Dear Potential Contributors,

I am editing a book anthology titled Best of the Midwest: Fresh Writing from Twelve States that will showcase the best previously unpublished prose and poetry from writers with strong connections to the Midwest. If you would like to submit work to this anthology, please see the attached (and pasted below) call for submissions.

Contributors already include Dave Eggers, Stuart Dybek, Thomas Fox Averill, Bich Minh Nguyen, Lee Martin, Bob Hicok, Jesse Lee Kercheval, Scott Russell Sanders, Patricia Foster, Donald Platt, Kevin Stein, Jacinda Townsend, Ray Gonzalez, Amy Knox Brown, Robert Wrigley, John McNally, Amy Fleury, Philip F. Deaver, Michael Madonick, and more.

I want to champion the Midwest and the writers who grew up there or now live there, and I intend for this anthology to prove that Midwest writing does rival all other regions when given the opportunity. The responses I have gotten back so far have been great! Stuart Dybek wrote, “There’s such a mix of writers and sensibilities that inhabit the literary Midwest as to make the term unpredictable.” I want this anthology to represent that same sentiment.

Feel free to send this call for submission to anyone interested: students, colleagues, friends, group-list servers, English and Creative Writing Departments, etc.

Sincerely,
Jason Lee Brown

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Best of the Midwest: Fresh Writing From Twelve States, an anthology featuring the best previously unpublished prose and poetry from Midwestern writers, is accepting submissions until August 4 (postmarked).

General Guidelines

We are open to work from new as well as established writers who live or have lived in the Midwestern United States, specifically Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Contributors already include Dave Eggers, Stuart Dybek, Bich Minh Nguyen, Lee Martin, Bob Hicok, Jesse Lee Kercheval, Scott Russell Sanders, Patricia Foster, Donald Platt, Kevin Stein, Jacinda Townsend, Ray Gonzalez, Amy Knox Brown, Robert Wrigley, John McNally, Amy Fleury, Philip F. Deaver, Michael Madonick, and more.

Please include your name, email, address, phone number, titles of work, and bio stating connection to the Midwest on a typewritten cover letter. Manuscripts will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) with proper postage. Simultaneous submissions are considered, as long as we are notified immediately if the work is accepted elsewhere. Please indicate genre on outside of envelope; please do not mix genres in the same envelope.

Poetry

Submit no more than four unpublished poems. We are open to traditional and experimental work and have no length limit. Poetry must be typewritten. Author’s name, address, and phone number should appear on the first page of each poem.

Fiction

Please send only one unpublished story (or up to three shorts). We have no set maximum for length, but stories with less than 8,000 words have the best chance of publication. Novel excerpts must stand alone as self-contained stories. All fiction must be typewritten, double spaced, and paginated. Author’s name, address, and phone number should appear on the first page.

Creative Nonfiction

We welcome submissions in personal essay, memoir, literary journalism, and experimental nonfiction. Submit one unpublished manuscript of less than 6,000 words. Nonfiction must be typewritten, double spaced, and paginated. The author’s name, address, and phone number should appear on the first page.

Submissions and queries should be addressed to:
Jason Lee Brown, Editor
Midwest Anthology
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Dept. of English
1000 Faner Drive
Faner Hall Room 2380
Mail code 4503
Carbondale, IL 62901