Welcome to the beating heart of summer! Today, we are beyond thrilled to announce the winner of this year’s HoneyBee Poetry Prize, Mara Lee Grayson, and with this exciting news, the release of Issue #24!!... thegoodlifereview.com/2026/07/14/i...

We’re thrilled to have had the illustrious Marya Hornbacher judge this year’s Honeybee Poetry Prize. Her selection and the debut of that poem are less than a week away. Until then, please enjoy her new knock-out poem, Jukebox Rotation for War Days. www.glossyplanetmag.com/jukebox-rota...

Our spring issue includes debut flash fiction by Christopher R.A. Adams, "The Evening Train." This poignant piece is quiet, yet compelling. thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty... Accompanying artwork by Cynthia Yatchman Stay tuned for our Q&A with Chris coming soon!

Featured: @amsterdamreview.bsky.social @reckoningmag.bsky.social @exposedbonemag.bsky.social @radonjournal.bsky.social @mooncityreview.bsky.social @eldiagram.bsky.social @mslexia.bsky.social @goodlifelitmag.bsky.social

"This is what art feels like, how truth and beauty, being un- reachable, are likely millennia away from what’s rendered." From Ode to the Guest Star by Kenton K. Yee. Available in Issue #23. thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty... Accompanying artwork: The Aquatic Astronaut by Ayush Pradhan

"with a cyanosis mouth, my upper lip caught on some braces as if I was snarling. As if. Dentist Kimchi recoiled. She could no longer pat my head, and we both knew it..." Flash CNF by Ayoung Kim. thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty... Our Q&A with Ayoung is coming soon! Artwork by Cynthia Yatchman.

"You spend the day making lists—reasons to stay, reasons to go. You try to keep them even, but staying is losing and that’s when you know..." New Micro Monday Feature: You Ask Your Husband if He’d Do it All Over Again by Victoria Melekian. Photo: Caleb Flores thegoodlifereview.com/2026/06/08/y...

Memorial Day may mean different things to different people, or it may mean nothing at all. But mention the word memory, and it conjures something in us all. Today, we're honored to share a new poem by Daniel Lurie... thegoodlifereview.com/2026/05/25/l... Photo by Yuliia Dementsova

It's the baby, the cafe, the talk of guns, people's perceptions and realities of life in America. And also, impossibly, hope. Hope that places still exist where human connection is the lived experience, and where decency and compassion are possible. thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...

National Poetry Month is almost over, but we're not done yet! This week's Feature Poem is "Rain in October" by Nebraska Poet Barbara Schmitz. thegoodlifereview.com/.../rain-in-... Accompanying Photo by Xianyu Hao on Unsplash

You imagine sending a text to Amal, remembering how she had a way of turning headlines into human voices. She once translated a poem scrawled in charcoal on a refugee tent. She would call your silence by its true name. thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty... Artwork by Tendai Rinos Mwanaka

This week's feature poem is a one-line Haiku by nature writer and Naturalist, Jack Phillips. And though "Love Fish to Wander" is only one line, there's so much to love about this piece; you have to read it for yourself! thegoodlifereview.com/2026/04/13/l... The image was also captured by Jack.

The return of spring has brought rain, and with it a refreshing drenching of new work by talented writers and artists whose work we're excited to share. We love all these pieces, and think you will too!! Introducing Issue #23 ~ Spring 2026!! thegoodlifereview.com/2026/04/11/i...

Happy National Poetry Month! This week's feature poem is Witch's Butter by Nebraska Poet Clif Mason. Clif's latest collection, AS JAGUARS DREAMED ON THE EARTH’S DARK FACE (a magical realist novel in verse), is available now from Cathexis Northwest Press. thegoodlifereview.com/2026/04/06/w...

#FF It’s National Grey Day! To celebrate, give some ❤️ and a follow to these publications beginning with “G”! @gaspereaupress.bsky.social @genrepunkmag.bsky.social @gladeyepress.bsky.social @glasspoetry.bsky.social @godscrueljokelp.bsky.social @goodlifelitmag.bsky.social

So excited to see art by HioKit Lao selected as the cover of this year's Best of the Net anthology, and Tim Raymond's poem selected as a finalist! Congrats Hiokit and Tim!! Grateful to @sundresspub.bsky.social and judges Octavio Quintanilla and Cyrus Cassells!

Once, I almost lost it, my hands curled into the shape of a tangerine, to summon red out of a man who called me fruity and laughed. But softness arrived..." From this week's feature, The Softness I Owe, by Joemario Umana thegoodlifereview.com/2026/03/16/t... Photo by Tim Arterbury

Hey, Hey, AWP Party People! We may not have a reading event, panel, or author signings, but we've got something nobody else has... handmade bee charms (plus stickers and pins and honey sticks, oh my!). We're at T716. Come say hi!

"I volunteer for night watch so I can be alone, feel my compass beating home, listen to the tinkle of stars in the celestial bell choir whose church is the universe..." From Her Shanghaied Sailors by Tarn Wilson, @tarnwilson.bsky.social thegoodlifereview.com/2026/02/23/h... Image: Ferris Jones

"One Saturday afternoon—the last Saturday afternoon—Carson sat on the couch holding his head in his hands. From the kitchen, Susan brought him a cup of chamomile tea..." From The Grieving Scar by Frank Gaughan. Available in Issue #22. thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty... Photo credit: Michael Yuan

"I think with “Palimpsest” I got more comfortable with weirdness, with just saying shit I think is striking or funny, and not worrying about how it’s going to cohere. It’s a trust thing, I think…" From our author Q&A with Jake Bienvenue, up on THE BUZZ. thegoodlifereview.com/2026/01/30/a...

In our Q&A with Jake Bienvenue, he shared a brief creative nonfiction piece that was published recently in Baltimore Review. It's titled Gold Country, and it's so good, we just can't resist. Follow the link to read. You'll be glad you did. baltimorereview.org/spring_2025/...

Jake Bienvenue's short fiction, Palimpsest, is dark, strange, thought-provoking, and also funny. It's a bit of an impossibility to pull all that off in under 2000 words, but he's done it! Kudos, Jake. thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty... Accompanying photo by Maia Brown-Jackson

"The way she falls in love is with a whoosh, like she’s being sucked into a vacuum, and the way I fall in love is by pretending not to…" From this week's micro feature, House Party by Dory Rousos Moore (@dorywrites.bsky.social), her first published prose piece thegoodlifereview.com/2026/01/26/h...

We are currently reading work for Issue #23. We publish poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, and nominate for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best New Poets, Best Small Fictions, Best Micro Fictions, and the Pen Short Story Award. Guidelines and forms ⬇️⬇️⬇️ thegoodlifereview.submittable.com/submit

Today we’re excited to announce Issue #22, a “Best Of” Edition that includes prize-worthy pieces from the last two years, plus bonus new work including The Nebraska Writers Collective 2025 Kate Sommer Memorial Poetry Prize winner, Rebecca Oliver! ⬇️ ❄️ ⬇️ thegoodlifereview.com/2026/01/08/i...

"What more could a woman want? She had asked herself so many nights that it had become a type of prayer, lying awake with eyes closed, sometimes clasping her hands over her mouth so that only the faintest whimper emanated from somewhere deep inside her...." thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...

In case you missed it, our autumn issue includes several spoken word pieces selected by guest editor, Bianca Swift. One of these is "Translation" by Nebraska native, Esman Rodas Calderon. You can listen to his piece at: thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty... Accompanying artwork by J.C. Henderson

"no obscene slogan in hot pink paint, swerving like the sexy hieroglyphics of the future across the steel footbridge arch, escapes the disc grinder scouring its temporary face..." From "They Put the Graffiti On" by Matthew James Babcock. Art by J.C. Henderson. thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...

"I remember being surprised at how little it hurt when he stabbed me in the stomach. It felt like being punched, but I’d taken harder blows. After that, the memories swirl together like colored oils, and only flashes remain..." Flash fiction by Charlie Rogers. thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...

Heading into the home stretch for 2025 and figured we'd drop something fun and festive to take us to the finish line... Our December newsletter! goodlifelitmag.substack.com/.../pajama-p.... Peace and love, from the whole crew at TGLR! ✨☃️✨

"You played those ending trills with such precision, and with such tenderness, that I couldn’t help but close my eyes, exhale, and try to memorize the sound..." From Swan Song by Sarah Safsten, available in our Autumn Issue. thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...

"Sam closes the door and walks on down the road to a Motel 6, briefcase jumping against his leg, his heart carved out and left for the foxes and deer along the highway..." From Ben Seabolt's first published piece. It's incredible, and we're honored to share it! thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...

"We all know that fiction lies its way to the truth, so I want to promote truth in a world riddled with lies, and I want to add just a little bit of beauty to a world that, at times, can be heartbreakingly ugly…" From our Q&A with Sarah Schiff, available now. thegoodlifereview.com/2025/12/11/a...

"For the near-decade since she crossed over with baby Maryna in her belly, Vira has been wiping up after grubby college students and waiting to rest. She tells herself they are just kids, but she can’t help cursing them..." Flash by Sarah Schiff, in Issue #21 thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...

The line-up for this year's Larksong (virtual) Holiday Speed Reading and Writing event on 12/13 (this Saturday) is bomb!! The event is free. Details and registration at larksongwritersplace.org/Events/Onlin...

Guidelines and the form to submit ⬇️⭐⬇️ thegoodlifereview.submittable.com/submit

"Each step carried the weight of exhaustion, of dreams deferred and dignity swallowed in silence. Ayo would listen from his room, curled up with his homework, his hands clammy as he gripped his pen." From this week's Micro Monday feature by Ibrahim Abdulhakeem. thegoodlifereview.com/2025/12/08/t...

☃️The Chills Subs Best Lit Mag award closes Dec. 7th, and we are shamelessly asking for your vote. ✅ www.chillsubs.com/best-lit-mag... This award has no fees. No judges. Nothing matters but what the community votes. It takes under a minute, and there's no easier way to support your favorite lit mag.

The Deep Blue of Neptune by Terry Belew is the Winner of the 2024 Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize. Jamie Wendt's review of Belew's debut collection is available now... thegoodlifereview.com/2025/12/04/j...

Our 2026 Pushcart Noms were officially announced in our November newsletter on Substack. In case you missed that, here they are! Oh, and the newsletter has poetry, other hot news, and goodies too! goodlifelitmag.substack.com/p/wedged-tog...

"Ma gave me a piece of lemon pie, then said, “You can’t stay here and get a bomb on your head.” From A Boy Who Thinks Quite a Deal by David Hutto. The story and bonus audio of David reading a section of his piece are available in our Autumn issue. thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends! For a special treat, please enjoy one of our favorite poems (also a 2025 Best of the Net Finalist): How to Hear God While Making Thanksgiving Dinner by Charlene Pierce. thegoodlifereview.com/2023/11/20/h...

"Childhood should never be a war zone can never simply be a ceasefire it must be a garden of respect that we tend to with love as water planting seeds of kindness and compassion until they blossom into trust..." Powerful words by Eve Addams in our Autumn issue. thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...

In the waking world, she asks for pajama pants for Christmas so she can wear them to school. So she can go cozy up the front walk, the one where she saw her friend last week, neck red and swollen with trying and trying and... thegoodlifereview.com/2025/11/24/r... New CNF by Mk Smith Despres

Brad Snyder resides in San Francisco with his husband, daughter, and son. His writing has appeared in River Teeth’s Beautiful Things, Sweet Lit, Hippocampus Magazine, and elsewhere. In our Q&A with him, he shared influences and insights about writing and life. thegoodlifereview.com/2025/11/19/a...

"It was May 2012 and I was in the back, nestled next to precious cargo: a daughter we’d named Emma, three days old, born on a foreign coast to our surrogate Samantha, who had carried our future for nine months..." From Short CNF, Rearview Mirror, by Brad Snyder thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...

2025 is quickly tumbling toward the end. As we wrap prize nom season, we are eager to read fresh new work to feature in 2026! We pay $25 for Micro prose and poetry and it's free to submit. Guidelines and the link to send work are at thegoodlifereview.submittable.com/submit

Marlene Olin was born in Brooklyn, raised in Miami, and educated at the University of Michigan. Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of The Net, and Best Small Fictions. Our brief Q&A with Marlene is available on The Buzz. thegoodlifereview.com/2025/11/12/a...

"I’m like one of those teapots, said Marg. Some days the pressure builds and builds, and I feel like I’m gonna explode..." From a flash cnf essay, The Percolator, by Marlene Olin, available in our Autumn Issue. thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty... Stay tuned for our Q&A with Marlene coming soon!