We’re on our way back to the midwest, to a special place in my heart as a former Milwaukean and Badger alum: The Dairy State! Join us for a fish fry on this Friday in Wisconsin.

You may think of badgers, cheese hats, or the Green Bay Packers when you think of Wisconsin—but you should think of burgeoning college towns and bustling writer communities at work on the page and in the streets. From art and activism to prose and poetry, Wisconsin writers do it all, and they want you to get involved:

Cream City Review

This sleek magazine hails from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is named for—get ready for this history tidbit—the color of bricks made with clay exclusive to the Milwaukee area. One of the most instagrammable lit mags we’ve seen with an equally mouthwatering feed, they publish poetry, prose, and “submissions that span and coordinate both traditional and digital components” (i.e. interactive! programmatic! multimedial!) for their original I/O section. Submissions close April 1 so get on it! If that window falls too soon for you, follow along to stay abreast of their annual Summer Prize in Fiction

Mobius

Mobius is a lit mag with a mission: “We feel strongly that alternatives are needed to an increasingly corporate literary scene.” If you have a bone to pick with the publishing or media industry, Mobius is the place for you. We aren’t exactly sure what the story is with Madison-based Mobius editor Fred Schepartz, but if his eclectic web design and original protest songs are any indication, we’re positive this publication will approach all submitted work with an open, critical, and imaginative mind. Send fiction submissions directly to his email address at any time.

Stoneboat

An independent literary journal founded in 2010, Stoneboat just recently moved to a completely digital platform, with the first online issue dropping any day now this spring. With a sparkling fresh website and a new crop of editorial talent, the sky’s the limit on what they’ll be able to do in 2021—so stay tuned for updates even though their current submission window just closed.

Wisconsin Review

The oldest literary magazine in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Review is published out of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. It’s a quiet and mysterious publication who’s been offline during the COVID pandemic to work on their submission backlog, but they promise to open submissions again in early 2021—so the clock is ticking! Bookmark and check back soon.

The Madison Review

A student-run journal based out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, this lit mag boasts a talented list of editors and contributors, an active online literary resource hub, and an awesome blog (we especially love their “Extended Cut” series, which features work that didn’t quite fit into each issue). Submissions remain open until May 1, so take your time—but not too much. If you get nothing else from reading this blog post please get that The Madison Review does an incredible job seeking, finding, and sharing new, upcoming, small, obscure, online, random, esoteric, and labor-of-love lit mags all over the internet on their Twitter feed. Submit to all these and TMR.

by Melissa Hinshaw