Today we are honored to present the wonderful work of a truly stellar line-up of authors and artists in our latest release, Issue #13 ~ Autumn 2023.
We’re grateful for all the writers who sent us their stories, essays, and poems and recognize that our organization could not exist without their passion for creating and their courage to share.We’re eager to showcase and celebrate the twelve pieces included in this issue as well as artwork from a number of talented artists. A little bit about each can be found in the editor’s note.
This note also very briefly touches on an idea we are taking for a spin for our Winter issue – Our first ever “Best Of” anthology! We’ve got exciting plans brewing for 2024 and this anthology is just the start. Here are a few other noteworthy items:
We are increasing payment again this year and as of the Spring issue, we will be offering contributing authors $75 per piece ($100 for two). The submission window is open now if you want a chance to get in on this action.
We’ll also now be offering payment of $50 for artists whose work is used on the cover of our seasonal issues.
We’re in the throws of securing judges for our 2024 HoneyBee Prize. That opportunity will open on November 15th.
Plans for the 2024 AWP writer’s conference are coming together, including a party and reading co-hosted with world renowned independent publisher, Red Hen Press.
More about all of this coming soon.
In the meantime, we hope you will dive into all this issue has to offer and stay tuned for more feels and goodies from our Autumn contributors compliments of Christine Nessler’s, Author Q&A.
On behalf of our entire team, we thank you for visiting, reading, and supporting the arts!
It’s August. It’s hot. It’s muggy AF. But the trees are in full sway and today we are thrilled to announce the release of Issue #12 ~ The Honeybee Prize issue.
If you ever wondered what kind of village it takes to raise a little lit mag (or what’s up with that Joan Jett reference), the accompanying editor’s note for this issue does a pretty good job laying it all out. And if you’re curious just where to “dive in” to this latest issue, we’d definitely recommend checking out the artwork page first and then heading straight for Birds of Prey by Tiffany Promise. Her piece was selected as the winner of this year’s Honeybee Prize in Fiction by the one and only Roxane Gay!
After that, you can easily swim in any direction and find more fantastic stories and poems by other contributors to this delightful issue including two poems by Nebraska State Poet, Matt Mason PLUS writing from all the other winners and runners-up of this year’s contest. And be sure not to click away before you read the quirky-fun stage play, Purg City, by Milton Joseph or Ixim – a translation of Isabel Pascual Andrés’s poetry by Kiran Baht.
As we celebrate the “big reveal” of this issue, it’s also an opportune time to express how grateful we are to the writers and artists who trust us with their work as well as everyone who is tuned in to support our efforts here at TGLR.
On behalf of our entire team, we thank you for visiting, reading, and taking your time to dance with us!
Hello friends and happy Thursday. We trust the summer solstice was a good one and now that we’re officially on the other side of it, we’re excited to announce the results of the 2023 Honeybee Literature prize! As previously mentioned, the competition was even more fierce than last year and we had to narrow the field to a short list of five to seven finalists in each of the three categories–poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction.
We’re extremely grateful to everyone who participated with special thanks going to this year’s judges –Roxane Gay, Rodrigo Toscano, and Hugh Reilly– who were wonderful to work with and generous with their time and expertise.
Without further ado, here are those results:
Fiction Winner:
Birds of Prey by Tiffany Promise
Here’s what Roxane Gay had to say about Birds of Prey:
Birds of Prey is a confluence of contradictions. There are events in a person’s life that are often joyful but as this economic story unravels, it is clear that there is no happy ending to be found here. Written with a bold and unique voice, this language-driven story about predator and prey is a masterful example of what flash fiction can be.
Runners-up:
The Language of Family by Hemmy So and Pretty Women by Blake Kinnett
Poetry Winner:
“For Kenny” by Kelsey Smoot
Here’s what Rodrigo Toscano had to say about “For Kenny”:
Too often these days, poems either lack sufficient words or phrases that culturally locate a text, or worse, they are overstuffed with such cultural markers. “For Kenny”, strikes a compelling balance between the two extremes. While the poem is plainly sympathetic to the subject of its portraiture (“Kenny”), it doesn’t lapse into simplistic sentimentality. A stoic attitude pervades the whole piece. And it is by way of this moral-ethical distancing that the reader is given space to imagine scenarios in their own life that call out for poetic treatment. But not so fast! Despite the poem’s narrative drive, expressed by an ardent commitment to finely wrought detail, akin to the beginning of a great epic novel, the last line, “I’m not sure that I do”, separates this poem from the legions of wannabe novelettes that litter most poetry journals. The cathectic rupture caused by the line is instant and irreversible, and resets all that came before it as an unrecoverable alternate reality. That is, our grimy readerly hands are kept at bay, as the poetic subject, narrator, and reader are all tossed up into midair. And where we land is on a newfound desire to live a more observant, more judicious, and ultimately, more compassionate life. And of course, “For Kenny”, leaves us plenty hungry for more poetic works by Kelsey Smoot.
Runner-up:
Ras Tafari Ghazal by Oak Morse
Creative Nonfiction Winner:
“Selfishly, I Planted Flowers by Rachel Sussman
Here’s what Hugh Reilly had to say about “Selfishly, I Planted Flowers”:
“Selfishly I Planted Flowers,” is a lyrical exploration of lifelong friendship. Insightful commentary like, “You can share what you love with anyone, but for scorn you need a trusted friend,” stopped me in my tracks and made me read the line again and savor its power and truth. I thought of my own best friend and what it would be like to lose him. Authentic anecdotes like pulling weeds in your pajamas, help this story ring true. The careful word choice, the judicial use of repetition, and the consistent and memorable metaphor of a flower garden resonate and make this story unforgettable. The final paragraph reminds us that there is a finish, an end to all things, and an inevitable new beginning. Sorrow and hope intertwined.
Runner-up:
Coyote by Nicki Orser
We also want to recognize two other poets who received honorable mentions for their work: To Brother-Ghost on Halloween by Pell Williams Amnesty Week by R.J. Lambert
Our congratulations goes out to all these fine folks for their amazing writing and to the winners for snagging those beautiful jars of honey!
We’re not done yet, though!! The best is yet to come as all of these award winning pieces will appear in our summer issue alongside two poems from Nebraska State Poet, Matt Mason, a stage play by playwright, Milton Joseph, and poetry by Isabel Andres with translation by Kiran Bhat. It’s gonna be so, so good and we can’t wait to share it with you.
Hello friends! Welcome to June and the start of summer. As everyone knows, summer is honey bee season and for all of us here at TGLR, that also means we’re gearing up to celebrate the highly anticipated results of our annual contest, the Honeybee Literature Prize.
This year we had 285 submissions across the three categories of poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction, and it was even tougher than last year to narrow down all the wonderful work we received to just a handful of finalists.
We’re grateful for everyone who sent us their stories, essays and poems and know that the contest judges –Roxane Gay, Rodrigo Toscano, and Hugh Reilly– have their work cut out for them in selecting the winners and runners up from this stellar lineup:
Contradictions of Being by Karan Kapoor
the come back by Simone Flynn
Ras Tafari Ghazal by Oak Morse
Amnesty Week by R.J. Lambert
“For Kenny” by Kelsey Smoot
Obit by Kait Quinn
To Brother-Ghost on Halloween by Pell Williams
The Riddle by Devon Parish
Selfishly, I Planted Flowers by Rachel Sussman
Coyote by Nicki Orser
First Wound by Natasha Chiam
Endangered by Margaret Lynch
Midway by Allie Dixon
The Year of the Self by Brittany Cortez
Pretty Women by Blake Kinnett
Birds of Prey by Tiffany Promise
Language of Family by Hemmy So
Allie by Addie Lovell
Congratulations to all the finalists for their fabulous poems, essays, and stories!! We will be announcing the winners and runners-up by the end of the month. Stay tuned…
Today, friends, we are thrilled to present Issue #11 ~ Spring 2023! We’re grateful for all the writers who sent us work and recognize that our organization could not exist without their dedication, passion for creating, and their courage to share. We’re eager to showcase and celebrate the poetry, creative nonfiction, translation, and fiction from fourteen writers that we’ve been fortunate enough to connect with these past few months, as well as artwork from a number of talented artists. More about celebration, connection, and the wonderful work ready and waiting in this issue can be found in the editor’s note.
This issue marks the start of our 4th year of operations and the note also briefly touches on how our organization could not exist as it is without the time and effort of our all-volunteer team which is now 24 strong with 17 editors, six readers, and one Spanish translation advisor. We have hundreds of submissions coming in for each quarterly issue, our annual contest, and for our weekly content offering, Micro Monday, and there is absolutely no way we could give adequate and careful consideration to each piece without these dedicated people.
With this issue we say farewell to one of our original GLR team members, Suzanne Guess, who has been with us as a Nonfiction Editor since our very first issue in 2020. It was wonderful working with Suzanne and we wish her well!
The editor’s note also shamelessly name drops our judges for this year’s Honeybee Literature Prize: Roxane Gay (fiction), Rodrigo Toscano (Poetry), and Hugh Reilly (Nonfiction). We’re over the moon about the opportunity to work with these people and are excited to see how the contest will unfold this year. If you are reading this and would like a chance to have one of those fine folks read your work AND have it published AND get paid for it… details are here.
In any case, we hope you will dive into all this spring issue has to offer and stay tuned because we are going to keep the party going all throughout the spring season with interviews with some of our contributing authors by the fabulous Christine Nessler!
On behalf of our entire team, we thank you for visiting, reading, and supporting the arts!
In a perfect world, there would be order and a trustworthy cadence as a well thought through plan unfolds itself in crisp, equally shaped squares—one step at a time. But it’s not a perfect world and the grand universe of literary-ness (and life in general) is chaos more often than not.
Like most people, I want to appear as if I have my shit together even when things get crazy so admitting that the cart didn’t just come before the horse but came completely unhitched altogether, is not easy. That, my friends, is kinda what happens in life—happened with the release of our Winter issue—and this little confession is both an apology and a means to try and hitch things back together…
First things first. If you have not yet looked at our most recent issue, #10 ~ Winter 2023, then I’d highly recommend starting with the fantastic artwork which perfectly sets the tone for the collection of stories, poetry, and the ten-minute stage play it accompanies. Then, buckle in for an intense ride with all that wonderful writing. More details about the nature of that ride are available in my very “late to the party” and more personal than usual, editor’s note.
The delay with the letter is just one of the consequences of the aforementioned chaos. Another casualty was the lovely, full-spread downloadable version of the issue, which I am pleased to report is also now available here and from our home page.
If the plan had been executed as intended, the issue release would have been officially announced on our blog and quickly followed by a blast of that news on all the socials. Epic fail. Better late than never though. So this is it! Finally. I’m calling it a “re-release” because twice is nice, right?
I am sorry for the delays and missteps but most of all I’d like to apologize to the authors and artists that contributed to this issue. Many thanks for your patience and kindness.
If you are still reading this (thank you, too) you might be wondering what flavor of chaos caused these delays. Pulling the curtain back a little further reveals that we might have had a touch too much going on all at once at the start of 2023.
For example, this month we launched a new segment on our blog called Micro Monday. This segment will feature micro prose and short poems that will provide readers with some “punchy” and thought-provoking pieces to jump-start their week. More of an official intro for this segment coming soon!
Our team is also gearing up for our first appearance at AWP in March. In just two short weeks, seven of our all-volunteer staff of 23 people will be getting in cars and on airplanes to converge on the convention center in Seattle. We are all very excited about attending some amazing talks and connecting with so many cool people! If you are planning to be there, be sure and stop by our table at the book fair, T526, and say hello!
And last, but certainly not least, we’ve been deep in the weeds planning for this year’s contest– The Honeybee Literature prize in poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. Two fabulous people–Rodrigo Toscano and Hugh Reilly–have graciously agreed to work with us as judges and we are diligently working on someone equally as fabulous to select a winner and runner-up for fiction. More about the contest and judges can be found on our submissions/contest page.
It’s definitely shaping up to be an action packed year and we’re enthusiastic about Issue #10 and all the exciting endeavors and events in the works despite the chaos. Stay tuned for more about all of this plus new interviews and fun updates from our team coming soon! Again.. thanks for reading.
Today, friends, we are thrilled to present Issue #9 ~ Autumn 2022. We’re grateful for all the writers who sent us work and recognize that our organization could not exist without their dedication, passion for creating, and their courage to share.We’re eager to showcase and celebrate thirteen incredible pieces from eleven writers as well as artwork from a number of talented artists.
This issue marks the start of our 3rd year of publication and with each quarterly issue, it gets more and more difficult to narrow down the bounty of submissions received to just these few. Especially since the number of pieces finding their way to us has increased considerably in such a short time. As a result, we’ve felt the need to expand the team to ensure we maintain the status quo of having multiple people reading and deliberating the merits of each piece. We have also created new roles to aid in operational processes and improve communications. You can read more about some of these changes in the editor’s note that accompanies this issue.
The note also briefly touches on hope for the future of TGLR. At this juncture we are eager and charging, full-speed, into our third year of operations. We have already begun formulating grand plans for 2023 which is just around the corner, and are pleased to announce that we will be increasing payment to contributors this coming spring. Stay tuned for more details on that and other exciting news coming soon!
In the meantime, we hope you will dive into all this autumn issue has to offer. On behalf of our entire team, we thank you for visiting, reading, and supporting the arts!
Today, friends, we are thrilled to present Issue #8 ~ Summer 2022, the Honeybee Prize Issue. We’re grateful for all the writers who sent us work and recognize that our organization could not exist without their dedication, passion for writing, and their courage to share.We’re eager to showcase and celebrate nine incredible pieces from this year’s winners as well as artwork from a number of talented artists!
In releasing this issue, we’d like to acknowledge and express deep gratitude to the judges of this year’s contest: Kwame Dawes for Poetry, Charlene Donaghy for Stage and Screen, Mary Kuryla for Fiction, and Jessica Hendry Nelson for Nonfiction. These fine folks not only volunteered their time and expertise but were also kind, thoughtful with their endorsements of the pieces, and wonderful to work with.
Thanks also to the members of our editorial team who carefully considered each of the hundreds of submissions we received to narrow the field to a short list of finalists: Annie Barker, Pamela Broadman, Suzanne Guess, Erin Owen, Michelle Pierce Battle, Carina Faz, and Emily Marvin. Special thanks to guest editors Terry Belew and Cid Galicia who collaborated with us on the effort and are officially joining the team as poetry readers for our next issue (welcome!).
In addition to the issue release, full contest results are available here. And stay tuned for news of some exciting changes happening at TGLR coming soon….
On behalf of our entire team, we thank you for visiting, reading, and supporting the arts!
Thank you again to everyone who participated in our 2nd annual contest. We’re grateful for all the writers who sent us work and recognize that our organization could not exist without their dedication, passion for writing, and their courage to share.
Poetry Winners: First Prize: For Those of Us Forced to Flee by Jane Muschenetz Runner-up: dear sister, by Sequoia Maner
Other Finalists:
I return to you, mother by Liz Holland
In Memoriam for a Chronic Pain Sufferer by Gillian Freebody
(un)inhabited by Moni Brar
HOMO by C.W. Emerson
Stage and Screen Winners: First Prize: Camp by Jennifer Downes Runner-up: Road Music by W. W. Webb
Other Finalists:
Willa Cather Would Not Approve by David-Matthew Barnes
Scenes From a Breakup by Don Faust
Prom Court by Michael Towers
Fiction Winners: First Prize: Love, Dad by Alex Sese Runner-up: The Children by Adeline Lovell
Other Finalists:
Waiting for Jim by David Margolis
To Dust You Shall Return by Katharine Bost
Seth From Poison Control by Kaylee Schofield
Nonfiction Winners: Winner: Connect : Disconnect by Suzi Banks Baum Runner-up: Where All My Sick Things Go by Liliana Rehorn
Other Finalists:
Assembly Line by Michael Cannistraci
Backwards and Blind by Helyn Trickey Bradley
Reinventing the Circle by Jill Littig
This year’s winner of our Editors Choice Award is Helyn Trickey Bradley for her nonfiction essay, Backwards and Blind.
Congratulations to all finalists and winners! Stay tuned… All the winning pieces will appear in our Summer issue, coming in July. We’re extremely excited to showcase this amazing work!!
Cheers, ~Shyla Shehan and The Good Life Review Team
Today friends and fellow lovers of the arts, we are tickled to announce the finalists for the 2022 Honeybee Prize.
Thank you to all who submitted to this year’s contests in fiction, nonfiction, stage & screen, and poetry. We had an impressive number of submissions to consider which made it tough for our editors to select the pieces that would be sent to the judges (more about the prize and judges here).
After much deliberation, the following finalists were chosen…
Willa Cather Would Not Approve by David-Matthew Barnes
Road Music by W. W. Webb
Scenes From a Breakup by Don Faust
Camp by Jennifer Downes
Prom Court by Michael Towers
Waiting for Jim by David Margolis
Love, Dad by Alex Sese
To Dust You Shall Return by Katharine Bost
Seth From Poison Control by Kaylee Schofield
The Children by Adeline Lovell
Connect : Disconnect by Suzi Banks Baum
Assembly Line by Michael Cannistraci
Where All My Sick Things Go by Liliana Rehorn
Backwards and Blind by Helyn Trickey Bradley
Reinventing the Circle by Jill Littig
I return to you, mother by Liz Holland
In Memoriam for a Chronic Pain Sufferer by Gillian Freebody
dear sister, by Sequoia Maner
For Those of Us Forced to Flee by Jane Muschenetz
(un)inhabited by Moni Brar
HOMO by C.W. Emerson
Congratulations to all the finalists for their wonderful pieces!! We will be announcing the winners and runners-up very soon. Stay tuned…
