“The night’s magic,” sang Van Morrison, “seems to whisper and hush.”
moonShine review believes that away from the sun’s harsh glare, “promises are made, bodies come together, words are spoken that can never be taken back—and the creative process thrives.”
Founded in 2005 and published in Cabarrus County, moonShine review is a journal of creative prose and photography. Their aim is to publish new and emerging talent and create a journal that “balances talent with a twist—adept and awe-inspiring, peculiar and profound, radical and relentless.” They are always looking for that “twist.”
Their Fall/Winter issue includes contributors Les M. Brown, David E. Poston, and Nancy Young, among many others. The issue focues on the oral tradition of storytelling. Order a copy here.
moonShine review does not decide on issue themes in advance, but instead allows the theme to form from the submissions for each issue. They accept fiction, flash fiction, and creative nonfiction up to 3,000 words: they do not publish plays or poetry. For full submissions guidelines, click here.
moonShine also runs a small press that publishes a couple titles a year. Their author catalog includes Beth Ann Cagle (senior editor) and Ann Kaylor (founder, publisher, and executive editor). For more info, click here.
They also do a nice job of highlighting full-length books by their contributors. When you go to their website, scroll down the sidebar on the left to read more about works by Sara Claytor, Susan Snowden, Richard Allen Taylor, and many others.
Even today, somewhere off the beaten trail, under the moonlight, folks continue to make ‘shine. There’s something about darkness, and moonlight, and shadow, which makes it taste better. Perhaps what we taste is the twist of the illicit, of that which needs to remain hidden.