Middle West Press

Author of the poetry collections “Hail and Farewell” (Perugia Press, 2019) and the forthcoming “Recovery Commands” (Ex Ophidia Press, 2025),  Abby E. Murray  (they/them) is now also author of the “keynote” poem for the War Poetry Postcard Project (WPPP) . Murray’s poem  “Hello, I am Not a Soldier,”  wrestles with a daily dissonance felt as a spouse in an active-duty U.S. Army family:  “[...] Wherever I go, I cling to my hope / like a weapon I have been trained to love.”  The work was first published on-line in  Rattle  magazine Nov. 17, 2024. Now, it will be produced and shared with others on a postcard! “Like many of our fellow citizen-poets, we’ve been struggling to find constructive, useful ways to deploy our words and talents in a world of increasing  fascism, racism, genocide, and cruelty ,” says Randy Brown , editor-publisher of the independent micro-press  Middle West Press LLC . “For us, Abby’s poem provides a perfect example o...

Literary organizations Middle West Press LLC and Collateral Journal have issued a short-fuze call for postcard-sized poems that thematically engage with the effects of war, state violence, and military service. Contest deadline is May 3, 2025.  This summer, up to three prize-winners of the inaugural “War Poetry Postcard Project” contest will have their poems published as visually engaging glossy 4x6 postcards , each suitable for mailing to friends, family, politicians, and others. Learn more about the project at:  linktr.ee/warpoets “With the increasing chaos and friction of the world around us, and the decreasing utility of social media in building community, we’ve found ourselves looking for new ways to encourage artful conversations about experiences with the military ,” says Randy “Sherpa” Brown (he/him) of Middle West Press LLC , Johnston, Iowa. Brown is a published poet and literary activist, as well as a 20-year retired U.S. Army veteran. “That can include chewy d...

An Iowa-based independent micro-press has launched an on-line store of T-shirt, coffee mug, and other designs inspired by its literary projects, communities, and anthologies. Themes include "aggressively midwest" and "Greetings from Flyover Country!"  The latter was inspired by the cover of a recently launched anthology of science-fiction flash and poetry, "Midwest Futures." Product designs inspired by the Midwest Futures project include: “Greetings from Flyover Country! ”  (a Golden Age rocket ship flying across a contrail-filled sky) “Mars Needs Bacon!”  (flying saucers abducting ... hogs?) “Astro-Cornfield”  (an astronaut kneeling on a mutant blue-corn planet) "We're always looking for new ways to engage people in constructive conversations," says editor-publisher Randy Brown . "Featuring the work of our writers and artists on a T-shirt or sticker seems like a fun way to further build awareness, community and conversation!" Inc...

NOW ON SALE! In a first-of-its-kind anthology,  30 emerging and established voices  of  science-fiction, fantasy, and horror  tell fresh  new narratives of environmental and social transformation  set in the American Midwest! Corn-fueled rocket ships! A jungle in Minneapolis! A Kansas City on Mars! Flooded suburbs! Tourist-trap family farms! A popcorn apocalypse! With  insight, humor, and empathy , each creator offers responses to the turbulence of 21st century life, work, environment, and place . Through considerations of real-world challenges—including  climate change, drought, wildfire, flood, and social isolation —they provide  stories of resilience and growth.  “The best anthologies result in  a collaborative act of magic and alchemy —writers become a generative hive-mind of possibilities,” writes anthology editor Randy Brown. “Our contributors cultivated  new visions and interpretations  of the American Midwest’s...