February 1, 2026
Baltimore Review News: We sent the quarterly email to our mailing list. Announcements included the new issue, of course, and a free Valentine’s Day (not-cheesy) generative writing session on Zoom. Six Baltimore Review editors will share examples of love-related creative work, discuss what’s fresh about it and writing techniques used, and provide timed writing prompts. I always find generative writing workshops super helpful myself. Here’s hoping lots of writers will join us on Valentine’s Day—noon, so hopefully not interfering with evening plans.
We opened our Submittable doors for poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction today. Submissions are already flowing in. Fingers crossed that writers read our submission guidelines and some work from our current and past issues, take some time to make sure we’re a good fit, and carefully proofread their work before hitting the Submit button.
We don’t charge submission fees for non-contest submissions, but a number of the writers are donating $5 when they submit; we send them our big list of writing prompts and tips when they donate. I hope that doc is helpful to them. We put a lot of effort into it!
AWP plans continue to come together. We have readers lined up for our events, and a couple of writers scheduled to sign copies of their books at the BR table. So glad that AWP will be in Baltimore this year, especially since the BR is entering its 30th year!
On a personal note: I’m still high on having my chapbook win a contest and super excited about the process of having a real book of my poems in my hands. I signed an agreement, and the editor and I agreed on an image for the front cover. We have similar tastes, which is wonderful. Onward.
I have one short story collection I’ve submitted here and there, but I may work on that more—and hopefully add more stories to it this year.
Ghost Parachute notified me that they’ll be including me in their upcoming anthology, and I know that my story will be included with work from some excellent writers. Something else to look forward to.
Still participating in generative workshops whenever I can, and I’m thinking of ways to revisit that raw material and transform it into a poem or story—which I can then share in my critique workshops and get feedback before sending out to journals.
Being snowed in for about a week has actually been kind of a good thing.