I Just Called to Say Lit Mags Love You!
Writing contests & gambling; flash nonfiction; editorial burnout; awards at lit mags; tons of editorial opportunities; jobs at lit mags; Crazyhorse gets a new name; 200+ markets for your work, & more
Greetings Lit Maglligators,
Is submitting to writing contests akin to gambling? In No Return: Some Thoughts on the Writing Contest, Epiphany Editor Chris Leslie-Hynan explores the connection.
A poker player thinks in Expected Value, and when I look at writing contests through that cold lens, at the amount of money moving from the writers to the magazine, in fees, and then at the amount of money moving back to the writers at the end, in prizes, it is suddenly very hard not to conclude that these contests are sometimes all about the money—for the magazine. Like big-ticket summer writing workshops and unfunded MFAs, these contests can be cash cows in an industry of scrawny pastures.
Meanwhile, many contest awards were doled out recently. Winners of the 2022 O. Henry Prize for Short Fiction have been announced. “[Guest Editor] Valeria Luiselli, has selected…ten remarkable stories in translation. This means that fully half of the winning stories this year are artistic collaborations with talented translators who enable readers of English to enjoy fiction originally crafted in Bengali, Greek, Hebrew, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, and Spanish.”
The Georgia Review was awarded an American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) Award for Fiction for three recently published stories. Catapult won the award in the category of Best Illustrated Story. (Catch my recent interview with Georgia Review Editor Gerald Maa here.)
Also at Catapult, Michael Todd Cohen has posted an essay, When Flash Nonfiction Strikes You. Cohen pulls examples from an array of lit mags to explore the genre and share craft advice. He writes, “Anything is possible within flash creative nonfiction. You want to tell a story? You can do that. You want to work with image and metaphor? You can do that. Personal essay? Check. Nature Writing? Check…”
Over at LitHub, writers and editors gather to discuss the problem of burnout. “Unlivable and Untenable.” Molly McGhee on the Punishing Life of Junior Publishing Employee is a conversation among McGhee, V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell, in which they discuss “details of her recent resignation from a position she’d fought for in the industry she loves.” McGhee has held associate positions at McSweeney’s and The Believer.
Other magazines from around the world got recent press. While not a lit mag, per se, High Country News has a new poetry editor. In this Q &A, Paisley Rekdal states, “I’d like to publish the best poems that I find written in and about the West…Oftentimes, we don’t talk about the urban West as a natural space. I’d be interested in seeing that.”
Bent Pin Press, based in Belize City, has published its inaugural issue of a yearly anthology of Belizean writing. “While the editorial board had no set theme in mind initially for this first issue, they said that truly intimate Belizean experiences seen through the eyes of the Belizean authors is a refrain in the content that reverberates through the entire anthology.
Paper Lanterns, a lit mag for youngsters in Ireland, is celebrating its second anniversary. “Featuring teenage writers as well as YA authors, it is also perfect for enthusiasts of teen and YA literature, from teachers and librarians, to parents and youth workers.”
Back in the U.S., long-standing lit mag Crazyhorse has announced it will be changing its name. “In the fall of this year, we will publish our final issue, then begin anew under our new title, swamp pink. Swamp pink is a perennial member of the lily family, indigenous to the Carolinas.” (I’ll be chatting with Crazyhorse Editor Anthony Varallo on April 21st, and we shall discuss!)
As for writer opportunities, ooh la la, it’s time to get busy. For those of you interested in working behind the scenes of a lit mag, be sure to check out the replies to the tweet below. You’ll find offerings from SmokeLong Quarterly, GASHER Journal, Mud Season Review, The Common and more.
Cider Press Review is seeking a Managing Editor and an Editorial Intern. “The Managing Editor’s responsibilities include contacting and following up with authors, proofreading manuscripts, and helping to curate Cider Press Review reviewers. The Editorial Intern‘s responsibilities include reading poetry submissions and assisting with social media marketing.”
The Capilano Review is seeking a Literary Editor. “The ideal candidate will possess a strong background in writing, editing, and publishing; deep relationships with the Canadian literary community; and a demonstrated ability to work creatively and equitably in a collaborative environment.”
Porcupine Literary, a “journal by and for teachers” is seeking editors and readers:
Midst, “a new literary journal that shows readers how poems are written: blank page to final draft, and every edit in between,” is also hiring.
For you out there looking for places to send your latest and greatest, Trish Hopkinson has recently updated her list of 45 International lit mags seeking submissions of poetry, prose, and art.
Authors Publish has posted 5 Paying Literary Magazines to Submit to in April 2022 and 52 Themed Submissions Calls for April 2022. This site has also posted a free lecture on How to Publish Your Creative Writing in Literary Journals.
Erica Verrillo has culled 116 Calls for Submissions in April 2022 - Paying markets.
And that you unstoppable soul-searchers, you indefatigably curious flavor-tasters, you who let it all sit on the tip of your tongue—the salty, the sweet, the sour, the something-something you just can’t yet say or possibly even remember, you who plumb depths, you who skirt the cool crisp edges, you with your lust for life and you with your benumbed exhaustion due to the endless persistent exertions, you still trying, you simply trying to be still, you striving, strutting, sinking and standing, you and you, everywhere, striking out but also guess what, choosing, daily, to set yourself free, you beautiful soaring incredibly special and absolutely sacred wonders, is the news in literary magazines.
Have a most marvelous week, pals.
Fondly,
Becky
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“Swamp Pink”? Seriously? I would have thought that keeping the name “Crazy Horse” would be a great way to honor a famous Native American.