Hello to you, writers, on this breezy spring Saturday!
In this installment of miscellany, I want to encourage you to submit (if you are the submitting kind) to one or more of our local literary journals. There are a number of local publication options, and in this post, I focus on the three with which I am most familiar: Tule Review (poetry), Farallon Review (short fiction) and Under the Gum Tree (creative nonfiction). Is there another local mag you love, that you don’t see here? Let me know! Email me at asche(dot)kate(at)gmail(dot)com. As you have seen, I often post additional installments on topics of interest.
I hope you find the below one-stop shop for local submissions of use. And good luck!
~Kate
Tule Review – poetry only – deadline April 30
Tule Review, the poetry journal of Sacramento Poetry Center, is up first. Full disclosure: I am one of the associate editors for this journal. Frank Graham is my co-associate editor, and Linda Jackson Collins is our fearless editor in chief.
The journal showcases new writers to national award winners from the region and across the nation. Begun in 1993, the journal started in a newsprint format and was distributed locally. Over the years, Tule has grown and changed, moving to a staple-bound format and, a few years ago, to a heftier, beautifully designed perfect-bound format.
Tule Review welcomes all styles of strong, well-crafted poems, as well as submissions of artwork and/or photos for consideration as Tule Review cover art.
Submissions are accepted only through Submittable and, at this time, there is no cost to submit.
For more information, visit: http://www.sacramentopoetrycenter.com/publications/the-tule-review/
To submit right now, visit: https://spcsacramentopoetrycenter.submittable.com/submit
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The Farallon Review – short fiction only – deadline April 30
The Farallon Review is a literary review featuring contemporary, engaging, and literary prose fiction with a modern view, a classic sensibility, and a west-coast flavor. The submission guidelines are detailed and clear, and can be found at http://farallonreview.com/submissions.html.
The editors note that: “We are looking for narrative prose fiction, i.e., short stories. No poetry. No memoir. No non-fiction. The story should be self-contained and not be part of a longer work. The story should have forward momentum and a structure. Lead us somewhere interesting. Show us a small, beautiful gem. We are not adverse to experimental fiction but if we are not touching the ground at least let us be able to see it. We want original work, not previously published.”
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Under the Gum Tree – creative nonfiction only – no deadline
Under the Gum Tree, founded by Janna Marlies Maron, is an all-around aesthetic experience. The magazine is visually stunning and contains many kinds of creative nonfiction (not just memoir). Full disclosure: I have had the pleasure of seeing a piece of mine printed in UTGT Issue 4 (July 2012).
In submissions, the editors share on the website that they are looking for personal essays, memoir and creative nonfiction stories that:
-reveal authentic vulnerability. These are stories that you’re embarrassed or afraid to share because you’re more worried about how people you know will react than what you learned and how it changed you. Those are the most powerful stories because you’re risking something for the sake of helping someone else.
-provoke conversation. The stories that are the hardest to tell inevitably make at least one person say, “Wow. Me too. And I thought I was the only one.” The stories that are the hardest to tell give others permission to tell their hard stories, and it perpetuates a cycle of storytelling.
-examine a universal truth. Most people keep the hard stories to themselves out of fear — fear of how others will react or judge them — but once a story gets shared, we finally realize how common the human experience really is. Sure, everyone’s individual experience is unique. (Isn’t that what makes a good story?) But we can always relate to things like love, forgiveness, perseverance — you know, the stuff that everyone encounters no matter their circumstances.
To check out the different departments that comprise the magazine, and for full submission instructions, visit http://underthegumtree.com/submit/.
