Handout for analysis of "Blackbird"

What they say they’re looking for:

- The submission page states that they primarily look for personal essays and occasional memoir excerpts.

- Blackbird does not publish previously published essays/stories.

- From the Editorial Policy section of the website: “excellent writing challenges traditions in profound ways, and is radical insofar as it is aware of its own origins in tradition and seeks to expand the boundaries of the realm of discourse of which it is a part.”

o This means that they are looking for work that does not stay safely within the confines of genre, I guess.

What the selected works tell us:

- The majority of nonfiction in the journals are book reviews, however, and they do not except unsolicited reviews. There are usually 3 essays and 5-8 reviews.

- The essays selected are personal, but with an additional focus on something outside of the author such as another writer’s work or something in society (football teams, other people).

- Essays tend to be non-linear.

- The majority of the authors have been published elsewhere and have extensive careers as writers.

- The essays are obviously personal, with an introspective tone.

- Eloquent, poetic language.

- Length range: 2,500 – 3,000 words seems to be the average.

Reading Period:

Nov. 1^st – April 15^th

Submissions:

Double-spaced manuscripts for nonfiction and fiction. Email submissions preferred (email submissions to transom@vcu.edu all queries go to blackbird@vcu.edu ). Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but if the piece is excepted elsewhere you must inform Blackbird.