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issue twenty-one

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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…

The Softness I Owe by Joemario Umana

Where they taught me to shut the door, flowers pressed through the hinges, bloomed and held it wide open. Look, I know how to hold a butterfly and not tear its wings. I know how to water a flower without drowning it. I know how to cradle ache and not mistake it for the end. Once,…

Keep reading

TGLR Spotlight…

Author Q&A with Matt Mason

I hope what they take is just a minute in someone else’s perspective. That’s what poetry is about for me and that’s why I really believe if there was more poetry in our daily lives we’d have a more connecting us to one another. I read poetry not just for enjoyment but to also get to take a few steps in another’s shoes and see a world that’s different from the one my own experiences bring me. 

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

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.
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