ABOUT THE JOURNAL
The image at the top of our home page is a detail of a photograph from the Cytat Café in Kraków, Poland, taken by Finnish photographer Mika.
The Apple Valley Review is an international literary journal. New issues feature a collection of short stories, flash fiction, personal essays/creative nonfiction, poetry, and translations. The journal was founded in 2005 by its current editor, Leah Browning, and is published semiannually online in the spring and fall of each year.
This journal is a member of CLMP (the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, formerly the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses). In addition to appearing on our website, the contents of past issues of the Apple Valley Review have been preserved at worldwide research libraries by Stanford University’s LOCKSS system, archived in the Electronic Collection of Library and Archives Canada/Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, submitted to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and licensed with EBSCO.
As appropriate, we may also choose to nominate published work for awards or recognition. Individual works of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction that first appeared in the Apple Valley Review have later appeared as selections, finalists, and/or notable/distinguished stories in Best American Short Stories, Best American Essays, Best Microfiction, The Best Small Fictions, Best New Poets, Best of the Net, Best of the Web, The Wigleaf Top 50 (Very) Short Fictions, storySouth Million Writers Award, and New Poetry from the Midwest.
All writing published in the Apple Valley Review during a given calendar year is automatically considered for the annual Editor’s Prize. Past recipients are
Jackie Sabbagh (2023, fiction, “Philip”);
Yuko Iida Frost (2022, creative nonfiction, “The Kanzaki River”);
Daniel Bourne (2021, poetry, “The Safety of the Trees”);
Trina Gaynon (2020, poetry, “Pacific Bell Comes Calling”);
Lynne Knight (2019, poetry, “After My Sister’s Mastectomy”);
Robert Radin (2018, essay, “Noche Triste”);
P. Ivan Young (2017, poetry, “Sunken Town,” “After You Leave,” “Mansions”);
Colin Pope (2016, essay, “Hard Pine”);
Sue Hyon Bae (2015, fiction, “The Drill” and “The Flower Garden”);
Laura Lee Beasley (2014, poetry, “Our Dying,” “Chemotherapy,” and “St. Jude”);
Jessica Rafalko (2013, fiction, “News, Unreported” and “Notes Left for My Minor Suicide Attempts (Ages Nine, Twenty, and Thirty-One)”);
Thomas Andrew Green (2012, fiction, “Kingdom of the Jellyfish”);
Glen Pourciau (2011, fiction, “Backbone”);
Alana Ruprecht (2010, poetry, “Pumpkin”);
Jin Cordaro (2009, poetry, “He Said He Knew of a Place Where We Could Swim,” “Cicadas,” “Ice Cream,” and “My Mother Used to Bring Home Blue-Shell Crabs”);
Kathy Anderson (2008, fiction, “You Are the Bad Smell”);
Rosa Salazar (2007, poetry, “Chaplet of Mercy,” “Another Side to Despair,” and “Tío Leandro, Where Were You When Ramón Died on the Farm Last Week?”);
and Janet Zupan (2006, poetry, “Missing the Stop”).
The current issue, previous issues, subscription information, and complete submission guidelines for the Apple Valley Review are available at www.applevalleyreview.com.
The Apple Valley Review: A Journal of Contemporary Literature
Leah Browning, Editor
ISSN 1931-3888
Established 2005
www.applevalleyreview.com
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Will you reprint my short story/essay/poem?
We do not knowingly read or accept previously published work. Because our time, energy, resources, and space are limited, we focus on promoting writing that has not yet found a venue. However, we heartily support journal and anthology editors who aim to give a wider audience to great writing.
Do you accept work that I already posted on a blog?
We strongly prefer to read writing that has not been published in print or online in any public way. Although work posted on a blog is not published in a traditional sense, it is widely available and has, in essence, been self-published.
Although you do not read submissions of genre fiction (e.g., horror, science fiction, mysteries), are you open to writing with genre elements (e.g., fabulism, magical realism)?
Yes.
I have a full-length manuscript of poetry/short stories/flash fiction/essays. Will you publish it?
Unfortunately, we do not publish full manuscripts or books of any kind.
Do you accept scripts/book reviews/author interviews/nonfiction articles/research papers that I wrote for class?
No. We print short fiction, poems, and personal essays/creative nonfiction. Generally speaking, please do not send anything with footnotes.
When are your reading periods?
Submissions are read year-round. The deadline for the next issue will be listed on our official Facebook and Twitter pages. Generally, the deadline for the spring issue is March 15, and the deadline for the fall issue is September 15. Any piece of writing that is sent after the deadline for a particular issue will be considered for the next one. We do not keep a backlog.
Why do you prefer exclusive submissions?
The goal is to have a quick turnaround. Whenever possible, submissions will receive a reply within approximately three weeks. (Response times may be longer during holidays or when the volume of submissions is especially high.) Simultaneous submissions are also accepted.
Why didn’t you give me any feedback or write personalized comments about my short story/poems/essay?
Like most literary journals, we receive thousands of submissions. This is a small journal without interns or student readers. Unfortunately, it is not possible to read and reply to every submission with personalized comments—at least not in a timely fashion. If you are still looking for feedback on your writing, and you are not already a member of a local writers’ group or workshop, that might be a good place to start.
Since you didn’t accept my short story/poems/essay, can you recommend another journal that might?
There are many, many good resources for writers, both online and in print. If you haven’t already consulted one of the books in the Writer’s Market series, you might want to look for one at your local bookstore or library. Individual market listings are also available on websites such as Duotrope, NewPages, Chill Subs, and the online component of Poets & Writers. Additional links to writing resources, booksellers, and specific literary journals and magazines are located on the page of links from our original site.
When do you publish new issues of the journal?
In the spring and fall. They are typically published in the months of April and October.
If you would like to receive an e-mail notification when a new issue appears online, please subscribe to our mailing list by submitting your full name, mailing address, and e-mail address to editor[at]leahbrowning[dot]net with the word “subscribe” as the subject. Your contact information will not be sold or shared, and you may unsubscribe from this list at any time. There are no fees associated with this subscription.
You are also welcome to follow us on the official social media pages for the Apple Valley Review. For updates on new issues, find us on Facebook (AppleValleyRev), Twitter (AppleValleyRev), Instagram (applevalleyreview), and Mastodon (applevalleyreview). Facebook and Twitter also have calls for submissions and occasional announcements. These pages are open to all friends, readers, and writers, both published and unpublished.
How long has this journal been publishing?
The Apple Valley Review was founded in 2005 by its current editor, Leah Browning.
Where is the journal located? Is it American or Canadian?
When the journal was founded, in 2005, Browning was living in central Minnesota, not far from Apple Valley. She—and the journal—later moved to Ontario, Canada, and then to their current location in California.
If you have any other questions regarding submissions or the Apple Valley Review, please direct them to our editor, Leah Browning, at editor[at]leahbrowning[dot]net. You may also view the complete submission guidelines, return to the home page to access the current issue, or find previously published work in the archive. Thank you very much for your support and interest in the journal.