Lit Mags & Small Presses Doing Good Works
As the holiday season approaches, we thought we would celebrate those lit mags and small presses that do good deeds in the world. Below you will find a list of literary organizations that lend a hand in fighting various societal problems.
Information is taken from these organizations' websites. If you know of some other literary groups we did not mention, please add them to the list.
Anassa Publications is dedicated to the new and emerging writer. We are an independent publishing company seeking to reward emerging writers and unique works while contributing to the welfare of others. We are always interested in discovering new charities for upcoming projects. If there is a charity that is dear to your heart, please share it with us. Your suggestion may inspire a theme for an upcoming anthology! Current Topics Of Interest: Children/Teens; Women; Pets; Alternative Lifestyles; Healthcare; Illness. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Unfortunately, Anassa appears to be defunct or on hiatus.]
Birkhamstead Writing Competition is looking for short stories of up to 1,000 words in the adult category, and up to 500 words in the primary and secondary categories. In 2013, more than 275 entries raised over £1,100 for The Hospice of St Francis. Our judges were delighted by the quality and variety of the entries. This coming year, we're looking forward to even more stories -- and even more fundraising to support the Hospice! [EDITOR’S NOTE: This writing competition appears to have gone defunct.]
Blue Lyra Review aims to unite writers and artists from a diverse array of backgrounds, paying special homage to Jewish voices and those from other underrepresented communities. Charities we "love and support": Eco-Libris, "a green company working to green up the book industry;" The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, "a nonprofit charity dedicated to planting edible, fruitful trees and plants;" and the Jewish National Fund, which plants trees in Israel and has "planted over 250 million trees." [EDITOR’S NOTE: Blue Lyra Review ceased publication with its summer 2017 issue.]
Glass: A Journal of Poetry wants to see poetry that enacts the artistic and creative purity of glass. We seek to promote new and established poets by publishing their work. We are not bound by any specific aesthetic; our only mission is to present high quality writing. The journal's sixth volume, issue one, was dedicated to the poetry of Aurora House. Aurora House, located in a renovated mansion in Toledo, Ohio, is a structured transitional home that provides a safe haven for women and their children as they work to overcome many challenges, including substance abuse problems, homelessness, and domestic violence. The house employs a number of staff whose goals are to assist women and their children as they take their first steps into their new lives.
H.O.W Journal is an art & literary journal that publishes an eclectic mix of today's prominent writers and artists alongside upcoming talents with an effort to raise money and awareness for the approximately 163 million children throughout the world that have been orphaned. The publication features works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry as well as visual arts.The subject matter of the work published in H.O.W. Journal is vast and varied: the only common element its quality. For each submission you send us we request that you include a donation of five dollars. The entire sume will be donated to the organization we are working with at the time. Currently we are working with Safe Space located in New York. Past organizations / orphanages we have worked with include Atetegeb Worku Memorial Orphanage, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and S.O.S. Children's Village, Zanzibar Tanzania.
Sundog Lit publishes writing that scorches the earth. Sundog Lit is all about what emerges from the ruins, not what idles in the calm before the storm. Sundog Lit is blood, rusty gears, the sweat of toil, working-class, revolutionary, everyday. Sundog Lit is literature that rages. All proceeds from October 2013 went to breast cancer research. With your October contributions, we sent nearly $200 in support of breast cancer research!
Straightforward: a Poetry Journal. straight |strāt|/ adjective/ not evasive; honest : a straight answer | thank you for being straight with me./ simple; straightforward : a straight choice between nuclear power and penury./ (of a look) bold and steady : he gave her a straight, no-nonsense look./ (of thinking) clear, logical, and unemotional.//forward |ˈfôrwərd|/ adverb (also forwards)/ onward so as to make progress; toward a successful conclusion : there’s no way forward for the relationship./ into a position of prominence or notice : he is pushing forward a political ally. In 2012, the journal participated in the ASPCA's Read Books, Buy Indie, Help Animals campaign.
Wordsoup. We are a big haired poet who is haunted by the food instability crisis in the world and a dedicated band of kindred souls just trying to make the world a more interesting and less hungry place through poetry. Issue One raised $161 to feed needy adults and children.
Becky Tuch is the founding editor of The Review Review.