Sending simultaneous submissions is a fact of a poet’s life whether you practice the strategy or not. How such a maneuver began may be one of those mysteries of history, but it is acceptable to most literary venues these days. It may have come about by the eagerness and impatience of poets frustrated by the often long waits and by thinking that someone out there would just love their work. I suppose the more complicated recordkeeping of this doubling (tripling) up has been taken care of by sophisticated spreadsheet programs. Simultaneous submissions is a strategy … Continue reading Submissions Etiquette by Fred Wilbur→
When the pandemic first shut down our world in the spring of 2020, my fifteen-year-old daughter and I were at home, every day, all day. I had been a sugarmaker for years, and the month of March and I were old friends. Well, maybe not friends, but certainly long-time acquaintances. I knew the fickleness of March, how this month can stretch into heaps of snow, or afternoons of blinding sun, or days-long, freezing drizzle. By the end of the pandemic, I sold the property where my family lived and sugared and bought a house in … Continue reading Succor by Brett Ann Stanciu→
Growing up in a small rural town, I felt a strong sense of family, community, and safety. We had farmers’ markets, county fairs with greased pigs, hayrides, pie eating contest, cake walks, musical chairs, berry picking, Sunday mornings worship, and family meals around the table. As a child all appeared to be well. One evening after work, I drove home, and I told my five-year-old brother I was going to treat him to a soft serve cone at the local Custard Stand. Now mind you, at the time, it was the only fast-food place in … Continue reading Two Soft-served Cones, Please. by Elva Anderson, PhD→
When I was thirteen, my mother left us. It was on a Sunday and she knew that Daddy, my brothers and I were away, visiting a family out on the old Nashville road. A moving van pulled up to the duplex and my mother emptied the rooms. Excited by the drama, neighbors watched from their front yards. My mother ‘stole’ the large Heriz oriental rug, the twisty verdigris wrought iron table, the African basket lamps in moss green linen shades—my friends had never seen such lamps. The hand-embroidered pillows, magenta and orange molas sewn by … Continue reading Red Sofa by Trudy Hale→
There are two loves in my life, two passions on which I spend countless hours. On one side the world of science, biology, physiology, cells and smells, counters with a microscope, computers with software for statistical analysis. On the other side is the world of painting, composition, shapes and structures, tables with brushes, tubes filled with pigments, and the scary white surface that waits to come alive with colors and lines. I believe that art and science have always gone hand-in-hand. My work resembles biology. I like to mimic the biological processes and allow … Continue reading Jurgen Ziesmann: When Science and Art Combine→
Every year, hundreds of new books on productivity are published on Amazon. Out of all these books, a significant slice is dedicated to productivity for writers. Many of the titles promise to teach us how to write faster, how to schedule our time more efficiently, or how to publish our books more rapidly. But no matter what they promise, they all contain a common theme: The way you are working now is not good enough. You are too slow, and if you are too slow as a writer, you will get left behind. I shudder … Continue reading Why Reading Books on Productivity Is the Worst Thing a Writer Could Do by Lauren Sapala→
“An artist is said to be original exactly when he takes up the challenge of tradition and makes us see something more than we already knew.” Demetri Porphyrios. Classical Architecture. I am a fundamentalist. But contemporary connotations dredge up all sorts of pejoratives that I want to dispel. I want you to understand fundamental. There are fundamental math equations, fundamental conventions of a civilized society (etiquette), of language use, rules of public road driving, of constructing a printed book, of lasting friendships, fundamental principles of civil rights in an educated and democratic country. In … Continue reading Bedrock Poetry by Fred Wilbur→
I once held my cousin in a Dixie cup. At least a part of him. The improvised committal on the banks of Nottoway Swamp was a fitting send-off for a man who wanted no ceremony. Prone to eccentricity and melancholia like many of my clan, Cousin Bill had requested only that we scatter him after the annual family reunion in tidewater Virginia. Over BBQ, collard greens, and caramel cake at the Ruritan building, we lit a candle for him and Alice Page, our other casualty that year, then offered the swamp excursion for those who … Continue reading Little Cups by Alex Joyner→
STREETLIGHT’S 2022 SUMMER FLASH FICTION CONTEST Send us your shorts by July 11! 1st Prize — $125 2nd — $75 3rd — $50 Entry Fee: $10 CONTEST GUIDELINES: Up to 500 of your best, previously unpublished words. Any subject. Multiple submissions are fine — one work per entry. This is a blind contest. Please remove all personal information from the story pages. We encourage simultaneous submissions but if your piece is accepted elsewhere, inform us at fiction@streetlightmag.com, right away. Contest deadline is Monday, July 11, 2022 midnight EST. Competition winners will be announced July 25, … Continue reading 2022 Essay/Memoir Contest→
STREETLIGHT’S 2022 SUMMER FLASH FICTION CONTEST Send us your shorts by July 11! 1st Prize — $125 2nd — $75 3rd — $50 Entry Fee: $10 CONTEST GUIDELINES: Up to 500 of your best, previously unpublished words. Any subject. Multiple submissions are fine — one work per entry. This is a blind contest. Please remove all personal information from the story pages. We encourage simultaneous submissions but if your piece is accepted elsewhere, inform us at fiction@streetlightmag.com, right away. Contest deadline is Monday, July 11, 2022 midnight EST. Competition winners will be announced July 25, … Continue reading 2022 Flash Fiction Contest→
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