The Art of the Essay: Anthropologies of Everyday Life
EGL 238, Summer 2006
Jonah Willihnganz
Stanford University

Journal Annotations
Annotations of journals that publish nonfiction, submitted by students since Winter 2004. Annotations are added as they are submitted. The entries are not in alphabetical order but I have tried to keep entries on the same journal together. The format is as follows:

Name of Journal
Name of Student

1. Basic information (publisher, frequency, address for submission, submission policy, etc.)
2. Short description of the content (ratio of non-fiction to other forms, typical topics, average essay length, maybe description of a typical essay, opening lines of representative pieces)

McSweeneys.net
Lisa Olson

This information is based on a review of the online magazine in March 2006.  There is a quarterly magazine by the same name, but this review covers only the online version. 

Publishing Information: New material is added to the website as it becomes available.  No set schedule. 

Editorial Staff: The website does not list a staff or it was under a clever title that I couldn’t figure out.  Dave Eggers was the original editor of the magazine.  There are quite a few insider references to “Dave” and “Valentino.”  It seems that if you’re reading the website, you’re supposed to know these things already.

Subscription Rates: Free.

Submission Policy:
Submission by email only. Submissions for the web should be of no more than 1,500 words, but they prefer shorter pieces. The website accepts only previously unpublished pieces and you may not submit a piece for both the website and the magazine.  There is little or no pay for submissions.  Cover letters are not necessary.  Your submission should be included in the body of the email and not sent as an attachment.  They have some specific preferences about formatting and punctuation.  See  http://www.mcsweeneys.net/submit/web.html for more specifics.  The submission guidelines also specify the form of the email, including re: line, author information and other administrative details.

Send submissions to:

websubmissions@mcsweeneys.net

Content of Issue:

I fear that no one in this class is going to be young or hip enough for McSweeney’s (no offense).  The content seems to be submitted by and designed for irreverent, urban 20 to early 30something aspiring literary types.  The magazine publishes pieces by many young(ish) and otherwise unappreciated authors, in addition to well-known authors, but the website contributors vary from month to month. There were no travel essays on the current site.  Some sample titles of essays: Stephen Elliot’s Poker Report, Failing at Flirting With the Hot Girl at the Office Where My Friend Works, and My Rejected Design Theme for J.Crew's Summer Catalog.

They are all quite funny and have some of the same allure of reality television; you can’t always figure out exactly why you like it, but you do.

Many of the essays seem to flaunt or parody “literary” correctness.  One piece noted it was switching to first person present tense to give the reader a more immediate experience.  Thrilling Chapter Endings You May Use in Your Next Novel was a funny essay in this vein.

Representative Essay:

Stephen Elliot’s Poker Report is a diary of poker games held at Elliot’s apartment.  (Elliot is the author of several acclaimed books). Each journal entry includes the name of the poker games played, money won/lost, food eaten, alcoholic beverages consumed (hangover symptoms seem to be a reoccurring theme) and amusing stories from the night.  I read five night’s worth of entries and noticed my scroll bar had barely moved so I suspect there may be up to a year’s worth of entries but lack of time and interest prevented me from delving further so there may be good stuff that I missed.

Basics:

Slate is an online daily magazine. The site says it is a general-interest publication offering analysis and commentary about politics, news, and culture. “Slate's strong editorial voice and witty take on current events have been recognized with numerous awards, including the National Magazine Award for General Excellence Online.” The site is owned by The Washington Post Company.

This information is based on the Monday, March 26, 2007 issue.

Submissions:

Unsolicited articles should be e-mailed to letters@slate.com with "article submission" in the subject line.

Content:

Slate has sections in News & Politics, Arts & Life, Business & Tech, Health & Science, Style & Shopping, Travel & Food and Sports – sections consistent with any large news publication. Travel & Food could be called Food & Travel, because two-thirds of current headlines are about food. Travel headlines are dated anywhere from two weeks to seven months prior.

The issue had 4 original travel articles, all from published authors. The articles tended to be short (about 1,000 words), one in a series, with more reportage than personal reflection. The tone of the articles was indeed consistent with the site’s statement – witty. Because the articles are short, the arcs tend to be quick and sharp. And travel here tends to be more active and adventurous than passive and leisurely.

Also, the section has two labels for articles – “Well Traveled: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Travel” and “Dispatches: Notes from Different Parts of the World.” Well Traveled articles tend to have more reportage than personal reflection. For example: Looking for Mammon in the Muslim World from Seth Stevenson included My Dinner with Ahmad. And Dispatches tend to be more reflective pieces from non-published authors. For example: Cycling the Silk Road (Or Three Knuckleheads Cycle the Silk Road) included The Kindness of Strangers by Greg Grim.

National Geographic Adventure
Ann Broadwell

This information is based on the April 2007 issue, volume 9, number 3 (102 pages), of National Geographic Adventure. Publishing information:  Adventure is published monthly, except for the bimonthly issues of June/July and Dec. /Jan. by the National Geographic Society, 1145 17th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036-4688.

The web site is:  http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure.

Editor:  John Rasmus
Managing Editor:  Lynne Sanford
Senior Editors:  Michael Benoist, Andrew Berg, Cliff Ransom
West Coast Editor:  Steve Casimiro
Subscription Rates:  $14.97 per year; $4.95 per single copy

Submission Policy:

Writers are to send focused ideas tailored to a department of the magazine.  Queries are to be accompanied by at least three published clips, preferably related to the field of adventure or adventure travel, along with a self-addressed stamped envelope and contact information, including an email address.  They try to respond within three months.

The departments of the magazine are described on the web site, and include feature articles (4,000 to 8,000 words; a previously untold story, at once finely detailed and broad reaching), American Wilds (four page travel narrative about a place with something new to offer), and Frontiers (up and coming world wide destinations).

The magazine periodically encourages reader submissions.  The April, 2007 issue contains the following solicitation:  “Share Your Big Adventures:  Tell us about your life-changing trips!  To coincide with our cover story … we’re calling for submission to our online reader-photo album.  So give us your best shot—and trip advice—from an incredible getaway, be it an eco-escape, honeymoon, or DIY [do it yourself] excursion.  Your photographs and tips could be published in Adventure or on our Web site.”  (Page 11).

The submission policy can be found at:  http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/about_writers.html

Queries can be emailed to: adventure@ngs.org  or sent to:

National Geographic Adventure magazine
104 W. 40th Street, 19th Floor
New York, New York 10018

Issue Contents:

100% non-fiction.  The magazine provides articles on places to travel and on various ways to prepare for adventure travel, such as what gear to bring and what health precautions to take.  There is an emphasis on travel photography, and most of the articles are accompanied by photographs.

The April 2007 issue had two essays.  One was about Brad Washburn, who pioneered first ascents in Alaska and Canada and took breakthrough aerial photographs of mountain peaks (several are reproduced in the magazine) in the 1930’s and 1940’s.  The essay was written by a mountain climber who had known him, and was twelve full pages, including full-page photographs he had taken.  The other was a description of a road trip from Canada to Mexico on US 89.  It was ten full pages, including photographs and maps.

Otherwise, the issue was filled with long and short reportorial articles about places to visit, clothes to wear, gear to take, how to get physically fit for adventure travel, an interview with the founders of the Lonely Planet guidebooks, and three book reviews.

Boston Review
By Daisy Cho

This information is based on www.bostonreview.net, and March/April 2007 issue
highlights of the Boston Review

Publishing information: Boston Review is published six times a year by Boston Critic, Inc.

Masthead:

Editors: Deborah Chasman (deb@bostonreview.net), Joshua Cohen (jcohen57@stanford.edu)
Managing Editor/Art Director: Joshua J. Friedman (josh@bostonreview.net)

Submission guidelines:

Boston Review acquires the first-serial rights to accepted pieces; copyright
reverts to the author after publication. We do not consider previously
published material. Simultaneous submissions are fine as long as we are
notified of the fact. Our mailing address is Boston Review, 35 Medford St.,
Suite 302, Somerville, MA 02143. We do not accept faxed submissions, and we
do not accept e-mailed fiction or poetry submissions. Payment varies.
Response time is generally 2-4 months. A self-addressed stamped
envelope must accompany all submissions. The best way to get a sense
of the kind of material Boston Review is looking for is to read the magazine.
(Sample copies are available for $5.00.)

NONFICTION AND BOOK-REVIEW ESSAYS: If you would like us to
consider a piece, please e-mail your query along with a resume and several
published clips to editors@bostonreview.net.

FICTION: From Junot Diaz, fiction editor: "I'm looking for fiction that
resembles the Thirty-Mile Woman from Toni Morrison's Beloved: 'She is a
friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and
give them back to me in all the right order.' Or as Takashi Murakami puts it:
'We want to see the newest things. That is because we want to see the future,
even if only momentarily. It is the moment in which, even if we don't
completely understand what we have glimpsed, we are nonetheless touched by
it. This is what we have come to call art.' I'm looking for fiction in which a
heart struggles against itself, in which the messy unmanageable complexity of
the world is revealed. Sentences that are so sharp they cut the eye."

POETRY: Boston Review reads poetry submissions between September 15
and May 15 each year. We are devoted to selecting from unsolicited
manuscripts the majority of the poems published in our magazine. We
encourage you to submit your work.

Content:

Boston Review invites works on issues of politics, philosophy, fiction, poetry,
and criticism. Subscription is $25 per year.

Sample Content from March /April 2007 issue:
Section 1: WHAT HELPS POOR COUNTRIES GROW?
Section 2: Essays
Knowing Right and Wrong - Is morality a natural phenomenon?
By Alex Byrne, professor of philosophy at MIT

The Geography of Poverty - Rethinking Social Policy
By Dalton Conley, University Professor and the chair of the sociology department at New York University
Section 3: New Fiction Forum
Barbarians' Fantasies, by Peter Mountford. His fiction is forthcoming
in Best New American Voices 2008. He recently earned an MFA from
the University of Washington, where his thesis, a novel called Alistair
Wright, won the 2006 David Guterson Award.
Sections 4, 5, 6: Poetry Critique, Film Critique and Poems.

NOTE: I did not find any travel essay in January/February 2007 issue and
March/April 2007 issue.

Northwest Review
Janice Bohman

Based on January 2007 issue, volume 45-1/2007

Published 3 times annually at the University of Oregon and distributed by Bernhard DeBoer, Inc., 113 E. Center St., Nutley, NJ 07110

Editor:  John Witte
Fiction Editor:  Janice MacRae
Poetry Editor: John Witte
Subscription Rates: $22 one year, $40 two years, students $20 per year. Writers may get one copy for $4.

Submission Policy:

Per the website: The only criterion for acceptance of material for publication is that of excellence. There are no restrictions on length, style or subject matter. But we smile on originality. The author's name and address should appear on each poem and on the cover page of each story submitted. The author's name should appear on each page of his or her story.

A self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) must accompany each submission. If submitting both poetry and fiction, please send in separate envelopes with separate SASE's.

Submit to:             

The Editors
Northwest Review
1286 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403

Content of 45-1/2007

Essays & Hybrid Forms Section: 14% consisting of 3 essays 11, 11, and 20 pp.
Fiction Section: 19% consisting of 4 stories 10, 15, 15, and 16 pp.
Art: 5% consisting of 1 set of drawings
Poetry: 67% in 3 sections.

9 poets.
2 translated poets, plus critiques.
One section featuring a Northwest Poet, with an essay about the poet.

Essays:

“The Great Escape,” by Patrick Madden, 11 pp. This essay is a hybrid travel/profile about a former Tupamaro guerrilla, his movement, and their prison escape.

The other 2 essays include one memoir, using passages from a book about the Spanish flu as a metaphor, and a dense (Freud, Jung, etc.) literary critique of Ken Kesey.

Salmagundi
Lillian Barden

This information is based on the web site information (salmagun@skidmore.edu) and issue annotations on Infotrac for the Spring/Summer 2005 (190pages) and Fall 2005 (288 pages) issues. Salmagundi is published four times per year (occasionally in double issues) by Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Editor in Chief: Robert Boyers
Executive Editor: Peggy Boyers
Single issues are $8 and Subscriptions run from $32 to $70 for 1 to 12 issues.

Issue content:

The Spring/Summer issue included: four articles (10 to 46 pages) the longest an essay by Mary Gordon; two interviews, one with Muriel Spark by Robert Hosmer (30 pages); thirteen poems; and a book review. The Fall issue included: sixteen poems; one book review,  five columns; one biographical essay; a short story by Mary Gordon; and 10 critical essays of approximately ten pages each. Subjects are wide ranging: political comment, cultural analysis and literary criticism, often including the international perspective. Contributors include seven regular columnists and many well known writers, poets and essayists.

As described on the web site,  Salmagundi “invites argument, and it makes a place for literature that is demanding, including novella-length fiction ……  and essays that – in terms of length and range of interest – go well beyond the fare served up by better weeklies and monthlies. It is widely regarded as one of the most influential intellectual quarterlies in the United States……”

Submission policy:

Unsolicited submissions accepted only between Oct 15th and May 1. All submission must be accompanied by a SASE. Electronically submitted material can be submitted to sal.submit@skidmore.edu.

Send submissions to:

Salmagundi Journal
Skidmore College
815 North Broadway
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

This information is based on the September 2006 issue, volume XXXI number 9 (132 pages), of Outside.
Publishing information: Outside is published twelve times a year by Mariah Media Inc. Circulation is over 650,000.
Editor: Lawrence J. Burke
Managing editor: Katie Arnold
Single copies: $4.95

Submission policy:
Outside uses a regular stable of experienced writers, but is open to "new authors and their ideas." Outside looks for adventure travel pieces and articles on outdoor regions, activities and events. Informative service pieces that are seasonal are acceptable as are engaging outdoor character profiles and environmental issue investigative stories. Outside desires a query with a provaocative thesis and should demonstrate familiarity with the magazine's tone and content.

Submit queries (not manuscripts), a self-addressed stamped envelope along with two or three relevant clips to:
Outside magazine
400 Market St.
Sante Fe, New Mexico 87501
(Expect a six eight week response time.)

Issue content:
Feature articles are 1500-5000 words, Dispatches articles are 100-800 words, destination pieces are 300-1000 words which include advice, news and places for adventurous travelers, and articles that review gear and equipment are 200-1500 words. In the September 2006 issue it contains four essays by Mt. Everest climbers who survived adverse conditions between 1996-2006. These essays are written in first person. One article entails a deadly Florida swamp mosquito. Another four paged first person account entails going half way around the world to find a beer.

This information is based on the August 13, 2006, issue / Section 6 (58 pages).

Publishing Information: The New York Times publishes The New York Times Magazine weekly as a supplement of the Sunday edition of its newspaper. The magazine, including some exclusively online sections (a discussion forum about fighting the obesity epidemic and Times Topics about Lebanon, including multimedia features and breaking news), is also available at nytimes.com/magazine.

Editor: Gerald Marzorati (he is also the assistant managing editor of the New York Times newspaper)
Email: magazine@nytimes.com
Subscription rate (based on Sunday-only subscription rate for the New York Times newspaper for home delivery to San Francisco, CA): $5.98 per week (with a current special of $2.99 per week for the first 12 weeks)
Single copies of Sunday New York Times newspaper with magazine purchased from newsstand: $5.00

Submission Policy:

There is no clear policy in the print or online versions of the magazine on how to submit general articles. However, letters to the editor should be emailed to magazine@nytimes.com or addressed to:

Letters to the Editor:

Magazine
The New York Times
229 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036

All letters should include the writerís name, address and daytime telephone number. The magazine is unable to acknowledge or return unpublished letters. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

There is also a Lives column in the New York Times Magazine that accepts submissions. Submissions for Lives may be sent to lives@nytimes.com. Because of the volume of submissions for the Lives column, the magazine cannot return or respond to unsolicited manuscripts.

Content of Issue Broken Down by Category:

All content in this issue of the magazine was non-fiction, except for The Funny Pages (a comic strip section) and a crossword puzzle section. The magazine is a general-interest magazine and focuses primarily on current events, politics, and culture. Starting on September 17, 2006, the magazine will resume its Sunday Serial section, with a criminal thriller by Michael Connelly.

8-page news cover story about the possibility that microorganisms may contribute to obesity
4-page interview with journalist and TV personality Meredith Vieira
5-page news/opinion article about Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel
2-page opinion article about communities that have age restrictions prohibiting children from residing in those communities
2-page personal essay by an organic-peach-and-grape farmer about his experience farming with his father; features two recipes (food articles regularly appear in the magazine)

Regular Features:

1-page ìLivesî section that accepts personal essay submissions. In this issue, writer Danielle Trussoni, author of a memoir ìFalling Through the Earth,î writes about her experience giving birth naturally in Japan.
1-page ìQuestions forî section with a Q&A with a public figure (House minority leader Nancy Pelosi is interviewed in this issue)
1-page ìConsumedî column by regular columnist Rob Walker about pop culture topics
2-page ìIdea Labî section. In this issue, Gary J. Bass, a politics and international affairs professor, explores what causes civil war (this section may not occur in every issue, as it does not appear in the online version of the August 20, 2006 version of the magazine)
1-page "The Ethicist" column by regular columnist Randy Cohen that answers ethics questions submitted by readers
1-page ìOn Languageî column by regular columnist William Safire analyzing the use/meanings of words (this issueís column deals with the use of words regarding the Israeli-Hezbollah war)
8-page ìStyleî photo spread featuring Valentino clothing
1-page Letters to the Editor
1-page ìThe Funny Pagesî section featuring comics
2-pages ìPuzzlesî section featuring crossword puzzles

Publishing Information

Editor: Michael Koch
Managing Editor: Heidi E. Marschner
Publishes 3x/yr. Accepts unsolicited manuscripts 15 Sept.-15 April. No simultaneous submissions. SASE.
Subscription rate: $11/yr.
Epoch
251 Goldwin Smith Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853

Publishes short fiction (~60%) and poetry (30%), as well as essays, graphic art, and occasionally cartoons and screenplays. Essays and memoir appear infrequently and might comprise about 15% of Epoch’s annual content. Contributors have typically been published in other literary journals, although there seems to be some effort by the publication to feature “emerging” voices.

Representative essays:

Dorothy Gallagher, “Whoever You Were.” (53:2, 2004).
This memoir opens with, “I was living up on 99th and Broadway, remember? Only one window, the kitchen hidden in a closet like a Murphy bed. I liked that apartment. No surprises, no one lurking in another room.”

James McConkey, “Some Views About Cuba for the Delegation that Couldn’t Visit” (51:1, 2002). This is a short travel narrative about Cuba and its indigenous Trainos, Native American peoples.

Buzz Alexander, “Summer 1998: Blue Pattern in a Paper Bowl.” (51:1, 2002).
Alexander eloquently juxtaposes San Quentin’s death row with vivid, Dillardesque nature descriptions. “The periodic black bullfrog glug taps some unreachable memory, some sense of things, and this morning a great blue heron coasts in to settle its grand webbed feet on the log fallen across the far corner. A long-coated gentleman, it stretches its question-mark neck, poises, pauses, poses, dignified, holds, curls neck down and in…” And later, “How to see to the heart of the spider and bee, the heron in the pond. How to catch the heart of death row and state murder. Death or hibernation. How to find the angels’ words that touch others with the deep cruelties and beauty of life, words that might bring them to the new land of complex acceptance, growth, and healing, a land far beyond trite angry revenge and far beyond easy forgiveness.”

This information is based on the Granta Summer 2006 issue, volume 94 (256 pages).
Publishing Information: Granta is published four times per year, by Granta Publications of London and, in the U.S., in association with Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 841 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10003.

Editor: Ian Jack Deputy
Editor: Matt Weiland
Managing Editor: Fatema Ahmed
Associate Editor: Liz Jobey
Subscription Rates:Individuals: $39.95 per year.Single Copies: $14.95 each.

Submission Policy:

Granta magazine publishes new writing -- fiction, personal history, reportage and inquiring journalism. It also publishes documentary photography. Every issue contains at least 256 pages in paperback book format; special issues can be up to 100 pages more. "Granta does not have a political or literary manifesto, but it does have a belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make real". Granta asks submitters to read the journal to see if their pieces are suitable.  Granta will NOT accept: academic essays, essays about writers, book reviews, straight reporting or feature articles of only temporary interest, genre fiction, poetry, or travel writing without a story. The magazine breaks these rules regularly, though, and urges writers to analyze the journal's published pieces. Granta accepts typed one-sided paper submissions, of any length, one story per mailing, via postal mail. They reply via email or postal mail, if provided with SAE and postage (International Reply Coupons needed from the U.S.), generally within 3 months.

Send submissions to:

The Editor
Granta
2-3 Hanover Yard
Noel RoadLondon N1 8BE
United Kingdom

Granta issues often feature a theme, for example: travel, country life, politics of religion, mothers, and film.
Content of Issue #94,”On the Road Again, Where Travel Writing Went Next”

Broken Down by Category:

Essays: 67% consisting of 8 essays: 27,27,12,7,25,14,12, and 4 pp.
Fiction: 25% consisting of 3 short stories: 21,13, and 14 pp.
Photojournalism: 8% consisting of 1 piece: 32 pp.

Representative Essay:

"Cary Grant’s Suit," by Todd McEwen (7 pp.), begins: “North by Northwest isn’t a film about what happens to Cary Grant, it’s about what happens to his suit.”

Representative Fiction:

“Lavande,” by Ann Beattie (13 pp.), begins: “Some time ago, when my husband went to stay at the American Academy in Rome in order to do research, I accompanied him because I had never seen the Roman Forum.

This issue contains a DVD titled “McSweeney’s the DVD!” Includes readings by many of the contributors, a making of the DVD including a humorous director’s commentary by FF Coppola (he didn’t direct it but provides commentary nonetheless) and other wacky features.

Length of works: varies between 2-40 pages. Type of works: varies per issue (the current McSweeney’s is composed mainly of comics). This issue approximately 1/3 nonfiction and 2/3 fiction.

For more information: www.mcsweeneys.net. The website posts additional submissions.

This information is based on the July/August issue: Volume 294 No. 1/Jul-Aug 2004.

Publishing Information:

Managing Editor: Cullen Murphy
Literary Editor and National Editor: Benjamin Schwarz
Poetry Editor: Peter Davison
Editorial Offices and Correspondence
The Atlantic Monthly considers unsolicited manuscripts, fiction or non-fiction, and mail for the Le4tters column.Correspondence should be sent to the Atlantic Monthly, 77 North Washington St., Boston, MA 02114, or letters@theatlantic.com. Manuscripts will not be returned, nor will queries be answered or letters acknowledged, unless they are accompanied by a postage-paid postcard or return envelope of sufficient size. Please don not send manuscripts by email.

Content:

192 text pages (does not include advertising) The content is mostly political, literary, and informative.
Letters: Page 18 (11 pages).
The Agenda: Page 37 (27 pages), 9 short readings.
Articles: Page 67 (74 pages), 7 non-fiction articles, all current political or topical.
2 Poems; 1 Drawing.

Sample quotes from first article:

When George Meets John by James Fallows, Illustrations by John Ritter.
"Presidential debates always put more importance on Projecting character than on being right. George W. Bush and John Kerry can both boast of never having lost a debate, though the two candidates rely on strikingly dissimilar sets of skill. A viewer's guide to this fall's version of 'asymmetric warfare'."
" The Bush I saw on the ten-year-old debate tape from Texas was almost unrecognizable. This Bush was eloquent. He spoke quickly and easily. He rattled off complicated sentences and brought them to the right grammatical conclusions."

Books and Critics: Page 143 (25 pages) 9 short and 5 long non-fiction book reviews and one fiction review.

Pursuits and Retreats: Page 169, contains one fiction story, one music review of Cole Porter, a personal file on Organizing Your Life, and some puzzles.

"Our intent is to have articles written by scholars and experts, but written in nontechnical language for an intelligent audience. Material covers a wide range in the arts, sciences, current affairs, history and literature." Pays on publication. Publishes manuscript an average of 1 year after acceptance. Byline given. Offers 50% kill fee (fee for a complete article which was assigned but which was subsequently cancelled.) Buys first rights. Editorial lead time 6 months. Submit seasonal material 6 months in advance. Accepts queries by mail, e-mail, fax. Responds in 2 weeks to queries, 2 months to manuscripts. Sample copy for $9. To obtain writers' guidelines, send a No. 10 self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Nonfiction: essays, historical/nostalgic, humor. Buys 40 manuscripts/year. Query. Length: 3,000-5,000 words. Pays $500 maximum. Poetry: 'We have no special requirements of length, form or content of original poetry.' Robert Farnsworth, poetry editor. Buys 25 poems/year. Submit maximum of 3-4 poems. Pays $50.
Send submissions or queries to: The American Scholar, 1606 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C., 20009.

Content of issue by category:

This issue had eight articles, written by professionals including a doctoral candidate in English, an editor, a partner in a law firm, an author whose work includes translations and short fiction and Robert Pinsky, U.S. Poet Laureate (1997-2000.) The style is well-written, well-supplemented by facts and research, and rich visual and linguistic imagery. The featured essay was 'Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Joyce' by Sam Anderson, doctoral candidate in English at New York University.

It also contains seven poems, in freeform style. The poets include authors and university professors of English. It also contains two essays pertaining to books and three book reviews. It also contains the racy 'Journal,' a piece by editor and artist Byron Dobell, 'The Scientfic Method,' a piece by Aaron Hirsh, the Scholar's summer Scientific Method columnist, letters from readers and a closing excerpt from a lecture.

The Iowa Review is published three times per year, in April, August, and December, by the Department of English and the Graduate College of the University of Iowa (location of the Iowa Writers’ Center).

Editor: David Hamilton
Managing Editor: Amber Withycombe
Assistant Editors: Kerrie Kvashay-Boyle, Kristin Hall, Lynne Nugent
Subscription Rates:
Individuals: $20 for one year, $38 for two, $55 for three.
Single Copies: $7.95 each.

Submission Policy:

Iowa Review purchases first North American serial rights, non-exclusive rights for any later Iowa Review anthology, non-exclusive classroom copyrights, and non-exclusive electronic rights for The Iowa Review Web, paying $25 for the first page and $15 for each additional page, whether poetry or prose. The author also receives two free copies of the issue in which their piece appears along with a gratis subscription for the remainder of the calendar year. Iowa Review only accepts unsolicited manuscripts during the months of September, October, and November; the editors will reject and return unread any unsolicited work received at any other time. The editors note they will discard any manuscript received without a self-addressed, stamped envelope, regardless whether a cover letter and/or email address is included. Iowa Review does not accept submissions via email. Neither the journal nor the web site (http://www.uiowa.edu/~iareview) provides any additional information regarding manuscript, length, or style guidelines.
Send submissions to:

The Iowa Review
308 EPB
Iowa City, IA 52242

Content of Issue Broken Down by Category:

Essays: 23% consisting of 4 essays: 13, 8, 14, and 7 pp.
Fiction: 23% consisting of 3 short stories: 18, 18, and 7 pp.
Interviews: 11% consisting of 2 interviews: 9 and 11 pp.
Poetry: 43% consisting of 38 poems, between 1 and 4 pp.
Representative Essay:
“Albion Season,” by Sonja Livingston (13 pp.): Livingston’s piece consists of a “coming of age” story presented through a series of twenty-two small (1 to 4 paragraphs each) vignettes structured in an epistolary style.

Representative Fiction:

“A Man Identifies a Body,” by Jesse Waters (7 pp.): in this metafictional short story, Waters’s narrator is a writer who juxtaposes three stories of survival on the ocean—one of the stories being that of Noah and the flood. The narrator moves to a first-person point of view at the end of the piece in order to describe how he believes we, the readers, are affected by these stories, explaining that the idea for the format came to him as he scattered his mother’s ashes over the waters of a Virginia lake “as dark as dreams.”
“Country Girls,” by Nona Caspers: a coming of age story about a young girl from a moderately-sized Minnesota city who moves with her family to the country, where she experiences her first romantic crush – on a girl of her own age living on a nearby farm.

This information is published at http://www.uiowa.edu

Writers' Guidelines

The Iowa Review comes out three times a year (April, August, and December), carrying stories, poems, essays, and reviews. We look for the best writing available and are often pleased to introduce new writers. We also sponsor The Iowa Awards, an annual contest in our three main genres.

Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome during the fall semester only-September, October, and November. Unsolicited work that arrives at any other time will be returned unread. Work without a SASE-even if the cover letter includes an e-mail address-will be discarded. We do not consider e-mail submissions.

Entries for The Iowa Awards, given in fiction, poetry, and literary nonfiction, should arrive during January. Please look for our annual announcements. Reading those entries occupies the remainder of our year. Outside judges name the winners, who receive $1000 apiece and are published, along with a gathering of finalists, in our December issue.

We purchase first North American serial rights, non-exclusive rights for any later Iowa Review generated anthology, non-exclusive classroom copyrights, and non-exclusive electronic rights for our web site, if we choose. We pay $25 dollars for the first page and $15 for each additional page, whether of poetry or prose. Contributors also receive two free copies of the issue in which their work appears and the remainder of a year's subscription.

Sample copies are $8, as are back issues when available. Subscriptions are $24 for one year, $44 for two, and $64 for three. Call our order department at (800) 235-2665 to charge your order to VISA or MasterCard, or send a check to the address below.

The Iowa Review
308 EPB, The University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242

Kenyon Review considers only material offered for first publication. The journal does not accept either simultaneous or electronic submissions.

Maximum Length:
Short Fiction: 7,500 words
Excerpts of longer works: 35 pp.
Plays: 35 pp.
Poetry: 10 pp., with a max of 65
characters per line

Translations of poetry and short prose are acceptable subject to the above limits, but the original-language translation must accompany the translation (the translator is responsible for author permission). Kenyon Review reads unsolicited material during September through March only, and review of these manuscripts may take up to four months. The journal does not consider unsolicited reviews or interviews. All submissions must be double-spaced and accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Authors intending to use either end notes and/or citations should review Kenyon Review’s citation style guide, available by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope. This journal generally follows The Chicago Manual of Style and Webster’s Tenth New Collegiate Dictionary.

Send submissions and citation guideline requests to:
The Kenyon Review
Gambier, OH 43022
Authors hold the rights to their individual works. Kenyon Review’s web site may be found at http://www.kenyonreview.org.

Content of Issue Broken Down by Category:

Drama: 19% consisting of 1 play: 35 pp.
Fiction: 38% consisting of 5 short stories: 11, 17, 9, 20, 14 pp.
Nonfiction: 13% consisting of 2 essays: 7 and 18 pp.
Poetry: 30% consisting of 14 poems, between 1 and 5 pp.

Representative Prose Fiction:

“In the Park,” by Gao Xingjian, trans. Mabel Lee (9 pp.): two former lovers, driven apart by the Cultural Revolution in China during the 1970s, meet again for the first time in a downtown park and, although both express contentment with their now very different lives, each carries regrets.
“Dummies, Shakers, Barkers, Wanderers,” by Lee Martin (14 pp.): the subplot, which describes the difficult birth of a new foal suffering from physical defects, acts as a mirror to the main plot: a mother and father’s struggle with their teenage son’s addiction to methamphetamine.

Representative Prose Nonfiction:

“The Works of Irving Howe,” by John Rodden (16 pp.): Rodden’s essay, which he writes in the more relaxed style representative of The New Yorker – rather than the typical “high-academic” mode of literary criticism – examines the essays, politics, and life of Irving Howe (1920-93), the editor of the radically liberal quarterly, Dissent.

Submissions:
Published quarterly, The Gettysburg Review considers unsolicited submissions of poetry, fiction, essays, and essay-reviews from September 1 through May 31 (postmark dates). New submissions received from June 1 through August 31 are returned unread. We welcome submissions of full-color graphics year round. The main criterion for selection is quality, but the best way to determine what might be accepted by The Gettysburg Review is to read what has already been published. Sample copies of the most recent issue are available at $7 each; one-year subscriptions (4 issues) are $24. We strongly encourage all potential contributors to read several issues before submitting.

Taken from this page: http://www.gettysburg.edu/academics/gettysburg_review/sbmssns.html

Essays (examples of openings):

My father is a salesman. This is what you need to know. Not that he used to be a middle school vice principal, or that his eyes are the lightest shade of blue imaginable

Edna Livingston was the loneliest girl in North America. She was the only Catholic High student who subscribed to Zen Teen: The Journal of Juvenile Macrobiotics

236 Bay State Road, Boston, Mass., 02215; (617) 353-7135.
agni@bu.edu or www.bu.edu/agni/

Contains poetry, fiction, nonfiction, memoir, an art feature very contemporary flavor … lengthy essays … the art feature is multiple pages. The 2004 Writer’s Market adds: 65 % freelance written … “Eclectic literary magazine publishing first-rate poems and stories.” … circ. 4,000 … pays on publication, an average of six months after acceptance … byline given … first North American serial rights … accepts queries by mail … no sci-fi or romance … $10-$150/fiction and $20-$150/poems … “looking for extraordinary translations from little-translated languages … important to look at a copy before submitting.”

The Virginia Quarterly Review
One West Range, Box 400223
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4223

Submissions: Guidelines for Writers

Please read at least one copy of the journal before submitting your work. Each submission must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you wish it returned. For results only, include a # 10 SASE. You will not be notified otherwise. No simultaneous submissions are accepted. Submissions per envelope are limited to two stories or five poems.

Articles, essays, memoirs, and short stories are usually reviewed within three weeks, but results for poems may be delayed three months or longer. VQR does not read fiction submissions during the months of June through September.

Publishing information of Orion is based on the July/August 2006 issue [Vol 25. No. 4]. Issue contents information is based on the November/December 2005 issue [Vol 24, No. 6]. Publishing Information: Orion is published bimonthly (six times a year) by The Orion Society and the Myrin Institute.

Orion Magazine
187 Main Street
Great Barrington, MA 02130

Online edition: http://www.oriononline.org
Email: editor@orionsociety.org : Only queries and entries for the online edition will be entertained.

Publishing Editor: M.G.H. Gilliam
Editor-in-Chief: H. Emerson Blake
Editor: Jeniffer Sahn
Executive Editor: Harlan C. Clifford
Online Editor: Peter Stiglin

Subscription:

Members of The Orion Society receive a subscription as part of their dues. There are no advertisements in the magazine. Individual memberships: $35/year ($60 for two, $80 for three). Single issues: $7 each. Membership Manager: Karen Gagne, gagne@orionsociety.org, 888-909-6568

Submission:

Orion welcomes submissions from new/freelance writers for all feature sections and departments except poetry and columns. Submissions must be sent with a self-addressed stamp envelope. Manuscripts must be double-spaced and typed/printed in black ink. Name and page number on every page. Authors must provide a phone number for contact. No footnotes. Only hardcopy submissions - no emails for manuscripts though queries are welcome electronically.

Feature length: 1500 - 4500 words. Entries over 4500 words will not be accepted
Departments: 750-1500 words.
They have a detailed website for submissions: http://www.oriononline.org/pages/om/omguidelines.html

Orion Magazine Genre: Science & Nature, Ecology, Global Environmental Issues (from their inside cover and website): "Orion explores an emerging alternative worldview...about the issues of our time: how we live, what we value, what sustains us... Informed by a growing ecological awareness and the need for cultural change, it is a forum for thoughtful and creative ideas and practical examples of how we might live justly, wisely, and artfully on Earth."

Nov/Dec 2005 Issue contents broken down by category:
100% non-fiction essays/reports/journalistic articles/photoessays/art portfolio
80 pages
Each issue has articles under one of several headings as given below:

Features:

'The world as we know it': essays and literary journalism, interconnecting nature and human culture. (1500-4500 wds)
(a) Essay on how native residents of Ugandan forests were removed from their homes in a forest conservation effort - a trend of hoards of indigenous people from around the world being removed in the name of conservation, when it is the indigenous people who are the best conservers and protectors of the land around them.

'Art of living': essays and meditations on spirit, creative life. (1500-4500 wds)
(a) The lifestyle of a couple, well into their 70s, living in a remote part of Northwest Alaska. The couple live with new technology but with an old world knowledge surpassed by very few, and the author looks at their ability to be in tune with their immediate surroundings - the rare wild flowers, the caribou, seasons, food, shelter, building a very livable subsistent world around them.

'Groundswell': articles and essays on visionary and groundbreaking individuals/orgns towards larger social and environmental change (1500-4500 wds)
(a) An article about the concept and scope of small-scale urban windmills - small windmills on rooftops around a city landscape, as an alternative form of energy. The first urban windmill came up in Manhattan in the 1970s, and resulted in an exponential growth of windmills around the country. The article then looks into types of windmills, and the strengths, weaknesses and concerns of these urban windmills as expressed by various researchers.

'Sacred and Mundane: Artifacts of Contemporary Culture'
(from website): 'What does this subject say or imply about the evolving relationship between humans and nature?' Cultural anthropology with emphasis on nature/ conservation/global environmental issues. No queries accepted. 200-600 wds.
(a) Artist-in-residence talking about her experience through painstakingly numbering leaves on trees
(b) Metal from US mines in Laos from the Vietnam War era being remelted and sold to expatriates for use in tools for gardening in the US.
(c) Past and future junkyards - car junkyards as we see them today, and how after oil production ebbs, a future junkyard may be full of contemporary commodities.

'Point of view'
A one page opinion essay by a noted authority on contemporary issues. 625 wds.

'Poetry': 3 poems per issue. Usually short.

'Health and the environment': Relationship between human health and a healthy natural world. 1300 wds.
A two-page look at epigenomes - what we inherit from our ancestors through their physical environment and gases as opposed to just inherent genes - and what this means for our generation and our industrial 'conscience'.

'Blueprint for change': Groundbreaking, visionary, replicable projects. Heavily reported articles. 1300 wds.
A two-page article on 'Rocking the Boat', a student volunteer group in South Bronx working on the Bronx River. The group, with rotating groups of students, builds boats from scratch and then, with local environment groups, works on habitat monitoring and restoration projects on the Bronx River.

'Coda': Last page essay/reflection. No queries accepted for Coda (only completed works). 650 wds
This issue had a reflection on rocks - how they are shaped, how their lifetime spand millions of years, how they are constantly influenced by water and wind forces around them, how this affects the author - a geologist.

'Columns': 3 columns per issue

Publishing Information:

Orion is published by the Myrin Institute and The Orion Society, a nonprofit organization working for change in our ways of living with the natural world. Distribution of Orion is international by membership to The Orion Society, and by newsstand and bookstore sales. Circulation is about 20,500.

All correspondence: The Editors, Orion, 187 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230. No phone calls, please.
IMPORTANT: Please label the outside of the submission envelope with the department to which you are submitting: World As We Know It, Art of Living, Groundswell, Blueprint, Health & The Environment, Sacred & Mundane, Point of View, or Coda.

Orion is a magazine about the issues of our time: how we live, what we value, what sustains us. Informed by a growing ecological awareness and the need for cultural change, it is a forum for thoughtful and creative ideas and practical examples of how we might live justly, wisely, and artfully on Earth.

Six times a year, Orion explores an emerging alternative worldview through essays, literary journalism, short stories, interviews, and reviews, as well as photoessays and portfolios of fine art. The editors look for compelling writing that connects readers to important issues. We do not publish material that is academic or theoretical. Guidelines for contributors of visual materials are available on request.

Submissions:

If you have not written for Orion before, we welcome your thoughtful submission or query. We request that anyone interested in submitting materials read a few recent issues of the magazine before contacting us. If you expect us to give your submission or query careful consideration, it must reflect an understanding of the magazine. We also request that anyone sending a query or submission include a SASE. Orion is not responsible for any materials submitted on speculation, and they will not be returned to you without sufficient pre-paid postage and packaging.

If you are proposing a story:
Your query must be detailed in its approach and reflect the care you will give to the story itself.
Your query must define where in the magazine you believe the story would be appropriate.
Your query must include three tear sheets of previously published work.
If you are submitting a manuscript:
It must be double-spaced, typed or printed in black ink.
Please be sure that your name and a page number appear on each page of your submission, and
that we have your phone number. We consider original articles and, on rare occasion, those that have already received a very limited or regional audience. Orion does not use footnotes.

We do our best to respond to submissions within four to six months. Please do not expect to hear from us regarding unsolicited material before then. Please, no telephone calls. Seasonal material must be submitted at least nine months in advance. Only acceptance of a completed article guarantees payment. No guarantee of publication is made. Editors and writers collaborate closely on revisions, which can be extensive, and final copy is sent to authors for approval. Orion purchases first North American serial rights, and exclusive worldwide electronic publishing rights for 60 days.

Correspondence and queries via e-mail are welcome, but we do not accept manuscript submissions electronically. Most feature articles range from 1,500 - 4,500 words. Departments are shorter, ranging from 750 - 1,500 words. Submissions over 4,500 words may not be considered. With the exception of poetry and columns, all of Orion’s feature sections and departments are open to submissions from freelance writers.

Features
The World As We Know It - This section presents essays and literary journalism concerned with
the interface of nature and culture, especially stories that reveal the connections between human nature, environmental issues, contemporary events, and other concerns of
civil society. (1,500 - 4,500 words)
Art of Living - This section presents essays and meditations on matters of the spirit, creative life, and culture emerging from an ecological worldview. (1,500 - 4,500 words)
Groundswell - Articles and essays in this section focus on visionary and groundbreaking individuals and organizations and incorporate broad, insightful thinking about the larger movement for social and environmental change. (1,500 - 4,500 words)

The best places for writers new to Orion to break into the magazine are S&M, Blueprint for Change, and the Groundswell feature well.

Payment: Features, $400 - $1,000; S&M, $25 - $50;
Departments, $250 - $300; Reviews, $50 - $100.

Topics are repeated each month.

1 “Schema”. A two page spread, graphically explaining a topic either covered in the long essays or possibly unrelated to anything else in the issue.
1 Monthly Column. Nick Hornby, talking about his current reading habits is the current placeholder.
1 Serialized Piece. March 2004 has Dave Eggers relaying travels with a Sudanese refugee returning to a war-torn home.Essay subjects are often literary in nature but range wildly and are often deeply personal in flavor. A hint of stylish irony pervades each and every page. In the physical realm, the magazine is four-color printed on heavy paper stock – the sense of quality is heightened by a total lack of advertising. An artistic postcard may be included in some issues.

Based upon Vol. 12, No. 2
$7.95 at newsstands, $35 per year subscription.
Published 6 times a year by:
Adbusters Media Foundation
1243 West 7th Ave.
Vancouver, BC, V6H 1B7
Canada
www.adbusters.org
Editor/Art Director: Kalle Lassn
Senior Editors: Nicholas Klassen, Timothy Querengesser, Mark White

Submission Policy:

Adbusters will find a way to publish anything you care to produce provided it adds meaningfully to the foundations core issues: commentary on the foibles of free-market ideology, unconstrained capitalism and consumer culture. Submissions can specifically address (from website):

Battle of the Mind – short newsy pieces on the politics of our mental environment
News from the Front – activist news from around the world
Endgames – short pieces on our physical environments

Issue Contents:

128 pages, no advertisements with a chaotic mix of short and long pieces overlaying or interspersed with edited graphics. While claiming to be centrist, the general stance towards cultural problems would be considered solidly left. The breakdown of individual issues can vary considerably. Generally:
10 short observations (100-200 words)
20 essays (500-1500 words).
10-15 essays and observations devoted to a specific “issue theme”. Tight graphical support for this section.
1 long essay (2-4000 words).
2 book reviews.

The March 2004 issue starts off with a piece by an everyday American mother, Rebecca Noblit-Goodall. “I feel silly talking about my war zone beccause I don’t hear tanks and planes. My neighborhood is not a killing field, full of amputated limbs”. Rebecca goes on to explain her position of relatively standard American comfort and how uncomfortable she has come to feel. The freedom to choose luxury has led real freedoms being “leached away” by her observations. One page in length on page one (issues are not paginated).

Send submissions to:  
Sy Safransky, Editor
The Sun
107 N. Roberson St.
Chapel Hill, NC  27516

Content of the Issue Broke Down by Category
--one interview, 10 pages long
--essays, memoirs and true stories: 2 essays, one 4 pages long and the other 4 1⁄2 pages long
--one photo essay, 6 pages long
--fiction, 7 pages long
--2 poems
--Readers Write: 18 short and very short essays written by readers of the magazine on a different theme each month; send your typed, doublespaced submissions to Readers Write, The Sun, 107 North Roberson Street, Chapel Hill NC 27516 (they will not respond to or return your work and may edit it heavily but you will have the opportunity to approve the edits before the essay is printed); some upcoming deadlines and themes include “Fitting In” by April 1, “Weddings” by May 1, and “Coming Clean” by June 1

Representative Essay: “I’ll Count These As My Candles,” a 4 page personal reflection written by a thirtysomething about his experiences living in Haiti as a literacy volunteer, primarily a memoir and atmosphere piece.

Frequency: Published four times a year in January, April, July and October by the University of the South
Address: 735 University Avenue, Sewanee, TN 37383-1000
Website: http://www.sewanee.edu/sreview/home.html
Cost: One year subscription for individuals is $24, single copies of current year issues are $8

Submission policy: Unsolicited manuscripts (unpublished work only) should be original typescripts with accompanying cover letters, sent by mail. Submissions will not be acknowledged or returned without a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Material should not be submitted between June 1 and August 31. Usage should conform to the Chicago Manual of Style and footnotes should be avoided.

Description: The Sewanee Review has the tone of an amiable, elderly Southern intellectual, approachable yet still rigorously thoughtful (think Allen Tate or Elizabeth Hardwick). Its bent is mostly academic, and the percentage of non-fiction depends on the particular issue and its theme. The Sewanee Review also publishes book reviews (extensive and wide ranging), poetry, and fiction. The Summer 2003 issue consists almost entirely of literary criticism, so the non-fiction includes articles such as “Leaves of Grass and American Culture,” by Denis Donoghue. The Spring 2003 issue focuses on “Autobiography and the Ventricle of Memory.” It contains five non-academic essays, all memoirs, along with more academic criticism. Typical essays include “No Free Lunch” by Wilfred Stone, a 20 page memoir of his less than successful attempts to find and keep a job during1941. Another essay, “The Block” by N.K. Bromell, is a 12 page reminiscence of the joys and struggles of a child in well educated Northern family transplanted to a small Southern city, seen through the lens of a fire that destroyed the family home.

Frequency: Published five times a year, in January, March, May, September and November by the University of Northern Iowa.
Address: 1222 West 27th Street, Cedar Fall, IA 50614-0516
Website: http://webdelsol.com/NorthAmReview/NAR
Cost: One year subscription is $24, single issues are $4.95

Submission Policy: The North American Review is “especially interested in work that addresses contemporary North American concerns and issues, particularly with the environment, gender, race, ethnicity, and class. . . . Nonfiction should combine art and fact with the finest writing.” Submissions are accepted year round and should be sent to the Nonfiction Editor. Submit only one article or essay. Don't send multiple submissions of the same genre. Please wait to hear on one submission before sending another. NAR does not accept previously published material or work currently in press elsewhere. NAR will accept submissions via e-mail from their E-Submissions page. Submissions mailed to NAR must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE). NAR tries to report on submissions within three months, but encourages inquiries with an SASE if more than three months have gone by without a response.

Description: NAR strives for intellectual, yet righteous hipness (a recent cover, a monotype depicting British Bad Boy artist Damien Hirst, illustrates NAR’s cultural pose). Its website unironically proclaims “we work to make literature and art matter.” Its motto? “’Cause friends don’t let friends read junk.”

NAR publishes nonfiction essays along with art, fiction, poetry and reviews. Essays make up about a fifth or a quarter of each issue. The September-October 2003 issue contains four essays of varying lengths (ranging from 2 to 5 magazine, as opposed to journal, sized pages). One piece, “Imagining Wolves” by Susan Marsh, recounts the author’s attempts to find and observe wolves in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, but of course is really a deeper meditation on our relationship to the wilderness. Another essay, “Short Metal Posts and the Tyranny of Black Gold,” is a short encounter with metal street posts in a pedestrian mall area of central Madrid. These street posts limit cars and encourage walking, giving the author the opportunity for a somewhat reflexive rant about the evils of American oil consumption.

This information is based on volume 88 Number 4 received on March 5, 2004 (155 pages)

Publishing Information:

The Southwest Review is published four times a year
Published by Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275
Editor-In-Chief - Willard Spiegelman Director of Development - Elizabeth Mills
Asst. to the Senior Editor - Terri Lewers Student Asst. - Snigdha Samal

Guidelines for Submission:

Send to: Southwest Review, Southern Methodist University, PO Box 223927,
Dallas, TX 75222-9972

All submissions should be typed neatly, double-spaced on white paper. Manuscripts
must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope for reply. Manuscripts
will not be returned unless SASE includes sufficient postage. The Southwest Review
prefers not to receive simultaneous, e-mail, or fax submissions, and does not consider
work that has been published previously. If you so choose to submit simultaneous
submissions, we must be informed immediately if the work is accepted elsewhere.
Because of the great number of submissions, manuscripts will not be accepted during
the ssummer months of June, July, and August.

The Southwest Review "makes a nominal payment upon publication and we also send
the author three gratis contributor's copies of the issue in which the work appears."
" Articles published by the Southwest Review embrace almost every area of adult
interest: contemporary affairs, history, folklore, fiction, poetry, literary criticism, art,
music, and the theatre. Material should be presented in a fashion suited to a quarterly
that is not journalistic and not terribly overloaded with academic apparatus or jargon.
It should not be too specialized, after the manner of papers that appear in 'learned
journals' of different fields of study."

Awards: There are three cash awards presented annually .... there are two awards of $500
presented for the best fiction or non-fiction. The balance of the cash awards are
for poetry or collections of poetry.

Content:

The current issue includes six essays, four works of fiction, and six poems.
They published a single short essay (8 pages), a single long essay (76 pages), and
four works between 12 and 28 pages. Two of the essay contributors were principally
fiction writers, 2 poets, and 2 essayists.

Based on: Vol. 1, No. 16, published June 2003. 96 pages.

Frequency: Irregular. This issue is the most recent one they’ve published but it does seem that they intend to continue publishing The Baffler. According to the website (www.thebaffler.com), updated as of 5/17/2005, they intend to publish No. 17 in late summer. Subscription Info: Each subscription is for 4 issues at $24.00. Individual issues are $7.50.

Submission Policy:

The Baffler accepts submissions of essays, stories and other writing that isn’t poetry to their post office box (P.O. Box 378293, Chicago IL 60637) only. They will respond to all that contain a self-addressed, stamped envelope but they say it may take quite a while. They advice those submitting essays to submit a one-page précis and not “the entire honking thing”. There is a long description of the history and viewpoint of The Baffler on the website (www.thebaffler.com/about.html) and it’s advised reading as it explains their point of view. In general, The Baffler aims to skewer both culture and cultural criticism, particularly that coming from the “Left” from the viewpoint of the left itself. Yes, it is rather complicated.

Address for Submissions: P.O. Box 378293, Chicago IL 60637

Content Description:

This issue contains 11 essays, 2 columns, one fictional story and 5 pieces of poetry (which sort of begs the question why they don’t allow submission of it). The essays range in length but are about 6-8 pages each. The Baffler does try to focus on business culture to a degree and this issue’s essays focus on the New Economy and its collapse with a strong sub-theme of literature. Ana Marie Cox (pre-Wonkette) contributes a column on James Patterson.

Based on: Vol. 38, No. 6, May/June 2005. 44 pages.

Frequency: 6 times a year.

Subscription Info: $24.99/ year for Canadians (this is a Canadian magazine); $35/year USA and other foreign. $4.95 Canadian newsstand.

Submission Policy:

You have to go to their website (www.thismagazine.ca) to find it but it’s worth the effort: (www.thismagazine.ca/contact/writersguide.php). The Writer’s Guidelines are extensive but boil down to a few things: (1) become familiar with the usual style and content of the magazines and, particularly, the section you’re contributing to – each has it’s own distinct needs and (2) new writers should submit to one of the shorter sections rather than a full-length essay and (3) they want Canadian content.

Content Description:

The magazine typically has about 3 long essays and then shorter ones, focused particularly on politics, in their “This & That” section. They also publish fiction and poetry and a specific “Arts & Ideas” section that covers independent artists in all genres. The cover of this particular issue blasts in large type “Feminism for Sale” which is one of the main essays but there isn’t an overall theme to the issue. The features seem to betray, a little bit, what the Writer’s Guidelines state. The feminism article is devoid of any Canadian content or perspective; and the “PK and Fly” essay (on Parkour, a sort of urban, human, freeform steeplechase) has little political content. The third feature “Hear No Evil” about a deaf man in the Nunavut justice system is both Canadian and political and quite compelling.

This information is based on Issue 2, early 2005, "Crooked Little Feelings"

Publishing information:

Published bi-annually by Swink, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation pending 501(c)(3) status.
244 Fifth Ave. #2722, New York, NY 10001
phone (212) 591-1651 Fax (212) 5658-9995
also:
5042 Wilshire Blvd. #628, Los Angeles, CA 90036
phone (310_ 281-7694 Fax (310) 861-5996
www.swinkmag.com

From the website (http://www.swinkmag.com):
Swink is a bi-coastal, biannual print magazine dedicated to identifying and promoting literary talent in both established and emerging writers. We're interested in writing that pushes the boundaries of the traditional—writing that is new in concept, form or execution; that reflects a diversity of thought, experience or perspective; that provokes or entertains.

Swink publishes fiction, non-fiction, poetry and interviews, and sponsors frequent readings and events in New York City and Los Angeles. Online theme issues of fiction, essays and poetry will also be available exclusively on our website.

Editor in Chief: Leelila Strogov
Executive Editor: Samantha Ketay Marlowe
Managing Editor: Sophia Seidner
Associate Editors: Tricia Han
Poetry Editor: David Hernanez
Creative Director: Brian Baltin
Subscription Rate: $16 for 1 year, $28 for two years
Single issue $10 US/ $16 Canada
Back issues $10 each

Submission information (from the website, http://www.swinkmag.com):

We consider fiction, essays and poetry up to 3000 words in length that have not been previously published in English. Please submit only one manuscript at a time (1 story, 1 essay, or 3-5 poems). We make every effort to respond within twelve weeks. There are no set guidelines as to content or length. Submissions must contain your name, address and a telephone number where you can be reached, and must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Simultaneous submissions are accepted provided you notify us immediately, either in writing or by email, if your work is accepted elsewhere. Please note that we do not accept submissions for the print magazine via email or fax.

For work published in the print magazine (after edits are done to our satisfaction and the piece is accepted for publication) we offer authors four copies of the issue in which their work appears. We acquire first North American serial rights, non-exclusive, one-time anthology rights, and online serial rights. When funding is available, small honorariums may also be offered, depending on length and genre.

Fiction and essays should be mailed to:
Swink, 244 Fifth Ave. #2722, New York, NY 10001
Poetry should be mailed to:
Swink, 5042 Wilshire Blvd. #628, Los Angeles, CA 90036

Contents:

Issue 2, Early 2005 is 240 pages long and includes:
5 pages of front matter
8 pages of back matter (notes on contributors and information on the Swink literary awards in fiction and poetry)
3 pages of ads at the back
8 photos, also many pieces have designed title pages, and there are 10 pages placed between pieces that contain large pulled quotes.
The issue is printed in 1-color, black. The cover is 4-color.

According to the Editor's Note, this issue contains "work that portrays the absurdity, mayhem, vulnerability, and giddiness of our existence." The issue has:

15 works of fiction, average 7.5 pages long
24 poems, average 1.5 pages long
1 memoir, 7 pages long
2 travel/journey essays ("Pergrinations"), 11 pages and 4 pages
1 profile essay ("Takes One to Know One"), 6 pages long
2 collaborative stories ("Damaged Darlings"), 13 pages and 7 pages

The ratio of pieces of nonfiction to fiction to poetry is 4 : 17 : 24
As measured in pages, the content is 15% nonfiction, 69% fiction, and 16% poetry.

The essays in this issue are as follows:

Memoir:

"Fighting Shoes" by Felicia C. Sullivan ñ- pulled quote: "I wondered about what kind of boy Menachem had beenówhat kind of boy grows into a man who offer up cocaine like fairy dust, sprinkles it everywhere my mother walks, and then leaves."

Peregrinations (essays on travel or journeys):

"Sitting in the Backseat of a Sedan" by Jesse Friedman -- pulled quote: "It has been six years since I've been outside prison, and I'm excited. Still, I try to manage a somber demeanor. We are, after all, on our way to my father's funeral.

"Mississippi Evacuation" by Susan Minot -- pulled quote: "Viewing damage after a disaster is an impolite, if not sick, thing to do, really, and we were not rewarded for it."

Takes One to Know One ("essays in which a writer, musician, filmmaker, lawyer, postal worker, football player, funeral home director, scientist, circus clown, or just about anyone, writes about someone else, living or dead, who shares his or her vocation or avocation"):

"I Heart Denis Johnson" by Michael A. FitzGerald -- pulled quote: "Oh, I'm not alone in dumb sycophantic attempts to physically force myself into a famous writer's life. Every big name has probably had an altercation or two with a well-intentioned jackass."

Swink also has online theme issues, published bi-annually, coinciding with publication of the print magazine, but containing all different works pertaining to one theme.

Submission guidelines for the Online Theme Issue:

We consider fiction, essays and poetry that have not been previously published in English, which relate in some way to the current theme. Submit one piece of fiction or essay at a time and no more than five poems; please keep entries to under 3,000 words. Submit to the online theme issue via email at onlineissue@swinkmag.com. This address accepts only submissions for the online issue—please direct questions and other correspondence to editors@swinkmag.com.

Please send your submission attached to your email as an MS Word or RTF document (we prefer double-spaced Times New Roman). If this isnít possible, paste your submission into the body of an email. PLEASE be sure to include your name, phone number, and email address at the top of your submission, and a short bio at the end. With all due respect, please don't include a cover letter. What we really care about is your ground-breaking, breathtaking writingóthatís what we want to spend our time reading. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, provided you notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere. If your piece is accepted for publication, you will receive a 1-year subscription to Swink. We acquire first North American online serial rights and non-exclusive, one-time anthology rights. Weíll do our very best to respond within twelve weeksóbut sometimes, despite our most zealous efforts, that wonít be possible. So pretty please, donít email and nudge us. You will hear from us, one way or another, we promise, in as timely a fashion as we can manage.

Next Online Issue: Online Theme Issue No. 3: Taking Sides

Swink is currently accepting submissions in which choosing sides, changing allegiances, or crossing over, plays a key role, whether itís quitting the Peace Corps to work for a porn magnate or leaving Los Angeles for Lincoln, Nebraska; eschewing a Baptist upbringing to study Islam or going from blonde to brunette; choosing sides in a fight between friends or deciding to keep the husband and give up the lover; having a night in drag or a near-death experience. The change or choice can be the subject of the work, the motivation of a character, the background against which the story unfoldsóor anything else you can think of. Online Theme Issue No. 3: "Taking Sides" will be be published simultaneous with Swinkís third print issue, in August 2005. Submissions are due by June 15. Late submissions will not be considered.

Past and Current Online Issues:

Online Issue 1 was "Lying, Cheating, & Stealing" edited by Jeremy Herelick

Contents:

7 pieces of fiction
3 essays ~400 words, ~1000 words, and ~1600 words
2 poems

Essays were:

"Make It Good" by Bernard Cooper - first line: "Yearly, for the past ten years, a friend of mine has told the tale of how she lost her virginity."

"Don't Tell Your Therapist About The Rules, Do The Rules on Your Therapist" by Meghan Daum — first line: "Your therapist must be viewed not as someone to whom you blab out every little thing but as another person who might want to marry you."

"My Mother and William Faulkner" by Susan Connell-Mettauer -- pulled quote: "But if I didnít take the laws seriously, the State Department did; and so, when I returned from Cuba, I was assigned my own FBI agentólike a personal trainerówho harassed me mildly for a period of six years, give or take. His name was William Faulkner, and I met him one day in 1971 under strange circumstances where, had they wanted to, people couldnít find me, not even my mother."

Online Issue 2 is "What We Want" edited by Darcy Cosper

Contents:
8 pieces of fiction
1 essay ~3000 words
11 poems

Essay is:
"Against Connoisseurship" by Ginger Strand -- pulled quote: "Somewhere along my own path from naif to sophisticate, the balance between indulgence and instruction was lost. When I think back on my college years, the scrim through which the whole era shimmers is that feeling of repeated lack and fulfillmentóan endless incomplete sufficiency, like when youíre incredibly thirsty and begin drinking water, each swallow simultaneously gratifying and not enough, so that you gulp and need more, gulp and need more, gulp and need more, until you remind yourself to breathe."

This information is based on the Spring 2005 issue, Volume 6, Number 3 {Obsession}

Publishing information:

Published quarterly by McCormack Communications, LLC.
2601 Northwest Thurman Street, Portland, OR 97210

Tin House is the brainchild of Win McCormack, a Portland, Oregon-based publisher who was tired of stuffy, staid literary magazines that go down like cough medicine. . . . With offices in Portland and New York, Tin House taps the energy of both coasts, with a concerted effort to reach beyond the scope of the incestuous publishing world of New York. Tin House has contributing editors scattered around the world, from San Francisco to Santiago, from Los Angeles to Edinburgh. The main objective of Tin House is to feature the best writers writing about what they are most passionate about, be it in the form of fiction, poetry, or essay, regardless of fashion or timeliness. Tin House also puts a premium on design, believing that great writing doesn't need to be presented in a form resembling a communist pamphlet or a pharmaceutical bulletin. With its first issue in May 1999, the Village Voice proclaimed that Tin House 'may well represent the future of literary magazines.'

Publisher/Editor in chief: Win McCormack
Editor: Rob Spillman
Art Director: Laura Shaw
Managing Editor: Holly MacArthur
Senior Editors: Jeanne McCulloch, Lee Montgomery
Subscription Rate: $24.95/ year
Subscribe online or send note with name, address, and check to:
Tin House, P.O. Box 469049, Escondido, CA 92046-9049
A single issue is $12.95 US/ $19.25 Canada.
Back issues $17 each. Send check to: Tin House, PO Box 10500, Portland, OR, 97296-0500, attn. back issues

Submission information (from the website, http://www.tinhouse.com):

Three of Tin House's four issues per year are theme issues. The summer issue is an open issue for all kinds of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.

Winter, 2006. "ALL APOLOGIES." Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, interviews, profiles, and food and drink writing relating to apologies, confessions, or regrets. Deadline: September, 2005. On stands January 1, through March 31, 2006.

Spring, 2006. "UN-AMERICAN." The best writing from around the world, by writers not from the United States. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, interviews, profiles, and food and drink writing--in translation and English. Deadline: January, 2006. On stands April 1 through June 30.

Summer, 2006. "SUMMER READING." A general issue, heavy on fiction and poetry, but also including nonfiction, profiles, interviews, and food and drink writing. Deadline: April, 2006. On stands July 1 through September 30.

Guidelines:

1. Please submit one story, or up to 5 poems, at a time. Submit clearly typed manuscripts, double spaced on 8 1/2 x 11 white paper, one side only, to: Tin House, P.O. Box 10500, Portland, OR 97210. Send submissions to the attention of the appropriate editor, i.e. poetry to poetry editor, etc. The submission must contain your name, address, e-mail address, and a telephone number where you can be reached. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope or we cannot guarantee your work will be responded to or returned. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please let us know in your cover letter. It takes up to 3 months to respond to submissions. We do not accept submissions via fax or e-mail.

2. Our reading period for ALL genres is September through May. Any submissions received during the summer will be returned to sender. Do not submit more than two manuscripts per reading period, and wait to hear back from us on the first before sending another.

3. We publish fiction, essays, and poetry, but please do not mix genres in one envelope. We are not interested in genre fiction. We suggest you look at an issue of Tin House before submitting your work. With few exceptions, we print only work that has not been published previously.

4. To obtain a sample issue of Tin House, please send $17.00 (includes shipping and handling) to Back Issues Editor: P.O. Box 10500, Portland, OR 97210.

5. We pay writers after edits are done to our satisfaction, and just prior to publication of the final piece. We buy First Serial Rights; non-exclusive, one-time anthology rights; and the right to run a portion of the story or the full poem on our web site. Authors proof their galleys. Authors receive 2 copies of the issue in which their work appears. Payment varies according to the length and genre of the submission, but we pay a $50.00 minimum for poetry, and $200.00 minimum for fiction and non-fiction, except for Lost & Found, which pays $150.00.

6. All manuscripts are carefully considered. Due to the large number of submissions, we regret that we cannot comment on every manuscript.

Content:

The Spring 2005 issue is 208 pages long and includes:

5 pages of front matter
4 pages of back matter (including the recipe for the Tin House Martini)
10 pages of ads at the front and back (including ads for Tin House/Bloomsbury Books, the Tin House Writers' Workshop, The Nation, Bomb, Ploughshares, and the Pushcart Prize anthology.)
22 photos (in addition to the photo essay)
The issue is printed in 2-color: black and red. The cover is 4-color.
The theme of this issue is "obsession."

The issue has:
8 works of fiction, average 11 pages long
8 poems, average 1 page long
6 essays ("Features"), average 6 pages long
4 book reviews ("Lost and Found"),average 4 pages long
1 photo essay/story ("Portfolio"), 12 pages long
1 food essay with recipe ("Readable Feast"), 7 pages long
1 drink essay with recipes ("Blithe Spirit"), 9 pages long
1 letter essay ("Last Word"), 2 pages long

The ratio of pieces of nonfiction to fiction to poetry is 13 : 8 : 8.  As measured in pages, the content is 41% nonfiction, 53% fiction, and 6% poetry.

The Essays in this issue are as follows:

"Unreliable Homunculi and other Impediments" by Andrew Hultkrans -- The little man stalking the author really, really wants the author to finish his long-overdue book proposal.
"The Man Who Couldn't Grow Up" by Montana Wojczuk -- J. M. Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan, and love of children and hatred of war.
"Perfumed Obsession" by Mandy Aftel -- A professional perfumer's true love: jasmine.
"A Brief Sampling of Obsessive Web Sites" by Chris Beha
"A List of Manias" compiled by Stephen Chrisomalis

The Lost and Found book reviews are of already published books (that is, they are not reviews of new works). They are:

Jill Koenigsdorf on James Thurber's The Last Flower
Susan Daitch on "Night of the Murdered Poets"
Nathan Alling Long on Samuel R. Delany's The Motion of Light in Water
Rachel Cline on Jessamyn West's Cress Delahanty

Readable Feast appears to be recurring nonfiction section containing an essay about a recipe followed by the recipe itself. In this issue is: "My Soul upon the Grill" by Steve Almond -- The ultimate grilled chicken—all others are pretenders.

Blithe Spirit appears to be recurring nonfiction section containing an essay about a beverage or alcoholic spirit followed by a few related recipes. In this issue it is: "The Green Fairy" by Elissa Schappell -- A slave to absinthe, the seductive, dangerous muse of Van Gogh, Rimbaud, and Picasso.

The Last Word appears to be a recurring nonfiction section. In this issue it is a letter essay: "A Letter to the Post Office" by Dorothea Tanning

This information is based on the Spring 2005 issue, volume 44, number 2 (183 pages), of Michigan Quarterly Review. Publishing Information: The Iowa Review is published four times per year, in January, April, July, and October, by The University of Michigan.

Editor: Laurence Goldstein
Managing Editor: Vicki Lawrence
Assistant Editors: Elizabeth Goodenough, Linda Gregerson, John Kucich, Tish O’Dowd, Alan Wald
Subscription Rates:
Individuals: $25 for one year, $45 for two years.
Single Copies: $7.00 each.

Submission Policy:

Unsolicited manuscripts are returned to authors only when accompanied by stamped, self-addressed envelopes or by international postal orders. Send submissions to:

Michigan Quarterly Review
Editorial and Business Office
3574 Rackham Bldg.
915 E. Washington  St.
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109

Content of Issue Broken Down by Category:

Essays: 39% consisting of 6 essays: 7,7,13,10,19, and 14 pp.
Fiction: 17%consisting of 2 short stories: 19 and 13 pp.

Interviews: 10% consisting of 1 interview: 19 pp.
Poetry: 12% consisting of 8 poems, between 1 and 5 pp.
Representative Essay:
“The Flight to Newark,” by Arthur Miller (7 pp.): Miller’s piece discusses passengers’ complacency towards the airlines’ disorganization by comparing personal accounts of waiting at airports in Soviet Tbilisi and Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Representative Fiction:
“Local Honey,” by J. Alicia Shank (13 pp.): In Shank’s story, a white mother grapples with the increasing distance between herself, her husband, and their black, adopted, teenage son, Hugh. In an effort to bond with their son, the parents, former hippies from Boulder Colorado, gift Hugh with tickets to a Wu-Tang Clan concert for his birthday. While at the bathroom during the concert, the mother, Gwen, is struck by a plaque affixed to the electric hand dryer. The plaque boasts that the mechanism can have nothing but positive effects upon the public bathroom community. Her desire for such an assurance in her relationship with her son provokes reflection of the past raising Hugh.

The SR is "A literary quarterly devoted to criticism, fiction and poetry." Each of the issues has a broad theme, such as ìPoetry from Whitman and Hardy to the Presentî in the Summer 2003 issue or "American Fiction Today" in the Winter issue that year. Articles not on the featured subject are also included in most issues.

SR breaks the work in each issue down into one of five sections. Fiction contains medium length articles, 15 - 20 pages. Poetry contains original poetry. Personal essays are published in Essays. The State of Letters includes considerations of literary/academic subjects. Arts and Letters contains reviews of literary work.

"The Aristocratic Democrat," a consideration of De Tocqueville, by Cushing Strout was published in the Spring 2003 issue under Arts and Letters. "The Contemporary American Memoir," by Sanford Pinsker, a consideration of Benjamin Franklinís embrace of vanity as an ëerrataí that made him human and his role in the development of the memoir was published in The State of Letters section in the same issue.

The SR purchases 1st serial rights. It uses the Chicago Manual of Style, 1993 edition. Unsolicited manuscripts should be original typescripts and accompanied by a cover letter. Unsolicited work will not be acknowledged or returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Only unpublished work will be considered. The SR requests that material not be submitted between June 1 and August 31. Submissions should be sent to:

Sewanee Review
735 University Avenue
Sewanee TN, 37383

CCR publishes a review of poetry and short fiction twice a year. The journal describes the submission it seeks:

POETRY

We publish an eclectic mix of energetic poems and remain more interested in powerful imagery than obscure literary allusion. Wit? Yes. Punch? Sure. Toast dry? No thank you. Translations are welcome. Send up to 5 poems.

SHORT FICTION

We accept stories up to 6000 words, with an admitted predilection for dynamic prose of distinct voice and strong images. Offer us a compelling view of the world in which we live and let us revel in your telling of it.î

All correspondence, including submissions should be sent to:

Crab Creek Review
P.O. Box 840
Vashon, WA 98070

Submissions sent without a self-addressed stamped envelop will not be considered. The CCR notes, ìWe accept submissions continuously, but ask that they be neither previously published nor under simultaneous consideration elsewhere. We aim for a response time between 2 and 4 months. Our current payment is in the form of two copies of the issue for which your work has been accepted. We buy first rights as well as the right to use your name and the accepted work (whole or in part) on our web site. Beyond this use, and following publication, rights revert to the author. We ask that Crab Creek Review be acknowledged in any subsequent publication of the work. A subscription is $10 per year. A current issue is $6 and back issues are $5.

Publishing Information:

Editor: T.R. Hummer
Managing Editor: Annette Hatton
Publishes quarterly. Accepts manuscripts 15 Aug.-15 May
Subscription rate: $24/yr.
The Georgia Review
The University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-9009

Publishes creative, personal essays & thesis-oriented essays (~45%), fiction (40%), poetry (15%) as well as book reviews and art. Contributors featured in the Review “range from Nobel laureates to Pulitzer winners to the most deserving newer voices—including many who have never published before.”

Content:

Representative Essays 2002-05:
Liza Wieland, “Upon the Flooding of the House.”
Sidney Burris, “Life Sentences.”
J.T. Barbarese, “Taking Poe Seriously.”
John Lysaker, “Taking Emerson Personally.”
David Bosworth, “Two Sides of a Tortoise: Melville, Dickens, and the Eclipse of the West’s
Moral Imagination.”
William Gass, “Rilke and the Requiem.”

Fall 2004 (3 essays, 5 short fiction, 20+ poems).

Representative Essays:

Laurie Kutchins, “The Pathetic Fallacy.”
This encounter opens with, “Yesterday, leaving my house for town, I found a penis in the middle of the road. It lay on the old narrow bridge over Joes Creek, less than a hundred yards from my house where Green Road turns sharply toward the hamlet of Singers Glen and meanders through a grove of wild redbuds about a month from bloom. I drove right past it before it stopped me. It jarred a voice inside that rippled from groin to mouth, questions wedged between a laugh and a shriek, is this what I thought it was? Did I just pass a penis on the road?” The narrator goes on to reflect upon how grief and fear create disconnection; how we become dislocated and lose collective and personal memory when we become dissociated from fears. She writes, “Have we not castrated ourselves from our own porous natures out of fear of all that is inchoate, passionate, and tender within us?”

Diane Comer, “In Her Wake.”
This memoir deals with the memory and loss of the narrator’s mother.
Donald Morrill, “First Hour.”
This essay is highly experimental in structure. Morrill makes use of a mosaic form to grapple with daunting abstractions—dreams, intuition, imagination, death, as well as how and why we come to choose intimate relationships. “One of the happiest, and most enduring, memories of my years in Changchun, China…is of shaving…I rise in the darkness before dawn and jog through the neighborhood, past the old men and women performing their tai chi exercises in the park. It is always winter there, and I return to my room with frost encrusting the hood of my sweat shirt and lining the thighs of my sweat pants. I pour a basin of hot water from a thermos jug—hot water for baths coming from the taps just once a week—and splash off and lather up as sunrise lights my window. The radio gives me the BBC news from London, where it is just past midnight. My pleasure here is probably unaccountable, but it must involve recalling, without jealousy, a time of beginning, a younger face just scraped away, its successor slapped stinging bright with sweet lotion, a younger face knowing, for the first time, how to love the moment and attend to it.”

This information is cribbed from the Mother Jones website and based on the March and April 2005, volume 30(2) issue. 100 pages, published 6 times/year.
Mother Jones accepts queries via email to: query@motherjones.com. Mother Jones does not accept finished manuscripts not approved as queries.

Query guidelines:
Send us a letter proposing your story idea(s). Explain what you plan to cover and how you will proceed with the reporting. The query should convey your approach, tone, and style, and should answer the following: What are your specific qualifications to write on this topic? What "ins" do you have with your sources? Can you provide full documentation so that your story can be fact-checked?

Keep in mind that the magazine's lead time is three months and submissions should not be so time-bound that they will appear dated. If we, or another publication, have run a similar story in the last few years, explain how your story will differ.

Short Description (from their website):

Mother Jones produces revelatory journalism that seeks to inform and inspire a more just and democratic world. The national bimonthly magazine with a paid circulation of 180,000 is known for its investigative journalism and exposés, and its coverage of social issues and public affairs. Most of the articles we printed written by freelancers.

Mother Jones is looking for :
-Hard-hitting, investigative reports exposing government cover-ups, corporate malfeasance, scientific myopia, institutional fraud or hypocrisy, etc.
-Thoughtful, provocative articles which challenge the conventional wisdom (on the right or the left) concerning issues of national importance.
-Timely, people-oriented stories on issues such as the environment, labor, the media, health care, consumer protection, and cultural trends.

This information was found on the Web in summer 2004.
5_Trope can be found at www.webdelsol.com.

Publishing Information:

This is a Web based ‘zine which appears to have been published last in March 2004 after a break of over a year. In a statement about submissions the editors suggest: “ Before submitting work to 5_Trope, have a look at the work on exhibit in our current and previous issues. Then come to us with the unnerving, the uncompromised, the unexampled, the unpredictable, and the spankingly unprecedented.” Editor Gary Lutz, describes it as “a democracy of crucially beautiful agitated utterance”, “thrilling acts of language, of extravagating syntax”. The March 2004 edition contains 16 pieces, and prior editions are posted on the Website.

The founder, Michael Neff, started Web del Sol which hosts over 25 literary arts publications. In an article about Neff and the hosting of 5_Trope, it is labeled as “bleeding edge” literature. Present submissions within the body of an email, sending fiction subs to Gary Lutz: FiveTrope@aol.com, and poetry to Joel E. Chace, jchace@planetcable.net.  The only other category listed is New Media (Flash/hypertext/image/video).

Not listed in Writer’s Market
P.O. Box 3000, Denville, N.J., 07834; (877) 533-2944
www.grandstreet.com

Contains poetry, essays, fiction also contain LOTS of art: photos, some sketches; some accompany writings like poetry  also a contemporary feel to the pieces … an international flavor … highly readable … lengths vary … a larger book … also contains, in the back, a selection of “ads” of books and book listings, back issue information, contributors a hunch: this might be not so difficult for first-time writers seeking publication

-Information comes from website: http://www.utne.com/

-Utne stands for “understanding the next evolution.”
-Published six times a year
-Send submissions by email: editor@utne.com, or mail:

Utne magazine
1624 Harmon Place, Suite 330
Minneapolis, MN 55403
phone : 612-338-5040

-Utne only accepts previously published material.  They are looking for material published by “alternative presses.”  If you choose to send your submission by mail, send a high-quality photocopy (no reductions or two-sided copies, please). Include information about the publication (description, address, phone number) and the publication date your article originally appeared. If you do not hold the rights to the article, also include the name, address, and phone number of the party who does. Include a self-stamped, self-addressed envelope (SASE) if you want a response or your article returned.  If you choose to submit a previously published article via e-mail, please include your address and phone number and the publication information described above.

-Only non-fiction is published

-The Gleanings department, which features short (250 to 1,000 words), eclectic, often personal, occasionally humorous pieces, offers the best odds. You might also submit shorter articles for the View section, which covers new developments in social, political and cultural issues, but relies mostly on assigned articles.

-Recent topics include: the stem cell debate, the aesthetics of webpages, a personal experience with a paraplegic yoga instructor, and various social movements

-Sample opening lines: 

"Buying organic isn't always as ethically sound as it's cracked up to be."

"When Patricia Weaver Francisco, a writer and friend, told me six years ago that she wanted to introduce me to a paralyzed guy who taught yoga, I didn't pay much attention."

"Last month, Las Vegas enacted a city ordinance banning the feeding of homeless people in public parks."

ZYZZYVA is published three times per year in March, August, and November and focuses on the work of West Coast writers (California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii).

Editor: Howard Junker
Managing Editor: Amanda Field
Editorial Assistants: Tavia Stewart, Ari Messer
Subscription Rates:Impoverished writers: $24/four issues, Regular rate: $44/four issues
Outside of the U.S.: $64/four issuesSingle copies: $12.00 each.

Submission Policy:

ZYZZYVA only considers the work of West Coast writers currently living in Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, or California. Submissions are by snail mail only (with a request to not use certified or registered mail). A self-addressed stamped envelope is required for a reply. The editor, who reads every submission, requests that manuscripts not be submitted by e-mail. E-mailed queries are accepted. Submitted material should be double-spaced. Writersí may submit as many manuscripts as they would like and of any length. They claim to respond promptly to all submissions. Staff does not read simultaneous submissions, that is, material submitted at the same time to other editors.

They pay on acceptance an honorarium of $50, regardless of length or genre, plus seven authorís copies, for first North American serial rights. They reserve the right to include material in any anthology of ZYZZYVA as well as to put piece on their website. They do not do interviews, reviews, or criticism and are not currently accepting novel manuscripts. The publication also accepts original artwork (photographs and graphic art).

Send submissions to:
Editor
P.O. Box 590069
San Francisco, CA 94159-0069

Publication Content is Approximately 192 pages with:

20 pages poetry
25 pages advertisements
30 pages of essay
35 pages of images
75 pages of fiction

In the Spring 2006 issue, there is one essay, seven poems, and four works of fiction. In addition, the magazine has ìFirst Time in Printî and ìSecond Time in Printî sections. In the former there are four short stories and one poem. In the latter there is one poem, two works of fiction and an essay.

Publishing Information:

Editor: Howard Junker
Managing Editor: Amanda Field
PO Box 590069
San Francisco, CA 94159-0069
editor@zyzzyva.org
www.zyzzyva.org

ZYZZYVA publishes only writers and artists who currently live on the West Coast. It is a non-profit literary journal and comes out three times a year: in March, August, and November. A typical issue, 192 pages perfect bound, contains roughly 20 pages of poetry, 25 of ads, 30 of essays, 35 of images, and 75 of fiction. Each issue includes a 'First time in print' section, featuring authors who are appearing,
in print, for the first time.Content:

The nonfiction section in the issue I have (winter 2003) contains two pieces.

'Under the Steinbeck Oak,' begins: 'I drive Main Street behind the National Steinbeck Center, watching the zooming and vrooming.' There is also an essay in the 'First time in print section,' which begins: 'I drove myself to Napa.'

All of these pieces are more Annie Dillard than Michael Pollen. They are, first, intimately personal,
designed less to enlighten a reader on a subject than to engaged her with stylish, edgy prose and
psychological insight.

According to the website, the editor reads all submissions. 'We respond promptly, but do not comment
or offer suggestions. We do not read manuscripts under submission elsewhere. We pay on acceptance an honorarium of $50, regardless of length or genre.