West Trade Review

"Somewhere Between Gravity and Dust" by Zizipho Godana

"Ice Cubes that Remember Champagne" by Janine A. Willis

"The Thread You Follow" by R.C. Blenis

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Nonfiction

Fiction

Home About Subscribe Guidelines Submit Exclusives West End Roots & Words

Volume 16 Winter 2025 Collection of Online Exclusives

We’re excited to present the Winter 2025 edition. It features poetry by Nathan Erwin, Rita Mookerjee, Ewen Glass, T. De Los Reyes, and Anya Kirshbaum among others; fiction by Janine A.Willis; cnf by R.C. Blenis

Cover art by David Deweerdt (IG: @davidpeintladifference)

Read it now.

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Poetry

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Phyllis Grant Zellmer Prize for Fiction

Our fifth annual fiction contest is open for submissions. Entries should be no more than 5,000 words.

Submission deadline extended to March 29th.

See submission guidelines here.

Stay Connected to Our Literary Community. Subscribe to Our Substack Roots & Words

West Trade Review Prize for Poetry

Submissions Deadline Extended to March 29th

Our 5th annual poetry contest is open for submissions. This year’s judge is Jason Schneiderman.

Writers may submit up to three previously unpublished poems per entry.

Details here.

Trill: Poems That Resonate

A New Poem Each Week

We are looking for poems that perform Olympic feats with language that leave a reader in wonder while still referring back to the basic things that make us human. We want powerful imagery and enjoy the juxtaposition of images in interesting and unexpected ways Look for a new theme each month and a new poem published on our website each week.

Click here for details and the list of upcoming themes.

February's theme: obsession; March's theme: movement

Roots and Words: Essays on the Creative Life

We are looking for nonfiction essays that explore creative life expansively conceived (broader than only literary).

We are seeking personal essays exploring creative practice, reading practice, engagement with literature, support for the literary or creative life, hopes/desires/goals for the arts and creative life, experiences with authors or creative figures, arts community involvement, etc.

Submission Open Year-Round.

Details here.

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Home About Subscribe Guidelines Submit Exclusives West End

Join Our Team

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR SUBSTACK

We're happy to announce Roots & Words, the new Substack from Iron Oak Editions and West Trade Review. We’re so excited about this new platform and all the new developments for the journal and the press that are on the horizon.

Get access to our free monthly newsletter as well as the exclusive content for monthly and annual subscribers like new weekly poems, new essays that explore creativity and the creative life, weekly generative creative writing prompts, and live conversations (craft talks, book club discussions, etc.).

Details here.

Need honest, constructive criticism to maximize your manuscript’s potential? Consider working with one of our professional editors who can offer detailed developmental feedback. The Iron Oak Editions editorial critique team is here to help you refine your work, a short individual piece, or a full book manuscript.

Meet our Editorial Critique Team and request feedback.

Book Review: "Skimming The Water's Surface: Interdependence and Memory in Chi Zijian's The Last Quarter of the Moon" by Tara Friedman

“Zijian’s novel asks us to reflect on what it means to live well by honoring and preserving our communities, the natural world, and the art of storytelling.”

Excerpt from review of Chi Zijian’s Last Quarter of the Moon, new from Milkweed Editions.

Full review here.

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Substack Highlight: "Dancing with Louise Glück"

by John Jacobson

"Loss knocks you off your bearings. It divides your life into before and after. It makes you rage, despair and go numb over and over again. What was important no longer is. What wasn’t important becomes so."

Read the full essay here.