Volume 1, Issue 2

by Suzanna Anderson Creates

Welcome to the second issue of The Magnolia Review!

To download the PDF, click TMR Volume 1 Issue 2 July 2015.

For the ePub version, click here.

Thank you, and enjoy the second issue!

Correction: Sally Deskins’ pieces use text from Laura Madeline Wiseman.

Contributors for Volume 1, Issue 2, July 2015: Michael Albright, Amy Bassin, Danny P. Barbare, Roy Bentley, Mark Blickley, Katarina Boudreaux, Barbara Brooks, Audrey Carroll, Yuan Changming, Dylan Debeli, Christine Degenaars, Sally Deskins, George Drew, James English , Richard Fein, Ruth Foley, Erin Darby Gesell, Mitchell Grabois, William A. Greenfield, Zebulon Huset, James Croal Jackson, Seth Jani, Janne Karlsson, Robert S. King, Monique Kluczykowski, Lavana Kray, Thom Kunz ,Charlene Langfur, Christine M. Lasek, Andrew Lindquist, Taidgh Lynch, Carolyn Martin, Brendan McDonnell, Michael P. McManus, Brian McRoberts, Todd Mercer, Abigail Parlier, Michael Passafiume, Richard King Perkins II, Maria Picone, Frederick Pollack, Sally Reece, Jessica Robinson, Allison Rosh, Mark Antony Rossi, Terry Savoie, Domenic Scopa, Ruth E. Towne, Bill Vernon, Terri Hadley Ward, Bill Wolak

Reviews for Volume 1, Issue 2, July 2015:The Bones of Us by J. Bradley and Adam Scott Mazer, Sylph by Abigail Cloud, I Will Love You For the Rest of My Life by Michael Czyzniejewski, The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories by Marina Keegan, Praying Drunk: Stories, Questions by Kyle Minor, and The Great Glass Sea by Josh Weil.

Interview for Volume 1, Issue 2, July 2015: A Dance with Demons, and Other Melancholies, Interview with Abigail Cloud, author of Sylph, winner of the Lena-Miles Wever Todd Prize.

Issue 2 is almost here!

by Suzanna Anderson Creates

The Magnolia Review Volume 1 Issue 2 will be available next Wednesday, July 15!

Here’s a sneak peek at our cover.

TMR 1.2 cover

For the second issue of The Magnolia Review, 12 artists submitted 47 pieces of art and photography, 20 creative nonfiction writers submitted 25 creative nonfiction pieces, 69 fiction writers submitted 71 stories, and 100 poets submitted 447 poems.

National Poetry Month

by Suzanna Anderson Creates

Thank you for joining us for National Poetry Month!

April 16: An abandoned train yard,, a gray labyrinth of rusting steel lines sprawling across a gravel field. Write a poem to find something happy among the graffiti ruins.

April 17: Have you ever dreamed of falling? Falling falling falling until you hit? You hit and you wake up falling into the bed beneath you, gasping for breath because you just fell–you felt it, the bed sinking beneath you. Write a poem about any aspect of these dreams: falling, crashing, or waking up.

April 18: Tolstoy said: “Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold.”
Meditate on this metaphor of truth. Do you agree? Write a poem exploring this metaphor, if you agree, or your own metaphor of the worth of truth.

April 19: Look around your room or out a window for ten seconds then close your eyes and describe what you see.

April 20: Choose a picture from our first issue and write some ekphrasis poetry.

April 21: Write a conversation about secrets as a poem. Use the words orange, drill, willow, and expire.

April 22: You come across a doll in the attic of a new home. What does it look like, how did it get there, and what impression do you get from it? Is it covered in dust and cobwebs? Does it look like it was recently placed there? Is it porcelain with a shattered skull?

April 23: Imagine a city. What is life like there? What are some of its most intimate nooks and crannies? Are you safe, secure? Is it static? Ever-changing? What is its history? Personify it.

April 24: Write a humor poem. Make an amusing grocery list. Crack a joke or two. Experiment with voice.

April 25: Two characters are in a living room. Describe the scene. Mention the candy bowl. What does the bowl look like? What kind of candy is the bowl? Leftovers from Halloween the year before?

April 26: What’s your favorite color? Write a poem without naming it or any other colors.

April 27: Go to your favorite hang out and write a poem using only your sense of smell, taste, and touch to describe the place.

April 28: Reflect on this Old Irish Blessing.
May those that love us, love us.
And those that don’t love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn’t turn their hearts,
May He turn their ankles
So we will know them by their limping.

Choose a character–the man asking for the blessing, God, or those whose ankles would turn–and write a poem about their experiences surrounding the blessing.

April 29: Doodle for 20 seconds about anything. Use an object nearby as a model. Draw from the imagination. Then write a poem about the experience of doodling or the doodle itself.

April 30: Write an ars poetica. What does poetry mean to you? What is your definition? What do you love the most about it? What is your poetry-writing process?

National Poetry Month

by Suzanna Anderson Creates

We’re posting daily prompts on our Facebook page, but in case you missed them:

April 9: Pick a color. Describe it without using the color’s name, nor the name of any other color. Challenge yourself by inviting other senses beyond sight into the description. What does red taste like? What does blue sound like? Experience the chosen color.

April 10: Play Frankenstein — build a monster. Pull on some of your fears and imagine them as the monster’s features. Once you have its body crafted, animate it. Give it a reason for being. Does it possess emotions? Does it love? Or is its soul like the void, empty, yet all-consuming? Finally, how does your monster meet its end?

April 11: You are the last person on Earth. You have no one to talk to, no one to comfort you, no one to remind you of your sanity. Why are you alone? How do you plan to proceed?

April 12: Call yourself. Keep repeating your name until it no longer sounds like a word, let alone your name. Reflect on the experience in a few short lines.

April 13: Give us your favorite recipe in a poem.

April 14: You have traveled to an unfamiliar city. Describe your experience of trying to read the public transit map, calling a cab, or walking around town.

April 15: You have met your celebrity crush. What do you say? What do you do? Do you embarrass yourself? Describe your experience using a sonnet, villanelle, or sestina.

National Poetry Month

by Suzanna Anderson Creates

We’re posting daily prompts on our Facebook page, but in case you missed them:

April 1: Use the following five words: red, lily, snow, taxi, and blanket in a poem of ten lines.

April 2: Write a sonnet starting with the word cold.

April 3: Write a poem based on your most recent dream. Be creative with your descriptions to really capture the tone.

April 4: Think back to your past and find a memory you really enjoy. Bathe it in gold and immortalize it on paper.

April 5: Take a pair of opposites and write a poem that transforms one side of the pair into the other.

April 6: In honor of April, write a poem about a rainy day. Do not use the words clouds, gray, rain, sunshine, or spring.

April 7: In 15 lines, describe the loneliness of a cactus.

April 8: There is an ordinary door, solid wood, stained with a cherry finish, and a dark gray metal knob. What is behind this door? What is it keeping out? What is it keeping in? Write a poem answering one or all of those questions. Surprise yourself.

Volume 1, Issue 1

by Suzanna Anderson Creates

Welcome to the first issue of The Magnolia Review!

To download the PDF, click The Magnolia Review Volume 1 Issue 1 January 2015.

Thank you, and enjoy the first issue!

Contributors: Gary Beck, Michael K. Brantley, Jeff Burt, Janet Butler, Valentina Cano, Matt Chamberlain, Chloe Cherubin, William Doreski, Carolyn D. Elias, Daniel von der Embse, Jeanpaul Ferro, C.S. Fuqua, Trina Gaynon, Howie Good, Mitchell Grabois, Allison Grayhurst, Julie Graziano, John Grey, Sarah Grodzinski, Sarah Jane Hodge, Henry Hughes, Clinton Van Inman,  Mark Jackley, Caitlin Johnson, Patrick Kelling, Alexandra Kolker, Robert Krantz, Taidgh Lynch, Nathen Martin, Tom Montag, Anne Britting Oleson, Sergio A. Ortiz, Richard King Perkins II, Breanna Ridgeway, J.R. Solonche, Louis Staeble, Charles F. Thielman, Sarah Brown Weitzman, D.S. West, Ernest Williamson III, and Omer Zamir.

Issue 1 is almost here!

by Suzanna Anderson Creates

The Magnolia Review Volume 1 Issue 1 will be available tomorrow!

Here’s a sneak peek at our cover.

TMR Volume 1 Issue 1 CoverFor the first issue of The Magnolia Review, 13 artists submitted 41 pieces of art and photography, 21 creative nonfiction writers submitted 23 creative nonfiction pieces, 60 fiction writers submitted 68 stories, and 125 poets submitted 540 poems.