A stormy and blustery weekend is behind us, but more storms may be on the horizon. May they shake the ground and get it ready for spring planting and spring flowers. We have already received our garden seeds, including onion bulbs which it is still a bit early to plant those in Michigan, so we get to have fun keeping them happy until we can plant them at the end of April. If the gloom has got you down, tap into your creative juices by making suncatchers with clear vinyl plastic sheeting, contact paper, and permanent markers and put your brightest flashlight behind it. Or have fun with tissue paper, pressed flowers, and wax paper. A fun little break to beat the gloom. After the art project, NewPages has plenty of great lit updates and submission updates for you!

Mark your calendars! April 26 is Independent Bookstore Day. Many indie bookstores across the country will be hosting events including parties, exclusive books, literary items, contests, and more. Check out our Guide to Indie Bookstores to find ones near you and join the celebrations.

In magazine news, you can find the full roundup of new issues of literary magazines up today! Discover 52 journals with new issues available for your reading pleasure! If you need even more, don’t forget to jump to the Magazine Stand to learn more about The Shore Issue 25 which stares down the springtime of our discontent with poetry that refuses to flinch. Enjoy new work by Dana Wall, Doug Ramspeck, Sarah Carson, Jaiden Geolingo, and more.

Meanwhile, Issue 59 of biannual journal Salamander features an art portfolio by sculptor Dale Rogers. You can also find plenty of great reading material from Andrew Bertaina, Caroline Fleischauer, Despy Boutris, Lindsay Younce, Kate Hubbard, and many more. Later this week, you can dive into the Winter/Spring 2025 issue of Alaska Quarterly Review.

In book news, you can discover more about 64 new and forthcoming titles in our March Roundup of books received. If you would like even more help finding new books to devour, our reviewers are at your service. Kevin Brown reviews The Boyhood of Cain, Michael Amherst’s debut novel. The book follows Daniel, a middle schooler who seeks to understand his place in school, his family, and the world. And while the narrator may be a child still, the emotions he conveys are as human as most readers have experience.

Catherine Hayes covers The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus, the debut novel of Emma Knight. The book is a powerful and compelling observation of womanhood in the early 21st century which follows three women undergoing individual journeys of self-discovery and empowerment during the second wave of feminism in the latter half of the 20th century.

In poetry, Jami Macarty reviews Juliana Borrero’s translation of Catalina Vargas Tovar’s Lemonade: A Paranormal Investigation. The poet invites readers on an inquiry into the interplay of ecology and culture while challenging them to consider how these elements shape our own ways of listening to the “promise” of the land where we live.

Lastly, Eleanor J. Bader covers award-winning Pakistani journalist Taha Siddiqui’s The Dissident Club. This graphic memoir opens with an attempted kidnapping of Siddiqui and tells how he, his wife, and his son emigrate to France afterwards where he sets up The Dissident Club as a gathering place and bar for refugees and their supporters.

Come back to the blog later this week for a review of Abigail Leonard’s Four Mothers: An Intimate Journey Through the First Year of Parenthood in Four Countries.

Inspiration

Do you doodle? While your head is elsewhere does your hand wander of its own volition? I must confess during hours and hours and hours inside the classroom throughout middle school, high school, and college, I have countless of notebooks filled with doodles in the margins - some of them even containing just fragments of stories or poems that struck the mood. Art and writing go hand-in-hand. Both are means of creative expression and there are forms of writing that are based in art. In my high school art class we did a weaving of a poem we wrote through a painting we made, the words and art combining to give even more meaning and nuance.

If you are having a hard time sitting down to work on that piece you have been wanting to finish or sitting down to start something new, how about sitting down and doodling. If the blank page scares you, doodle on something that isn’t blank. An envelope from yesterday’s mail, or a page in a catalog, or perhaps you take that piece you wish to finish and print it out and start doodling on that as you just let your mind wander where it will. Perhaps the doodle will get the juice flowing to unlock your inspiration.

Alternatively, can you find an old doodle of yours? Do you recall where you were and what you were doing while you were doodling? Let your impromptu artwork guide your writing. What do you see in the doodle? Can you find a story or poem in the making? Or perhaps you can talk about if you do remember the moment the doodle was created and seek research out on doodling and any perhaps connections to deeper meanings or helping your brain along its organization journey in the synapses?

Calls, Contests, & More

Below is a small preview of this week’s 69 writing contests, calls for submissions, and literary and writing events.

Creative Entrepreneurs Change the World > Learn more > Pepperdine MFA Screenwriting

Application Deadline: 30 April 2025
Creative entrepreneurs change the world. Learn more in Pepperdine's two-year MFA Screenwriting Program. We prepare students to pursue vocations as screenwriters as well as to become cultural leaders in the entertainment industry. Hollywood professionals nurture, train, and support students in writing workshops. Here at Pepperdine we take a values-centered approach to education and work to strengthen student lives in purpose, service, and leadership. Yes, you can be a cultural leader through your storytelling! Apply now!

Heron Tree Call for Submissions

Deadline: May 15, 2025
Until 15 May 2025, Heron Tree is accepting found poems composed from sources published in or before 1929. We are interested in any and all approaches to found poetry construction and erased or remixed texts. Accepted poems will be published weekly on the Heron Tree website starting later in 2025 and will be collected in a free, downloadable PDF volume. For detailed submission guidelines, visit us at our website. No fee, no payment.

Megacity Open to Submissions for Vol 2

Deadline: May 1, 2025
Call for Submissions – Megacity Review. Megacity Review is seeking prose submissions for our next issue, themed Redemption. We welcome literary fiction, creative nonfiction, and personal essays up to 3,000 words. Submissions must follow standard manuscript format (double-spaced, 12-pt Times New Roman, 1-inch margins) and be submitted as a PDF or Word document. Please include a short bio (50–100 words) with your submission. Join us in exploring powerful narratives of transformation and renewal. Learn more here.

Kerouac Project Writers Residency Open for Submissions

Deadline: April 14, 2025
The Kerouac Project of Orlando is looking for six writers to each spend two months living and working in the same house where Beat writer Jack Kerouac lived in 1957–58 when he wrote The Dharma Bums. The Project is accepting applications for its residency program between February 7 and April 14, 2025. The selected writers will be announced in May. Selection is based on the quality of their submitted work. Each writer stays free with their utilities covered and a $600 food and supplies stipend to use during their residency. Visit our website for more information.

The National Indie Excellence© Awards

Deadline: March 31, 2025
The National Indie Excellence© Awards (NIEA) are open to all English language printed books currently for sale including self-published authors, small to midsize independent publishers, and university presses. Now in our nineteenth year, NIEA is a proud champion of self and independent publishing and authors of all genres who produce books of excellence and distinction. Eligible books must have been published within the two calendar years prior to our deadline. Please visit our website for more information about our prizes, awards, and how to submit.

Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest (no fee)

Deadline: April 1, 2025
Submit one humor poem up to 250 lines to win $2,000. Second prize: $500. Third prize: $250. 10 Honorable Mentions: $100 each. Top 13 poems published online. 24th annual contest sponsored by Winning Writers and co-sponsored by Duotrope. No fee to enter. Accepts published and unpublished work. Judge: Jendi Reiter, assisted by Lauren Singer. This contest is recommended by Reedsy. Learn more and submit at our website.

Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest

Deadline: May 1, 2025
33rd year, sponsored by Winning Writers, co-sponsored by Duotrope, and recommended by Reedsy. Submit published or unpublished work online to win $3,500 for the best story and $3,500 for the best essay. Ten Honorable Mentions will receive $500 each. Length limit: 6,000 words. Entry fee: $25. Top 12 entries published online. Final judge: Mina Manchester. Deadline: May 1. Learn more at our website.

New American Voices Award for Immigrant Writers

Deadline: April 7, 2025
The $5,000 post-publication book prize from Fall for the Book and the Institute for Immigration Research recognizes prose works that illuminate the complexity of the human experience as told by immigrants. Two finalists each will receive $1,000. All finalists will appear at the Fall for the Book Festival in October 2025. $20 entry fee. This year’s Award is judged by Marie Myung-Ok Lee, Mary-Alice Daniel, and Brando Skyhorse. See website for more information.

2025 Prime Number Magazine Awards for Poetry and Short Fiction

Deadline: March 31, 2025
$1,000 first prize in each category plus publication. Two runners-up in each category receive $250 plus publication. Poetry judged by Molly Rice. Short Fiction judged by Dennis McFadden. Reading fee $15. Deadline March 31. Submit online through Submittable. Details at the website.

Submit to Ploughshares' Emerging Writer's Contest!

Deadline: May 15, 2025 at 12pm EST
The Emerging Writer's Contest is now open! Awarded in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry categories each year, Ploughshares’ Emerging Writer’s Contest recognizes works by writers who have yet to publish a book. Winners in each genre receive $2,000, a conversation with Aevitas Creative Management, and publication in Ploughshares. Submit your writing by May 15th at 12pm EST for the chance to be discovered!

Emma Howell Rising Poet Prize

Deadline: April 1, 2025
The Emma Howell Rising Poet Prize winner receives $2,000 and publication by Willow Springs Books. Anyone’s first book by a poet under 35 is eligible. Manuscripts should be a minimum of 48 pages with a $25 entry fee. The deadline is April 1st. Visit the website for complete guidelines. Willow Springs Books, c/o Inland Northwest Center for Writers, 601 E Riverside Avenue, CAT Room 442, Spokane, WA 99202. Anish Nekkalapudi, Managing Editor.

LIGHT Magazine Open Call - Art, Letters, Stories, & Poetry

Deadline: May 1, 2025
Leaders Igniting Generational Healing and Transformation (LIGHT) is calling for submissions for Issue 5 of LIGHT Magazine. Building healthier communities, working for a better tomorrow, and ensuring the well-being for all begins with trust. What builds and restores trust? Is it empathy, love, accountability, and genuine communication? What fosters mistrust in public health? Is it a lack of transparency, failure to communicate well, limited diverse voices? Let creativity lead the way—Using art, letters, stories, and poetry, tell us: how might we build public health systems that are trustworthy? Prize money (1st: $500, 2nd: $375, 3rd: $125) will be given to the top three contestants of each category. Visit our website to learn more and to submit via Submittable.

Perkoff Prize Deadline Extended!

Extended Deadline: April 15, 2025
The deadline for the Missouri Review‘s Perkoff Prize has been extended to April 15, midnight PST. The Perkoff awards $1000 and publication to writers of the best story, set of poems, or essay that engages in evocative ways with health, wellness, and medicine as judged by the editors. Fee: $15. All entrants receive a free 1-year digital subscription, and all entries are considered for publication. For full guidelines, click here.

Please note: only paying subscribers get access to all 69 submission opportunities! You can become a paying subscriber for only $5 a month and get early access to submission opportunities and events before they go live on our site.

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