Image courtesy of
the Crane Collection
JOHN M. BELLINGER and CAROLYN OSTRANDER,
Managing Editors
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| * Fee Free Open Reading Period now open (January 1st to March 31st)*
* Volume 38 Issue 1 (Summer 2024) of The Comstock Review is available and on its way to subscribers!* * Volume 38 Issue 2 (Winter 2024-2025) of The Comstock Review will appear in season. * Read on for news of our 2024 Pushcart nominees, the winners and finalists of the 2024 Muriel Craft Bailey Contest and the 2024 Comstock Review Chapbook Contest! * The rising cost of printing, binding and shipping means we are increasing the cost of our journal, The Comstock Review, and chapbooks as of April 1, 2024. Subscribe now before prices rise! * We still have copies available of recent issues and award-winning chapbooks. You can order them on Submittable.com or by mail (see more below) Keep our upcoming contests in mind:The Muriel Craft Bailey Poetry Contest will be open in 2025 from April 1st to July 15th (Judge: Carolyne Wright – entry $25 plus Submittable fee for up to 5 poems). The 2025 Kathleen Bryce Niles chapbook Contest will be open from August 1st to October 31st (Judge Georgia A. Popoff, Poet Laureate of Onondaga County NY – entry $30 plus Submittable fees per manuscript) |
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The Comstock Review Open Reading Period
now accepting submissions!
Jan 1 through Mar 31
(No reading fee!) via Submittable and by mail.
To submit by mail send poems
to The Comstock Review, Att: Open Reading,
4956 St. John Drive, Syracuse, NY 13215.
OR Submit online via comstockreview.submittable.com
Important! Our submission guidelines are updated annually
– read them on Submittable OR
by clicking on the Open Reading tab on our website.
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Note:
We are still working to replace our outdated website. We can’t update our red reminder banner at the moment (see the box above) but that’s only the most visible reason for the redesign. As we work on necessary changes, the website may be unavailable for some short times over the next few months. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Please submit poems, make a purchase, subscribe or donate by using our submittable page (https://comstockreview.submittable.com/ or the instructions for USPS mail below.
For other questions, send an email message to us at poetry@comstockreview.org. Thank you for your patience!
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Update: delayed issue on its way!
HOT OFF THE PRESSES!!!!
Volume 38 Issue 1 of The Comstock Review (Summer 2024),
which ordinarily arrives in August, was delayed, and is shipping now.
We sincerely apologize for the many delays we encountered last year.
If you are a subscriber or contributor, you should receive
your copy shortly. Please don’t hesitate to contact
the managing editors if you have additional questions.
The Winter 2024-2025 issue will arrive soon.
As always, thank you for your support.
Carolyn Ostrander and John M. Bellinger,
on behalf of The Comstock Review
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The 2024 Muriel Craft Bailey
Memorial Poetry Contest
Results:
Judge: Charles Rafferty
Murial Craft Bailey Memorial Poetry Prize:
Bridget O’Bernstein “Doctor,”
2nd Prize:
B. Fulton Jennes “Why wait for them to ripen?”
3rd Prize:
Julia Cadwallader Staub – “Orchid”
Honorable Mention Poems:
Poems of Special Merit
You can read these poems in the Winter 2024-2025 issue of The Comstock Review (Vol 38.2), coming soon!
Important message to contestants: If you have questions, please send a message via Submittable (the submit button will take you there); or if you sent your submission by USPS mail, you can email them to Carolyn Ostrander c/o poetry@comstockreview.org
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The 2025 Muriel Craft Bailey Poetry Contest will accept submissions
April 1st to July 15th.
See you in April 2025!
Your best, brightest and most beautiful poems deserve to shine brightly!
2025 Judge: Carolyne Wright
First Prize $1000; 2nd prize $250; 3rd Prize $100
Submission Fee $25 for up to 5 poems plus Submittable fee, if submitting online.
Important: The Guidelines for Submission are updated annually. Be sure to read them carefully before submitting!
Click the Poetry Contest tab above, or go to https://comstockreview.submittable.com/submit and select Guidelines at the “Poetry Contest” tab there
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Recent Comstock Review Pushcart Nominees
2024:
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2022:
Were Killed In The Bombing Of A Ukrainian Hospital”
The 2024 Comstock Review Chapbook Contest Results!!!
Judge: Abayomi Animashaun
Winner: Mary-Lou Brockett-Devine’s chapbook – Lost Dogs
Prize: $1000 plus publication and 50 author’s copies
Honorable Mention:
Amanda Hiland’s chapbook manuscript – de/extinction
Kate Hovey’s chapbook manuscript – Classic
The 2025 Jessie Bryce Niles Chapbook Contest
will open for submissions August 1st
Prize: $1000 plus publication and 50 author’s copies.
Judge: Georgia A. Popoff, Poet Laureate of Onondaga County, NY
Accepting submission from Aug 1st to Oct. 31st 2025 (postmark or online submission date).
- Entry Fee: $30/chapbook (includes copy of winning chapbook)
plus Submittable fees
Important: The Guidelines for submission have been updated. Be sure to read them carefully before submitting!
To see our updated submission guidelines, click the Chapbook Contest tab above, or go to https://comstockreview.submittable.com/submit and select Guidelines at the “Poetry Contest” tab there
HOT OFF THE PRESSES!!!!
Cover art: “The Inside Story” by Michael Sickler, multimedia collage
The long-awaited Summer 2024 Issue of The Comstock Review (volume 38.1) is available now!
Send check or money order to
The Comstock Review / P.O. Box 205 / LaFayette NY 13084
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DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE, SO YOU DON’T MISS A THING!
Rising printing, binding and shipping costs have risen beyond our issue and subscription prices. As of April 1st 2025, our prices will increase from $12.50 to $15.00 an issue to allow us to continue providing you a high-quality poetry journal. The new submission costs are listed in red below:
SUBSCRIBERS KEEP US GOING -AND- SUPPORT OUR POETS
One year – $25 Two Years – $45 (2 issues per year)
As of April 1, 2025: One year – $30; Two Years – $55
You can use Submittable for ease of subscription,
or send a note and check or money order by mail to:
The Comstock Review / P.O. Box 205 / LaFayette NY 13084
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Dear Poets and Readers:
For a long time now, our contributors have watched as the price of publishing poetry slowly rises here and there. There is no way around it, publishing a journal costs money. Some publications are supported by institutions, large grants or with other sources of outside funding – funding that can come with a certain cost in editorial freedom.
The Comstock Review has always been able to cover most of its operating costs with subscriptions and contest monies. As with most publications, we charge for some things. We have to. And this year, to continue to bring our journal to faithful readers and provide a venue for poets to showcase their work, we have even had to increase our per-issue cost from $12.50 to $15.00 per copy.
But we also realize that any charges, however small they may seem to some, require a degree of financial sacrifice. Not everyone can afford these things.
So, every January we offer a free reading. It is our way of saying thank you. Thank you for reading our publication. Thank you for supporting us in this nearly 40-year journey. Without you, we would not be here. This magazine has always been yours.
So, we thank you as well. Always. We won’t forget you.
Please. Submit. Let us see what you are doing these days. And let us know that you appreciate our poets. Read the issues, and subscribe when you can.
Find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064631562091
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IF SUBMITTING, SUBSCRIBING OR PURCHASING AN ISSUE OR CHAPBOOK ONLINE,
YOU CAN USE THE BUTTON ABOVE.
News from 2023:
Still available!
Winner of the 2023 Jessie Bryce Niles Chapbook Contest
Things Will Be Better In Bountiful
by Robin Michel,
2023 Jessie Bryce Niles Chapbook Contest
Sponsored by Comstock Review, Inc.
Judge: Kathleen Bryce Niles-Overton
Winner: Robin Michel, Things Will Be Better in Bountiful
(publication, $1000 prize and 50 copies)
Honorable Mention and a 1 year subscription to The Comstock Review went to:
Dion O’Reilly, Blessing The Burn
Jenna Rindo, Bone River Fever
Ellen Roberts Young, Beauty and Strength: Artemisia Gentileschi and Her Subjects
For a complete list of finalists and more information,
see the Chapbook Contest page
A few copies of the 2022 Winning Chapbook are still available
Jay Udall from Oakton, Virginia
Reach Beyond Reach
Now Available via Submittable, or order by mail!
For more information and a list of Honorable mentions and Finalists, click the Chapbook Contest tab in the menu above
Winners of the 2023 MurielCraft Bailey Poetry Contest!
| Thank you to Judge Danusha Laméris 2018-2020 Poet Laureate of Santa Cruz County, California. |
First Prize: $1,000 (The Muriel Craft Bailey Memorial Award) Jodi Balas “Bone Density”
Second Prize: $250 David Thoreen “Maybe”
Third Prize: $100 David Thoreen “Even in Spring Our Thoughts Sometimes Lapse into Darkness”
Honorable Mentions:
Honorable Mentions receive a one-year subscription.
(for a list of finalists from 2023 including Special Merit Winners, and other past winners, go to the Poetry Contest tab)
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2023 Poetry contest winning poems,
honorable mentions and special merit winners all appeared in
The Comstock Review Fall/Winter 2023-2024 Issue,
Cover art: “House on Fire No. 1″ by Linda Schrank”
still available via Submittable
or
Send check or money order to
The Comstock Review / P.O. Box 205 / LaFayette NY 13084
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“Dandelion”by Kevin Morrow,
cover art
The Comstock Review
Spring / Summer 2023
Vol 37 Issue 1
Did you know?
You can make a tax-deductible donation to support our work
Comstock Review, Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit organization registered in the state of New York. Donations are tax-deductible.
Questions about submissions, subscriptions or donations can be emailed to poetry@comstockreview.org
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Comstock Review, Inc.
In the winter of 2019-2020 the editors of The Comstock Review decided to create a new organizational structure. Publication of The Comstock Review and all associated activities (including the poem and chapbook contests) were absorbed into Comstock Review, Inc., a newly formed 501c-3 non-profit organization. The Comstock Review, our flagship journal, continues to be produced by our seasoned editorial board, while day-to-day operations are carried out with the help and oversight of the Board of Directors of “CRInc.” Betsy Anderson, Managing Editor from is now also the Board President.
Stay tuned for updates to our website and other communication links!
SEE MORE ABOUT THESE CHANGES AND HOW YOU CAN HELP HERE
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Even when submissions are closed, you can still subscribe to The Comstock Review, buy single journal issues, and purchase chapbooks on our Submittable page. Submit Online using the button below.
