“There is nothing like the smell and feel of paper pulp” claims Main Street Rag. They won’t get any objection from us. And it’s that love for the printed word, for books and magazines as objets d’art, that comes through in each issue of this Charlotte-based literary magazine.
Published uniterrupted since 1996, Main Street Rag is the literary magazine of the small press Main Street Rag, which publishes poety collections, fiction (under its Mint Hill imprint), and helps authors self-publish (as Pure Heart Press). The magazine features poetry, short fiction, photography, essays, interviews, reviews, and commentary.
The current, Winter 2017, issue features fiction by Paula Martina, poems by Sam Barbee, Kenneth Chamlee, and Jeanne Julian; and reviews of books by Peter Makuck (Mandatory Evacuation) and Ruth Moose (Wedding Bell Blues).
Recent contributors include poets David Manning, David Radavich, and Lisa Zerkle; fiction by J. T. Ledbetter, Peter Makuck, and Lauro Palomba; and interviews and reviews by Beth Browne, Susan Lefler, Richard Allen Taylor, and more. MSR publishes both emerging and established writers, and it’s not uncommon for them to publish the same author more than once, even in a different genre.
MSR accepts fiction submissions up to 6,000 words. Those interested in submitting creative nonfiction or essays should query first (social or political themes preferred). Poets should submit up to six pages of poetry, meaning either one long poem or as many as six one-page (or shorter) poems. For interview or review specs, and to submit, click here.
One-year subscriptions to the magazine are $24 (four issues!), which saves $8 off the cover price. Subscribe for two years and save a whopping $19 off the cover price! Subscribe here.
Back issues are also available here.
It’s ambitious, in this day and age, to publish a quarterly magazine. But Main Street Rag has been going strong for more than twenty years. Here’s to another twenty!