Phoebe Journal

08/15/2021

Phoebe Journal Submission Manager

We are open for #submissions starting today!

Send us your #poetry, #fiction, #nonfiction, and #art at phoebejournal.com.

https://phoebe.submittable.com/submit

phoebe prides itself on supporting up-and-coming writers, whose style, form, voice, and subject matter demonstrate a vigorous appeal to the senses, intellect, and emotions of our readers. We choose our writers because we believe their work succeeds at its goals, whether its goals are to uphold or ch...

05/25/2021

Traversing Languages, Genres, Cultures: An Interview with Ye Chun

"When I translate, my two languages are on equal footing. They don’t need to fight each other for dominance. Instead, they are invited to harmonize with each other. "

Be sure to check out Ana Putgach's interview with Ye Chun on the site today!

And don't miss Ye Chun's new short story collection Hao-- coming soon from Catapult!

http://phoebejournal.com/interview-with-ye-chun/

Ana Pugatch Ye Chun is a bilingual Chinese American author and translator. Her stunning poetry and prose meditate on the power of language, the dichotomy of othering/loneliness, and navigating two …

05/14/2021

50.2

Issue 50.2 is LIVE!

We are so so proud to share our fiftieth contest issue with you and so grateful to our contributors who have made this amazing issue possible. We love you all. Happy reading 💕

http://phoebejournal.com/50-2/

2021 Spring Fiction Contest Winner The Light. Breathing by Gregg Maxwell Parker   2021 Spring Nonfiction Contest Winner Welcome to Bad Mom Club by Marne Litfin   2021 Greg Grummer Poetry …

05/08/2021

Welcome to Bad Mom Club

Live today!

Marne Litfin's "Welcome to Bad Mom Club" was selected by
Lilly Dancyger as the winner of this years contest in CNF. Don't miss this powerful read...

http://phoebejournal.com/welcome-to-bad-mom-club-nine-alternatives-to-reconciliation/

(Nine Alternatives to Reconciliation) Marne Litfin Winner of the 2021 Spring Nonfiction Contest “Is the Great American Novel you’re working on, the story of a young girl, who was emotionally abused…

04/27/2021

Bigger and Bigger Worlds Beyond ‘Little Fish’: An Interview with Aja Gabel

Don't miss out on EIC Melissa Wade's exchange with AjaMaybe about the new film Little Fish, adapted from our very own Aja Gabel’s 2011 prize-winning tale:

http://phoebejournal.com/interview-with-aja-gabel/

Melissa Wade So here at phoebe, every once and a while, we sell a back issue, but a few months ago, we got a bounty of requests for one particular printing: our Fall 2011 contest issue. When I ask…

04/22/2021

playing with boxes: an interview with Irene Cooper about spare change

"I started writing these thinking I wanted to talk with those people I cannot be or am not in conversation with—but they couldn’t take the form of a letter, which has too much agency, is too heavy with intent. Other poems outside that sequence didn’t survive or refused to put up with the sonnet form, even broken. But they carry traces of having been in that box."

Don't miss Poetry Ed Millie Tullis' interview with Irene Cooper about her new collection spare change (Finishing Line Press) on the blog today 💚

http://phoebejournal.com/irene-cooper-spare-change/

Millie Tullis Irene Cooper’s spare change (Finishing Line Press)  is a collection composed of small poems that constantly surprise through line, image, and charged, simple language. The poems …

04/20/2021

Drum roll please...

Announcing the winners of our 50th anniversary issue! (And even a sneak peak of the new phoebe cover...) Congratulations to all of our winners, finalists, and a huge thank you to everyone who has read and submitted to phoebe.

POETRY:

Sabrina Orah Mark on Rock's winning poem, "Tire Chains":

"This small gigantic poem is one of the most beautiful descriptions I've ever read of how we carry our mothers around like the heaviest stones, and like the lightest feathers."

And on the runner up:

"'The Twins' by Benjamin Niespodziany feels like it bloomed out of the seeds of 100 fairytales. It is as much poem as it is a heartbreaking thicket that tells a story about the endlessness of hunger."

NONFICTION:

Lilly Dancyger on Litfin's winning essay, "Welcome to Bad Mom Club":

"The complexity of the situation and all of Marne's conflicting feelings were so well rendered—I could feel the love and the anger and the desire and the guilt all at once."

Runners Up:

Jessica Rapisarda "Another Word for Gone"

Megan Falley "Memories of Ace, in Reverse Chronological Order"

We can't wait to share this amazing work with you next month!

FICTION:

Danielle Evans on Gregg Maxwell Parker's "The Light. Breathing":

"The drama of this story is quiet, but I found myself riveted by it, equally compelled by the anxious sense that anything was possible and the heartbreaking sense that maybe nothing was possible. The author paints a full picture of the interior and exterior world, and just when I thought I had caught up to the story and was seeing this world clearly, the ending came along, honest and surprising and delightful, and made me look again."

04/18/2021

April 18, five inches of snow

Today we’re rereading Carolyn Oliver’s poem, “April 18, five inches of snow”

What is the weather like where you are today?

http://phoebejournal.com/april-18-five-inches-of-snow/

Carolyn Oliver And the world’s the same, lessa few smashed tulips.The melting comes beforethe hyacinths I cut yesterdaybell open.The fleshiness of the flowers!As if they relish the endthe stems spi…

04/15/2021

Correlatives: A Review of W. Todd Kaneko’s This is How the Bone Sings

"Kaneko’s latest, 'This is How the Bone Sings,' still confronts the past that surrounds him, but does so through the myth of America and the generational trauma that comes with it. These poems gesture at once, in past and present, to the speaker, his loved ones, and to the lives they’re entangled with. They are memories embodied and show us what a shared history is by way of their music."

Don't miss Poetry Assistant Editor Christian Stanzione's review of W Todd Kaneko's 'This is How the Bone Sings' out from Black Lawrence Press:

http://phoebejournal.com/correlatives-a-review-of-w-todd-kanekos-this-is-how-the-bone-sings/

Christian Stanzione I was a natural reader for W. Todd Kaneko’s The Dead Wrestler Elegies, a book that examines the pageantries of professional wrestling to access and discuss his relationship with…

04/08/2021

Bradley Bazzle Writes Unique Fiction With Familiar Skin in New Collection

"Bradley Bazzle describes his new fiction collection, 'Fathers of Cambodian Time-Travel Science,' as an 'alchemical mixture of realism and complete bu****it.' As I read it, I decided I wouldn’t be able to come up with a more apt description than that.

Don't miss managing editor Tim Johnson's review of Bazzle's new short story collection on the blog!

http://phoebejournal.com/bradley-bazzle-new-collection/

Tim Johnson Bradley Bazzle describes his new fiction collection, Fathers of Cambodian Time-Travel Science, as an “alchemical mixture of realism and complete bu****it.” As I read it, I decided I wou…

04/01/2021

Navigating MFA Decision Day During COVID: Three Considerations

Tis the season of MFA program decisions, and Ivan Moore's here to help. Check out his three tips for making the big decision during COVID:

http://phoebejournal.com/navigating-mfa-decision-day/

Ivan Moore A year ago, I was still weighing my options. Quarantine had just started, but I already suspected it could extend into Fall 2020. Like everyone, I was stockpiling canned goods and trying…

03/23/2021

On-Call

"In the very earliest of days, I made it a goal to write 1,000 new words every day, and at the beginning of April, I actually accomplished this. As a slow writer, it felt good to be productive again. Lani, my partner, whose prescience I ought to have heeded, warned me that the lockdown was more likely to be a marathon than a sprint, and that if I was treating it as the latter, I was likely to throw up on my shoes."

Don't miss Fiction Ed Zachary Barnes' new blog post on writing during the pandemic:

http://phoebejournal.com/on-call/

Zachary Barnes When COVID-19 hit and the world shuddered to a standstill, a lot of folks like me found a new pocket of time on their hands. I hadn’t realized just how much time I spent commut…

03/17/2021

Writing from the Body: Felicia Rose Chavez’s’ The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop

"I along with many writers from marginalized backgrounds and living in marginalized bodies are used to wielding language in negotiation and for survival. There is no privileged permeability between our inner worlds of experience and the outer world we aspire to. We have often assumed that if our language is not enough, it is because we are not enough."

Don't miss Shabrayle Setliff's review of Felicia Rose Chavez's "The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How to Decolonize the Creative Classroom" on the blog today:

http://phoebejournal.com/felicia-rose-chavezs-the-anti-racist-writing-workshop/

Shabrayle Setliff The statement that everyone writes from the body could serve as a litmus test: if such a statement seems untrue or if it is, perhaps, unfelt, it may very well indicate a person’s …

03/15/2021

Contests

Today's the day! 🎉

Our 50th anniversary #contest #submissions close at midnight EST tonight.

#Submit your story, essay, and poetry for the chance to win $500 and publication in issue 50.2!

http://phoebejournal.com/contests/

Submit to Our 2021 Contest Issue Every spring, phoebe hosts contests in Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction, each with a $500 prize. Submissions are now open on Submittable. Find more information on ou…

03/10/2021

Submissions

Only FIVE DAYS LEFT to submit your #poetry #cnf #fiction and #art to our fiftieth anniversary contest! 🎂

http://phoebejournal.com/submissions/

phoebe publishes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art. Above all, we seek to publish quality work. Please review our website, especially our latest online issue, for an idea of the caliber o…

03/03/2021

Phoebe Journal Submission Manager

Good morning! We're at virtual #AWP21 & we've slashed our #submission prices to celebrate.

Submit to your #essays and #poetry to our annual #contest issue for only 5 dollars ONLY during #AWP!

https://phoebe.submittable.com/submit

phoebe prides itself on supporting up-and-coming writers, whose style, form, voice, and subject matter demonstrate a vigorous appeal to the senses, intellect, and emotions of our readers. We choose our writers because we believe their work succeeds at its goals, whether its goals are to uphold or ch...

03/02/2021

#AWP21 has gone virtual, and phoebe has teamed up with Watershed Lit at the Virtual Bookfair!

Stop by online and meet up with some of our editors to chat about the journal and some exciting special topics. Here is the line-up:

March 4 2:30-3:30pm CT: Meet with Nonfiction Editor Sarah Wilson - Special Topic = The Space & Privilege of the Narrator

March 5 2:30-3:30pm CT: Meet with Assistant Fiction Editor Kevin Binder - Special Topic = Writing with Humor

March 6 2:30-3:30pm CT: Meet with Managing Editor Tim Johnson - Special Topic = Emotional Investment & Movement in Storytelling

March 6 3:30-4:30pm CT: Meet with Editor-in-Chief Melissa Wade - Special Topic = Revision from Feedback

#AWP21 has gone virtual, and phoebe has teamed up with Watershed Lit at the Virtual Bookfair!

Stop by online and meet up with some of our editors to chat about the journal and some exciting special topics. Here is the line-up:

March 4 2:30-3:30pm CT: Meet with Nonfiction Editor Sarah Wilson - Special Topic = The Space & Privilege of the Narrator

March 5 2:30-3:30pm CT: Meet with Assistant Fiction Editor Kevin Binder - Special Topic = Writing with Humor

March 6 2:30-3:30pm CT: Meet with Managing Editor Tim Johnson - Special Topic = Emotional Investment & Movement in Storytelling

March 6 3:30-4:30pm CT: Meet with Editor-in-Chief Melissa Wade - Special Topic = Revision from Feedback

03/02/2021

A Story Worth Sharing: Betsy Cornwell on Fairy Tales, Writing, and The Old Knitting Factory

"A fairy tale is this plot that has worked for a lot of people for a long time, and I can use it as plot training wheels."

- Betsy Cornwell talks fairy tales with @franniedove today on the blog!

Check it out:
http://phoebejournal.com/betsy-cornwell/

Frannie Dove YA Novelist Betsy Cornwell has always loved fairy tales. As a child, they read Lang’s Fairy Books, which includes stories from Hans Christian Anderson and Brothers Grimm. The selkie br…

03/01/2021

Phoebe Journal Submission Manager

🚨Only two weeks left to submit to our spring #contest! Our readers are looking for your favorite #poetry, your beloved #story, your scrumptious #essay (it doesn't really need to be scrumptious, we're flexible)🚨

Submit here 👇
https://phoebe.submittable.com/submit

phoebe prides itself on supporting up-and-coming writers, whose style, form, voice, and subject matter demonstrate a vigorous appeal to the senses, intellect, and emotions of our readers. We choose our writers because we believe their work succeeds at its goals, whether its goals are to uphold or ch...

02/24/2021

Sabrina Orah Mark’s Everexpanding Poemstories

"Because Mark writes prose poems/poemstories, the sentence, rather than the line, is the driving force and unit used to deliver surprise. Her sentences remind me a little of those little dinosaurs that came out of coin machines to grow in your bathtub. But her work is really much better than those dinosaurs, as I find her images and narratives do not reach a certain set size and stall."

- Poetry Ed Millie Tullis discusses the rare delight of reading one of Mark's Poemstories

http://phoebejournal.com/sabrina-orah-mark-poemstories/

Millie Tullis If you haven’t already fallen in love with the work of Sabrina Orah Mark, I scarcely know how to tell you where to start. Everywhere, I know, would hardly be a helpful answer. Mark’s …

02/17/2021

Calling all visual artists!

#Submit your #art by March 15th be considered for our 50th anniversary contest issue. We can't wait to see your work:

https://phoebe.submittable.com/submit/186020/visual-art-submissions-for-online-cover-publication-with-50-2

Calling all visual artists!

#Submit your #art by March 15th be considered for our 50th anniversary contest issue. We can't wait to see your work:

https://phoebe.submittable.com/submit/186020/visual-art-submissions-for-online-cover-publication-with-50-2

02/16/2021

Imagination as Inheritance in Lilly Dancyger’s Memoir Negative Space

"Dancyger plunges us into a grief so heavy that words crack beneath it. As she grows into 'a fatherless woman after years as a fatherless girl,' she fears becoming unmoored from their shared past, and thus embarks on a project to discover 'a new way to grieve for him.'"

Don't miss our assistant nonfiction editor Lena Crown's review of Lilly Dancyger's memoir, "Negative Space," coming out from the Santa Fe Writer's Project in May:

http://phoebejournal.com/lilly-dancyger-negative-space/

Lena Crown In the dedication to Lilly Dancyger’s debut memoir, Negative Space, out from the Santa Fe Writers Project this May, she writes, “For my father, Joe Schactman. And for everyone living wi…

02/15/2021

Phoebe Journal Submission Manager

Today's the day!! FEE FREE #submissions for our #ficiton and #nonfiction contests are open until 11:59 EST only ❤️

https://phoebe.submittable.com/submit

phoebe prides itself on supporting up-and-coming writers, whose style, form, voice, and subject matter demonstrate a vigorous appeal to the senses, intellect, and emotions of our readers. We choose our writers because we believe their work succeeds at its goals, whether its goals are to uphold or ch...

02/14/2021

Submissions

Phoebe loves you! Fiction and nonfiction FEE FREE DAY will be open February 15th only until 11:59 p.m. EST. Please limit your fee free submissions to one per genre!

http://phoebejournal.com/submissions/

phoebe publishes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art. Above all, we seek to publish quality work. Please review our website, especially our latest online issue, for an idea of the caliber o…

02/09/2021

How to Start a Short Story: Pairing Your Title and First Line to Draw the Reader In

"Below, we’ll investigate how to start a short story—five ways of putting your first line in conversation with your title, with examples. Some will be quite obvious, others more indirect, but all of them can suck a reader in and draw them forward, right from the very first sentence."

Don't miss assistant fiction editor Kevin Binder's craft view on how to start a short story! On the blog today:

http://phoebejournal.com/how-to-start-a-short-story/

Kevin Binder One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about my creative writing program is that the experience has helped give words to many things I’ve been trying to do in my writing. A prime example …