Go Easy on Lit Mags, Baby!

New Paris Review design, new Albuquerque poetry mag, new Hungarian mag, volunteer opportunities, teen-run lit mags, journals seeking reprints, new calls for submissions & more

Greetings Lit Magtaculars,

Esteemed lit mag Paris Review has announced a brand new design. Writes the journal’s new editor Emily Stokes,

The design was inspired by the minimalism of older issues of the Review—among them no. 56, published in 1973, which I have been carrying around for the past few months…The irresistible image on the cover of the Winter issue, chosen by our art editor, Na Kim, is a painting by the British artist Rose Wylie. It’s beautiful and also inviting, just like our favorite paperbacks. While of course we hope you will display it on the shelf alongside the rest of your archive, we want you to have no qualms about stuffing it into a pocket or handbag, and cracking it open wherever you happen to be.

Speaking of new things, a fledgling lit mag based in Albuquerque got some buzz recently. Abandoned Mine is a new poetry mag, launched by Jasen Christensen and Robert Grant. “Christensen says he wanted to start the poetry journal because he felt that many of the journals he read feel out of reach and hard to engage with.” The magazine is now open for submissions.

Canadian lit mag Qwerty has also gotten some press, as it recently launched its first queer-themed issue. “‘Many of us working for Qwerty identify as queer, and so do some of our writers and readers,’ [Co-managing editor Annabelle Babineau] said. ‘At Qwerty we want to celebrate queer voices and give them a platform to shine.’ Babineau said the theme is important in showing LGBTQ+ audiences and authors that they have a place to express themselves.”

If you’ve got a connection to Hungary and Central Europe, you may be interested in The Continental Literary Magazine, a new journal whose “focus is bringing Hungarian and Central European writing into English and is led by editor-in-chief Sándor Jászberényi…” According to the journal’s website, “The magazine aspires to emerge as a familiar and influential player alongside traditional and established American literary magazines with familiar names and a large subscriber base, such as The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The New York Review of Books, The Nonconformist, and The Atlantic.”

For those based around Northern Michigan, this interview with Jennifer Huder might be of interest. Huder is the Founder of Walloon Writers Review, “a regional literary magazine, focused on the beauty of Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. The magazine has a collection of stories, tales, poetry and more, including nature photography. Currently, they have a call for submissions for the upcoming 7th edition.”

Perhaps you’d like to work behind the scenes at a lit mag. Random Sample has volunteer openings in a handful of positions. About this magazine: “Our primary aim as an online literary journal is accessibility and experimentalism: we want work that yields truth, in its many forms, and speaks on behalf of the experience of the body politic. We want the random, the real, the raw, the honest.”

For those of you looking to revive old favorites, Emily Harstone has posted a list of 17 Literary Journals Open to Publishing Reprints. She writes, “[T]he more a poem or short story is published, the more exposure it gets. A number of my poems have been published three times. This is because I often will submit to journals that accept reprints.”

Meanwhile, Stacey Megally has curated a list of 13 Teen-Authored Literary Journals Adults Should Read. Wonders she, “[W]ith the exception of a handful of books written by teenage authors, most YA literature is written by adults. So, if we really want to get an authentic perspective on what teens are experiencing right now, shouldn’t we be reading stories written by them?”

And Erica Verrillo has posted 87 Calls for Submissions in December 2021 - Paying markets. Says she, “This December there are more than seven dozen calls for submissions. All of these are paying markets, and none charge submission fees. As always, every genre, style, and form is wanted, from short stories to poetry to essays…Happy submitting!”

As for us, lots of interviews just around the bend, friends! Tomorrow, November 30th at 11am est, I will be speaking with Tommy Dean, Editor of Fractured Lit. Please visit this page (and scroll to the bottom) to learn more about Tommy’s journal and to register for the event.

And through December I’ll be speaking with several more editors as well as hosting another Submissions Q & A session and Submissions Study Hall. Keep your eyes peeled for the event invitations, coming your way very soon.

And that you poor birds, stuffed to your very gills, you who didn’t need, but took anyway, that one extra glop of mashed potatoes because omg yum, you who were tucked in and cozy, you who were freaked out and panicky, you who ate too much and slept too little, you who always feel a bit...hm…how shall we say…itchy…this time of year, you who hear those sleigh bells ringing and those somethings twinkling and all the thingamajigs ding-dingling, you with your snow-filled cerebellum and your body bulky in bunchy sweaters, you and you and of course you, everywhere enjoying, ceaselessly celebrating, fearlessly festivizing, or maybe, let’s be real, just barely coping, and yet, still, good just as you are, and always welcome at my table, is the news in literary magazines.

Have a relaxing week, pals.

Fondly,

Becky

P.S. Looking for a great gift for that writer or editor in your life? Don’t want to deal with lines, supply chains, or anything at all? Why not purchase a subscription to this here newsletter? It’s easy!

Got a question, comment, suggestion, mode of operation, rational assessment, reasonable argument or conspiracy theory?

Want to have full access to the archive, attend special events, and support my work like a champ?

Thanks for reading! If you like it, please share it.