I'm Just a Lit Mag Whose Intentions are Good!

Cool & brand new lit mags; job openings at Granta, Oxford American, Bellevue Literary Review, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review; lots of new calls for submissions and contests

Greetings Lit Magstellations,

A bevy of new lit mags have gotten buzz recently. HypeArt reports on INQUE, “a new literary publication that describes itself as ‘A magazine without genre.’ Founded by Matt Willey and Dan Crowe, the annual title brings together a star-studded list of contributors who provide global writing and extraordinary art, design and photography.” The magazine’s inaugural issue features Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, Tom Waits, and more.

The Bookseller covers The Other Side of Hope, “[a] new literary magazine showcasing the work of refugees and asylum seekers.” Says the magazine’s Poetry Editor, Malka al-Haddad, the journal “was created because there is no other similar literary magazine in the country…As migrant editors, we believe that people need to understand each other, and this magazine exists to enable people to gain insights into us – our lives, our talents and our stories."

Santa Monica Review Editor Andrew Tonkovich is launching a new online journal, Citric Acid. Reports The LA Times, “Its inauguration is a highly curated assemblage of [Orange County’s] contemporary scribes…The premiere issue ready to greet readers features an array of contributions from O.C. writers, far and wide.” You can catch my interview with Andrew here.

Block Party is a new mag that, according to The Varsity, “rides the line between a spunky zine and a striking literary journal. It features an eclectic mix of work from an innovative community of artists and writers.” Editor Isla McLaughlin states, “‘Block Party Magazine fosters the acceptance and comfort that the sometimes harsh literary world has been needing.’”

In a profile of The Anvil, The St. Louis Dispatch reports that “St. Louis is home to several top-tier literary magazines such as River Styx, Boulevard, december and Natural Bridge.” Meanwhile The Anvil was “one of the most acclaimed little magazines in our nation’s history…'The Anvil lasted from 1932 to 1935, when it was swallowed up in an ill-advised merger with Partisan Review,’ [Founding Editor Jack] Conroy wrote in his introduction to the 1973 work Writers in Revolt: The Anvil Anthology 1933-1940.”

In other news, hot lit mag jobs abound. Oxford American is seeking interns and a Junior Account Executive. The latter “will play an integral role in the Advertising Sales process at the Oxford American. The primary objective for this position will be to manage a list of accounts while interacting with all departments of the organization including Marketing, Production, Accounting, etc.”

Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review is seeking a Production Director, an Administrative Director and a Program Director. You can view job descriptions here.

Bellevue Literary Review is seeking Assistant Editors for fiction and nonfiction. “Responsibilities include reading and assessing submissions, and working with the fiction and nonfiction teams to choose the final selections.”

Granta is looking for a Subscriptions and Operations Manager. “The successful candidate will work with the Managing Director, Commercial Director and Senior Marketing Manager to implement an annual strategy driving subscriptions to the magazine.”

If you’d like to become a reader for a magazine, Trish Hopkinson has crafted a list of 16 lit mags seeking volunteer readers. Says Hopkinson, “One of the tips I often see from writers/poets is to read what is being published today to help improve your own work. By volunteering as a reader, you’ll be exposed to a wide variety of work and learn what you love and how to incorporate it into your own writing style and craft.”

For those of you on a submitting streak, or hoping to get one started, the time is now! Winning Writers has compiled a list of “almost four dozen excellent free poetry and prose contests with deadlines between January 15-February 28.”

Emily Harstone has compiled a list of Opportunities Open to Submissions From Historically Under-Represented Voices this January.

Erica Verrillo has posted her Most Popular Publishing Posts of 2021. This is worth checking out as it includes 325 Paying Markets for Short Stories, Poetry, Nonfiction, among other lists.

If there is a creative wee one in your midst, you might like NewPages’ recently updated list of Writing Contests for Young Writers. “Ages can include elementary, teen, or early college.”

As for us, in case you missed it, a handful of editor interviews dropped over the past few weeks. I had a blast talking with the folks behind museum of americana, streetcake magazine, Structo and Gulf Coast. Get caught up here.

My next chat will be on 1/21 with Jenn Sheck-Kahn, Founder of Journal of the Month and fellow lit mag enthusiast. We will talk about what we’ve learned about lit mags over the years, what more writers ought to know about lit mags, the pros and cons of starting literary side projects, and our own submissions processes. We will be answering all your questions about lit mags, and it’s going to be fun! Learn more and register here.

And that you precious procrastinators mastering the daily art of puttering and plucking and putting it all off, you wheel-spinning wunderkinds, weebling and wobbling and wandering all the while, you magical makers of zig-zagging journeys, you going two steps forward then eleven steps back then a hundred feet sideways and somersaulting the rest of the way, you out there driving your car at night and seeing as far as the headlights, you in the passenger seat wondering, um, weren’t we supposed to turn back there? No, seriously….Honey?…Um…?, you finding your way, you blazing your trail, you bumping and grinding and chugging and plugging and just doing this work of art-making daily, or weekendly, or whateverly, but no matter, making it your own, doing it, hallelujah just doing it, your very own beautiful and spirit-lit way, is the news in literary magazines.

Have a glorious week, pals.

Fondly,

Becky

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