
Submerge Yourself in New & Established Literary Voices:
Poetry, Prose, Interviews & Book Reviews
COR's Spring '25 Issue Launch has Arrived, Featuring:
Jasmine An, Sara Baker, Anemone Beaulier, Rachel Becker, Veronica Bettencourt, Michelle R. Brady, Liona T. Burnham, Sarah Crowley Chestnut, Ryan Collins, Maryann Corbett, Barbara Duffey, Kevin Durkin, Kaitlin Dyer, Stevie Edwards, Kerry James Evans, Jordan E. Franklin, Joanna Godley, Anne Graue, Audrey Hall, Briggs Helton, Melissa Joplin Higley, Mai-Linh K. Hong, Whittney Jones, Alice Kim, Jean L. Kreiling, Susanna Lang, Amy Lemmon, Xiaoly Li, Nathan Alling Long, Angie Macri, Calista Malone, Robert McDowell, Joshua McKinney, Susie Meserve, Sarah Fawn Montgomery, Sam New, Christian Paulisich, Ann Marie Potter, Erica Reid, Anthony Robinson, Nicholas Samaras, Carrie Shipers, Sandra Simonds, Linda Stern, Alison Swan, Donna Vorreyer, Will Wells, Mat Wenzel, Amie Whittemore, and Amy Wright

Fall '24 Issue Featuring: 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. McLatchey, 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
Celebrating 30 Years!


Celebrate Our 30th Anniversary With Works by 50 Esteemed Authors

SIU-C: Celebrating 156 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.
A p p l a u s e
NEXT EVENT

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    A 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/Best Small Fictions for four of its five years in publication. He is the author of two books: The Day the Sky Broke Open – A Memoir (MFA Thesis/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 170+ lit mags and anthologies across five continents, including decomP, Litro, and Stand (the UK's oldest literary magazine). 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 ​Hutchinson is an MFA candidate at SIU who has called many places across the Midwest home. She received her bachelors in both creative writing and classical studies from the University of Arkansas. Her poetry explores what makes us human, grief, and the body. She spends as much time on I-70 as anywhere else and collects various animal bones for fun in her free time.


submit
SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN for Our Fall ’25 Issue August 20 through October 20, 2025.
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For consideration, COR features work in the following 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)​​
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See examples of previously published work via our archive prior to submission.

