Like The Godfather, Winter decided to come back for a part 3 in the Midwest and I am sure other parts of the US as well. Appropriate, I guess, since last week was April Fool’s Day, so might as well be fooled by Mother Nature in thinking that Spring was here only to have another cold snap and wintry mix under the belt. But there are some great things to look forward to this month, aren’t there? April is National Poetry Month as well as the month Independent Bookstore Day falls in. Check out our Guide to Indie Bookstores to find ones near you and join the celebrations. Oh, and don’t forget the NewPages eLitPak will be coming out next week already!

While you are celebrating poetry and looking for fun activities to do at indie bookstores later this month, let NewPages help you while away the hours with some great reads. Let’s kick it off with the Magazine Stand and see what publications have new issues available, like Alaska Quarterly Review. The Winter/Spring 2025 issue is now available in print for readers to enjoy stories, essays, poetry, and a novella. And did you know they recently launched a YouTube channel as well where you can enjoy craft conversations with the likes of Jane Hirshfield and Dorianne Laux? No? Well now you do!

Speaking of new issues, enjoy New England Review’s Issue 46.1 which opens with Editor Carolyn Kuebler writing about ecosystems and survival, commenting on the proliferation of literary publications. Plus, you will get to enjoy engrossing new work by Nilou Panahpour, Cathy Linh Cheh, Tom DeBeauchamp, and more. Y’all come back later this week to devour more new issues from South Dakota Review, Jewish Fiction, The Lake, and Broadsided.

Reading is essential. It really is. But figuring out what to read next is a big task some days . . . just like doom scrolling on social media, especially Pinterest, trying to find some dinner idea to get you out of a boring rut. Let our reviewers help you out here! First, Jami Macarty reviews Catalina Vargas Tovar’s Lemonade. This chapbook has been attentively translated into English by Juliana Borrero and it invites readers on an ecological inquiry that “is not a book of poetry” but an engaging “Paranormal Investigation.”

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.

Bader also reviews Four Mothers: An Intimate Journey Through the First Year of Parenthood in Four Countries, which sees journalist Abigail Leonard blending the personal in political in her astute look at how motherhood is supported or not in four countries: Finland, Kenya, Japan, and the United States.

Come back to the blog later this week to find reviews of Emile Suotonye DeWeaver’s Ghost in the Criminal Justice Machine: Reform, White Supremacy, and an Abolitionist Future and Angela Denker’s Disciples of White Jesus: The Radicalization of American Boyhood.

Inspiration

“It was a dark and stormy night.”

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

These opening lines have seen many iterations and were even prompts for free writes and other challenges in my own writing classes in high school and college. Can you take a staple of a line and totally do something else? How about a parody where the narrator wishes they could have one of these classic lines opening the story of their lives, but sadly the reality is more mundane. Or is it?

Or how about a choose your own adventure where your reader can pick from one of these lines and follow it down a yellow brick road that is far different than they could have imagined? Speaking of…wouldn’t it be interesting to do a choose a path, but for a poem instead?

Or perhaps you can be inspired to explore why these simple lines have stood a test of time and everyone remembers them?

Calls, Contests, & More

Below is a small preview of this week’s 65 writing contests, calls for submissions, and literary and writing events.

Tremont Writers Conference in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Application Deadline: May 15, 2025
"Pairing a writing workshop with the mountains: I couldn’t have imagined anything more perfect." - Sarah, previous participant. "I was reminded to use ALL of my senses, to be observant, and then articulate the experience." - Kim, previous participant. “The thing that stands out to me about the Tremont conference is that the Great Smoky Mountains is not simply a setting for the program - it is an integrated feature." - Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet and conference leader Maurice Manning. Applications are now open for the third annual Tremont Writers Conference, taking place this October inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Join renowned authors Crystal Wilkinson, David Joy, Karen Spears Zacharias, and Maurice Manning for an intensive five-day retreat for writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Financial aid is available. Learn more and apply.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Submissions Open for Housatonic Book Awards

Deadline: July 18, 2025
The Housatonic Book Awards are now accepting submissions of all books published in 2024. Authors or agents are welcome to submit poetry, fiction, and nonfiction manuscripts for consideration in the HBAs. All manuscripts will be reviewed by a committee and the winners will be notified in October 2025. Each award carries a $1,000 honorarium and $500 travel stipend in exchange for the author appearing at either WCSU's fall or summer writing residency. Entering a title implies the author’s willingness to attend the WCSU MFA residency to host a 2-hour workshop. We look forward to considering your work! Learn more here.

Please note: only paying subscribers get access to all 65 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.

Upgrade Now