Fiction, Essays, Poetry, Artwork…

eckleburg

Eckleburg No. 22

 

Eckleburg No. 22

Eckleburg celebrates 15 years of publishing this year! Eckleburg is a literary and arts journal publishing original works from both emerging and awarded writers, poets, artists and musicians including Roxane Gay, Rick Moody, Cris Mazza, Steve Almond, Stephen Dixon, Moira Egan and David Wagoner. Eckleburg No. 22 curates a beautiful selection of traditional and genre-bending creative nonfiction by Jessica Lanay, Michael Martone, poetry by Kathleen Hellen, art by Bobby Neel Adams, fiction featuring Kim Chinquee, Sara Lippmann and our Gertrude ...

 

Four Walls: Bastian Cities or Trace Italienne

Four Walls: Bastian Cities or Trace Italienne

Gunpowder changed everything. Curtain walls of stone gave way, literally, with the shock of shot. Of course, it was Michelangelo who turned Florence into a star. Leonardo’s Palmanova became the ideal city ... Read More
I Am Not Antigone: Notes on Losing My Brother

I Am Not Antigone: Notes on Losing My Brother

“But he is mine. And yours. Like it or not, he’s our brother. They’ll never catch me betraying him.” —Antigone. My brother Mike died while incarcerated in Jacksonville, Florida on December 23, 2021. He was found in his cell, alone, at 3:24pm ... Read More
The Last Survivor Dance

The Last Survivor Dance

On the second Tuesday of January the survivors gather for the annual survivor dance. They gather in the ballroom of the historic synagogue on Ocean Avenue. Like many things, the place is a shadow of its former self. Spanning half a city block, it now sits cavernous and crumbling, like ... Read More
Couples

Couples

"These portraits have a secondary meaning: when the male is spliced together with the female—a representation bi-sexual being is created. The composite Couples image represents the male and female qualities in all of us." ... Read More
Rebecca from the Bible Visits Anne Sexton One Less Welcome Morning

Rebecca from the Bible Visits Anne Sexton One Less Welcome Morning

"...so I asked Him, 'Why do I exist?' not expecting an answer, not liking what He said." "But it set you apart," said Anne, passing the sugar. Rebecca smiled and took two ... Read More
Look Backwards

Look Backwards

Avital Gad-Cykman is the author of Light Reflection Over Blues (Ravenna Press) and Life In, Life Out (Matter Press). She is the winner of Margaret Atwood Studies Magazine Prize and The Hawthorne Citation Short Story Contest, twice a finalist for the Iowa Fiction Award and a six-time nominee for the ... Read More
Anodyne by Khadijah Queen

Anodyne by Khadijah Queen

Very excited that Khadijah Queen will be a 2025 Visiting Writer at Longleaf Writers Conference this year. I am reading her poetry collection, Anodyne (Tin House Books, 2020). "In the event of an apocalypse, be ready to die," the opening poem in the collection, proves  prescient for today's reader: "But do also ... Read More
Ghost Dogs by Andre Dubus III

Ghost Dogs by Andre Dubus III

I had the honor of being in Andre Dubus III's fiction workshop at  Aspen Words. Great group of writers led by Dubus, a dynamic and compassionate workshop leader. He will be featured at the Longleaf Writers Conference on the Gulf ... Read More
Dead Mall

Dead Mall

She—some folks called her Jill—used to buy love at the shopping mall, but then all the malls died. She probably died, too, but she still went love-shopping ... Read More
[My father built homes for settlers in the West Bank]

[My father built homes for settlers in the West Bank]

My father built homes for settlers in the West Bank. For who knew when the next Hitler would rise? My father would turn the tide like a god, surprise from a slight five foot nine inch Jew ... Read More
We Deserve the Gods We Ask For by Seth Brady Tucker

We Deserve the Gods We Ask For by Seth Brady Tucker

Had the pleasure of meeting Seth Brady Tucker and a few of the Longleaf group at the Longleaf Writers Conference booth at AWP this year. One of the best parts of AWP is discovering and rediscovering communities and books. Right now, I'm enjoying "Beautiful Boys in Brodie Helmets," the first ... Read More
Nervosities by John Madera

Nervosities by John Madera

I had the pleasure of hearing John Madera read from his debut flash fiction collection, Nervosities at the KGB Bar in NYC a few weeks ago. Enjoying "Some Varieties of Being and other Non Sequiturs," the first story in the collection of innovative, word-bending flash fiction released by Anti-Oedipus Press ... Read More
We Contain Landscapes by Patrycja Humienik

We Contain Landscapes by Patrycja Humienik

Enjoying "Eros and Sorrow" in Patrycja Humienik's poetry collection, We Contain Landscapes (Tin House): "I'm crying after sex. Kettle's going off / and off—the arrows in that / sound could puncture even steel. / I pour slowly, opening a curtain / in the back of mind...." ... Read More
Don't Go Crazy Without Me: A Tragicomic Memoir by Deborah A. Lott

Don’t Go Crazy Without Me: A Tragicomic Memoir by Deborah A. Lott

Enjoying the first chapter, "Gotchernose," in Don't Go Crazy Without Me (Red Hen Press) by Deborah A. Lott: "'Gotchernose,' he'd say. Then he'd sweep his hand back across my face and reveal his empty palm to suggest no harm done! and put my nose back on. Roy's trick said that even the most dire ... Read More
Alba and Other Songs: Poems and Poemas by Fred Arroyo

Alba and Other Songs: Poems and Poemas by Fred Arroyo

Enjoying "Alba Blanca" the first poem in Fred Arroyo's collection Alba and Other Songs released from Gunpowder Press: "My father hardly ever said a word to me. / He held his language, his family / his lovely garden so close to his rolled up sleeves, so tight / within his fists, that words, ... Read More
Better to Cry Now: Shaping the Flow of a Gay Black Man by Geoffrey Newman

Better to Cry Now: Shaping the Flow of a Gay Black Man by Geoffrey Newman

Enjoying Better to Cry Now: Shaping the Flow of a Gay Black Man, a memoir by Geoffrey Newman and out from River Grove Books: Act I: Striving (1956-1964) My French teacher at Calvin Coolidge Public High School in Washington, DC, made a troubling announcement on my first day of tenth grade. "Neither ... Read More
White Mulberry by Rosa Kwon Easton

White Mulberry by Rosa Kwon Easton

Enjoying White Mulberry by Rosa Kwon Easton out from Lake Union Publishing: "...Once, she had seen some young men at the market staring at her sister like this—like she was something they wanted to own. While Bohbeh had blushed at the men's attention, Miyoung had thrust herself into their view. Born in ... Read More
The Tutor by Marilee Albert

The Tutor by Marilee Albert

Enjoying The Tutor, a novel by Marilee Albert, out from Rare Bird Books: "...I caress the smooth stone of the famous martyr burned at the stake for heresy five hundred years ago and muse on his sacrifice. Would anyone today give their life for a cause...?" ... Read More
My Heresies by Alina Stefanescu

My Heresies by Alina Stefanescu

Enjoying the first poem in My Heresies (Sarabande Books), a poetry collection by Alina Stefanescu: "I am eating raw violets / I am curious about the possessing / in the having been possessed...." I was delighted to receive her first signed copy at AWP 2025 in Los Angeles, California ... Read More
Arroyo by Chip Jacobs

Arroyo by Chip Jacobs

I'm enjoying the first chapter of Arroyo (Rare Bird Books), "The Birds of Pasadena," by Chip Jacobs: "Say what you will about his morning pep and cowlick, his galling diet and corny pride. No one ever rode Mrs. Grover Cleveland, the animal, quite like Nick Chance...." ... Read More
Eckleburg's 15th Anniversary at AWP 2025 in Los Angeles

Eckleburg’s 15th Anniversary at AWP 2025 in Los Angeles

A big thank you to Sara Lippmann and Danielle Harms for making Eckleburg's 15th Anniversary celebration at AWP 2025 in Los Angeles a very special success. Also a big shout out to 7.13 Books, Rare Bird Books, Leland Cheuk and Tyson Cornell for their talented readers. Truly enjoyed. Last but ... Read More
The Burial of Abraham

The Burial of Abraham

His two sons talk in the back of the cave where they've buried this honorable man. He tried to kill me, said I had to be sacrificed. He threw me out, said I should die with my mom in the desert ... Read More
Mylia

Mylia

DJ Mylia at Attack of the Book People III AWP 2025, LA Eckleburg 7.13 Books Rare Bird Books Hotel Per La Mezzanine West 649 S. Olive Street Los Angeles, CA 90014 Featuring Marilee Albert Rae Cline Rosa Kwon Easton Danielle Harms Chip Jacobs Sara Lippmann Sameer Pandya Jim Ruland Hugh ... Read More
on the nature of exception

on the nature of exception

shi in Japanese means death / herself reflected / his singular possessive projected by the he who (doer of the sentence) substitutes affection Kathleen Hellen in other words indefinite/not quite determined / not that or this but object of the proposition Kathleen Hellen we not interrogating / pleasures of a ... Read More
Eckleburg at AWP 2025, Los Angeles

Eckleburg at AWP 2025, Los Angeles

Join 7.13 Books, Rare Bird Books and Eckleburg for Attack of the Book People III at AWP 2025 in LA on Friday, March 28th, 6 to 10 pm. Food, drinks, DJ and a fantastic lineup of readers including Marilee Albert, Rae Cline, Rosa Kwon Easton, Danielle Harms, Sara Lippman, Chip Jacobs, Sameer Pandya, Jim Ruland and Hugh Sheehy. Find copies of Eckleburg No. 22 at the ... Read More
Lily Iona MacKenzie

Lily Iona MacKenzie

What drives, inspires, feeds your artistic work? Lily Iona Mackenzie I have hundreds of pages of story ideas that I'll never get to, but just knowing they're waiting to be developed is an impetus. But I also am passionate about all of the arts, not just the literary ones, so ... Read More
[I was born in Philadelphia's Temple]

[I was born in Philadelphia’s Temple]

I was born in Philadelphia's Temple Hospital, Jewish & full of the devil & the demerol they gave my mother perfection in satin & manicured popping gum & smoking such fun at 24 & pissed for sure at what they said was a girl. She dropped her ashes on my ... Read More
Rocks, Fox and Wendell Berry

Rocks, Fox and Wendell Berry

"The fox stops, half turns, half stays. The way a fox will, being two things at once and daring both. Mottled coat, those delicate fairy tale feet, one poised as if to point the way, a way for me to follow...." ... Read More
Feeding

Feeding

"Closed all the windows to the heat     How still Frances at this time of day     How still I      Feeding you means sitting means my body does my work    I’m so hot with you against me the way it used to feel in New York in ... Read More
What's Your Emergency?

What’s Your Emergency?

"When I woke from surgery, I wondered where my arm went. / It was still attached, I was assured. I saw it there, hanging from my body...." ... Read More
"They Kept Putting a 'D' in Front of Her Name" by Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor

“They Kept Putting a ‘D’ in Front of Her Name” by Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor

So it spelled Dumbell instead of Umbell. Infuriating, after she’d twice corrected the error by email.  Everyone wants to mess with what’s yours, make an ass out of a cluster ... Read More
"Tragicomedy for the Fallen: Part I" by Kurt Baumeister

“Tragicomedy for the Fallen: Part I” by Kurt Baumeister

"Odin’s spear struck Valhalla’s golden floor with a mighty thud, silvered veins of sorcerous power erupting from the point of contact, energy flying electric and jagged to the four corners of his vast throne room. This was One-Eye’s signal for quiet, and I went along. We all went along...." —Kurt ... Read More
Nadine

Nadine

Why don’t you bring Ashok over for lunch?” Nadine was an anthropologist and had to get to the bottom of things. All these days and months she’d gotten a second hand account and now she wanted to see the mystery man in person. I somehow knew she’d be disappointed, but ... Read More

 

 

Anodyne by Khadijah Queen

 

FEATURED RECOMMENDATION

Anodyne by Khadijah Queen

Very excited that Khadijah Queen will be a 2025 Visiting Writer at Longleaf Writers Conference this year. I am reading her poetry collection, Anodyne (Tin House Books, 2020). “In the event of an apocalypse, be ready to die,” the opening poem in the collection, proves  prescient for today’s reader:

“But do also remember, gardens,
herbaria. Repositories of beauty now
ruin to find exquisite—”


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Submit Your Fiction, Essays & Poetry

Eckleburg accepts previously unpublished and polished prose up to 8,000 words year round, unless announced otherwise.  We accept essays and poetry, too. No multiple submissions but simultaneous is fine as long as you withdraw the submission asap through the submissions system. During the summer and winter months, we run our Writers Are Readers, Too, fundraiser when submissions are open only to subscribers. During the fall and spring, we open submissions for regular, unsolicited submissions. Submit 

Join us for creative writing workshops in fiction, essays, poetry and more.

Issues

Eckleburg No. 22

Eckleburg is a literary and arts journal publishing original works from both emerging and awarded writers, poets, artists and musicians including Roxane Gay, Rick Moody, Cris Mazza, Steve Almond, Stephen Dixon, Moira Egan and David Wagoner. Eckleburg No. 22 curates a beautiful selection of traditional and genre-bending creative nonfiction, poetry, art and fiction featuring our Gertrude Stein Award winner, Judith Goode.

 

 

 

Eckleburg No. 21Eckleburg No. 20Eckleburg No. 19Eckleburg No. 17

What others are saying about Eckleburg

“Being a good lit citizen means supporting lit pubs. Donate. Buy. I’m going to show some #AWP17 mags that you need to support… .” Meakin Armstrong (Guernica)
 
“The most exciting and adventurous and gutsiest new magazine I’ve seen in years.” Stephen Dixon
 
“Refreshing… edgy… classic… compelling.” Flavorwire
 
“Progressive….” NewPages
 
“Eye-grabbing… fun… bold… inviting… exemplary.” Sabotage
 
 
“Eclectic selection of work from both emerging and established writers….” The Washington Post
 
Literary Burroughs D.C…. the journal cleverly takes its name from the The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald….” Ploughshares
 

Proud member of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses.

 

The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review was founded in 2010 as an online and print literary and arts journal. We take our title from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and include the full archives of our predecessor Moon Milk Review. Our aesthetic is eclectic, literary mainstream to experimental. We appreciate fusion forms including magical realist, surrealist, meta- realist and realist works with an offbeat spin. We value character-focused storytelling and language and welcome both edge and mainstream with punch aesthetics. We like humor that explores the gritty realities of world and human experiences. Our issues include original content from both emerging and established writers, poets, artists and comedians such as authors, Rick Moody, Cris Mazza, Steve Almond, Stephen Dixon, poets, Moira Egan and David Wagoner and actor/comedian, Zach Galifianakis.

Currently, Eckleburg runs online, daily content of original fiction, poetry, nonfiction, translations, and more with featured artwork–visual and intermedia–from our Gallery. We run annual print issues, the Eckleburg Reading Series (DC, Baltimore and New York), as well as, the annual Gertrude Stein Award in Fiction, first prize $1000 and print publication, guest-judged by award-winning authors such as Rick Moody and Cris Mazza.

We have collaborated with a number of talented and high profile literary, art and intermedia organizations in DC, Baltimore and New York including The Poetry Society of New York, KGB Bar, Brazenhead Books, New World Writing (formerly Mississippi Review Online), The Hopkins Review, Boulevard, Gargoyle Magazine, Entasis Press, Barrelhouse, Hobart, 826DC, DC Lit and Iowa’s Mission Creek Festival at AWP 2013, Boston, for a night of raw comedic lit and music. We like to promote smaller indie presses, galleries, musicians and filmmakers alongside globally recognized organizations, as well as, our local, national and international contributors.

Rarely will readers/viewers find a themed issue at Eckleburg, but rather a mix of eclectic works. It is Eckleburg’s intention to represent writers, artists, musicians, and comedians as a contemporary and noninvasive collective, each work evidence of its own artistry, not as a reflection of an editor’s vision of what an issue “should” be. Outside of kismet and special issues, Eckleburg will read and accept unsolicited submissions based upon individual merit, not theme cohesiveness. It is our intention to create an experience in which readers and viewers can think artistically, intellectually, socially, and independently. We welcome brave, honest voices. To submit, please read our guidelines.

Over the ashheaps the giant eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg kept their vigil, but I perceived, after a moment, that other eyes were regarding us with peculiar intensity from less than twenty feet away. —The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

WRITING WORKSHOPS | Fiction, Poetry, Essays & More

Writing Workshops

COMING SOON

The Eckleburg Workshops: Online Writing Workshops

Eckleburg offers noncredit online writing workshops in fiction, poetry, essays, short stories, the novel and more. The writing workshops are intended for writers who want to focus on craft in an encouraging, professional, diverse environment. 

All writing workshops are work-at-your-own-pace. When you are ready for individualized feedback—developmental edits, line edits and endnotes—submit your work. Our instructors have graduate degrees and professional publication experience in their writing workshop focuses and are happy to meet participants at whatever writing stage and focus participants find themselves. Participants may complete assignments anytime. We are open to English-speaking and writing participants both locally and globally and encourage gender and cultural diversity with a focus on historically marginalized voices.

Our instructors are award-winning and published authors and hold degress from/taught at the Iowa Writers Workshop, Iowa’s International Writing Program, Johns HopkinsYale, BrownHarvardColumbiaNew SchoolNew York UniversitySUNY, Portland, San Diego State University, New York University, Bennington, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Loyola University Chicago, the University of Oregon and more. They live in Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Ankara, San Diego, LA and Denver. Several of them are award-winning and with books out. They have been interviewed and published in The Paris Review,  The New YorkerAtlantic Monthly, McSweeney’sThe RumpusThe Nervous BreakdownThe New York Times, Salonand more. What our instructors share is an eye for innovative storytelling with solid narrative structure as well as a focus on personal voice. Learn more about our individual instructors. More Questions? Visit our FAQs Page.

Methods

Each work has its own strengths and needs, successes and focus areas. I approach each new work with an eye toward individual voice so that the work can take on a life of its own that focuses on your intentions. Below, you’ll find a link for submission guidelines and submitting your manuscript. As we move through your work, we’ll look at the following:

    • What is the intention for the work, as communicated on the page and as is essential to the main characters?
    • What is the authentic voice of the narrator, and how can this be brought out thoroughly and to the work’s best interest?
    • What is your authentic voice and how can this be coupled with the needs of the narrative voice?
    • Developmentally, how can the character arcs and the overall narrative be brought to fuller realization?
    • Linguistically, how does the cadence, syntax and repetition in language support the overall artistry of the piece? 
    • Mechanically, are the choices being made in the overall best interest of the authentic narrative voice?
    • What can be strengthened from word choice and comma usage?

Thank you for joining us at The Eckleburg Workshops. I promise to honor your hard work and talents.

How intensive is the Eckleburg Writing Workshops schedule?

You will be able to log in and complete the weekly writing prompts, readings, discussion prompts, etc. as it best fits into your schedule, whether you are at home or traveling. The online visual structure of the course makes it easy to read and respond via your desktop, laptop and smartphone.  Submit work for individualized feedback when it is convenient for you and your project.

How do I register for the Eckleburg Writing Workshops?

Begin by clicking on the workshop link you would like to take. Next, click on the CART link and you will be taken to the payment portal where you can pay by credit card or Paypal. You can CANCEL at anytime with a click. 

The Eckleburg Gallery

eckleburg gallery

eckleburg gallery

About The Eckleburg Gallery

Since 2010, we have been an online, print and pop up gallery space for contemporary and international artists, including event installations in Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Boston and more. We seek to share provocative art forms in all media through intimate, intellectual moments in which aesthetics and ideas entwine. We are committed to providing artists an international platform to explore voice, context and form in canvas, sculpture, performance, digital media, intermedia, video, technology and more. We encourage all aesthetics with gender and diversity awareness.