SweetLit

Category: CNF

Sweet Connections: Joey Franklin

May 20, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Each week we will be connecting with our contributors showing where they have been, where they are now, and what’s up for the future.

Name: Joey Franklin
Title of Pieces Published in Sweet: “Cool Enough, For the Moment“
Issues: 7.3

head shot of Joey Franklin

Find Him:
Facebook
Twitter

You can find Joey, associate professor of English, at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT, where he runs the MFA program, and I co-edits Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction with Pat Madden.

You can find out more about him on his website.

What are some major accomplishments you have had since your Sweet publication?

In November of 2020, University of Nebraska Press published by my second book–Delusions of Grandeur: American essays. It’s a collection of 10 essays that examine our American obsessions with race, class, faith, and family. Essays cover everything from toy guns and bad grammar to plasma donation and apocalyptic thinking. Also: playground brawls, white privilege, JV football, sex and death, Trayvon Martin, The Tohoku Tsunami, Early English grammars, shame, fatherhood, and a tent city in Lubbock, Texas.

Purchase Here

Can you tell us about a current/ongoing project that you’re excited about?

I’m writing a book on creative writing professionalization for Bloomsbury. It covers all the stuff writers need to worry about when they’re not actually sitting at the keyboard. How to make the most of a writing group, what to do at a conference, how to finish big projects, how to submit work, prepare for graduate school, find a mentor, etc.

Who is your favorite author?

Impossible to narrow it down to just one–so how about a few: Brian Doyle, Eula Biss, E. B. White, James Baldwin, Virginia Woolf, Lia Purpura. I’m a big fan of big ideas and beautiful prose.

What is your favorite poem/essay/book?

Two essays I always come back to: “Meteorites” by Brian Doyle. A tutorial in capturing teenage summer magic. And Eula Biss’s “Time and Distance Overcome,” the most poignant lyric essay out there.

What inspires you to write?

Margaret Atwood said it best: “Everyone thinks writers must know more about the inside of the human head, but that’s wrong. They know less, that’s why they write. Trying to find out what everyone else takes for granted.”

What are you reading right now?

Southbound, by Anjali Enjeti. And Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, by Samin Nostrat

UGA Press
Salt Fat Acid Heat

What is your favorite sweet? We would love for you to share a recipe or link to place that serves it. Pictures are great, too!

Lately, it’s been Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies from Sally’s Baking Addiction. Got to add cranberries too!

White plate of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
@ Sally Baking Addiction

We just made these last week and they are super yummy!

Thank you, Joey, for taking the time to reconnect with us. We look forward to seeing more of your work in the future!

Are you a contributor who wants to be a part of Sweet Connections?  Come fill out our form!

Flash Contest Results 2020

February 25, 2021 / / 2 Comments

We’re thrilled to announce “The Suicide Hotline Voice Says My Feelings are Normal” by Lisa K. Buchanan is the winner of our Flash Essay Contest judged by Brenda Miller. Thank you to all of the wonderful writers who entered our contest!

On “The Suicide Hotline Voice Says My Feelings are Normal,” Brenda Miller said:

“‘The Suicide Hotline Voice Says My Feelings are Normal’ is a remarkable essay. Shocking, is the word I might use: shocking in the incident it describes, shocking in its vivid imagery, shocking in the way we travel through time in this compressed space. We inhabit this essay with the author, floating with her as we try to fully comprehend what we’ve seen, and wonder how we’ll keep living now.”

RUNNERS UP:
Anneli Matheson, “A Wander Down Dried Seafood Street”
Brent House, “In View”

FINALISTS:
Laurie Uttich, “It’s Friday Afternoon in a Florida Penitentiary”
Jane Satterfield, “Scirroco”

The winner and runners up will be published in Sweet Volume 13 Issue 3.

Changes are coming

January 26, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Let’s face it, the pandemic has been tough on all of us. We are all just hanging onto whatever shred of hope we can and we know it’s not over yet. But there is something we can do help the staff of our our little magazine. You all have been amazing with giving us many pieces to consider. So many that our staff can hardly keep up! Starting February 1st, we will close submissions for poetry and CNF. But there is a bigger plan!

  • Our Poetry Contest will now move to the month of February each year.
  • Flash CNF Contest will remain in November.
  • Poetry and CNF submissions will now be accepted April, May, June, and July ONLY.
  • Graphic Submissions will continue to be accepted year round.

Reducing the submission period we hope will allow our editors some respite and a faster response to our contributors. A win-win for all of us!

Thank you for your continued support and being a part of the Sweet family. We hope that you will find our changes favorable for everyone. Stay healthy, friends. Keep writing. Keep submitting.

2020 Flash Nonfiction Contest

November 13, 2020 / / 2 Comments
Autumn background with text Enter Now Flash Nonfiction Essay Contest

Sweet is thrilled to announce its fourth annual Flash Essay Contest. Broadly speaking, we appreciate a close attention to language and a quirky sense of humor, and you can always read published essays in previous Sweet issues on our website. We look forward to reading your work!

Submissions Open: November 1st, 2020 – November 30th, 2020

Award: The Flash Essay Contest winner will receive $500 and publication in Sweet. All other entries will be considered for regular publication in Sweet.

Judge: Brenda Miller

Submit: Submittable

Guidelines:

  • Submissions should be between 500 – 1,000 words and double-spaced
  • Please remove all identifying information from your manuscript
  • Submissions must be previously unpublished
  • Simultaneous submissions are welcome; however, please withdraw your entry immediately via Submittable if it is accepted for publication elsewhere
  • The contest entry fee is $10, and all submissions will also be considered for regular publication. 



The CLMP Code of Ethics: CLMP’s community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines — defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.

CNF Submissions

October 1, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Even as I write this from Tampa, it’s difficult to understand that fall has arrived. But it has. Fall is here. And with fall comes our decision to switch up the submissions process here at Sweet. We are once again opening creative nonfiction submissions, but only for the month of October. From October 1st until October 31st at midnight, we will open creative nonfiction submissions. 

We at Sweet do not ask for submissions fees. We believe in emerging and established writers, and we do not wish for you to pay. We believe in work we can chew, taste, and feel long after we swallow. We believe in work that lingers. We want to see everything from experimental to literary journalism—as long as it’s under 1,500 words. Feed us.

-Lauren, CNF editor

Sweet Connections: Alyssa Quinn

August 27, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Each week we will be connecting with our contributors showing where they have been, where they are now, and what’s up for the future.

Name: Alyssa Quinn
Title of Pieces Published in Sweet: “On Murder“
Issues: 8.3

Find Her:
Facebook
Instagram

You can find Alyssa in Salt Lake City, attending the creative writing PhD program at the University of Utah.

You can find out more about her on her website.

What are some major accomplishments you have had since your Sweet publication?

I graduated with my BA, then with my MFA, and am now 2 years into my PhD (all creative writing). I had a chapbook, Dante’s Cartography, published with The Cupboard Pamphlet in October 2019. I’m also currently working as a prose editor for the journal Quarterly West.

Purchase Here

Can you tell us about a current/ongoing project that you’re excited about?

I recently completed my first novel manuscript. I’d describe it as a surrealist museum-scape obsessed with paleoanthropology, ghosts, colonial violence, historical palimpsest, human evolution, the origins of language, and disco music.

Who is your favorite author?

Ugh, rude question. I love Beckett and Calvino. I’m itching to rattle off a couple dozen more, but I’ll refrain.

Ha Ha. We get it. We have lots of favorites, too.

What is your favorite poem/essay/book?

Again: rude. I can’t answer that, but I will say I’ve had “Part of Eve’s Discussion” by Marie Howe in an open tab on my phone for probably six months and can’t bring myself to close it.

What inspires you to write?

The way light falls.

What are you reading right now?

Just finished the exceptional Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yoko Tawada.

What is your favorite sweet? We would love for you to share a recipe or link to place that serves it. Pictures are great, too!

My go-to these days is dark chocolate and bourbon. 🙂

We found a great place to learn about pairing boubon with chocolate! It’s edcuational, right?

bourbonveach.com

Thank you, Alyssa, for taking the time to reconnect with us. We look forward to seeing more of your work in the future!

Are you a contributor who wants to be a part of Sweet Connections?  Come fill out our form!

Sweet Connections: Sheila Squillante

August 20, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Each week we will be connecting with our contributors showing where they have been, where they are now, and what’s up for the future.

Name: Sheila Squillante
Title of Pieces Published in Sweet: “You Would Become,” “It Takes Strength to Be Gentle and Kind“, & “Meat Ragu”
Issues: 5.1 & 7.2

Find Her:
Instagram
Twitter

You can find Sheila in Pittsburg, PA at Chatham University where she edits The Fourth River, a journal of nature and place-based writing. She also edits  Barrelhouse online.

Check out her website!

What are some major accomplishments you have had since your Sweet publication?

I’ve become the director of Chatham University’s MFA program

Can you tell us about a current/ongoing project that you’re excited about?

My second collection of poetry, MOSTLY HUMAN, won the Wicked Woman Book Prize with Brick House Books and will be out in October, 2020.

Forthcoming October 2020

Who is your favorite author?

Anne Carson, Diane Seuss, Todd Kaneko, Camille Dungy, Natalie Diaz, Paisley Rekdal, Lee Ann Roripaugh, Sei Shonagon

What inspires you to write?

Memory, confusion, disorientation, grief, my children, the unlikely resilience of the natural world

What are you reading right now?

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, Still Life with Two Dead Peacocks and a Girl, by Diane Seuss, Splinters are Children of Wood, by Leia Wilson.

What is your favorite sweet? We would love for you to share a recipe or link to place that serves it. Pictures are great, too!

Salted caramel gelato.

We found an awesome rescipe from The Spruce Eats tempts our tastebuds!

Sea Salt Caramel Gelato

Thank you, Sheila, for taking the time to reconnect with us. We look forward to seeing more of your work in the future!

Are you a contributor who wants to be a part of Sweet Connections?  Come fill out our form!

Best of Net 2020 Nominations

August 11, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Sweet Lit is proud to have nominated the following for this year’s Best of Net:

Poetry

“And That Darkness” By Douglas Cole

“MS Nocturne with Fuse, Crosshairs, and Irreparable Fissure” by Emily Rose Cole

“Unison” by Justin Runge

“The Taste of Blueberries” by Sandra Yannone

“What do I do about the nightmares” by Janet MacFadyen

“Joy” by Hannah Marshall

Essays

“Brown Girl Learns Her Body” by Loré Yessuff

“Autopsy Report” by Peggy Shumaker

Good luck to you all and congratulations for being Sweet’s Best of Net Nominations!

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