(The Paris Review is also open for poetry submissions until 31 July 2024; send up to six poems. They accept unsolicited submissions of prose in February, June, and October and unsolicited submissions of poetry in January, April, July, and October. Submissions are accepted via Submittable until they reach capacity, as well as by mail. They pay. Details here.)

Escape Artists: PodCastle
This is a fantasy podcast and online magazine. They accept all the sub-genres of fantasy, from magical realism to urban fantasy to slipstream to high fantasy. “Above all, we’re looking for stories that are fun to listen to. Humor is encouraged. … We’d particularly like to see more stories set outside America, and stories that feature characters who represent a range of backgrounds and ethnicities.” They also accept translations, as well as reprints; writers can send one original story and one reprint at a time.Deadline: 31 July 2024
Length: Up to 6,000 words (longer for reprints – see guidelines)
Pay: $0.08/word for original short fiction
Details here and here.

Sci Phi Journal
This award-winning magazine wants Campbellian hard science fiction, fictional non-fiction, and speculative philosophy. They also accept translations.
Deadline: 4 August 2024
Length: Up to 2,000 words
Pay: €0.03/word for original fiction, €0.01/word for translations
Details here and here.

(– Submissions are also open for Diabolical Plots, an award-winning magazine of science fiction, fantasy, and horror – all stories must have a speculative element, even horror. Pay is $0.10/word for stories up to 3,500 words, and the deadline is 22 July 2024; details here.
— And, Inner Worlds Zine wants “Science fiction, fantasy, or supernatural horror prose with a strong emotional or psychological focus. We are mainly interested in fiction, but we’re open to speculative memoir or creative non fiction, as long as it has speculative elements.” And, “our July 2024 submission window is for a special issue of 2,500 to 5,000 word stories” — see ‘What to submit’. They also accept reprints. Until 14 July, they want submissions from marginalized writers only; and the 15-31 July 2024 reading period is for all writers. Pay is £0.02/word; details here.)

The Ampersand Review
This magazine is affiliated with Sheridan College, and they are now accepting submissions for Issue 7. They want fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They recommend a maximum of 3,000 words for fiction, of 4,000 words for nonfiction essays/memoirs (or nonfiction excerpts), and up to 5 poems.
Deadline: 31 August 2024
Length: See above
Pay: $100 for prose, and $50-100 for poetry
Details here.

(– And, ryga, a literary magazine affiliated with Okanagan College, is also accepting submissions of poetry, prose and short plays from emerging writers – those who have no more than three previous publications in other journals or magazines, and who have not have published any book-length works to date. They pay $50, and the deadline is 1 August 2024; details here.)

Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.

Litmosphere wants the process of submitting to be positive and connective, regardless of the outcome: “We’ve envisioned Litmosphere as an oasis in the desert of long response times and impersonal rejection notes… We strive to make meaningful connections with potential contributors, regardless of our ability to include their work in a particular issue.”

Litmosphere likes writing with textural language and layers of meaning: “Litmosphere is for lovers of image and metaphor, writers and readers as curious about inner experience as driving narrative.” They also like to publish multiple pieces by the same author, to give readers a chance to dive deeper into that authors’ work.

Litmosphere is open to submissions two times a year, during the months of January (for publication in their Spring issue) and July (for publication in their Fall issue).

Poets may submit up to five poems. Litmosphere likes to receive poems that are related—by topic, theme, or style—since they prefer to publish more than one poem by each author. Authors of fiction and nonfiction may submit on piece, 5,000 words or fewer. Litmosphere also accepts fiction and nonfiction flash writing. Authors of flashes may submit up to four pieces, 500 words or fewer each. It’s best if the flashes connect in some way, in case two or more are published together.

Authors should submit only once per submission window. Please note that Litmosphere only accepts writing by authors 18 years and older. Submitting authors can expect a response within 30 days.

Authors published in Litmosphere are paid. Poets receive $50 per accepted poem. Authors of fiction and nonfiction receive $100 per accepted story. Authors of flash writing receive $50 per accepted piece.

Litmosphere accepts submissions online using Submittable, not via email or by post. They accept simultaneous submissions but ask authors to withdraw writing published elsewhere. They do not accept previously published work, including writing published on blogs or social media. And they do not accept writing generated or assisted by AI.

Litmosphere only accepts submissions that follow the guidelines they’ve posted online. Please read these guidelines in full before submitting.

If you would like to learn more or submit to Litmosphere, please visit their website here. 

For all my musical knowledge, I’ve made some truly embarrassing gaffes over the years, primarily mishearing lyrics of songs. I misheard multiple lines in big hits songs from the 1970s such as “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffet, “My Eyes Adored You” by Frankie Valli and “Listen to the Music” by the Doobie Brothers. My mangling of these songs was epic (among my family and friends). But in 1995 I came across a book called “Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy,” by Gavin Edwards and I realized that I was not the only fool out there. This book (and a few others written by Edwards) showcase a variety of pop and rock song lyrics that have been misheard by many people. What a great way to turn multiple faux pas into fun writing– and book sales! (The title of that book is a mishearing of a line in Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze.”)

Aside from getting lots of belly laughs, by reading this book I realized that mishearing things can lead to some worthwhile writing opportunities. Your mangled words can translate into inspiration for memoirs, fictional pieces, poems, and other writing. You can use your “absurd misheard” for lines of dialogue, for reflective pieces, humorous poems and a lot more. Let’s look at some ways to do so:

Fiction: in a short story or in a novel, you can designate one (or more) or your characters as the Person Who Messes Up Lyrics. This can be done for comic relief, as an endearing trait, or as the sign of someone who does not listen carefully to songs nor to anyone else. Perhaps the character who misheard lyrics is a young child who lacks context for the meaning of songs; or it could be an elderly character who has poor hearing or is losing touch with reality. Or the character is a newcomer to the country or culture, and with their foreign background, they mishear and misinterpret lyrics. If you are concerned that the character might come across as hackneyed, flesh out other aspects of their personality so that they are not one-dimensional. Or give this characteristic to a minor character.

Prompts for Creative Nonfiction: If you are writing for an instructional work or exercise (for educators, for those who run writing groups), you can fashion a prompt such as this: “Can you recall a song or movie in which you misheard the words? What words did you think they were, and what were they in reality? How did you feel when you realized you goofed?” Or “Think of a time you misheard something in a song or TV show, and describe how you were confused.” Many people will find these intriguing for writing exercises and workshops. These can also work as memoir prompts and self-reflective pieces.

Poems: For short poems such as contemporary haiku, or even a limerick, it might be fun and a surprise to use a misheard advertisement or famous lyric, maybe even a misheard line in a prayer. For longer poems, you could explore your feelings or a specific incident in which you misheard the lyrics or the line in a famous movie. 

Scholarly writing: There are many scholarly works on pop culture, ranging from serious works on individual artists, genres, and important events in history based around music festivals and conventions and such. Thus you could explore the misheard lyrics of hip hop or Top Forty songs; the misheard dialogue of sitcoms; or similar topics. And give the subject more than just a cursory examination. Delve into what this says about cultural mashups, or (mis)interpretations. Do field research and survey people about what they have misheard and how they reacted. 

I wrote about a few of these songs in an essay, many years ago, and focused on how I was embarrassed but thought it was rather funny in the long run. I also set this in a pop-culture context, looking at Top Forty song hits that I liked but didn’t grasp correctly. You could run with this as well, to write a memory piece or an essay about songs, TV shows, and other aspects of our popular culture. 

Think back to those cringey moments of mishearing lyrics (and even belting them out loud), roll your eyes to yourself, and get to work. Writing about these misheard words can be an enjoyable or reflective jumping point for writing. Spin some old records or CDs, binge-watch some TV shows, and get to work!

Bio: Ellen Levitt is a writer and teacher, and a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, New York. She is the author of The Lost Synagogues of Brooklyn, The Lost Synagogues of the Bronx and Queens, and The Lost Synagogues of Manhattan (www.avotaynu.com) and Walking Manhattan (www.wildernesspress.com). She has also written many freelance articles and essays for online and in-print publications.