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Under
Construction

An Exhilarating Free Fall
Into Emerging & Established Literary Voices

IN THIS ISSUE: Mary Ardery, Ned Balbo, Melissa Balmain,
Sal Bardo, Patricia Behrens, Dustin Brookshire, Ralph Burns, Elijah Burrell, Jacob Butlett, Puneet Dutt, Anna M. Evans, Robert Elliot Fox, Nicole Caruso Garcia, Sara Henning, Emerson Henry, M.B. McClatchey, Juliet McDaniel,
Clare Rossini, David J. Rothman, Jackie Sabbagh,
Alexis Sears, Julie Wade, Anton Yakovlev, and Maury Zeff

Brought to You by SIU-C's Graduate School of Literature, Writing & Digital Humanities

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BOOM ! IT'S HERE

About
SIUCcr.png

SIU-C: Celebrating 155 Years!

Our Literary Journey

Southern Illinois University's Crab Orchard Review is not

just a publication; it's a literary journey that delves into the heart of storytelling. One that "readers enjoy and writers admire." Our platform provides a space for emerging and established writers to share their unique voices: be they

urban, rural, or someplace in between. We remain dedicated

to promoting diverse perspectives and fostering a community passionate about literature. 

from the ARCHIVE

General Issue

Money Issue

General Issue

My Books

 

Crab Orchard Review was founded at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, in 1995 by Allison Joseph, Carolyn Alessio, Jon Tribble, and Richard Peterson. It is a biannual (spring and fall) literary journal of prose, poetry, book reviews, and author interviews. After nearly three decades in print, the magazine now exists as a digital e-zine accessible to readers

anytime, anywhere.

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A p p l a u s e

Press
Events
NEXT EVENT
When
Date and time is TBD
Where
Via Zoom

Our Team.

Teamwork is at the core of COR. Whether it be Allison at the helm or any one of our support staff, we work hard to curate an experience that ranks us among the top 35 literary journals in the U.S., according to BookFox. We're pleased to get to know you further BIOS     Allison Joseph (Editor) lives in Carbondale, Illinois, where she directs the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Southern Illinois University. Born in London, England, to parents of Caribbean heritage, Allison Joseph grew up in Toronto, Canada, and the Bronx, New York. A graduate of Kenyon College and Indiana University, she serves as editor of Crab Orchard Review, the publisher of No Chair Press, and the director of Writers In Common, a writing conference for writers of all ages and experience levels. In 2014, she was awarded a Doctor of Letters honorary degree from her undergraduate alma mater, Kenyon College.      Her books and chapbooks include What Keeps Us Here (Ampersand Press), Soul Train (Carnegie Mellon University Press), In Every Seam (University of Pittsburgh Press), Worldly Pleasures (Word Tech Communications), Imitation of Life (Carnegie Mellon UP), Voice: Poems (Mayapple Press), My Father’s Kites (Steel Toe Books), Trace Particles (Backbone Press), Little Epiphanies (NightBallet Press), Mercurial (Mayapple Press), Mortal Rewards (White Violet Press), Multitudes (Word Poetry), The Purpose of Hands (Glass Lyre Press), Double Identity (Singing Bone Press), Corporal Muse (Sibling Rivalry Press), and What Once You Loved (Barefoot Muse Press). She has also published fiction and nonfiction, and travels frequently to read from her work at various festivals, conferences, and universities.      Her full-length book of poetry, Confessions of a Barefaced Woman, was published by Red Hen Press in 2018. It was chosen as the Gold/First Place Winner in the poetry category of the 2019 Feathered Quill Book Awards and a 2019 nominee in the poetry category of the NAACP Image Awards. It was also a 2019 finalist for both the Montaigne Medal and the Da Vinci Eye Book Award, sponsored by the Eric Hoffer Book Awards. Keith Hoerner, Managing Editor      An SIU-C PhD student in literature, Keith Hoerner (he/him) is founding editor of The Dribble Drabble Review, a Webby Award recognized e-zine/print anthology series and winner of Best Microfiction for three of its four years in publication. He is the author of two books: The Day the Sky Broke Open – A Memoir (Impact Award Winner) and Balancing on the Sharp Edges of Crescent Moons – A Collection (Adelaide Books, New York/Lisbon). His prose/poetry has been featured in 160+ lit mags and anthologies across five continents (including Cafe Irreal, Danse Macabre, decomP, Fiction Kitchen Berlin, and Litro – to name just a few). Sarah Nivala, Fiction Editor      Sarah Nivala is a non-binary writer and editor from Pennsylvania currently pursuing their MFA in Fiction at SIUC.  After Sarah received their BA from Sarah Lawrence College, they spent several years hosting poetry readings, selling books, and editing manuscripts in Los Angeles. Prior to that, they worked as a janitor, a dog walker, and a cheesemonger. ​ Claire Hutchinson, Poetry Editor      Claire is a third-year candidate of the MFA Poetry program from Kansas City, where she grew up participating in competitive slam poetry competitions. She received her bachelors’ in both creative writing and classical studies from the University of Arkansas. Her work frequently addresses themes of longing, the unknown, and mythologies, and her favorite medium for creating poetry is through zine-making. Some day she wants to disappear into the desert and communicate exclusively through snail mail. Lyra Thomas, Associate Poetry Editor      Lyra Thomas is a recent graduate of the SIU-C MFA in Poetry program.

Paper

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SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED for Our Spring ’25 Issue in these categories:

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Poetry, particularly formal poetry under 40 lines. Free verse is also welcomed, as is prose poetry.

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Fiction, particularly shorter forms: micro fiction, flash fiction, and brief novel excerpts. We will read fiction of any length, but are more interested in shorter pieces, rather than longer ones.

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Nonfiction: interested in brief personal essays, flash creative nonfiction, braided and hybrid essay forms.

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Book Reviews and Author Interviews: interested in author interviews of and book reviews about small and independent-press authors. Please query before sending interviews or book reviews.

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Guidelines

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Submit works VIA SUBMITTABLE as a PDF file or a Word document along with contact information and a brief, 3rd-person, author profile not to exceed 75 words.

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For poems: submit 3-5 poems per submission

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For prose: up to 10 pages per submission

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For book reviews/interviews: Please query prior to sending book reviews or interviews.

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We will ask to see the review or interview if we are interested.

Response time: 2 weeks to 2 months

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Upon acceptance, we will request electronic rights. Rights will return to the author after publication. No monetary payment, but your work will be promoted online and via our Crab Orchard Review social media accounts. 

 

Email questions or comments to:

Allison Joseph, Editor (aljoseph@siu.edu)​​

​

See examples of previously published work via our archive prior to submission.

AS LISTED ON DUOTROPE

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