The Fourth River Literary Journal

05/08/2025

The Fourth River mourns the passing of poet Martha Silano, a powerful, singular voice in nature writing. We are proud to have published her poem, "The New Nature Poem," in our Climate Change issue a few years back and encourage readers everywhere to seek out and devour her work, nourishment and light for us all.

Rest in peace, dear poet.

I wouldn’t press myself into a grief box, but I will confess I’m happiest under a sleeping sky, love the darkness like I loved to run through old-growth Doug firs and cedars. It’s the never-leaving part I like. In a Plum Village meditation, a woman says smile , so I smile, though sometimes I d...

04/16/2025

ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, ASLE's journal, is seeking a managing editor. Deadline to apply April 28, 2025, details at https://www.asle.org/stay-informed/asle-news/isle-journal-seeks-managing-editor/ Oh, and the latest issue of the journal, 32.1 (Spring 2025) is out! See the ToC at https://academic.oup.com/isle/issue/32/1

04/16/2025

Opportunity alert!

ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, ASLE's journal, is seeking a managing editor. Deadline to apply April 28, 2025, details at https://www.asle.org/stay-informed/asle-news/isle-journal-seeks-managing-editor/ Oh, and the latest issue of the journal, 32.1 (Spring 2025) is out! See the ToC at https://academic.oup.com/isle/issue/32/1

03/14/2025

Submissions to our weekly digital feature are now OPEN! Read more below -

Rolling, burbling, churning along, tributaries lead us to the River. These winding origins are sometimes small, but often powerful. Tributaries refresh us, urge us forward, guide us through the trees. The Fourth River’s weekly online publication, Tributaries, showcases the brief and the inspiring, that which sustains us and takes us through unexpected courses. Each week we will feature one short piece on our website.

There is no fee to submit to Tributaries, so please send your best work! Further guidelines on our Submittable site.

01/17/2025

We are excited to let you know that our home, the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Chatham University,has a new offering: The Fallingwater Residency in Nature and Place-Based Writing! Our students will have the opportunity to spend five days in residence on the grounds of Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic residence in the Laurel Highlands (about an hour from Pittsburgh)--something no other program in the country offers!

The first residency launches this summer with plans to run it every other year. Applications for the 2025 MFA class are open now with a funding deadline of Feb 15. Please share this with anyone you may know of who would be interested in an MFA program with offerings like ours. Thanks so much!
https://www.chatham.edu/.../fallingwater-residency.html

12/19/2024

Assistant editor Teddy L. Friedline is back to offer some writing prompts to get you in the mood for our fall 25 digital issue, FOR THE BIRDS! See more at The Fourth River blog.

➡️Submissions are open until January 15. Send us something that sings or squawks! 🦅🦉🦢🦜🐥

12/16/2024

“Laura Jackson’s debut essay collection, winner of the 2023 Autumn House Nonfiction Prize, is a thoughtful, raucous love song to Jackson’s home state, its landscape, and its culture.”

Check out Teddy L. Friedline’s review of DEEP AND WILD by Laura Jackson, live on The Fourth River blog!

11/15/2024

We are open for our next themed issue celebrating 20 years of The Fourth River! Submissions are free for BIPOC writers until 11/22!

https://4thriver.submittable.com/submit