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issue twenty-four

Cover art by Agata Lis
Artwork
Announcement

Issue #24 ~ Summer 2026

Release Date: July 14, 2026

Poetry
2026 Honeybee Poetry Prize Winner, selected by Marya Hornbacher:

How to Be a Jewish Woman in Amerikkka while Your Friends Sleep Fitfully in War Zones by Mara Lee Grayson

Finalists:

Farmworker Dies Fleeing an Immigration Raid in Southern California by Karla Hernandez Torrijos
Section 01 – Tree Removal by Sam Aureli
Hunting Season by Jamie L. Smith
at the immigration office by Cianga
Love Letter on Lombard Street by Audrey Lane
The Sun and the Prison by John Dennis
No Certificate by Todd  Epp

Flash & Micro Creative Nonfiction

When Talking Gets Hard by Katherine Toler
Beauty Like That by Laura Westby Cannon
The Dark by Chelsy Diaz Amaya

Flash & Micro Fiction

The Hanging God by Luke Electious
Point the Way by Melissa Fiegel
Paradise in a Bowl by Derek Harmening
Catharsis by Georgia Maull-Keyser

Short Creative Nonfiction

To Be a Perennial by Jade Nicholson Eliasson
Love Flows Forward by Etya Vaserman Krichmar
Can You See by Amelia Drake

Short Fiction

Salt and Sand by Ali McLafferty
The Atkins Supper Club by Kevin McCaffrey
Neighbors by Ryan Keeney

Artwork and Photography by:

Agata Lis, David Quady, Kirsten Clay, Ellen June Wright, Harrison Zeiberg, and Celine Lam

A watercolor illustration of a bee in shades of orange and yellow against a black background.

Micro Monday

Features brief fiction, cnf, and poetry. It’s like a shot of literary adrenaline to jump start your week.

Image credit: Michael Yuan

This week’s feature…

Bespoke by Soramimi Hanarejima

Mom rode buses and trains all over the city to gather what she needed to make the best lullabies—the most mesmerizing melodies and loveliest lyrics—pieces I watched her assemble at the kitchen table in the kind of meditative trance she’d go into while kneading bread dough, her soft gaze settled on the fluid movement of her…

Keep reading

TGLR Spotlight…

Author Q&A with Karla Hernandez Torrijos

Perhaps, like me, your eyes moved quickly over the list of names. A list of names is just that, after all, a list. It is nearly impossible to find humanity in a wall of text. When I first read The New York Times article from which this poem takes its title, I was struck most by the indifferent tone of news reporting, the apparent detachment by which facts are presented. In writing this poem, I was forced to confront the limitations, and failure, of all language, including the poetic language I had long sought solace in…

Keep reading
by Shyla Shehan
Artwork featuring a creative design representing natural hues.
For all the news, interviews, book reviews, and Micro Monday features visit The Buzz
Welcome sign for Nebraska, featuring the phrase 'the good life' and a depiction of a mountain, with 'Home of Arbor Day' below.
TGLR News & Announcements…

April 2026: Discover the Magic Spring has to Offer
February 2026: Fashionably Late but Coming In Red Hot
December 2025: Pajama Pants Are the New Black
November 2025: Wedged Together We Are Tumbling Toward The End
October 2025: Golden Hours and Hot Whisky Sours
Oct. 17, 2025: Introducing Issue #21 ~ Autumn 2025!
September 2025: As Summer Slips Into Autumn
2025 Honeybee Prize Results and Issue #20 ~ Summer 2025 Release
May 2025 (Inaugural Substack): Today Is A Good Day To Start
April 9, 2025: Introducing Issue #19 ~ Spring 2025
Jan. 29, 2025: Issue #18 ~ Winter 2025 “Best Of” Edition

More news and announcements here!
A stylized white silhouette of a person pushing a cart with an umbrella, set against a solid blue background.
TGLR nominates for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions, Best Microfictions, and the Pen/DAU Short Story Award.
This year’s prize noms plus lists of past nominations are available here!
Bonus Plan: A delicious history of HoneyBee Prize winners is available here!

from the archives:

Tbilisi by Sara Maria Hasbun

Tbilisi | Sara Maria Hasbun The morning I arrived back in Tbilisi, I messaged my old trainer, who met me just inside the door to Urban Garden. He rested his…

read more

Palimpsest by Jake Bienvenue

Palimpsest | Jake Bienvenue Palimpsest: A Horror Idyll If you write over something enough, it turns black. Example: Condense this paragraph into one line. When you reach the margin, instead…

read more
For more good stuff from all our issues
visit the archive

Submissions:

We are currently open for all genres. TGLR nominates for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions, and more! Plus…We are a paying market! $60 per piece published in a seasonal issue, $25 per piece published in Micro Monday, and $25 for cover art.

The Good Life Review is seeking previously uncurated work by writers from all walks of life. Please read submission guidelines and when you’re ready, head over to Submittable to submit your work.

IMAGE: “Holding the Light“ by Siying (Rella) Wang

Artwork featuring a golden bee on a black circular background.
The Good Life Review is a 501C3 nonprofit literary journal made with ♥ from Omaha, Nebraska. We are committed to exploring the overlooked and are taking active steps toward a more diverse and equitable publishing platform.
about us
donate

Categories
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issue twenty-three

A close-up of white flowers blooming on branches, with a blurred building in the background, featuring the text 'the good life review' and details about the publication.
“Holding the Light“ by Siying (Rella) Wang
Artwork
Announcement

Issue #23 ~ Spring 2026

Release Date: April 10, 2026

Poetry

Forget the Moon by Svetlana Litvinchuk
A Treachery of Trees by I Echo
Ode to the Guest Star by Kenton K. Yee
Bath & Aria by JC Talamantez
barnacle of hope by Steve Minnich

Short Creative Nonfiction

A Baby Named Freedom by Annie Rachele Lanzillotto
A North American in the Darién by Dylan Streb
Outgoing Tides by Olivia London

Flash Creative Nonfiction

Speaking in Tongues by Ayoung Kim
Blessings, Mormons, and Olive Oil by Ginger Tolman

Flash Fiction

As If Nothing Is Burning by Wasima Khan
First Ice by Mary Ellen Gabriel
Girls Like Me by Christy Hartman
The Evening Train by Christopher R.A. Adams

Short Fiction

Crooked by R.K.B.
Until It Ends by Shayna Brown

Spoken

The American Experiment by Angela Meredith

Artwork and Photography by:

Siying (Rella) Wang, Cynthia Yatchman, David Capps, Antonio Garcia III, Tendai Rinos Mwanaka, and Ayush Pradhan

A watercolor illustration of a bee in shades of orange and yellow against a black background.

Micro Monday

Features brief fiction, cnf, and poetry. It’s like a shot of literary adrenaline to jump start your week.

Image credit: Michael Yuan

This week’s feature…

Door-to-Door by Joli Huelskamp

I open the door to a smiling girl, sixteenish, summer-camp-counselor wholesome, carrying a clipboard and a huge umbrella. She hands me a glossy brochure. “Libby Conrad for Commissioner”. Red, white, and blue. A photo of the candidate posed in the midst of her sunny family…

Keep reading

TGLR Spotlight…

Author Q&A with Christopher R.A. Adams 

What keeps me coming back to the keyboard is the chance to live beyond myself. Unlike the restrictions of my singular life, writing allows me to step into new modes of being, to see new perspectives, and learn from them. If I want to know if there’s life after love, I can step into being a widow and all its burdens. If I want to confront my mortality, I can become a man in his final days. If I want to be betrayed by God, I can become a prophet. I can’t deny writing, because it gives me more than…

Keep reading
by Shyla Shehan
Artwork featuring a creative design representing natural hues.
For all the news, interviews, book reviews, and Micro Monday features visit The Buzz
Welcome sign for Nebraska, featuring the phrase 'the good life' and a depiction of a mountain, with 'Home of Arbor Day' below.
TGLR News & Announcements…

February 2026: Fashionably Late but Coming In Red Hot
December 2025: Pajama Pants Are the New Black
November 2025: Wedged Together We Are Tumbling Toward The End
October 2025: Golden Hours and Hot Whisky Sours
Oct. 17, 2025: Introducing Issue #21 ~ Autumn 2025!
September 2025: As Summer Slips Into Autumn
2025 Honeybee Prize Results and Issue #20 ~ Summer 2025 Release
May 2025 (Inaugural Substack): Today Is A Good Day To Start
April 9, 2025: Introducing Issue #19 ~ Spring 2025
Jan. 29, 2025: Issue #18 ~ Winter 2025 “Best Of” Edition

More news and announcements here!
A stylized white silhouette of a person pushing a cart with an umbrella, set against a solid blue background.
TGLR nominates for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions, Best Microfictions, and the Pen/DAU Short Story Award.
This year’s prize noms plus lists of past nominations are available here!
Bonus Plan: A delicious history of HoneyBee Prize winners is available here!

from the archives:

Tbilisi by Sara Maria Hasbun

Tbilisi | Sara Maria Hasbun The morning I arrived back in Tbilisi, I messaged my old trainer, who met me just inside the door to Urban Garden. He rested his…

read more

Palimpsest by Jake Bienvenue

Palimpsest | Jake Bienvenue Palimpsest: A Horror Idyll If you write over something enough, it turns black. Example: Condense this paragraph into one line. When you reach the margin, instead…

read more
For more good stuff from all our issues
visit the archive

Submissions:

We are currently open for all genres.We nominate for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions, and more! Plus…We are a paying market! $60 per piece published in a seasonal issue, $25 per piece published in Micro Monday, and $25 for cover art.

The Good Life Review is seeking previously uncurated work by writers from all walks of life. Please read submission guidelines and when you’re ready, head over to Submittable to submit your work.

IMAGE: “Impressions of Waking Cranes” by Kim McNealy Sosin

Artwork featuring a golden bee on a black circular background.
The Good Life Review is a 501C3 nonprofit literary journal made with ♥ from Omaha, Nebraska. We are committed to exploring the overlooked and are taking active steps toward a more diverse and equitable publishing platform.
about us
donate

Categories
cover

issue twenty-two

Cover of 'The Good Life Review' showcasing an orange sunset with silhouettes of birds in flight, featuring text that reads 'Issue XXII Winter 2026 Omaha, NE "Best Of" Edition'.
“Impressions of Waking Cranes” by Kim McNealy Sosin
Artwork
Announcement
Download
Purchase

Hard copy available directly
from the printer, Ingram Spark ($25.99),
or via Amazon ($30).

Issue #22 ~ Winter 2026 ~ “Best Of” Edition

Release Date: January 8th, 2026

Featuring some of our best pieces from the past two years, plus bonus new work from Matt Mason, Jake Bienvenue, Frank Gaughan, and the Nebraska Writers Collective 2025 Kate Sommer Memorial Poetry Prize winner, Rebecca Oliver!

Poetry

Eight Beautiful Things by Matt Mason
d’Arc by Rebecca Oliver
True Apothecary by Ellie Gold Laabs
ephemera 31 by Chris Lisieski
How to Hear God While Making Thanksgiving Dinner  by Charlene Pierce
Mosaic by Muiz Ọpẹ́yẹmí Àjàyí
They Put the Graffiti On by Matthew James Babcock
what to make of autism by Tim Raymond
Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep, O LORD? by Yin Cheng
The Year I Carried You by Sara Shea
Autobiography of a Violin by Cassie Burkhardt

Short Fiction

Palimpsest by Jake Bienvenue
The Grieving Scar by Frank Gaughan
Tbilisi by Sara Maria Hasbun
Mall Goddess by Marilee Dahlman
When Mr. Boppo Joined the Cohort by Sharon Lee Snow 

Flash Fiction

Razia, Razia by Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar
The Next Empty Cup by Myna Chang
While Making Out the Lineup for Tomorrow’s 12U Softball Championship Game by Jim Parisi
The Summer He Left by Alison Ozawa Sanders

Micro Fiction

Return by Adesiyan Oluwapelumi
Drunk Husband Crashes Yard Sale by Alice Kinerk  
Closure by David Obuchowski  
A Haunted House at the End of the World by Autumn Bettinger
Once I Lived in Heaven by Mea Cohen

Short Creative NonFiction

The Laundry Hangs at Noon by Ginger Tolman
Rearview Mirror by Brad Snyder

Flash Creative NonFiction

My Mother, the Story-Weaver by Kiana Govoni
The Crush of Dusk by Michaela Evanow
I Am a Body Lying in the Grass by Allison Hughes
the doctor says i must milk her body by Camila Cal Mello 
I Conjure My Great-Grandmother In a Dream; She Gives Me a Lesson on Revision by Alayna Powell

Micro Creative NonFiction

Alary Things by Hilary Fair
Boyfriend Jeans by Heidi Bell
Detroit Salt by Linda Drach
i use google more than i care to admit by Jessica Hudson
Dungeons and Dragons is by Ryan Stiehl 

A young man wearing a T-shirt and a headband makes a 'shh' gesture, standing in a restaurant with a colorful menu in the background.
Cover of The Good Life Review Issue #22 featuring a winter theme and a collection of artwork and poetry highlights.
A woman smiling outdoors, wearing a straw hat and glasses, against a backdrop of traditional architecture.
Portrait of a smiling young man wearing a blue traditional outfit, standing outdoors in front of a building.
A portrait of a woman with glasses resting her chin on her hand, looking thoughtfully at the camera.
Portrait of a man wearing a plaid shirt, standing in front of a yellow light source.
A portrait of a person with short hair, wearing a black sleeveless top, resting their chin on their hand with a thoughtful expression, set against a black background.
A black and white portrait of a bald man standing by a river, with trees in the background.
A person wearing glasses and a pink beanie holds two cats, one tabby and one white, while looking at them. The person is wearing a t-shirt that reads, 'IT IS TOO LOUD.'
Black and white photograph of a woman smiling while holding a child on her back, both appearing joyful.
A smiling woman wearing a black cap poses in a car selfie with a fluffy dog beside her.
A professional portrait of a woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, wearing a dark blazer and smiling at the camera against a dark background.
A woman smiling in a colorful patterned top, standing in a garden with green grass in the background.
A portrait of a woman with medium-length brown hair, wearing a white embroidered top and earrings, smiling outdoors.
A headshot of a woman with long, light hair, wearing a black top, smiling at the camera.
A portrait of a person with short dark hair and glasses, looking directly at the camera with a neutral expression.
A black and white portrait of a smiling woman with long hair, wearing a denim jacket, standing outdoors in front of foliage.
A portrait of a young man with short hair, wearing a black turtleneck sweater, standing against a backdrop of green leaves.
Cover image for The Good Life Review Issue #22, featuring a winter theme with artistic elements.
A woman with long hair sitting near a window, wearing a lace top and a skirt, gazing upwards with a serene expression.
Portrait of a young woman standing in a forest during winter, wearing a dark coat and a checked scarf, with trees and fallen leaves in the background.
A person wearing glasses and a white jacket poses in front of a backdrop with logos and awards.
A smiling man wearing glasses and a light-colored shirt, seated in front of a bookshelf filled with books and a globe.
A woman with long, wavy hair, wearing a colorful, patterned top, smiles while standing in a field of flowers.
A woman with red hair and braids stands outside, wearing a gray shirt, with trees and a house in the background.
Self-portrait of a young woman with curly hair, wearing a light sweater and standing against a textured wall.
A smiling person with curly hair and pink highlights sitting in a car.
A person with short hair, wearing earrings, stands in a well-lit setting with a soft smile.
Artwork and Photography:
A watercolor illustration of a bee in shades of orange and yellow against a black background.

Micro Monday

Features brief fiction, cnf, and poetry. It’s like a shot of literary adrenaline to jump start your week.

Image credit: Michael Yuan

This week’s feature…

TGLR Spotlight…

Author Q&A with Wasima Khan

Writing is a powerful way to cultivate empathy and understanding. It allows me to step into other people’s lives and worlds, and I hope to bring readers along on that journey. 

At the same time, it is a way for me to reclaim agency over my own life and experiences. Too often, I have been confronted with Western biases – simplistic narratives about me, Muslim women, or Muslims more broadly – stories in which I barely recognize myself. In my own work, I aim to foreground nuance and emotional complexity as a way of challenging those assumptions.

Keep reading
by Shyla Shehan
Artwork featuring a creative design representing natural hues.
For all the news, interviews, book reviews, and Micro Monday features visit The Buzz
Welcome sign for Nebraska, featuring the phrase 'the good life' and a depiction of a mountain, with 'Home of Arbor Day' below.
TGLR News & Announcements…

December 2025: Pajama Pants Are the New Black
November 2025: Wedged Together We Are Tumbling Toward The End
October 2025: Golden Hours and Hot Whisky Sours
Oct. 17, 2025: Introducing Issue #21 ~ Autumn 2025!
September 2025: As Summer Slips Into Autumn
2025 Honeybee Prize Results and Issue #20 ~ Summer 2025 Release
May 2025 (Inaugural Substack): Today Is A Good Day To Start
April 9, 2025: Introducing Issue #19 ~ Spring 2025
Jan. 29, 2025: Issue #18 ~ Winter 2025 “Best Of” Edition

More news and announcements here!
A stylized white silhouette of a person pushing a cart with an umbrella, set against a solid blue background.
TGLR nominates for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best New Poets, Best Small Fictions, Best Microfictions, and the Pen/DAU Short StoryAward.
This year’s prize noms plus lists of past nominations are available here!
Bonus Plan: A delicious history of HoneyBee Prize winners is available here!

from the archives:

Summer Elegy II by Todd Robinson

Summer Elegy II | Todd Robinson Nebraska’s bare branchespaw at skies full of pointless blue, mercurial daymoon.Powerless like me or my disabled wifewobbling our broken palace in cashmere and bracken. She…

read more

Bend by Jim Peterson

Bend | Jim Peterson   I found you walking beside a horsewithout halter or lead.  It shadowed you,sometimes resting its enormous headon your shoulder.  I’d been alonefor a long time. …

read more
For more good stuff from all our issues
visit the archive

Submissions:

We are currently open for all genres.We nominate for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best New Poets, Best Small Fictions, and more! Plus…We are a paying market! $60 per piece published in a seasonal issue, $25 per piece published in Micro Monday, and $25 for cover art.

The Good Life Review is seeking previously uncurated work by writers from all walks of life. Please read submission guidelines and when you’re ready, head over to Submittable to submit your work.

IMAGE: Cover Art “Early Rising” by Amuri Morris

Artwork featuring a golden bee on a black circular background.
The Good Life Review is a 501C3 nonprofit literary journal made with ♥ from Omaha, Nebraska. We are committed to exploring the overlooked and are taking active steps toward a more diverse and equitable publishing platform.
about us
donate

Categories
cover

issue twenty-one

Cover art for The Good Life Review Issue XXI, Autumn 2025, featuring a landscape painting of a sunset over a body of water with silhouetted trees.
Cover Art “Early Rising” by Amuri Morris
Artwork
Announcement

Issue #21 ~ Autumn 2025

Release Date: Friday October 17, 2025

Featuring Two Poems by Rodrigo Toscano
Plus…

Short fiction

Layover by Simon Ashton
Looking for a Friend by Ben Seabolt
A Boy Who Thinks Quite a Deal by David Hutto
Alice by Mikaela Conley

Flash Creative Nonfiction

Two essays by Camila Cal Mello: the doctor says i must milk her body and my mother says she wants to go out tonight
The Percolator by Marlene Olin

Flash Fiction

The Moon and Nothing Else by Charlie Rogers
Drained by Sarah Schiff

Short Creative NonFiction

Rearview Mirror by Brad Snyder
Swan Song by Sarah Safsten

Poetry

Prairie Witch by Rayni K. Wekluk
They Put the Graffiti On by Matthew James Babcock
Low-key Midwest Girl Dad Vibes: My Wardrobe is Mostly Kohl’s Middle-Class Casual & My Skin Care Routine is $1.59 Men’s 2-in-1 Total Body Wash by Bob King
Callicarpa americana by Elizabeth Anguamea
More People Die in the Winter by Caroline Sutphin

Spoken Word

Airport Security by Eve Addams
On Election Day by Dufflyn Lammers
Translation by Esman Rodas Calderon

Self-portrait of a young woman with curly hair, wearing a light sweater and standing against a textured wall.
Portrait of a person wearing glasses and a denim jacket, standing in front of a colorful painting.
A monochrome portrait of a woman with shoulder-length hair, wearing a black shirt, looking directly at the camera with a serious expression.
A smiling person standing by a body of water, wearing sunglasses and a casual green t-shirt.
Artwork titled 'Zephyr' by Mary Amato, featuring a contemplative woman in a stylish coat, illuminated by blue light.
A man speaking into a microphone at a poetry event, with an audience partially visible in the foreground.
A black and white portrait of a woman with long hair, smiling softly at the camera.
A woman with gray hair wearing a black jacket stands outdoors, smiling.
Cover art for The Good Life Review Issue #21 featuring abstract design
A still life painting of sunflowers in a brown vase, with some petals scattered around.
A portrait of a woman with curly hair, smiling confidently against a natural background.
Cover art for The Good Life Review Issue #21, featuring vibrant autumn-themed artwork.
Artwork titled 'Zephyr' by Mary Amato
A portrait of a young woman with long blonde hair and glasses, set against a dark background.
A smiling man wearing glasses and a light-colored shirt, seated in front of a bookshelf filled with books and a globe.
A black and white portrait of a bald man standing by a river, with trees in the background.
A portrait of a person with long, blonde hair and striking blue eyes, looking directly at the camera with a soft expression.
A smiling person wearing a pink hat with text, glasses, and a checkered shirt, sitting indoors near a window with light filters through.
With Artwork and photography By:

Amuri Morris, J.C. Henderson, Crystal Angeles, Fabio Sassi, and Harry Bauld

A watercolor illustration of a bee in shades of orange and yellow against a black background.

Micro Monday

Features brief fiction, cnf, and poetry. It’s like a shot of literary adrenaline to jump start your week.

This week’s feature…

Animal Husbandry by Chris Cottom

My parents do not attend the ceremony. Daddy bangs around upstairs, packing for another trip. After he whizzes off, Mummy tells us they’re getting a divorce. None of my schoolfriends have parents who’ve got divorces and I worry they’ll need to be told, that the headmaster might announce it at Assembly, after the Lord’s Prayer…

Keep reading

TGLR Spotlight…

Author Q&A with David Hutto

This story began with the leftovers of another story that I eventually hated and threw away. That other story had a few fragments that I liked, the small stories that now appear on the radio in “A Boy Who Thinks Quite a Deal.” I saved those bits without a clue what I’d do with them, and eventually came up with an utterly different story, changing it from adults in New Jersey to a child in Great Britain.

Keep reading
by Shyla Shehan
Artwork featuring a creative design representing natural hues.

Exclusive interviews with our contributors…

For all the news, interviews, book reviews, and Micro Monday features visit The Buzz
Welcome sign for Nebraska, featuring the phrase 'the good life' and a depiction of a mountain, with 'Home of Arbor Day' below.

TGLR News

2025 Honeybee Prize Results and Summer Issue
Introducing Spring 2025
2024 Autumn Issue released on October 17th
2024 Honeybee Prize Results and Summer Issue
2024 Spring issue is HERE
Winter 2024 Best Of edition is available in print!

More news and announcements here!

A stylized white silhouette of a person pushing a cart with an umbrella, set against a solid blue background.

TGLR nominates for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best New Poets, and Best Small Fictions

2026 Best of the Net nominations
2025 Best Small Fictions
2025 Pushcart nominations
2025 Best of the Net nominations
2024 Pushcart nominations
2024 Best of the Net nominations
2023 Pushcart nominations
2023 Best of the Net nominations
2022 Pushcart nominations
2022 Best of the Net nominations

from the archives:

Summer Elegy II by Todd Robinson

Summer Elegy II | Todd Robinson Nebraska’s bare branchespaw at skies full of pointless blue, mercurial daymoon.Powerless like me or my disabled wifewobbling our broken palace in cashmere and bracken. She…

read more

Tbilisi by Sara Maria Hasbun

Tbilisi | Sara Maria Hasbun The morning I arrived back in Tbilisi, I messaged my old trainer, who met me just inside the door to Urban Garden. He rested his…

read more
For more good stuff from all our issues
visit the archive


submissions:

We are currently open for all genres plus artwork! We nominate for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best New Poets, Best Small Fictions and… YES we are a paying market! ($60 per piece published in the seasonal issue, $25 per piece published in Micro Monday, $50 for cover art)

The Good Life Review is seeking previously uncurated work by writers from all walks of life. Please read submission guidelines and when you’re ready, head over to Submittable to submit your work.

IMAGE: “Zephyr” by Mary Amato

Artwork featuring a golden bee on a black circular background.
The Good Life Review is a 501C3 nonprofit literary journal made with ♥ from Omaha, Nebraska. We are committed to exploring the overlooked and are taking active steps toward a more diverse and equitable publishing platform.
about us
donate

Categories
cover

issue twenty

Cover art for The Good Life Review, Issue #20, Summer 2025, featuring abstract design in blue tones, with a butterfly and stylized text.
Cover: “Zephyr” by Mary Amato
Artwork
Announcement

Issue #20 ~ Summer 2025

Release Date: July 15, 2025

Featuring work from the 2025 HoneyBee Prize…
Poetry

Winner selected by Julia Kolchinsky:
Autobiography of a Violin by Cassie Burkhardt
Editors Choice:
The Widower Writes From the Shipwreck & True Apothecary by Ellie Gold Laabs
The Year I Carried You by Sara Shea
Red and Yellow Light Over the Top of Houses by Dolapo Demuren
Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep, O LORD? by Yin Cheng

Flash Creative Nonfiction

Winner selected by Kristine Langley Mahler:
I Conjure My Great-Grandmother In a Dream; She Gives Me a Lesson on Revision by Alayna Powell
Editor’s Choice:
The Leftovers by Michelle La Vone

Flash Fiction

Winner selected by Tom Paine:
While Making Out the Lineup for Tomorrow’s 12U Softball Championship Game by Jim Parisi
Editor’s Choice:
The Summer He Left by Alison Ozawa Sanders
Solitary Creatures by Charlie Rogers & Jaime Gill

Short Creative NonFiction

Winner selected by Brenna Womer:
The Laundry Hangs at Noon by Ginger Tolman

Short fiction

Winner selected by Michael Czyzniejewski:
When Mr. Boppo Joined the Cohort by Sharon Lee Snow
Editor’s Choice:
Take Me Through the Finish by Tom Ziemer

Cover artwork for The Good Life Review Issue #20, Summer 2025, featuring a vibrant design.
A joyful black and white photograph of a woman smiling widely while a young girl hugs her from behind, both displaying happy expressions.
Black and white portrait of a man wearing glasses, looking directly at the camera.
A joyful woman with long blonde hair smiles warmly against a backdrop of a tree.
A smiling woman wearing a straw hat and glasses, dressed in a light green top, standing outdoors with colorful structures in the background.
A colorful abstract artwork titled 'Natural Hue' by Sarah Kohrs, featuring vibrant colors and organic shapes.
Artwork titled 'Natural Hue' by Sarah Kohrs.
Abstract artwork featuring swirling blue and white patterns, creating a sense of movement and depth.
A person wearing a knitted hat and jacket, standing outdoors with trees in the background.
A black and white portrait of a young person resting their chin on their hand, gazing thoughtfully at the camera.
Artwork titled 'Natural Hue' by Sarah Kohrs featuring vibrant colors and organic shapes.
A black and white portrait of a woman smiling in casual attire against a blurred, natural background.
Artwork related to literary work and announcements for Summer 2025 issue.
A woman with red hair wearing glasses and a white jacket poses in front of a backdrop featuring logos of a film festival.
A woman with short blonde hair smiles while standing in a garden, wearing a colorful patterned top.
With Artwork and photography By:

Mary Amato, Roger Camp, Britnie Walston, Nataliia Burmaka, Ferris Jones, Milena Makani, Maud Bocquillod, Joe Hernandez, and Sebastian Mark

A watercolor illustration of a bee in shades of orange and yellow against a black background.

Micro Monday

Features brief fiction, cnf, and poetry. It’s like a shot of literary adrenaline to jump start your week.

This week’s feature…

First Date at a Greenhouse by Costantino Toth

If nature,          however,  begets only nature, such that our tending and lining and sucking are natural,       as are the noisy babies and tools,  then so are the four hundred and fifty–five kilotons wearing exhaust like a wedding band, poking out of the sea— 

Keep reading

TGLR Spotlight…

2026 Best of the Net Nominations

Hello friends. Fall has arrived here in Omaha and the cooler weather means it’s nom-nom-nomination season again. Today, we’re thrilled to kick off this gourmet meal with a healthy dish of Best of the Net Noms!

This year’s two creative nonfiction essays, two fiction stories, six poems, and three pieces of art being nominated are…

Keep reading
by Shyla Shehan
Artwork featuring a creative design representing natural hues.

Exclusive interviews with our contributors…

For all the news, interviews, book reviews, and Micro Monday features visit The Buzz
Welcome sign for Nebraska, featuring the phrase 'the good life' and a depiction of a mountain, with 'Home of Arbor Day' below.

TGLR News

Introducing Spring 2025
2024 Autumn Issue released on October 17th
2024 Honeybee Prize Results and Summer Issue
2024 Spring issue is HERE
Winter 2024 Best Of edition is available in print!
TGLR is officially a nonprofit

More news and announcements here!

A stylized white silhouette of a person pushing a cart with an umbrella, set against a solid blue background.

TGLR nominates for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best New Poets, and Best Small Fictions

2025 Best Small Fictions
2025 Pushcart nominations
2025 Best of the Net nominations
2024 Pushcart nominations
2024 Best of the Net nominations
2023 Pushcart nominations
2023 Best of the Net nominations
2022 Pushcart nominations
2022 Best of the Net nominations

from the archives:

Summer Elegy II by Todd Robinson

Summer Elegy II | Todd Robinson Nebraska’s bare branchespaw at skies full of pointless blue, mercurial daymoon.Powerless like me or my disabled wifewobbling our broken palace in cashmere and bracken. She…

read more

Tbilisi by Sara Maria Hasbun

Tbilisi | Sara Maria Hasbun The morning I arrived back in Tbilisi, I messaged my old trainer, who met me just inside the door to Urban Garden. He rested his…

read more
For more good stuff from all our issues
visit the archive


submissions:

We are currently open for all genres plus artwork! We nominate for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best New Poets, Best Small Fictions and… YES we are a paying market! ($60 per piece published in the seasonal issue, $25 per piece published in Micro Monday, $50 for cover art)

The Good Life Review is seeking previously uncurated work by writers from all walks of life. Please read submission guidelines and when you’re ready, head over to Submittable to submit your work.

IMAGE: “Natural Hue” by Sarah Kohrs

Artwork featuring a golden bee on a black circular background.
The Good Life Review is a 501C3 nonprofit literary journal made with ♥ from Omaha, Nebraska. We are committed to exploring the overlooked and are taking active steps toward a more diverse and equitable publishing platform.
about us
donate

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cover

issue nineteen

Cover Art: “Natural Hue” by Sarah Kohrs
Artwork
FULL PDF
Announcement

Issue #19 ~ Spring 2025

Release Date: April 9, 2025

Poetry

Enumeration by Katharine Jager
ephemera 31 by Chris Lisieski
Two Poems by Alex Dodt: Yesterday is and Somewhere Between Childhood and Your Vertical Abandoning You
Ode to the Wet Towel on the Floor by Alicia Elkort
if by Keira Deer
Don’t Ask Me About the Hymns by Ezra Fox
In Defense of Liquor by Pamilerin Jacob

Flash Creative Nonfiction

I Am a Body Lying in the Grass by Allison Hughes
I like when my ass hangs out of my shorts by Rose Marie Torres

Short Fiction

Tbilisi by Sara Maria Hasbun
Mall Goddess by Marilee Dahlman

Flash Fiction

The Next Empty Cup by Myna Chang
Flying Fish by Corinne Harrison
Taco Bell Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire by Susan L. Lin

Short Creative Nonfiction

You Come Now You Leave Now by Ramona Emerson
Space / Time by Siobhan Ring

A person with curly hair sitting at a table outdoors, smiling softly at the camera.
With Artwork and photography By:

Sarah Kohrs, Kim McNealy Sosin, Ellen June Wright, Sholanke Boluwatife Emmanuel, Ferris Jones, Erin Song, Pieter Janaldo, Mostafa Meraji, Albert Stoynov, Juan Burgos, Raymond Kotewicz, and Luke Chesser.

Micro Monday

Features brief fiction, cnf, and poetry. It’s like a shot of literary adrenaline to jump start your week.

This week’s feature…

Thirteen Black by Sanum Patel

The dealer shot the ball, rippling up and down the wheel. Red, black, red, black. The odd green swirling in. Every roll held a blissful future — the world collapsing into nothing or blooming under my palms. It wasn’t a fool’s bet. It was the opposite of marriage…

Keep reading

TGLR Spotlight…

Cid Galicia Reviews “Freeland” by Leigh Sugar

Navigating Leigh Sugar’s collection, FREELAND, is like being caught in an argument between Han Solo and Gnarles Barkley on how to rescue the Rebel Princess from the Galactic Empire’s prison, The Death Star. At least they weren’t caught in the 1900s, still naming prisons via historical indigenous geographic locations. Because we are, and Leigh is, and that is where we find ourselves, with her, in this collection….

Keep reading
by Cid Galicia

The Latest News…

Introducing Issue #24 ~ Summer 2026

Welcome to the beating heart of summer… Days when the heat lingers long into the evening, and the cicadas serenade the sun as it slides out of view. Today, we are beyond thrilled to announce the winner of this year’s HoneyBee Poetry Prize, Mara Lee Grayson, and with this exciting news, the release of Issue #24! We highly recommend pouring a glass of ice-cold lemonade and spending some quality time with this one!!…

Keep reading
by Shyla Shehan
For all the news, interviews, book reviews, and Micro Monday features visit The Buzz

TGLR News

2024 Autumn Issue released on October 17th
2024 Honeybee Prize Results and Summer Issue
2024 Spring issue is HERE
Winter 2024 Best Of edition is available in print!
2024 New Year’s Revelations
TGLR is officially a nonprofit

More news and announcements here!

TGLR nominates for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best New Poets, and Best Small Fictions

2025 Best Small Fictions
2025 Pushcart nominations
2025 Best of the Net nominations
2024 Pushcart nominations
2024 Best of the Net nominations
2023 Pushcart nominations
2023 Best of the Net nominations
2022 Pushcart nominations
2022 Best of the Net nominations

from the archives:

Funny by L. L. Babb

Funny | L. L. Babb Kiki spent six years in prison learning how to shut down. When she was released to the halfway house, her counselor tried to help her…

read more

Two Poems by Bob Hicok

Fire | Bob Hicok Is your solitude crushing?Do you feel like a milk cartonat the bottom of the oceanwith your face on it asking the abyss,Have you seen this child?The…

read more

Summer Elegy II by Todd Robinson

Summer Elegy II | Todd Robinson Nebraska’s bare branchespaw at skies full of pointless blue, mercurial daymoon.Powerless like me or my disabled wifewobbling our broken palace in cashmere and bracken. She…

read more
For more good stuff from all our issues
visit the archive


submissions:

We are currently open for all genres plus artwork! We nominate for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best New Poets, Best Small Fictions and… YES we are a paying market! ($60 per piece published in the seasonal issue, $25 per piece published in Micro Monday, $50 for cover art)

The Good Life Review is seeking previously uncurated work by writers from all walks of life. Please read submission guidelines and when you’re ready, head over to Submittable to submit your work.

IMAGE: “Forever Again” by Gabrielle Miller

The Good Life Review is a 501C3 nonprofit literary journal made with ♥ from Omaha, Nebraska. We are committed to exploring the overlooked and are taking active steps toward a more diverse and equitable publishing platform.
about us
donate

Categories
cover

issue eighteen

Art by Gabrielle Miller
Artwork

Issue #18 ~ Winter 2025: “Best Of” Edition

Release Date: January 28, 2025
Featuring the best of our best from 2024

Poetry

The Hammock by Jim Peterson from Issue #15, Spring 2024
Beacons by Jamie L. Smith from Issue #16, Summer 2024 
Death of the Moth by Annalee Fairley
from Micro Monday, June 3, 2024
Mosaic by Muiz Ọpẹ́yẹmí Àjàyí from Issue #13, Autumn 2023
(Non)detrimental Reliance by Esther Ra from Issue #15, Spring 2024
Obit by Kait Quinn from Micro Monday, August 13, 2023
How to Hear God While Making Thanksgiving Dinner by Charlene Pierce from Micro Monday, November 20, 2023  
Those Who Can’t by Taylor Franson-Thiel from Micro Monday, April 8, 2024  
Little Sparrow, Baby Mole (The MoMo Twins) by  Carey Salerno from Issue #17, Autumn 2024 

Flash Creative Nonfiction

The Crush of Dusk by Michaela Evanow
from Issue #17, Autumn 2024
My Mother, the Story-Weaver by Kiana Govoni from Issue #17, Autumn 2024

Short Fiction

Funny by L. L. Babb from Issue #15, Spring 2024
Grasshopper Gut Punch by Jacob Orlando from Issue #15, Spring 2024
Things To Talk To Jim About by Jaime Gill from Issue #16, Summer 2024
Babygirl by Mychal Hope from Issue #17, Autumn 2024

Flash Fiction

Razia, Razia by Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar from Issue #15, Spring 2024 
Rainbow Mittens by Lea Pounds from Issue #15, Spring 2024 

Short Creative Nonfiction

Life Must Go On by Cynthia Landesberg from Issue #13, Autumn 2023
Origin Stories by Frankie Concepcion from Issue #16, Summer 2024

With Artwork By:

Gabrielle Miller, Kathleen Frank, Cynthia Yatchman, John Widdowson, Matthew Fertel, Devdatta Padekar, Jules Ostara, 紫月 李, Li Ziyue, Ann-Marie Brown, Barbara Sarvis, Michael Kunzinger, and Muhammad Ashraf

TGLR Spotlight…

Author Q&A with Myna Chang

This story is a reaction to the many ways society belittles and ignores older women. I’ve watched my grandmothers and my mother seemingly lose “value” as they aged, and I’m experiencing it myself directly now as I sail past middle-age. In this story, I wanted to repackage my frustration and anger into something more resonant, something a bit hopeful…

Keep reading
by Shyla Shehan

Micro Monday

Features brief fiction, cnf, and poetry. It’s like a shot of literary adrenaline to jump start your week.

This week’s feature…

Brumation by Melissa N. Vincel

We hold each other before meals from then on, one sleeve each grasped by my hand and his, a circle of human flesh and wool. We tell my mother’s coat about the day, fill her pockets with plastic dinosaurs, and sniff air around the notched collar…

Keep reading

The Latest News…

2025 Best Small Fiction Nominations

Today, and for the first time ever, we’re tossing our proverbial hat into the “Best Small Fiction” ring. Best Small Fiction is a contest facilitated and judged by editors at Alternating Current Press.

We’re not really tossing “our” hat, though… We’re tossing the hat of these five authors whose stories we published in 2024…

Keep reading
by Shyla Shehan

More exclusive interviews with our contributors…

For all the news, interviews, book reviews, and Micro Monday features visit The Buzz

TGLR News

2024 Autumn Issue released on October 17th
2024 Honeybee Prize Results and Summer Issue
2024 Spring issue is HERE
Winter 2024 Best Of edition is available in print!
2024 New Year’s Revelations
TGLR is officially a nonprofit

More news and announcements here!

TGLR nominates for Pushcart, Best Small Fictions, Best New Poets, and Best of the Net

2025 Best Small Fictions
2025 Pushcart nominations
2025 Best of the Net nominations
2024 Pushcart nominations
2024 Best of the Net nominations
2023 Pushcart nominations
2023 Best of the Net nominations
2022 Pushcart nominations
2022 Best of the Net nominations

from the archives:

Funny by L. L. Babb

Funny | L. L. Babb Kiki spent six years in prison learning how to shut down. When she was released to the halfway house, her counselor tried to help her…

read more

Two Poems by Bob Hicok

Fire | Bob Hicok Is your solitude crushing?Do you feel like a milk cartonat the bottom of the oceanwith your face on it asking the abyss,Have you seen this child?The…

read more

Summer Elegy II by Todd Robinson

Summer Elegy II | Todd Robinson Nebraska’s bare branchespaw at skies full of pointless blue, mercurial daymoon.Powerless like me or my disabled wifewobbling our broken palace in cashmere and bracken. She…

read more
For more good stuff from all our issues
visit the archive


submissions:

We are currently open for all genres plus artwork! We nominate for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best New Poets, Best Small Fictions and… YES we are a paying market! ($60 per piece published in the seasonal issue, $25 per piece published in Micro Monday, $50 for cover art)

The Good Life Review is seeking previously unpublished work by writers from all walks of life. Please read submission guidelines and when you’re ready, head over to Submittable to submit your work.

IMAGE: “Kunik” by Hiokit Lao

The Good Life Review is a 501C3 nonprofit literary journal made with ♥ from Omaha, Nebraska. We are committed to exploring the overlooked and are taking active steps toward a more diverse and equitable publishing platform.
about us
donate

Categories
cover

issue seventeen

“Kunik” by Hiokit Lao
Artwork
PDF Version

Issue #17 ~ Autumn 2024

Release Date: October 17, 2024

Poetry

Little Sparrow, Baby Mole (The MoMo Twins) by  Carey Salerno
Uncountable by Marina Cooper
Asset Management by Karissa Ho
Trauma is a Lullaby in Igbo by Nwodo Chukwu Divine
A Convalescent Home for Retired Prophets by  Chase Dimock
In Memory of Birdperson by William Bonfiglio

Flash Creative Nonfiction

My Mother, the Story-Weaver by Kiana Govoni
The Crush of Dusk by  Michaela Evanow

Short Fiction

Babygirl by Mychal Hope
Puppy by Deidre Jaye Byrne
Before the Waters by Corrina Chan

Flash Fiction

Regular Headed Calf by Rory O’Neill
The Great Swim Divide by Amanda Siri Hill
Empty Nesting by Andrea Villa Franco

Short Creative Nonfiction

Amongst Women by Kathryn O’Day
A List of Missoula Area Grocery Stores to Cry In, Ranked by Daniela Garvue

With Artwork By:

Hiokit Lao, Cynthia Yatchman, Karissa Ho, John Widdowson, Rovaida Saleh, Britnie Walston, Lizzie Falvey, and Audrey Larson

Micro Monday

Features brief fiction, cnf, and poetry. It’s like a shot of literary adrenaline to jump start your week.

This week’s Feature…

TGLR Spotlight…

Author Q&A with Corinne Harrison

The protagonist and the boy are both on the beach in the early hours, but their different reasons for being there highlights the disparity in their socio-economic states and the racial segregation that is present in a lot of places in the world.

Ultimately, I hope that through my piece, readers will get a sense of place and how it can mean entirely different things to different groups of people…

Keep reading
by Shyla Shehan

The Latest News…

2025 Best Small Fiction Nominations

Today, and for the first time ever, we’re tossing our proverbial hat into the “Best Small Fiction” ring. Best Small Fiction is a contest facilitated and judged by editors at Alternating Current Press.

We’re not really tossing “our” hat, though… We’re tossing the hat of these five authors whose stories we published in 2024…

Keep reading
by Shyla Shehan
For all the news, interviews, book reviews, and Micro Monday features visit The Buzz

TGLR News

2024 Honeybee Prize Results and Summer Issue
2024 Spring issue is HERE
Winter 2024 Best Of edition is available in print!
2024 New Year’s Revelations
TGLR is officially a nonprofit

More news and announcements here!

The Good Life Review nominates for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net

2025 Pushcart nominations
2025 Best of the Net nominations
2024 Pushcart nominations
2024 Best of the Net nominations
2023 Pushcart nominations
2023 Best of the Net nominations
2022 Pushcart nominations
2022 Best of the Net nominations

from the archives:

Funny by L. L. Babb

Funny | L. L. Babb Kiki spent six years in prison learning how to shut down. When she was released to the halfway house, her counselor tried to help her…

read more

Two Poems by Bob Hicok

Fire | Bob Hicok Is your solitude crushing?Do you feel like a milk cartonat the bottom of the oceanwith your face on it asking the abyss,Have you seen this child?The…

read more

Summer Elegy II by Todd Robinson

Summer Elegy II | Todd Robinson Nebraska’s bare branchespaw at skies full of pointless blue, mercurial daymoon.Powerless like me or my disabled wifewobbling our broken palace in cashmere and bracken. She…

read more
For more good stuff from all our issues
visit the archive


submissions:

We are currently open for all genres plus artwork! We nominate for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best New Poets, and… YES we are a paying market! ($60 per piece published in the seasonal issue, $25 per piece published in Micro Monday, $50 for cover art).

The Good Life Review is seeking previously unpublished work by writers from all walks of life. Please read submission guidelines and when you’re ready, head over to Submittable to sent us your work.

IMAGE:  “Haley and Celeste” by Cameron Shipley

The Good Life Review is a 501C3 nonprofit literary journal made with ♥ from Omaha, Nebraska. We are committed to exploring the overlooked and are taking active steps toward a more diverse and equitable publishing platform.
about us
donate

Categories
cover

issue sixteen

“Haley and Celeste” by Cameron Shipley
Artwork
Download Full ISSUE

Issue #16 ~ Summer 2024

Release Date: July 30th, 2024

Featuring work from the 2024 HoneyBee Prize…
Fiction

Winner: Things To Talk To Jim About by Jaime Gill
Runner Up: Veer by Ryan Mattern
Honorable Mention: Echocardiogram by Olivia Torres

Bonus Fiction

Strawberry Moon by Megan Monforte

Creative Nonfiction

Winner: Origin Stories by Frankie Concepcion
Runner-Up: Eloise by Kelsey Ferrell
Honorable Mention: How to Be Made by Men, 1981 by Anne Falkowski

Poetry

Winner: Electric Eclectic Strong by Randy Bynum
Runner-Up: A Beginners Guide to Yoga by Genevieve N. Williams
Honorable Mention: Night Sweats by Molly Sturdevant
Honorable Mention: Beacons by Jamie L. Smith

With Artwork By:

Cameron Shipley, Matthew Fertel, Olude Peter Sunday, Emily Rankin, Sharon Reeber, Muhammad Ashraf, and Beth Horton

This week’s Micro Monday Feature…

In other news…

2025 Best of the Net Nominations

Hello friends. Despite being more than a few days late with this announcement, we are thrilled to reveal this year’s nominations for Best of the Net (which we managed to get submitted just before the clock struck midnight on September 30th).

Read on to learn which pieces were nominated this year…

Keep reading
by Shyla Shehan

More exclusive interviews with our contributors…

For all the news, interviews, book reviews, and Micro Monday features visit The Buzz

TGLR News

2024 Honeybee Prize Results
2024 Spring issue is HERE
Winter 2024 Best Of edition is available in print!
2024 New Year’s Revelations
TGLR is officially a nonprofit

More news and announcements here!

The Good Life Review nominates for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net

2025 Best of the Net nominations
2024 Pushcart nominations
2024 Best of the Net nominations
2023 Pushcart nominations
2023 Best of the Net nominations
2022 Pushcart nominations
2022 Best of the Net nominations

from the archives:

“Guten Tag, Baby!” by Scott C. Sickles

“Guten Tag, Baby!” | Scott C. Sickles Cast of Characters  ELEANOR: 75-years-old, in early stages of dementia. Given to flights of nostalgia.   VIVIENNE: 42-years-old. ELEANOR’s daughter. Tired from the long…

read more

Limerence by Levi Cain

Limerence | Levi Cain   ok now i am beholding u / yes i am bewitched bythe stubby curl of yr ponytail the wide open arcof shoulders the single black…

read more
For more good stuff from all our issues
visit the archive


submissions:

We are currently open for all genres plus artwork! We nominate for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best New Poets, and… YES we are a paying market! ($75 per piece published in the seasonal issue, $25 per piece published in Micro Monday, $50 for cover art)

The Good Life Review is seeking previously unpublished work by writers from all walks of life. Please read submission guidelines and when you’re ready, head over to Submittable to submit your work.

COVER IMAGE:  “Depths of the River” by Tona Pearce Myers

The Good Life Review is a 501C3 nonprofit literary journal made with ♥ from Omaha, Nebraska. We are committed to exploring the overlooked and are taking active steps toward a more diverse and equitable publishing platform.
about us
donate