Baltimore Review Updates
by Barbara Westwood Diehl
Greetings from The Baltimore Review!
Our latest submission period for contest and non-contest submissions just ended (May 31 at midnight). We had a record-breaking number of submissions for the February 1-May 31, 2019 period: 4,406 submissions, 238 of them received yesterday. Wow.
Reviewing all these submissions will be a Herculean task—but rest assured that we will be working through them in the weeks ahead. First, we'll narrow the contest entries down to a group of finalists to send on to our final judge. The winners will be included in our summer issue. Everyone who entered the contest will be notified. Then we'll finish selecting work from all categories for our summer issue.
In the meantime:
Our spring issue launched May 15. I hope that you'll take some time to read the issue—and catch up with past issues—before sending us new work when we open again for submissions on August 1. Get to know us.
But wait! About that August 1 date:
That's for our usual contest and non-contest submissions. We'll be squeezing in a submission period before then for a special issue—Maryland writers only! So if you're a local, be on the lookout for an announcement about that special issue.
A few words about reading all those submissions and being a part of your local literary community:
The Baltimore Review is often in need of readers in all genres. Readers get experience on the editor side of Submittable (always an eye-opening experience), and I recommend this activity to all writers who want to participate in their writing community. The experience may prompt you to take a hard look at your own writing, too. With over 6,000 submissions/year, we definitely need a village of readers to vote/comment on submissions, so that we can respond to writers in a timely way.
If you live in the Baltimore area (yes, we work virtually, but it's great when people can come to an occasional meeting and help with events), would like to volunteer some time with your homegrown literary journal, and are not currently affiliated with a literary journal, please send a statement of interest and your writing bio/credentials to editor@baltimorereview.org. Feel free to share. Note, too, that we want to have a diverse group reading for us. BR staff members don’t fit any cookie-cutter mold. Makes life a lot more interesting. Thanks!
Wherever you live, consider being a part of your writing community. Our virtual communities can be amazing. There's a lot to be said for face-to-face time, too.
Cheers!
Barbara