Saturday Shout-Out ~ April 19, 2025
Share your recently published work with the WRJ community
Welcome to our new edition of Saturday Shout-Outs.
This series is one way we connect with the larger creative community and help promote other literary publications. As a writer, it’s can be tough to get published, so we want to call attention to it when your work gets launched out into the world!
In these bi-weekly posts, you’ll see new publications from Wild Roof Journal’s contributors and friends. We’ll also let you know about intriguing submission opportunities that are currently open. If you’ve been published recently and want it to appear on an upcoming Shout-Out post, tell us about it here.
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We previously published Kat Bodrie’s interview with George T. Wilkerson as a guest post on our Substack. Kat and George have now launched their own literary magazine, bramble, and you can read the first issue online. Kat and George’s book Bone Orchard: Reflections on Life Under Sentence of Death, which was co-written by Robert Johnson, has just been re-released in its second edition.
Curbstone Press has published Christina Rivera’s book of essays, My Oceans. The collection of essays explores the kinship between oceans, marine animals, and humans. Beth Piatote says, “This collection is threaded with wonder, history, and heartache. In My Oceans, motherhood is not sentimentalized but shown as a transformative political power. Masterfully constructed and beautifully written, this book dwells in the depths–not only of oceans but of mourning, awe, anger, and action.”
Middle Creek Publishing has published Rachel Kellum’s poetry collection, Walking the Burn. The poetry collection explores generational family trauma and resilience, threaded with images of place, flora, and fauna. The book also contains a foreword from Rosemary Wahtola Trommer.
Do you write experimental and hybrid pieces and have trouble finding a home for your work? Or perhaps your forms of self-expression are just a little offbeat, dissonant, or otherwise unconventional.
Here’s a list of some of the best literary magazines that look for experimental creative writing—work that doesn’t conform to traditional poetic techniques, narrative structure, genre categories, literary conventions, etc.
Chill Subs has published Wild Roof Journal’s list of literary magazines that publish experimental pieces. You can submit your work to these oddballs today!
ELJ Editions has published Taylor Franson-Thiel’s debut poetry collection, Bone Valley Hymnal. Regie Cabico says, “The emotional forces of ancestral calamities converge with lyrical power. These poems escort the reader into a world of devastating yet stunning perseverance where the physical body and lineage become a constitution of fierce hymns during these unprecedented times.”
Tint Journal has published Caroline Siebbeles’ short story, “The Skating Rink.” You can hear Caroline read the story in full on Ko-Fi or order a Patreon subscription to gain access to full-length audio recordings.
Submission Opportunities
Vallum is currently accepting submissions for the Vallum Chapbook Award until April 30th. You can submit one chapbook of 15-30 pages on any theme or subject. You can submit previously published poems inside the chapbook, but the chapbook itself cannot be published previously. Simultaneous submissions are allowed. One winner will receive publication, a $300 prize, 25 copies of their chapbook, and promotion on the Vallum website and social media pages. You can submit your work through Submittable. U.S.-based and international writers are able to submit with a $30 entry fee.
Counterpoint is a new online lit mag focusing on the exploration of music through poetry, artwork, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Their first issue is unthemed except for a connection to anything music (“a song, album, artist, artist’s discography, music video, type of instrument, style of music, you name it”). The submission window is open until May 11 for a May 16 publication date. There is no charge for submissions. Themed issues will start with Issue 2. Send submissions and inquires by email to counterpointlit@gmail.com. For more information on this new online magazine, click here.
Timber Journal is a journal of experimental writing run by MFA candidates out of the University of Colorado-Boulder. They state that “If you’re not flirting with failure or risky writing, [you’re writing] is probably not for us.” This journal publishes twice per year a selection of prose, poetry, and visual text-work, interviews and reviews with contemporary writers and artists. They especially want to see your experimental and hybrid concoctions. Submit to their Summer Issue until May 1, 2025, through Submittable. All submissions are free but keep prose to less than 4,000 words and poetry to a four-page limit. Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Click here to learn more about the Timber Journal and submission guidelines.
42 Miles Press Poetry Award for 2025 is “offered annually to any poet writing in English, including international poets, poets who have never published a full-length book, as well as poets who have published several. New and Selected collections of poems are also welcome. The winning poet will receive $1,000, publication of their book, 50 author copies, and will be invited to give a reading at Indiana University South Bend as part of the release of the book.” Manuscripts will be accepted until June 15, 2025. There is a $25 submission fee. The winner will be announced in late fall. For more information about this award and submission guidelines, click here.
Congratulations to all in this edition of Saturday Shout-Outs! Happy reading, writing, and submitting!
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