Congratulations to Douglas Cole, winner of the 2021 American Fiction Award and CLR contributor, on his forthcoming publication from Unsolicited Press (Sept. 2026), The White Field, a “strange, sharp, morally complicated literary crime novel about a man newly released from prison and the machinery waiting to drag him back in. It is part prison-release story, part industrial fever dream, and part social critique of the American systems that confuse survival with failure.”
Tag: fiction
Author Insight: What have your experiences been like interacting with the publishing world? How about with student editors working on literary journals?
I’ve had mostly positive experiences. Form rejections (and I’ve received a lot of them) are hard, but occasionally, I get an editor who might really see my work, even as they reject it. And sometimes I’m met with enthusiasm. This is always gratifying. As for student editors, I think there’s a curiosity and wonder present that perhaps more mature editors have lost.
-Joshua Zeitler, “Anna No, Anna No,” Volume XXX, 2026
Young people are going to be the readers of tomorrow and the publishers and editors of tomorrow. I love knowing what resonates with students and younger editors. It is a gift to work with student editors.
-Lynn Levin, “Amanda the Vigilant,” Volume XXX, 2026
Pretty much everybody I’ve interacted with in the publishing world has been nothing short of dedicated, passionate, and amazing. I feel lucky when someone sees what I’m seeing, feels what I’m feeling, and it’s always reaffirming to hear that someone wants to publish you.
-Nicholas Barnes, “twenty-eight pomegranates” & “belonging,” Volume XXX, 2026
I was a student editor on a literary journal. I have also worked for a major publishing house, so this feels a bit ironic for me to answer. I have not been a writer published by a major house, but the micropress that has published me as a writer, Grandma Moses Press, was an absolute dream to work with and all of the editors I have worked with for literary sites and journals have been kind, caring, and dedicated. It’s a tough, cold world out there, but once you do break through, in my experience, you find kindness and love.
–Susan Melinda Morée, “The Fog Sounds: A Tragedy in Less Than One Act,” Volume XXX, 2026
I enjoy student editors working with journals. They tend to be risk takers who appreciate writing that bumps against norms.
-Scott T. Hutchison, “Bowls of My Father’s Anger,” Volume XXX, 2026
Volume 31: Ready. Set. Go!
We are still celebrating the release of our positively spectacular 30th volume—which means of course we should keep the party going, right? So, okay, umm…let’s go #31! Our submission window is now open through September 30th. We cannot wait to publish another incredible collection of poetry, prose, and possibility texts from around the globe. Please check out our Submission Guidelines and/or Submittable and reach out with any questions.
Author Insight: When did you realize you wanted to write?
I used to live near a cemetery, where I would walk sometimes to get out of the house and clear my head. In the cemetery, I found a headstone for a woman named Lucy and her husband. Her husband’s death date was in the 1800’s, but Lucy’s death date was left blank. I realized I wanted to write my way into this mystery.
-Joshua Zeitler, “Anna No, Anna No,” Volume XXX, 2026
Tenth grade geometry class. A lesson on cubes wasn’t holding me; a couple of lines came into my head, I wrote them down. I looked at the board, looked at what I wrote—and spent the next three years of high school math class writing. My math grades suffered, but writing took hold and has never let go.
-Scott T. Hutchison, “Bowls of My Father’s Anger,” Volume XXX, 2026
I wrote my first book at nine years old—a story about my sister’s dog, Kazan. I have always had a pencil and paper in hand, always jotting down things that occur to me…words on paper—it’s who I am.
-Judith Mikesch-McKenzie, “Having Faith in the Speed of Light, “Volume XXX, 2026
Early on—probably around grade five. I went to a parochial school and we were given a poetry writing assignment. The next day, there were some VIP visitors making the rounds of the classroom, and I was asked to read my poem for our guests. It was a sing-song piece of work, with rhyming end-words chosen simply because they rhymed (i.e., hill/ill), and the rules said a poem had to rhyme or it wasn’t a poem. Nonetheless, I was very serious about my poem and was mortified when the guests laughed. It was an early lesson in the art of humility, and I vowed to persist.
-T. Clear, “Here on Earth,” Volume XXX, 2026
Author Insight: How have other authors influenced your own writing and style?
I return to the way authors like Sherwood Anderson and Elizabeth Strout have created characters who are oddballs (Anderson’s people in Winesburg, Ohio) and cranky (Olive Kitteredge in Strout’s stories). As a reader, I care about these characters even though they have flaws, and I think it is bold of these authors to create characters like this and to make them the stars of their stories.
-Lynn Levin, “Amanda the Vigilant,” Volume XXX, 2026
I like writers who break down the norms of what is expected. I like Hemingway and Dostoevsky, and the Oakland-based writer, Alison Luterman.
-Paul Rabinowitz, “The Walk,” Volume XXX, 2026
I love Lauren Groff. She has taught me to be bolder with verbs.
-Susan Melinda Morée, “The Fog Sounds: A Tragedy in Less Than One Act,” Volume XXX, 2026
Frost has been crucial in my effort to make my poetry, if not totally accessible, not deliberately obscurantist either. One can be complex without being merely complicated.
-Sydney Lea, “Orb Weaver at My Writing Cabin,” Volume XXX, 2026
Interview with Heather Charton
Author of “What We Knew” (20th Anniversary Issue)
What was the inspiration for “What We Knew”?
My dad has an unusual hobby: fireworks. But he is not the only one. A few years ago, he became a card-carrying member of Pyrotechnics Guild International and then convinced my mom and me to attend a couple of their conventions with him. At these conventions, the fireworks were amazing, but the people were incredible, too. Their delightful passion for all things “pryo” were the beginnings of “What We Knew.”
The point of view came next. I’m a small-town Midwesterner, which makes it hard to get away from the effects—both good and bad—of community. I am fascinated by a town’s group mentality, the way it’s alliances shift and develop. In “What We Knew,” I used the focal point of fireworks to play with that social dynamic.
What made you decide to become an author?
When I started my undergraduate program at Kent State, I knew that I loved words and that I wanted to be a teacher. Then I took Joey Nicoletti’s Intro to Creative Writing course. He opened up to me the idea that I could not only teach others to love and use words but that I could also use them myself. He showed me that being a writer was a possibility. After his class, I still loved words and I still wanted to be a teacher, but I also wanted to be a writer. I took every writing class I could at Kent and then pursued my MFA at Lesley University.
Do you have any other pieces you’re intending to release soon or are working on?
I had another short story—“Grounded”—published in Bird’s Thumb this February. I currently have a few short stories in the submission process and am beginning to look for an agent for my first novel.
CLACKAMAS LITERARY REVIEW 