Write, Publish, and Shine

“Trust that the reader came with you, trust that you did a good job and that you brought us there.” —Emily WojcikHost Rachel Thompson speaks with Emily Wojcik about trusting your writing and how the Massachusetts Review is more interested in the world than the self when it comes to writing they publish. Find all the show notes and a full transcript of the interview at rachelthompson.co/podcast/35T...

"Poems, no matter what they are about or how they approach the world, have to need to happen." —Rebecca Salazar of *Plenitude*.Host Rachel Thompson speaks with Rebecca Salazar, Associate Poetry Editor of *Plenitude.* This interview a lot of topics, including what exactly is CanLit, RuPaul's Drag Race, and why submitting to contests isn't always the best choice. They also talk about representation...

“We both really like having, essentially, the guts to look at not just issues in their full complexity, but also not to try to gloss over the ugliness.” —Amy Mitchell, The /tƐmz/ ReviewHost Rachel Thompson speaks with Amy Mitchell and Aaron Schneider about the introspection they want to see in political writing, the care and knowledge required to write about cultures, classes, and communities that...

50th Episode! This special episode is all about you, the listeners. Rachel answers your questions, mostly about submitting and publishing in lit mags. Questions cover writing contests, the questions of whether to re-submit or not to re-submit, should you or should you not message editors who say they like your work, how quickly does writing about current events go stale. Plus, Rachel shares a litt...

“Don’t give up and recognize that the writing is a thing in and of itself as well. You need to be able to love doing the writing and just love being in this world that you create with your characters, over and above wanting your name on a book.” —Amanda LeducHost Rachel Thompson speaks with Amanda Leduc of the Festival of Literary Diversity about disability in literature and how the literary cultu...

“Nothing has to happen in the story. There doesn't need to be explosions or big shocking twists. It's just enough to have well-developed characters and a beautiful world.” —Terese Mason Pierre, Augur MagazineHost Rachel Thompson speaks with Terese Mason Pierre of Augur magazine about the “whole” characters and “human” stories that they publish and about letting things get messier in her writing du...

“We’re excited if the forms that come in are not an arc. We’re not just looking for one direction of the piece, it doesn’t have to use linear time or linear form.” —Katelyn Keating, CRAFT.Host Rachel Thompson speaks with Katelyn Keating of CRAFT. Listen to their conversation on the mechanics of story openings and the emotions in their endings, reckonings still to be had in the literary discussion...

“I’m interested in asking different questions and in the vulnerability of language that allows for an honest attempt at expression and a way to investigate complex questions.” —Janice Lee, Entropy MagazineHost Rachel Thompson speaks with Janice Lee, Executive Editor of ENTROPY, in this interview from 2017. Listen for conversation about writing when language fails you and the community-first approa...

“You’re kinda playing with fire when you delve into trauma writing. It’s possible to push yourself past your own limits and touch on things that are more tender than you thought.” —Josh Brandon of Black Warrior ReviewHost Rachel Thompson speaks with Josh Brandon, Editor of Black Warrior Review, about taking a break when writing is difficult and about submitting and publishing your writing with the...

Host Rachel Thompson speaks with editors from Qwerty magazine, based at the University of New Brunswick, about sumptuous food writing and, of course, everything you need to know if you want to submit and publish your writing with Qwerty. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Rachel Thompson speaks with three editors from the online journal Okay Donkey about weird poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Téa Franco, Genevieve Kersten, and Elizabeth Upshur discuss weird writing's significance and purpose in these weird times, how social media has helped us find our weird community and created all the extra weirdness available, and, of course, everything you need t...

“I think that when a writer doesn’t have a good understanding of who they are and what their beliefs are...they are going to necessarily lack the conviction in their writing to go daring places, and ask daring questions.” —Alicia ElliottAlicia Elliott is a Tuscarora writer and the new Creative Non-Fiction editor at The Fiddlehead magazine. She is also someone both daring in her writing, and solid...

In this episode, Ploi Pirapokin and Rachel Thompson start deep, jumping right into discussing estrangement for writers. Ploi shares about writing through immigration statuses and her Genius Visa. There is A LOT of laughter in this episode. (Rachel edited the big bursts of them, so they don't blast your eardrums.) You will find Ploi's joy as infectious—in the best way—as Rachel did during the inter...

The biggest epiphany I had about my writing in the last year is that there is nothing special about my story. This sounds like a terrible epiphany, I realize! But it was so liberating. Let me explain. Full episode transcript available in the show notes on rachelthompson.co/podcast/43 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emerging author, Rowan McCandless shares how she built her writing community. She and Rachel discuss the four different forms of writing groups she engages. She also shares a racist experience she had in a writing course. Plus you can hear Rowan read from Persephone's Children, her forthcoming book of essays, out from Dundurn Press in September 2021. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

`In this first solo episode after the Write, Publish, and Shine podcast reboot, I talk about the five things editors want in your writing submissions to journals. This is all based on my experience reading submissions, publishing work in a lit mag, and talking to dozens of editors from other literary journals who do the same. If you'd like to find assignments to help you get more of each of the fi...

I have an announcement about this podcast, but before we get to it, I want to thank you for continuing to listen in this almost year since I released new podcast episodes. I feel you out there, I see the numbers, too, so I know you’re still out there listening and waiting for new episodes. So, thank you, thank you, thank you for your patience. Find the full transcript of this episode here: https:/...

The Apple Valley Review is a semiannual online literary journal founded in 2005 by Leah Browning. Published in the spring and fall, each issue features a collection of poetry, short fiction, and personal essays. Apple Valley Review editor, Leah Browning, has worked as a freelance writer and editor since 1995. She is the author of three short nonfiction books for teens and pre-teens and six chapboo...

Mom Egg Review is a literary journal about motherhood. It promotes and celebrates the creative force of mother writers and artists. Mom Egg Review is about being a mother, in its many varieties. It is also about being a daughter, worker, partner, artist, a member of cultures and communities, and explores how these identities can collide and coexist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

Writing may be the only pursuit that M. Paramita Lin hasn't accidentally stumbled into. In between hanging out with triad members and living in a succession of haunted flats in Hong Kong, she's also been a paid companion to the third wife of a tycoon, toured the world with musicians, and apprenticed as a goldsmith in Italy. Lin's stories are mostly set in Asian cities, and they are often funny, oc...

“Editing is a position of power that I take seriously. I’m a writer, author, creative in different ways and I experienced the negativity of being a victim of systems of oppression,” Julián Esteban Torres López. Julián Esteban Torres López is a Colombian-born journalist, publisher, podcaster, and editor. Before founding the nonfiction storytelling organization The Nasiona, he ran several cultural a...

This episode focuses on working in close relationship with writers, and thinking through all your relationships as you navigate choices for your writing and in your writing community. Jessica Johns is a nehiyaw aunty and member of Sucker Creek First Nation in Treaty 8 territory in Northern Alberta and is currently living, working, and learning on the traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish...

The Swamp publishes work that evokes a sense of place, which, for The Swamp, is broadly defined. “We look forward to reading work that we can inhabit, no matter its geography. We do give preference to the southern gothic, to poems and stories wrapped in a heavy coat of humidity. With that said, we seek to publish all work that surprises us with new territory, with characters and landscapes we don'...

Literary Mama believes that all mothers have a story worth sharing and honors the many faces of motherhood by publishing work that celebrates the journey as well as the job. Felicity Landa earned her Bachelor’s in Creative Writing and Literature from CSU Long Beach in 2013, where she was awarded the Horn scholarship for her novel. She is currently an MFA student in Fiction and Screenwriting at UC...

Founded at the University of North Carolina Wilmington in 2005, the award-winning magazine features writing and art that reimagine place, and our authors interpret this charge expansively. An ecotone is a transition zone between two adjacent ecological communities, containing the characteristic species of each. It is, therefore, a place of danger or opportunity, a testing ground. The magazine expl...