulations on your nomination.
Thank you so much for reading and for your kind words, Tracie!
Congratulations, Donna! Fabulous imagery!
Thank you so much for reading, Carol!
I have my first piece in Ekphrastic Review appear this month: https://www.ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic-review/the-foot-at-the-art-institute-of-chicago-by-polly-hansen?fbclid=IwY2xjawHEaANleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHWpZhpVBLlQfxxkYhw_IByvfolhc0ExyBtRUzLBsmpBM7ELAqkYFe9W0lw_aem_c8uUY0b1qvcZU9manIRVoQ
I was also supposed to have a quirky little holiday story come out this month in Call Me [Brackets], put out by the U of Alabama, but the issue has apparently been delayed. Is this story of mine jinxed? The last time it was accepted a year ago in a different journal, the editor promised me it would appear in their December issue. The issue never got published and hence neither did the story. Is this a repeat of that situation? I hope not. They have three days left to make good on their word.
I love this little story published in November that didn't get read widely: https://brightflash1000.com/2024/09/05/the-green-monster/
I wrote a tough personal essay for Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/i-hated-myself-what-i-did-then-realized-i-was-victim-1933281
And I get to say I have words in The Sun (first story under Readers Write: https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/583-shaving
And this month I received a personal rejection letter from Shenandoah, asking me to submit again: "It really stood out among the submissions this semester! Ultimately, we are passing on the opportunity to publish it in Shenandoah, but please know it was quite accomplished. Journey to the Center felt so solid, the backstory you invented so complete, and music 'insider'-y, affirmed by one of our readers who felt so drawn in by the resonance of the 'one note'. (Out of curiosity, I had to google Journey to the Center to see if it was a phenomenon I had somehow missed and was so delighted to see it was your invention!)
Sorry for being so wordy here, but I am proud of my accomplishments!
Happy New Year, friends.
It's amazing how much those positive rejection letters offer a lift to keep going.
In one of my poems I called it "something more than not enough," Luis. (smile)
Polly, your Newsweek piece is so well done. It’s an important essay, and I’m so proud of you for bravely sharing your valuable insight/experience. Congrats on a very successful month.
Thanks, Tracie. It's been a journey. Comments like yours keep me going to get it. out there.
Wow, that hitch-hiking experience when you were 16 . . . no spoilers, everyone. Click on Polly's link (Newsweek). A fine piece of CNF here. Applause.
Whoo hoo on The Sun publication in particular! Not easy to get accepted there. Congratulations!
Good for you. what's your secret? LOL
Having a simple, authentic story to tell?
Truly that is conveyed in yr writing. I loved how you related the image of the lady’s foot, who you had come to know so well, formulated your own foundation later in life, as though nothing could ever make you lose your balance. And having her name accompanying the painting, cements the women’s identity to yours. Powerful indeed
In part, it’s no doubt a numbers game. I had over 300 submissions this year.
Right? I'd been trying for years, but as I was writing this one, it just felt so right for The Sun, and voila!
Sometimes you just *know.* The first piece I sold to The Smart Set felt absolutely right for them. And they agreed. :-)
And because of that, the second one ditto.
Congratulations! Loved the piece in Newsweek. Such an important story to share, but certainly difficult. Appreciate your bravery.
Love the Ekphrasitc Review and the classes taught by Lorette are insprinig.
Congratulations on all pieces, Polly! I love the way you bring the anchoring image of the foot in the Ekphrastic Review story into your life.
Thanks for reading, Donna!
Love that journal. They published an essay that might become part of a collection (which would make my 28th book if I get to it): https://www.ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic-review/notes-from-a-small-room-by-lev-raphael
I love this journal too. I also love this painting you chose. I must have missed it at the Brussels museum in 2023.
I love that painting. I've not seen it before. At first I thought it might be by Tissot, but the emotion is the polar opposite of this one by him: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/james-tissot-hide-and-seek
There's a sweetness to Tissot that at its extreme takes us to Bouguereau. Khnopff was a symbolist, most famous, I think, for Caress of The Sphinx: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/caress-of-the-sphinx-by-fernand-khnopff-orca-art-gallery.html?product=canvas-print
Hmm, I prefer the Listening to Schuman, but thanks for the art history lesson! That was one of my favorite electives in college.
Congrats, Polly. I like how varied each piece is and fits with the publication. Good luck with publishing in 2025!
Thanks David. May you have the same.
Congratulations Polly. Such wonderful news.
Congrats on all the pieces, but particularly the Newsweek essay. Sharing that experience took courage, and I believe it will make people more aware and empathetic.
Happy New Year Polly. Hats off to you.
The Newsweek piece is horrifying but so well done and the Ekphrastic Review lovely (and inspired me to work on something for them)
I love the invitation but wonder what exactly tipped them against the story when they were so full of praise?
Yeah, me too.
Tune in next month to Lit Mag News and my piece about rejections. :-)
Love that painting and your narrative! Congratulations on that piece, and on the wonderful rejection-submit-again!
Thanks, Carol.
I enjoyed your ekphrastic essay. Congratulations!
Thanks, Julie, for taking the time to read it!
My brag is a bit tangential but here goes. It does involve many poems that first appeared in lit mag's. I learned that my 2021 poetry collection, Sufficient Emptiness from Deerbrook Editions, is in 22 libraries around the country. To name a few: Princeton, Columbia, the N.Y. Public Library system, Stanford, Johns Hopkins and Harvard! The whole list is like that! As a widely unknown 77 year old poet, this is very exciting news - knowing that some of my work is out there in prominent public locations brings joy and satisfaction.
As a widely unknown 71 year old fiction writer I understand completely/. :-)
Give yourself a little time (LOL?). This happened as a result of Small Press Distribution closing its doors, which is a sad story, but I assume from my experience that many books were donated to libraries.
Huge congratulations! I love that you shared your "widely unknown 77 year old poet" status—always encouraging to this widely unknown 76 year old!
And this widely unknown 75 year-old CNF writer.
Glad to have brought encouragement!!
I’m rejoicing with you!
Many thanks! Happy New Year, Tracie!
To you too, Marjorie!
Congrats! We're the same age Marjorie, and I too am amazed that I've been so productive and fortunate enough to have been published fairly widely [18 countries with South Korea being the most recent].
Life is strange, ain't it?
Awesome track record, Nolo!!! Applause!! I just got an acceptance from a Pakistan lit-mag ("The Literary Review") . . . . maybe in 10 years I'll catch up to you. LOL
That's a fantastic representation!
Yes! I am amazed and thankful.
Congratulations, Marjorie, on the collection and all those fine libraries!
Thank you, Donna.
What a jolting lesson in your early life about the beauty of your writing. “Born to be a writer,” as your brother said just before his untimely death. That had to have been a driving force as you continued writing your poetry, or as most writers do, living life in lyrical rhythm everyday. I’m happy your brother conveyed to you his thoughts when he did. And a blessing he typed for you to keep always.💗💙✝️☮️🫶🏻
Wow! Thank you for this moving response! I had no idea anyone would go to my website after reading my brag. I am deeply touched by your words. Blessings to you.
Well done Majorie. Congratulations. More "Power" to you.
Thank you for your kind words, Dennis. Happy New Year too!
Such an encouraging month here! While on a drive back from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Rhode Island after Thanksgiving, we were stopped at a play area for the kids (and a coffee for the parents) when I found out that a short essay of mine, "Soft Appeal," had been published in the New York Times Metropolitan Diary: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/01/nyregion/metropolitan-diary.html And after much anticipation... the latest New England Review (45.4) arrived in print, featuring a remarkable folio of writing that celebrates or engages with Wong Kar Wai's film Chungking Express around the 30th anniversary of its release: https://www.nereview.com/vol-45-no-4-2024/ It was an absolute thrill to have my hybrid Hong Kong travelogue, Irish family history, and Covid memoir included in such a special issue. Wishes for a happy and peaceful new year to all!
I love the NE Review. Congratulations!
Congrats, Sean, on the exceptional publications!
Wow! What a month! Mazel tov!
Congratulations Sean! Well done.
My writing group of one for the past two years, Mary Clark, jus had a story in the NER called Developed. It was Volume 45 number 3 this year.
Congratulations!
Congratulations on a phenomenal month!
congratulations, Sean - outstanding!
Oh, I should add: if anybody's interested, I recently started a Substack to share my latest writing -- with a bit of context behind each piece: https://seancarlson.substack.com/
Followed. Trying to get mine set up.
I published a short essay, "Flashbulb," this month in Orange Blossom Review. It had been rejected twice, I think: https://orangeblossomreview.org/journal/flashbulb/
I also heard that Loch Raven Review nominated my essay, "The Gravity of Years," for a Pushcart, which was exciting. I shared that essay last month, but I'll use this as an excuse to brag again! https://thelochravenreview.net/elizabeth-bird/
Thanks, Becky, for everything you do; finding Lit Mag News was so important to me!
I'm glad to know about Orange Blossom Review and all the others featuring your work. Some I'd not heard of. While writing my memoir I've often asked my older sister about the time that so and so happened and she'll say she doesn't remember. So much for collaborating. But some stuff we do remember similarly. Always fascinating. As for your mom, I remember walking out on my kids for a good cry now and then. Once I climbed into my neighbor's kids treehouse and sat there in the dark for a moment or two enjoying the quiet. I love how you noticed the coal smear on her cheek and deduced where she'd been. Vivid writing.
Polly, I've heard from so many people about similar experiences with childhood memories! We each create our own story, I suppose, with plenty of overlaps with others on the way. Loved picturing you in the treehouse! And congratulations on all your successes - I am in awe. Newsweek and the Sun in one month!
I remember "Flashbulb" fondly and very much enjoyed "The Gravity of Years." In the latter, I particularly admired your paragraph on the flicker of time and also your excellent ending. Congratulations!
Thanks so much, Lisa ) appreciate your kind comments! Happy New Year!
Love your essay in Loch Raven Review. I've been published with them a couple of times. It's a nice journal. Congratulations on your Pushcart nomination. It's a wonderful piece!
Thank you Julie! I agree about LRR - it's a simple and very nicely-presented journal. Congratulations on your publications too!
Great essay. I've been rejected by Orange Blossom Review. Must try again!
Thanks, Kresha! This was my first time submitting to them, after this piece was rejected by a few other places. I found my experience with them a bit unusual -- I got an acceptance through Submittable, telling me it would be published Dec. 15, and nothing else. No direct communication with any editor, ever. Usually there is some back and forth between acceptance and publication. Oh well, I was happy to have it accepted! There are lots of journals from which I've been rejected several times; it always feels rather random!
I've had a couple of experiences similar to yours with OBR--reminding me that a thoughtful rejection can sometimes feel more intimate than a form-letter acceptance. Of course, once I've studied the magazine and worked hard to submit, I'll always prefer the acceptance! Thanks for sharing your experience, another feature of this writers' gab I thoroughly enjoy.
I so enjoy hearing other people's experiences! And I agree - although OBR seemed a little impersonal, it was still an acceptance, and I'll take that any time!
That's excellent news Elizabeth. Congratulations.
Thanks, Dennis!
Elizabeth, huge congratulations on your Pushcart nomination! I loved "The Gravity of Years!" I have been to those caves in France and been similarly awed by the beauty of that art.
Thanks so much, Donna. I'm happy to hear you shared that feeling when you visited!
Enjoyed Flashbulb! Thought provoking reflection on the mysteries of memory
Thank you, Kate. As I get older, I dwell on memory more than I should!
No Kate-- our memories are the paintings of our souls, as an obscure poet-philosopher put it...
Love the essay. Congrats!
Thanks for reading it, Nancy!
Oh my gosh, I was reading this issue earlier this month and loved this essay! Congratulations!
Thanks so much, Eleanor - how kind!
Congratulations! Loch Raven Review is one of my favorite lit mags.
Thanks, Carol! The non fiction editor, Caryn Coyle was great. She insisted on some edits that at first I didn't like, but quickly realized they made my piece better.
Congrats on the Pushcart nomination!!!!
Thanks, Susan!
Becky, thank you so much for these little brag pages. Not only do we get to toot our horns, but learn and cherish what others have done. A long the way, read some awesome stories and submit to those pubs, thus making Lit Mag News as my main source for finding new pubs. 2024 was a wonderful year, seven stories published, one short story collection short list, one story quotation, one non-fiction (here in LitMag News), one award. Then this month I received the news that Sequestrum accepted one of my stories, and it will come out on 2025.
The second best part of 24 was how some pubs, like the Missouri Review, Reed Magazine, and Black Warrior Review, took the time to write some incredibly moving rejections. I know, I know, why didn't they publish the stories? It is what it is, and I take their motivation and encouragement any time, since along the way, I have also received just through Submittable 186 rejection for 2024.
Good for you, Luis. RE: those "wonderful personal rejections" . . . I just got one yesterday from The Rumpus, saying my poems made it through to the final round, that they loved my writing, that I must submit again . . . . and it's awfully bittersweet to hear a lit mag editor conclude with "unfortunately, we have to reject great writing all the time." Well, ouch. (It is what it is.)
I've had people ask, so what did they say was wrong with the story. Nothing, unfortunately, they have to choose, and you can see they care.
Yes, Luis. Since The Rumpus $ $ pays writers, there is also the question of, "our budget only goes so far."
Yeah, maybe there should be a law: only YES or NO is a legal response!
"A legal response"! LOL
Sequestrum is great! Their editor is so friendly and supportive. Congratulations!
Yeah, but Luis, don't you hate that feeling of being so close yet so far? What I don't get is, if they like something that much, then why not make room for it, at some time in the future if necessary?
Hi Luis. Great work. Congratulations.
Happy New Year fellow writers! I learned my short piece "Perfidy" won a prize for micro fiction in Writer Advice. It will go live there on January 14th. I'm happy to say I had only submitted it to a handful of publications when I heard the news. I'm getting published on a regular basis now, and I'm excited for what 2025 will bring!
Congratulations!
Thank you Carol!
Best news is my essay “Domestique” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by the Under Review. https://www.underreviewlit.com/issue-10-summer-2024-1/domestique
Totally unexpected! It’s so tough to get published, and even more rare to have a piece recognized. Just when acceptances slow down, a gift like this can keep me going.
This month, my essay “Grand Obsessions” was published at JMWW. https://jmwwblog.wordpress.com/2024/12/19/creative-nonfiction-grand-obsessions-by-nancy-jorgensen/
This is my second piece published with JMWW and my second positive experience. The editors are helpful but respectful in suggesting changes. They are organized and publish when they say they will. A bonus: they used my friend’s photo to accompany the piece so she got an unexpected publication for herself.
And yes, Becky, I absolutely come to this conversation to search for new markets. Thanks for the opportunity to brag and browse!
Great essays, Nancy! Congratulations on both and the nomination.
Great essays and two great mags there. Congrats on the work and the Pushcart nom.
Thank you and thanks for reading. Nancy
Congratulations Nancy!
Thank you
I loved both pieces especially the piano one. My passion is choral singing and I’m working on a nonfiction essay about singing in the Messiah, so thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you. My students sang the hallelujah chorus every year. Sometimes with an orchestra sometimes just piano accompaniment. Such a tradition! You are part of a worldwide phenomenon. Good luck with your essay.
Congratulations on the Pushcart nomination.
Thank you!
Congratulations on "Domestique" and the Pushcart nomination, Nancy!
Thank you!
Becky, thanks as always for this monthly forum! To echo your comment, among the dozen or so fiction publications I had this year, three of them were in lit mags I learned about here: Yellow Mama, Suddenly and Without Warning, and The Odd Magazine.
As far as most notable, that would probably be the story that came out in Feign (no relation). I sent the first version of this out in 2002, and then sporadically over the years since to the tune of close to 30 rejections. Now it's here (and been nominated by the editor for Best of the Net):
https://www.feignlit.com/featured/theonesthatgetaway
I love this sort of story. When you KNOW that your story is strong and it goes through all these rejections and then when it finally gets out there, the positive reaction is so good and it gets nominated. All the feels. Congrats.
I’m so glad you shared your story and its backstory with us. It’s very encouraging to hear about your success with this after so many rejections. You did such a great job with the dialogue in this one, and the ending was so good! Congratulations!
Thanks for reading Tracie, and your comment.
Congratulations, Jon, on all the publications and the Best of the Net nomination!
Love this story, Jon. The banter is well done. Thanks for showing us how to stick with it.
Thanks for reading, and the comment. The story evolved over the years, helped by a few "editorial rejections" here and there with suggestions I eventually acted on.
Great story, Jon. Glad it finally got published. Paul is such a vivid character and I don't think I've seen a chimp featured in a story!
Thank you, Abby, I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment. Paul was the center of the story from the beginning. Well, and the chimp. That came from a dream I had, many years ago.
Terrific story!
Thanks, Andrew, appreciate you reading it.
Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your story about your story.
First story was published in Toronto Journal. An amazing journal that publishes in print, online and records a podcast audio version!
https://torontojournal.com/issue5-zeus-is-getting-made/
Next, I had one come out in X-Ray for the sad christmas series.
https://xraylitmag.com/christmas-carl-by-michael-costaris/fiction/
So many good lines in "Zeus," but this one: "She is still certain that music is the great love of her life: she simply finds it harder to locate this certainty amongst the violent, visceral hatred she feels towards it" is written like a true creative. LOL
HAHAHA yes exactly my mindset at the time I wrote it. Thanks so much for reading it!!
Congratulations.
Thanks so much for reading it!!
Excellent Mike. Well done.
This December, Eat, Darling, Eat published my essay "Mincemeat and Memories" for their Christmas edition. I originally wrote this essay for a contest hosted by Roxanne Gay which called for food-themed submissions. Aimee, the editor, was wonderful to work with. She suggested a few small edits to add context, and she was infinitely patient with me as I sifted through boxes of old photos to find pictures of my mother and grandmother to appear with the essay. The final result was published on December 20 at this link: https://www.eatdarlingeat.net/
An audio recording of me reading the essay aloud can be found at this link: https://www.eatdarlingeat.net/listen-2024
My best publication for 2024 was a piece published this summer in Newsweek. I originally wrote this for Under The Sun Magazine, but it was rejected. Luckily, it found a new home with a larger circulation. The editor assigned to me was very kind and helped with a few small edits as well. He is based in the UK, so I communicated with him in the very early hours of the morning, editing in my pajamas. The link to this essay can be found here: https://www.newsweek.com/i-had-heart-transplant-strokethen-set-myself-huge-challenge-1915165
Thank you for letting us share our work here with you!
First, thanks for teaching me about mincemeat. I beieve my gradmother used to serve it with hard saue at Christmas dinners anf though I didn't care for it as a chid, it was particularly Christmasy and will forever remind me of my grandmother. Secondly, congrats on your Newsweek essay. That's an amazing feat, getting to the top of that mountain after surgery. I'm so glad they took your story.
Hi Polly! We took a writing class together. How are you? I just subscribed to your publication! Glad to see you here!
Which writing class? I know you from the defunct Twitter/X #writing community. Glad to see you here too and to read your work!
I think it might have been with Allison Lane or Allison Williams?
Dawn, I’m so glad I had this chance to read your piece in Newsweek. Your writing is powerful and your story is inspiring. Congratulations!
Congratulations on your Newsweek essay--and your recovery and feat!
Thank you!
You're impressive in more ways than one Dawn.
Thank you!
Excellent Dawn. Congratulations.
Thank you!
Congrats on both these strong pieces!
Thank you!
What would The Wife of Bath be like in the modern world? In my stage play ---- “A Worthie Woman All Hir Live” ---- which first met its audience in a theatrical production in San Francisco, California, Chaucer's Allisoun was re-born as Allison Bathfield, Ph.D., a professor of medieval lit and an accomplished murderess.
Then I revised “A Worthie Woman All Hir Live” as an 11-minute radio drama. Here in NYC, Columbia University’s radio station broadcast it once.
In order to bring “A Worthie Woman All Hir Live” to a much wider audience, I revamped as a short story. The Yard: A Crime Blog just published my third rewrite:
LINK:
https://theyardcrimeblog.com/2024/12/18/a-worthie-woman-all-hir-live-crime-fiction/
Great! I'm a big Chaucer fan--the dude was a bit on the wild side it seems....
Thank you for reading “A Worthie Woman All Hir Live,” dear Chaucer fan! Mr. Perkins broke into Allison Bathfield's house because he blamed her for poisoning his sister-in-law. The reader learns that Perkins knows quite a bit about her late husband - - ex: he liked to drink beer with his meals. Also he claimed John Bathfield was having an affair with his sister-in-law - - and was going to leave Allison for her.
Murder and Middle English! The story is great fun!
Thank you so much, Donna. When I was 9 years old, I started my long affair with Geoffrey Chaucer. My first graduate degree was in Medieval Lit. Along the way to earning your degree, medievalists will learn how to poison people as effectively as Nannie Doss. :-D When I was writing “A Worthie Woman All Hir Live” (for the third time) in the format of short fiction, my primary thought was, "Now I won't have to spend time with an actress doing all of that Medieval dialogue coaching" so Allison Bathfield could learn how to pronounce her lines. LOL
That dialogue coaching must have had some hilarious moments!
"Hilarious" is one way to think about it, Donna! LOL
This month, "Reaching Back" came out from Stillpoint Quarterly in a special issue on Self Portraits. They illustrated my essay with gorgeous images by Mary Cassatt and others. My piece asks, "When did I become alive to myself?" It had previously received 7 rejections.
https://www.shantiarts.co/SPAQ/SPAQ56/files/yudkin.pdf
Another essay, "The Fervent Finger of Blame," was published by The Quiet Reader after being rejected 4 times. This piece was unique for me in that writing it greatly changed my perspective.
https://www.thequietreader.com/magazine/the-fervent-finger-of-blame-marcia-yudkin/
By the way, one of the pleasures of seeing one's publication in a literary journal is taking the time to read all the other essays, stories and poems in the issue that published one's own work.
Happy New Year everyone, and may your literary ambitions bear fruit in 2025!
Marcia, your Still Points piece is so wonderful. The art accompanying your work is perfect. What a lovely issue! Congratulations!
I particularly enjoyed "The Fervent Finger of Blame" for its hindsight and, as you mentioned, change in perspective. In my own work, I've grown to love those events that stubbornly stay with me until I finally understand why. Congratulations, Marcia!
What an elegant journal and sweet essay.
Stillpoint Arts Quarterly is consistently beautiful and affecting, a wonderful combination of art and reflections. Every issue has a theme. I ordered two of their themed back issues, each of which I admired and enjoyed.
Congrats!
Another fruitful month: I wrote three new personal essays in December past month, two of which were accepted quickly (yay!). And the only prose poem I've written in, well, forever was accepted after nine rejections. Years ago I experimented with this form and the idea for the poem came to me, as many do, when walking my dogs. Oh, and another essay of mine will appear in January's Lit Mag News. This one is satire. :-) Which will bring me close to 90 lit mag publications or acceptances in the last 3.5 years. Plus a handful of short stories, and more work is due out after January.
Huge congrats! Can’t wait to read that satire piece.
Thanks. It was tremendous fun to write and Becky is an amazing editor. She helps you develop a piece without messing with your voice.
Congratulations, as always! Looking forward to your next Lit Mag essay, too!
It was written in response to more than one discussion in various substacks. But as the line goes in the Beatles movie "Help!"--"I can say no more."
Congrats mate! You're sure to hit 3 figures in 4 years!
Mille grazie! This may make you smile: back in the summer of 2021 when I had turned from working on my 28th book to write essays and short stories, I told my husband, :It would be nice to publish a handful, maybe even half a dozen by New Year's. So, yeah, maybe 100 by next August but it was always about following my Muse.
I organized a successful book fair for the Arlington Author Salon (Arlington is a close suburb of Boston) and purchased one of the newly published novels, Randy Susan Meyers' The Many Mothers of Ivy Puddingstone, intrigued by the title. Since I have written several book reviews for the Washington Independent Review of Books over the past two years, I contacted the editor to ask if she might be interested. My review appeared last week. (The WIRB only pays $25/review, but it is an online publication that I admire so I'm always glad when I get to participate.)
I think I mentioned this in the LitMag zoom chat last week - Academy of the Heart and Mind is publishing a memoir piece of mine called "Pretty is as Pretty Does" in late Feb. It's a converstaion I had with my mom a few years and gives good insight to what our relationship was like (hint: not really good). It was rejected over 20 times. AHM published another non fiction story of mine back in May called "Nebular".
I also got a very positive rejection from Hex for a story I've writtne called "Permission". They liked the character interactions and said the story was "not our usual decline" which tells me it was probably came thisclose to being accepted.
Congrats on both!