The Online Literary Magazine at Arizona State University
Submission Bombers, a new group founded by Weave editor Laura Davis, has organized a bunch of writers who all feel marginalized in some way, encouraging them all to submit to the same market at once. The idea of Submission Bombers is to give editors what they claim they do not get: submissions from “the marginalized.”
Read more on Davis’ blog.
Our Issue 9 Fiction Editor Sarah Murray shared these thoughts about the editorial process.
What was your favorite piece?
“The Ruins” by Elizabeth Rollins. The details in her story were so vivid and poetic. I saw a vast humanity in her desert imagery.
Where there any submissions that you would have liked to include but you weren’t able to?
There were several. There was one about a little girl, set in India, that really left an impression on me. I think it was her agency that attracted me.
How do the editors choose which submissions to publish?
Submissions were honed through a voting process, and after we had figured out which ones got the most responses from our editorial staff (Fiction had 4), we would have a round-table discussion about each one. We really do pay a lot of attention to each submission.
Were there times that you just knew that a piece was perfect for SR?
Yes. Those are the pieces that, when you read, you can’t shake them for days afterwards.
What were some of the common pitfalls of the submissions that were not selected?
That’s actually a really hard question to answer, because a lot of the submissions we received were very different from each other. We did receive quite a few pieces that we did not feel were fully developed yet, and at that point it’s really easy to decide that it’s not the right time to publish, both for Superstition Review and the author.
What was the strangest submission you read/reviewed?
In the realm of fiction, there isn’t really a lot that I would consider strange, because it’s an arena where anything goes. Otherwise, it’s not art.
Please sum up what you’ve gained from your internship this semester. Do you feel like you have a better grasp on editing? Literary magazines? Why?
This internship was my first experience with literary magazines from the inside. I know what it’s like to submit to one, but it’s comforting to now know what goes on behind the scenes. You learn how to navigate your audience better, working for one. It was definitely a great experience.
How has editing impacted your own writing?
Reading always affects writing, and I’ve read more literary fiction through this internship than I had before.
What were some of the obstacles you faced in preparing for Issue 9?
Mostly it was just the decisions on which stories to publish and which ones you had to say “no” to. Those were really, really difficult decisions.
Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction is a rapidly growing staple of the nonfiction world. The submissions are capped at a short 750 words.
This call for concision forces writers to hone their ability to say a lot with very little. Like poetry, this form of flash nonfiction requires a specific care for word choice that longer works of fiction cannot demand. Like poetry, this brief form of writing weighs each word and every sentence more heavily.
Brevity has been publishing the works of authors and artists since 1997 and is currently working on its 38th issue. In addition to short nonfiction, Brevity publishes essays on craft as well as book reviews. Currently, they are accepting works that fulfill their normal requirements (concise literary nonfiction), but they are also doing a separate issue, “Ceiling or Sky: Female Nonfictions after the VIDA Count.” The VIDA Count is a tally of publications based on gender, and is the inspiration of this themed issue. They will be hosting special guest editors including Susanne Antonetta, Barrie Jean Borich, and Joy Castro for this particular issue. Submissions will be accepted until May 1.
Brevity is an online literary magazine. To receive upcoming news, you can subscribe to their mailing list, which currently boasts 5,000 members. This list will keep you up to date with all their upcoming issues.
With the launch of Issue 9 coming in just one month, our reading period is quickly coming to a close. There is still time to submit your submissions before the February 29th deadline.
No previously published work will be accepted. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please notify the Superstition Review team if you have submitted your work elsewhere.
Thank you for your submissions. We are looking forward to the April launch of Issue 9.
Crazyhorse is accepting fiction and poetry entries for The Crazyhorse Fiction Prize and the Lynda Hull Memorial Poetry Prize. A winner from each category will be eligible for a $2000 prize and publication in the Fall 2012 issue of Crazyhorse. Submissions can be uploaded online or mailed in with a $16 reading fee, which includes a one year subscription to Crazyhorse. Entries must be a maximum of 25 pages in length (for fiction) or three poems up to 10 pages in length (for poetry). Multiple submissions may be entered, but hurry. This contest is only open until January 15. You can find the terms and conditions, along with more information at Crazyhorse.
Also check out their upcoming Crazyhorse Writers Conference at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina March 15-18, 2012. Faculty members, literary artists, and readers will come together to discuss and present literature and celebrated pieces throughout the weekend. This is a wonderful opportunity for writers, readers, and literature aficionados alike.
From now until October 31st, Superstition Review is accepting submissions of art, fiction, poetry, and nonfiction for Issue 8 to be published in early December. We are looking for innovative work that has not been previously published.
Please review Issues 1-7 to get an idea of our editorial preferences, but remember we have new staff members for each issue who are interested in wide range of writing and art.
For information on submission guidelines go to http://superstitionreview.submishmash.com/Submit
We look forward to reading your submissions.
Content Coordinator Ashley Carter is currently a junior studying English Literature at Arizona State University. She is also working on a minor in Media Analysis, a Writing Certificate, and an LGBT Certificate along with her degree. In her free time, Ashley reads, writes, spends time with friends, and participates in Gamma Rho Lambda activities, where she is Head of Public Relations. After graduating, she plans to move to New York, attend graduate school, and pursue a career as an editor for a publishing company. This is her first semester with Superstition Review.
1. What is your position with Superstition Review and what are your responsibilities?
I am the Content Coordinator for Superstition Review. My tasks include regularly updating the submissions spreadsheet, assign material to genre editors to read, and make sure materials get responded to in good time. I like to think of myself as the “professional organizer” for the editors of Superstition Review.
2. Why did you decide to get involved with Superstition Review?
I had an extremely encouraging professor, Judith Van. As soon as I expressed interest in a summer internship program in New York, not a day went by that she didn’t ask if I had applied to SR to jump-start my experience. It was that wonderful encouragement on top of all the good things I had heard about the online magazine that got me to finally apply.
3. How do you like to spend your free time?
Last semester, I rushed for the sorority Gamma Rho Lambda. It has been one of the best decisions of my life. I gained 18 sisters and a whole lot of responsibility as the head of Public Relations for GRL. I spend most of my free time hanging out with them, or fulfilling my sorority responsibilities. When I’m not doing that, I spend time with my roommates and my girlfriend, write, read, and dabble in photography.
4. What other position(s) for Superstition Review would you like to try out?
I’d like to try my hand at being a Fiction Editor. My future goal is to be an editor for a book-publishing house, which will entail a lot of reading and evaluating of possible books. Fiction Editor seems like the small-scale version of that.
5. Describe one of your favorite literary works.
My favorite literary work of all time is The Fionavar Tapestry series by Guy Gavriel Kay. This series has been compared to J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic The Lord of the Rings by many and with good reason. Kay is a genius, one of the best I have ever read. The way he spins stories and creates such beautiful worlds and dynamic characters cannot be matched.
6. What are you currently reading?
I am currently reading Becoming a Visible Man by Jamison Green for one of my classes. It’s an autobiographical work that describes Green’s own experiences as a transsexual man and offers a deeply insightful approach to all of the challenges transsexuals can still face today.
7. Creatively, what are you currently working on?
As of right now, I’m not working on much. My creative juices have become stagnant thanks to a little thing I like to call the world of academia. While school is in session, I like to focus all of my attention on my studies. As soon as summer break starts, I plan to revitalize some of my old stories. With a little bit of editing, they may be ready for publication. We’ll see.
8. What inspires you?
My grandmother, Sarita Mullin. She’s strong, independent, intelligent, hard working, caring, unbiased, and so many other great things. She has always been around to give me a hug or a swift kick in the butt when I needed it. She is by far one of the greatest women to ever walk the planet. If I’m half of the grandmother she has been to me, then I’ll be happy.
9. What are you most proud of?
I am most proud of how hard I work. I devote a lot of time and energy into everything I do, be it work, school, my sorority, or this internship. I refuse to give anyone sub-par work, and I think that people appreciate it.
10. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
In 10 years I will have obtained my M.S. in Publishing from NYU and have a job as an editor for a book publishing company. Hopefully, at this point my girlfriend of three years (so far) and I will have gotten married and be able to adopt kids.
Nonfiction Editor Terrah Hancock is an English Literature major at Arizona State University. One of her nonfiction essays, Snobbery Tower is being published in the upcoming edition of Lux Literary Magazine. She has also finished a working draft of her memoir entitled Singing Myself To Sleep and is in the editorial phase of publication. She aspires to attend graduate school at Vermont College of Fine Arts where her Creative Writing Thesis Project will be the tangled biography of a 26º Freemason’s son.
1. What is your position with Superstition Review and what are your responsibilities?
This is my first semester with Superstition Review. As the Nonfiction Editor my responsibilities are to review submissions from authors. I correspond with the authors and then submit my vote on which submissions I think should be featured.
2. Why did you decide to get involved with Superstition Review?
I am usually on the submitting end of the publication process. I was curious to experience the other side, so I applied. I want to gain exposure to things like: the always dreaded and nerve wracking Query Letter and to witness how fellow writers develop and sustain relationships with literary magazines.
3. Besides interning for Superstition Review, how do you spend your time?
I have a set of detailed and lofty academic and professional goals, so a great deal of my time is spent studying or writing in the basement of Hayden Library. Beyond striving to achieve my childhood dream of being a writer, I am the happy and playful mother of two beautiful sons. We spend much of our time riding bikes, playing football or taking our three dogs to the dog park.
4. What other position(s) for Superstition Review would you like to try out?
I could see myself trying the Superstition Review Blog Editor only if it doesn’t exclude me from being able to read all the incoming submissions!
5. Describe one of your favorite literary works.
I get asked this all the time and I contend that one favorite is impossible! I have a strong three way tie for my favorite work: Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Each of these books left me feeling immensely connected to humanity and with a deep compassion for all the things I’ll never know about other people’s lives.
6. What are you currently reading?
After semesters full of close, analytic readings I yearn for a story that I don’t have to dissect and appraise. My very favorite story to get lost in is Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. Like the gunslinger’s repeated journey, I read this entire series once a year. I love that I don’t study the sentence structure or even acknowledge that structure exists. Right now I’m reading The Art of Time in Memoir by Sven Birkerts.
7. Creatively, what are you currently working on?
I am working on polishing the working draft of my first book right now. I completed my first draft over a year ago and have been following a detailed plan to achieve my eventual goal. My manuscript is with my editor now and when we are finished with this lengthy editorial process, I’ll move along to the stage of acquiring publication and literary prestige!
8. What inspires you?
I am inspired by the people who never gave up on their dreams. In 1888, Mona Caird wrote “Every good thing that we enjoy today was once the dream of a ‘crazy enthusiast’ mad enough to believe in the power of ideas and in the power of man to have things as he wills.” Also — one of my goals is to someday be an answer to one of The Writer’s Chronicle crossword puzzle questions!
9. What are you most proud of?
I make sure to cherish every accomplishment in my life. Every semester, every essay, every test, every publication. I’m proud of my life collectively. Most recently, I’m very proud of my first publication. A short story of mine entitled, Snobbery Tower, was published just this month in a local literary journal.
10. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I wrote my first book at age six, entitled The Heart and The Ant. Ten years from now, I will still be on the path that began with that book. I will still be writing and possibly in school; hopefully on the other side of the podium by then. I’ll still be happy and proud. I’ll know that I never gave up on my dreams — maybe got distracted a few times, but I never quit.
Poetry Editor Emily Beckley is entering her senior year here at Arizona State pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English Literature. Upon graduating in December, she plans to utilize her degree to get herself into graduate school to study publishing. Originally from Chicago, Emily hopes to move to the northwest after graduation to follow her dream of working in the editing/publishing field and also hopes to one day publish her own poetry for the masses. This is Emily’s premier semester at Superstition Review.
1. What is your position with Superstition Review and what are your responsibilities?
I am a poetry editor for Superstition Review. I handle poetry submissions along with my fellow poetry editor, April Stolarz. This process involves reading submissions and giving my personal feedback in terms of quality and vision as it pertains to the finished product of the upcoming issue of Superstition Review. Outside of content editing, I participate in spreading the word about Superstition Review and increasing awareness for future writers who wish to submit.
2. Why did you decide to get involved with Superstition Review?
I am graduating in December, and I am really trying to get myself some real world experience in the field in which I intend to seek employment. I want to work in the publishing industry; this internship will definitely give me the advantage when seeking a job. Also, I will be applying for graduate school and any internship will set me apart from other applicants.
3. How do you like to spend your free time?
I like to spend my free time reading and writing poetry. Being a literature major, I tend to always be reading something that is assigned to me. So, I cherish the times I have to read works of my own choosing. I also love seeing shows around the valley with friends or taking day trips around the state on the weekend. I am also a thrift shopping addict, yikes!
4. What other position(s) for Superstition Review would you like to try out?
If I were to have another position, I think being an art editor would be really exciting. I don’t have any experience with art, other than my own personal interests. But, handling submissions of people’s artwork would be really exciting and interesting.
5. Describe one of your favorite literary works.
My favorite poet of all time would have to be Gary Snyder. All of his work speaks to me on a very personal level; the calm that ensues from reading his poetry lifts my mood instantly! “Rip Rap” is by far my favorite poem of his. I think I have learned a lot from his writing, and have carried a bit of Snyder into my own style.
6. What are you currently reading?
Currently, I am reading Shopgirl by Steve Martin and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.
7. Creatively, what are you currently working on?
I try to fit in as much time as I can every week to allow myself to write freely. I love writing poetry; it’s a very cathartic experience for me. I keep a portfolio of my work and try to update it every month with some solid pieces that I think will be worth someone’s time in the future when I explore writing as a career.
8. What inspires you?
I feel that every day holds moments of beauty and poetry. I challenge myself to notice these moments and treasure them. Often, I write lyric poems praising small and seemingly insignificant occurrences or objects, even images and realizations that I think will bring a smile to my face one day going back and reading my own work. I also tend to write a lot of confessional style poetry. It can feel very cleansing when experiencing struggles in life.
9. What are you most proud of?
I am proud of my positive attitude and appreciation for life. Not everyone can say that they are truly happy, and I take pride in knowing that I have taken the right steps to be just where I want and need to be in life.
10. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
In 10 years I hope to be working in the publishing industry and have published some of my own poetry. I would love it if I had the opportunity to share my work with the public and make a career out of something I am so passionate about.
The submission period for Superstition Review Issue 7 is now closed. Thank you to everyone who submitted. Keep an eye out for the launch of Issue 7, sometime in May. Also keep in mind that Alison Hawthorne Deming will be reading at ASU on April 13th. Check out the Superstition Review Facebook page for full details.
We look forward to seeing more of your submissions this fall for Superstition Review’s 8th Issue. Happy writing.