17 Comments

I love Gone Lawn! “Self-Soothing is for the Birds” by Bethany Jarmul is one of my favorites. https://gonelawn.net/journal/issue55/Jarmul.php And thanks for the introduction to Does it Have Pockets! I can’t believe I’ve missed that one.

I’ve also recently loved “My Daughter Asks Me to Write an Honest Poem” by Todd Dillard in The Ex-Puritan. https://ex-puritan.ca/my-daughter-asks-me-to-write-an-honest-poem-and-whats-new

Expand full comment

I learned about Does It Have Pockets? from the LitMagNews Q&A video I watched and submitted a piece there. They accepted it! So thanks, Becky, for including new and wacky journals in your programs as well as the venerable, prestigious ones.

Expand full comment

Does It Have Pockets has been a very tough nut for me to crack. I love the vibe and what they publish.....and they have rejected every story I've sent them (all word counts/genres, about 20 stories total), I think there's only one more story that I've got ready written that I could try. Frustrating, but I'm stubborn, so.

I'm a reader for Hippocampus and DAMN that has really made me up my CNF/memoir writing game.

Expand full comment

Based right here on Substack, JUDITH magazine is one of my new favorites: https://judithmagazine.substack.com/.

Expand full comment

Erika, Thanks so much for mentioning this publication! I just read its essay "What's In A Name?" and its story of Judith made me cry. Of course, I have subscribed.

Expand full comment

I'm so glad (not that you cried--but that you subscribed!). Be forewarned--they're adding new content so frequently that it can be difficult to keep up (I haven't read yesterday's kidlit-focused addition yet and there's already a new poetry installment....).

Expand full comment

Thanks for a great compilation. Especially for the link to the piece by Spencer Nitkey… excellent and haunting.

Expand full comment

Thanks so much for your lovely words about my two pieces in Does It Have Pockets! You are so right about the thought and care the team puts in. It's been a fabulous experience.

Expand full comment

I also like Does it Have Pockets—the editor there is very kind in communication--and I agree that KM Baysal’s flowery piece is wonderful. Gone Lawn is great, too (and Bethany Jarmul’s pieces are excellent wherever they are found!)

Expand full comment

I loved "Analysis of a Fugue," a story by Annabel Li that recently appeared here:https://www.craftliterary.com/2024/04/12/analysis-of-a-fugue-annabel-li/#

It's elegant and inventive hermit crab flash fiction that has real heart and subtlety.

Expand full comment

The most recent story I enjoyed was Analía Villagra’s “The Land, Unending.” It takes us through many years of a young woman’s life beginning in Argentina up through the US midwest in the 19th-early 20th centuries. I was completely captivated both in events and beautiful descriptions. It is in the current issue of Alaska Quarterly Review.

Expand full comment

I forgot to mention that AQR posts readings on YouTube.

Expand full comment

I've become a big fan of 'Under the Gum" tree after picking up a sample copy at last year's AWP. The writing is compelling, and the art is gorgeous!

Expand full comment

Our guest poster says: “Scrolling on my phone or pouring over words printed out feels like an escape,...” Well, Jessica if you are pouring things over you printouts, the ink will likely run if what you are pouring is liquid. Or maybe you are really *poring* over words but not sufficiently to spot the typo? Just a pedantic old geezer teasing you.

Expand full comment

I've corrected the typo! Thanks, Tony, for poring over the article so carefully and for pouring your efforts into this commentary!

Expand full comment

Yikes! Well, I'm cringing at my mistake... but at the same time I take comfort in knowing my words are being so well-read.

Expand full comment