The first time I laid eyes on him was in Agriculture Class and we were both assigned the task of filling sausage skins together. Other students were paired up and assigned different tasks, cutting ribs from pigs, cleaning up scraps as they fell to the floor, air packing steaks and pork chops. This was a …
It’s hard being Undead. For generations past, our unlifestyle was pleasant and unknown. It was lonesome, true. But we found each other, and we forged communities based upon darkness and a mutual agreement to refrain from eating each other. Even after the infernal electric light bulb polluted the dark, we were able to continue our …
You’re a short road, a shady stretch of pavement that dips up and down easily. Not Old Baltimore Road, that’s farther north, but Baltimore Road, pine-needled and wavy, two-laned, curving through Twinbrook. A favorite of runners; a favorite of muggers. Dense woods on one side, civilization on the other, the dead resting in graves near …
The only disability in life is a bad attitude. —Scott Hamilton We are constantly adding to the narrative of our bodies. Every bump, scrape, bruise and cut alters our physical shape—and, as our bodies transform, so too do the ways we see ourselves, others, and the world around us. Nowhere is the profound relationship between …
Before I started writing full-time, I had a corporate sales job. I sat in a cubicle for eight hours a day, managing the delivery of products that I would never use to places that I would never visit. The job was routinized. There were specific tasks that needed to be done in a certain way, …
Have you ever worked on a story that you knew was tied into another story: one you didn’t want to write. One you have never wanted to write. And then you wrote it. Ultimately, it was the most vulnerable writing you’ve ever done. The reward: Intuitive knowledge. Vulnerability. Writing that came from your body. Connecting …
I. Compost If I had a Don’t-Bother list (as opposed to a To-Do list), housekeeping would be at or near the top. My kitchen and bathroom stay reasonably clean, but elsewhere dust and dog hair remain under the radar, taking full advantage of the freedom to assemble. Books, magazines, sheet music, neglected art projects, and …
“What is death? What is life? Life without death has no meaning. Life does not exist without death. Wherever there is life, there is death. And we cannot hide from it. Death is a change, a process. It is necessary for life. Western societies have demonized death. But why? Due to fear and ignorance. Because …
This poem began, as many of my poems do, with an image. Not just an image, but the words to express them, as well. “Maria is under the sink again.” The sentence lodged in my mind, rattled around in there as I thought and wrote about other things — whether there was milk in the house for …
“Tell me what we were doing the morning we were leaving Cancun,” my husband asks, a week after we returned from a vacation. “We were waiting in the hotel bar for the van to take us to the airport,” I reply. “Did we order French toast?” “What? — There was no French toast.” “So I didn’t …
Essay and Other Nonfiction Workshops at Eckleburg
Personal Essay
Lyric Essay
Body Narrative
Modern Memoir
Submit Your Nonfiction
We accept polished creative nonfiction/essays up to 8,000 words year round, unless announced otherwise. Preferences veer toward shorter works under 1500 words with an arts and culture focus. If you wish to include a bio, keep it short, under 200 words. Submit your nonfiction.
Essay Collections and Memoir Manuscripts
We publish short works at The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review. At this time, we do not publish novel, long memoir, essay collections, story collections or poetry collections at The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review. We do offer manuscript workshops at The Eckleburg Workshops. If you are looking to place a manuscript, we can suggest several excellent small and large presses whose excellent books are promoted through our Eckleburg Book Club — i.e., Random House, Graywolf Press, Coffeehouse, Tinhouse, St. Martins Press and more.