Mar 17, 2016
Caitlin Scarano‘s “Pitcher of Cream” has been selected for the Queen’s Ferry Press Best Small Fiction anthology!
Caitlin’s story recently won our 2015 Flash Fiction Contest, judged by Laura Ellen Joyce. It was published on our website, and it will be re-released as a limited-run micro-chap later this month. The micro-chap will be available for free at the 2016 AWP Conference in Los Angeles, CA. Caitlin will be doing a signing at our exhibitor table (#1238) on Thursday, March 31st from 3:00pm to 4:00pm.
Last year’s Innovative Short Fiction Contest judge, Amelia Gray, also had her piece “These Are the Fables” selected for the Best Small Fictions anthology. Additionally, Amelia’s story “On a Pleasant Afternoon, Every Battle Is Recalled” was named a finalist.
John Englehardt‘s “This Is Great But You Don’t Need It” was also named as a semifinalist—this piece was originally published on our website and was made into a micro-chap for the 2015 AWP Conference in Minneapolis, MN.
Lastly, Daniel Aristi (former contributor to our website) had his Sand story, “Tempus Fugit,” selected for publication, and Mercedes Lawry (former contributor to our website) was named a semifinalist for her recent Cleaver Magazine story, “Was there transposition?“
We’re excited to see so many contributors and friends of The Conium Review on the long list and short list for Best Small Fictions, and we hope you’ll all pick up a copy when Queen’s Ferry Press releases the anthology later this year. The full list of semifinalist, finalists, and winners is available on the Queen’s Ferry Press website.
Feb 21, 2016
As we continue to ramp up book and chapbook projects, we’re excited to offer a new annual contest with a $1,000 prize plus publication of the winning title! The Conium Press Book & Chapbook Contest opens for submissions on June 1st and closes on September 1st. The contest is open to manuscripts of any length; Conium Press doesn’t get hung up on “publishable” word counts. Chapbooks and full-length books are both considered.
The inaugural judge is Matt Bell, author of Scrapper, Baldur’s Gate II, In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods, Cataclysm Baby, and How They Were Found.
This contest is open to fiction-only, but our definition of fiction includes hybridized writing (as a litmus test, see if you can keep a straight face while claiming that the piece has elements of fiction—yes?—okay, then it’s eligible). Full guidelines are now available here.
Nov 24, 2015
Yesterday, we began previewing the The Conium Review: Vol. 4 collector’s edition with Kayla Pongrac’s “Chiroptera.” Today, we’ve got another peak for you! Rita Bullwinkel’s “Passing” is included in the collector’s edition as a micro-chap. This 7-page saddle stapled booklet is printed on 24-lb. natural linen paper with a 90-lb. bright white card stock cover. You can pre-order the Vol. 4 paperback here (which also includes Rita’s flash fiction), and the collector’s edition will soon be available from our store too!
Sep 29, 2014
Earlier this year, we announced some changes at The Conium Review. One major item is the shift from biannual to annual publication. However, we’re putting out two versions of the annual. We’re doing a standard paperback, but we’re also doing a fancier, pricier, badassier collector’s edition.
The collector’s edition will be a box set that includes broadsides, little chaps, etcetera. It’ll contain all the stories from the standard issue, but presented in a unique, handmade, format. This is a book lover’s book. All the handmade artifacts will be housed inside a wooden box, shaped like a book, (yeah, the wooden box even has a faux spine!), perfectly sized to fit on your bookshelf.
We still can’t show a mock-up, because this isn’t a standard book. But this post provides your first taste. The first shipment of collector’s edition boxes arrived today. Here’s the giddy first look into the first box:

And in case you’re not impressed with bubble wrap and crinkly brown paper, here are two of ’em out of the box:

Cool, eh? These look naked now, but we’ll get the journal’s title across the front and spine, and we can’t wait to fill the boxes with stories. Pre-orders go on sale in mid-October. We’ll still offer a paperback edition. But if you dig The Conium Review, you might want to get a snazzy collector’s edition. More pics and ordering details later as these things come together.