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

Submissions Open January 15th for our fifth annual fiction contest. Entries should be no more than 5,000 words. Contest is open to emerging writers only.

See submission guidelines here.

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

West Trade Review Prize for Poetry

Submissions Open January 15th

Are you ready? The fifth annual West Trade Review Prize for Poetry opens January 15th. This year’s judge is Jason Schneiderman.

The contest is open to emerging writers only.

Writers may submit up to three previously unpublished poems per entry.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

December's theme: letting go; January's theme: sound

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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Join Our Team

Iron Oak Editions AWP 26 Off-Site Reading & Book Launch: March 5, 2026, 7-9pm

30 W North Ave

Baltimore, MD 21201

Join us for the Iron Oak Editions off-site reading and book launch for Strap by Dan Kraines and our new CNF anthology, A Brand New Word in the End Drops Out: Personal Stories of Mental Health and Mental Wellness

Featuring readings from Dan Kraines, Elizabeth Gonzalez James, Travis Cohen Acosta, Tori Rego, Alexandra Strott.

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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.

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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.

Visit Us at the AWP Bookfair in Baltimore

Baltimore Convention Center

March 5-7, 2026

We are located at table #843. The bookfair is open each day from 9am-5pm.

Dan Kraines Signs Copies of Strap: March 5th 3-4pm

March 6th, 11am-12pm

March 7th, 11am-12pm