Young Ravens Literary Review

05/02/2024

Call for Submissions!

In Issue 20, we are exploring the themes of sound and melody. We are inspired by Robert Frost:

“He would declare and could himself believe
That the birds there in all the garden round
From having heard the daylong voice of Eve
Had added to their own an oversound,
Her tone of meaning but without the words.”

—From “Never Again Would Birds’ Song Be the Same”

Ideas we would love to see explored include:

What is the most frightening sound you've ever heard?
What is the most glorious sound you've ever heard?
How is nature the ultimate musician?
Do you remember the first song that ever struck a chord in your soul?
What do you suppose the last word to ever be spoken by a human will be?
Can a body in motion be a melody, too?
How can silence sometimes be the loudest sound of all?
What sounds soothe your soul? From small arias like the clink of a spoon while stirring coffee, or the roll of a marble over the ground, to grand hymns, like thunder?
Where do you go, or what do you do, to escape the noise of your own consciousness?
How do you find harmony in the chaotic clamor of humanity?

We accept fiction, nonfiction, visual art, and poetry of all flavors, from free verse to found. We are also interested in submissions that include raven artwork.

Submissions will be accepted until June 15th, 2024. No fee or payment. To see our submission guidelines, please visit us at: http://www.youngravensliteraryreview.org/

01/01/2024

We are pleased to announce the release of Issue 19 of Young Ravens Literary Review. Come explore the theme of gravity with us!

Splendiferous thanks to our stelliferous contributors:

Alan Altany, Lisa Ashley, Thomas R. Bacon, Carol Barrett, Darsie Bowden, William Cass, Kersten Christianson, Terry Cox-Joseph, John Davis, John Delaney, Sean Eaton, Bart Edelman, Joseph A Farina, Vern Fein, George Freek, Sarah Das Gupta, Kelly DuMar, Meg Freer, Philip Jason, Michael Keshigian, Casey Killingsworth, Craig Kirchner, DS Maolailai, Stephen Mead, David Milley, Michael Moreth, Morgan Neering, Vanessa Niu, Helen Patrice, Holly Payne-Strange, Jonathan Ponder, Matthew Praxmarer, Diana Raab, Mandy Ramsey, Isaac James Richards, Mykyta Ryzhykh, Gerard Sarnat, David M. Schulz, Jacquelyn Shah, Roger Singer, William Slattery, Michael Sofranko, David Summerfield, Terry Trowbridge, Agnes Vojta, and Anne Whitehouse.

Issue 19, Winter 2023

28/12/2023

"I watch the tree limb bend toward me
like a miracle is happening
even though my hand is on the branch."

Enjoy an interview with Philip Jason and a preview of his poem, "As I pick the paw paw from the tree, the slow ripples in the bark remind me of certain religiosities."

24/12/2023

Enjoy the flash fiction piece, "Frames," and interview with author William Cass. Explore how the gravity of emotion and memory connects us with our loved ones.

YRLR Issue 19 Call for Submissions: Gravity

21/12/2023

Issue 19 will be coming out at the end of December. Until then, we will be sharing previews of poetry, fiction, and art, and interviews with author and artist. Today, enjoy an art preview and interview with Kelly DuMar!

YRLR Issue 19 Call for Submissions: Gravity

07/12/2023

Call for Submissions! *(Especially more art!)

In Issue 19 of Young Ravens Literary Review, we are exploring the theme of gravity. We are inspired by poet Marianne Moore: “I am governed by the pull of the sentence as the pull of fabric is governed by gravity.”

Ideas we would love to see explored include:
Share the gravity of a moment, however brief, but heavy with meaning and shape in your life.
Have you ever dreamed of flying? Where would you fly if you woke up weightless one day?
Is it impossible/possible for us to escape the gravity of our species? Our profound effects on each other, and the planet?
How do words hold gravity over you? Which words or phrases hold, or have held, the most power over you?
How do you escape the gravity of loss in your own life? What frees you, if only for awhile?
How can we transcend the gravity of emotion binding heart, mind, and body?
We accept fiction, nonfiction, visual art, and poetry of all flavors, from free verse to found. We are also interested in submissions that include raven artwork.
Submissions will be accepted until December 15th, 2023. To see our submission guidelines, please visit us at:

YRLR Issue 19 Call for Submissions: Gravity

31/08/2023

Call for Submissions!

In Issue 19 of Young Ravens Literary Review, we are exploring the theme of gravity. We are inspired by poet Marianne Moore: “I am governed by the pull of the sentence as the pull of fabric is governed by gravity.”

Ideas we would love to see explored include:

Share the gravity of a moment, however brief, but heavy with meaning and shape in your life.

Have you ever dreamed of flying? Where would you fly if you woke up weightless one day?

Is it impossible/possible for us to escape the gravity of our species? Our profound effects on each other, and the planet?

How do words hold gravity over you? Which words or phrases hold, or have held, the most power over you?

How do you escape the gravity of loss in your own life? What frees you, if only for awhile?

How can we transcend the gravity of emotion binding heart, mind, and body?

We accept fiction, nonfiction, visual art, and poetry of all flavors, from free verse to found. We are also interested in submissions that include raven artwork.

Submissions will be accepted until December 15th, 2023. To see our submission guidelines, please visit us at:

YRLR Issue 19 Call for Submissions: Gravity

30/06/2023

Celebrate the release of Issue 18 by exploring the theme of minutiae with us!

Stelliferous thanks to our contributors:

Marie-Andrée Auclair, John Janelle Backman, John Brantingham, Sarah Bricault, Hugh Carroll, Holly Day, Ben D’Alessio, John Delaney, Louis Efron, Krystle Eilen, Joseph Farley, Patricia Feeney, Meg Freer, Carlene M. Gadapee, Jason C. Gadsky, Cynthia Gallaher, Sariah Gibby, Terri Glass, Neile Graham, KJ Hannah Greenberg, Maura H. Harrison, David Henson, Jane Hertenstein, Janis Butler Holm, Paul Hostovsky, Emma Huang, Julie Allyn Johnson, Pecho Kanev, John Kaprelian, Shelby Lynn Lanaro, Gary Lark, Lori Levy, Yariel Luna, Wendy K. Mages, Andrew Mauzey, Elizabeth McCarthy, Paula Reed Nancarrow, Heidi Naylor, Julie Pinborough, David M. Richardson, Rick Rohdenburg, Michael Salcman, CLS Sandoval, John Savoie, Adrienne Stevenson, Jeff Stillion, Angela Townsend, Diane Webster, Anne Whitehouse, Kendra Whitfield, and Michael T. Young.

https://www.youngravensliteraryreview.org/

28/06/2023

Enjoy flower whorls in an art preview and interview with Shelby Lynn Lanaro!

Issue Call for Submissions Issue 18: Minutiae

26/06/2023

Enjoy a poetry preview of "Hospital Gift Shop" and interview with Paul Hostovsky!

"I come here looking for something for you
among the colorful, breakable things (. . .) "

Issue Call for Submissions Issue 18: Minutiae

21/06/2023

Issue 18 will be coming out at the end of June. Until then, we will be sharing previews of poetry, nonfiction, and art, and interviews with author and artist.

Today, enjoy a nonfiction preview of "The Goofus Saves the World" and interview with author Angela Townsend!

"We admire the photographic memory and the polyglot, but we forget that the species survives on the strength of the stunned."
-Angela Townsend

Issue Call for Submissions Issue 18: Minutiae

15/06/2023

We have extended the submissions deadline for Issue 18 of Young Ravens Literary Review until June 20th, 2023. We would particularly love to see more art and photographic submissions relating to the theme of minutiae!

Issue Call for Submissions Issue 18: Minutiae

22/04/2023

We would love to see more art and photography submissions to our Minutiae Issue! We also welcome poetry, fiction, and nonfiction submissions.

In Issue 18, we are exploring the treasure heap of minutiae that enrich our lives. Minutiae may only be small, precise details, but far from mere trifles in their impact on who we are and what we truly value as humans.

Deadline June 15th, 2023.

https://www.youngravensliteraryreview.org/

02/02/2023

Call for Submissions! In Issue 18, we are exploring the treasure heap of minutiae that enrich our lives. Minutiae may only be small, precise details, but far from mere trifles in their impact on who we are and what we truly value as humans.

Ideas we would love to see explored include:

Where do you find minutiae in the natural world that dazzle and inspire your imagination? Crackling leaves, the loamy smell of Earth after rain, frost stars on glass?

What simple little act, thing, or moment brings you gladness every day despite all the mundanities and absurdities of life? A familiar routine like a warm drink to greet the morning, donning your favorite cozy, threadbare sweater, or a day with a precious loved one now tucked and folded away in the past?

Who are the people, and chance meetings, that have changed your life?

How do minutiae reflect and embody the measure of our own existence?

If you could keep only a sixty second slice or memory of your existence, what would it be, and why?

We accept fiction, nonfiction, visual art, and poetry of all flavors, from free verse to found. We are also interested in submissions that include raven artwork.

Submissions will be accepted until June 15th, 2023. To see our submission guidelines, please visit us at:

Issue Call for Submissions Issue 18: Minutiae

31/12/2022

We are pleased to announce the release of our seventeenth issue! Join us in an exploration and celebration of womanhood in all its amazing complexities.

Special thanks to all our splendiferous contributors:

V. Bray, Alixa Brobbey, Liz Busby, Kersten Christianson, Lauren Cox, Holly Day, Christa Fairbrother, Elizabeth Cranford Garcia, Richard Hanus, Shirley Harshenin, Dorthy Johnson-Laird, Sigrun Susan Lane, Ann M Lawrence, Elizabeth McCarthy, Karla Linn Merrifield, Sharon Lopez Mooney, Sandra Salinas Newton, Diana Raab, Chloë Rain, Nancy Machlis Rechtman, Merryn Rutledge, Wendy Lou Schmidt, Adrienne Stevenson, Colette Tennant, Matina Vossou, Anne Whitehouse, Ariel Mitchell Williams, Mary Alice Williams, Robin Wright, and Darlene Young.

Issue 17, Winter 2022 Contributors: V. Bray, Alixa Brobbey, Liz Busby, Kersten Christianson, Lauren Cox, Holly Day, Christa Fairbrother, Elizabeth Cranford Garcia, Richard Hanus, Shirley Harshenin,...

29/12/2022

Enjoy a preview of Her Reflection, and interview with Ariel Mitchell Williams.

"She sees the similarities in the slope of the nose, the length of the hair, but mostly she sees the commenter's desire for her to be the woman who isn't. The woman they no longer can see because she's passed on. Who they need her to be. How can she be? She is herself."

Issue 17 Previews

24/12/2022

Enjoy a poetry preview of "Umma's Brown Bread," and interview with Sigrun Susan Lane.

"This aching hunger. You will be lonely,
This is the hardest bread,
but it will keep you alive."

Issue 17 Previews

22/12/2022

We hope you enjoy a preview of the cover art for Issue 17, and interview with artist Matina Vossou!

Issue 17 Previews

15/12/2022

Congratulations to past YRLR contributor, Cat Dixon, on her stunning new book of poems, WHAT HAPPENS IN NEBRASKA. Longing and alienation stitch the wish for connection together on each page:

"Like a tree clasping a lost kite,
Like a doorbell with a silent ding,
Like the aviary filled with feathers,
I simulate the better way."

-Cat Dixon, "When I find the Miracle"

14/12/2022

Just seven days left to submit to Issue 17 of Young Ravens Literary Review! We are especially interested in receiving more art and photography submissions related to the theme of exploring and celebrating womanhood. Extended deadline December 20th, 2022. Discover more at:

Issue 17 Call for Submissions! Exploring & Celebrating Womanhood

07/11/2022

We are excited about all the amazing submissions we are receiving for our issue on exploring and celebrating womanhood in all its forms! We would love to see more photograph and visual submissions. Poetry, nonfiction and fiction also welcome.

Submissions will be accepted until December 13th, 2022. To see our submission guidelines, please visit us at:

Issue 17 Call for Submissions! Exploring & Celebrating Womanhood

17/08/2022

Call for Submissions! In Issue 17 of Young Ravens Literary Review, we are exploring and celebrating womanhood in all forms as woven into our lives, histories, fairy tales, and myths. We are looking to explore the full range of women’s experiences, as creators, historical figures, the Divine Feminine, and beyond.

We are inspired by a statue of the Egyptian priestess Tagerem, who was seen as the wife of the god Re. In a version of Tagerem that exists at the Met, she is bisected at her center. She was thought to display the ideal female form, but we do not see her face; we only know half of her story. What are the stories of women that are missing? Whose voices and perspectives need to be expressed today, carved on monuments and chalked across busy streets?

Ideas we would love to see you explore include:

—Woman as a free and variable being: human.
—Woman as seared into ink and tale, from Eve to Cinderella. Can you trace their faces in your own, or the other women in your lives?
—Do you remember the day when you realized that your mother had another name before “mom,” and wondered at the mystery of her?
—Woman as God. What is the feminine divine, and how can it be recovered or honored?
—Woman as World. How does the natural world reflect the many facets of femininity?
—Woman within. Share those moments that have broken and remade you again and again.
—Women among us. Their stories shine and fall into shadow alongside your own—who are they?

We accept fiction, nonfiction, visual art, and poetry of all flavors, from free verse to found. We are also interested in submissions that include raven artwork. We welcome voices across the gender spectrum, including LGBTQIA+ creators.

Submissions will be accepted until December 13th, 2022. To see our submission guidelines, please visit us at:
http://www.youngravensliteraryreview.org/

21/07/2022

"Fairy tales teach us how to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks." -Daniel Rabuzzi

Enjoy a fascinating essay by a past contributor to Young Ravens Literary Review on poetry in fairy tales!

https://criticalflame.org/on-the-fairy-tales-school-of-english-language-poetry/

“I’m seeking someone who remembers itleaf by leaf, thread by thread.I lend her my breath, I give her my legs,so that hearing it may waken it for me.”

30/06/2022

Enjoy the release of Issue 16 of Young Ravens Literary Review! Exploring the theme of magic, lost and found . . .

Splendiferous thanks to our contributors:

Allen Ashley, Marie-Andree Auclair, Hamad Al-Rayes, Ethan Blakley, Kersten Christianson, Kate Falvey, Meg Freer, GTimothy Gordon, Johanna Haas, Richard Hanus, Damon Hubbs, Peycho Kanev, Michael Keshigian, Wendy K. Mages, Marie-Elizabeth Mali, Sharon Wright Mitchell, Cameron Morse, Ursula O’Reilly, Jared Rich, Meekha Roper, Shari Lawrence Pfleeger, Fabrice Poussin, Daniel A. Rabuzzi, Carl Scharwath, Kyle Singh, Adrienne Stevenson, Mitchell Untch, Tricia Lloyd Waller, Lynn White, Anne Whitehouse, and Cynthia Yatchman
http://www.youngravensliteraryreview.org/