March Into Spring with The Florida Review
Happy March to everyone but Julius Caesar
Happy Friday, dear readers, from your friends at The Florida Review. March has arrived, and AWP is almost upon us. Catch up with us and read about the exciting things you can expect from The Florida Review this month.
TL;DR:
Coming to AWP? Stop by our table! We’ve got author signings, readings, and more.
Don’t forget: submissions are open for our Editor’s Prizes in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
We’re announcing our finalists for the Jeanne Leiby Memorial Chapbook Award.
As always, see what you missed in Aquifer: The Florida Review Online.
TFR Takes AWP
The 2025 AWP Conference and Bookfair is in a few weeks. We’ll be tabling, so stop by and say hello! We have three author signings and an event with Black Warrior Review and The Southeast Review. Add our events to your calendar:
TFR Table: Table 306, all days of the conference
The Southern Lit Journal as Resistance: featuring TFR Editor David James Poissant.
Sat. March 29, 12:10pm-1:25pm in Room 405, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
Author Signings at TFR Table:
Join Kate Osana Simonian as she signs copies of The Screw, winner of the 13th annual Jeanne Leiby Memorial Chapbook Award.
Thursday, Mar 27, 2025 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM PDT
Join CB Anderson as she signs copies of Blue Lion Days, winner of the 12th annual Jeanne Leiby Memorial Chapbook Award.
Thursday, Mar 27, 2025 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM PDT
Join Amanda Hawkins as she signs copies of her debut poetry collection When I Say the Bones I Mean the Bones
Friday, Mar 28, 2025 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM PDT
Offsite Event with Black Warrior Review and The Southeast Review:
Friday, March 28th, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM at Libros Schmibros
See you in Los Angeles!
Jeanne Leiby Memorial Chapbook Finalists
From 166 entries, the editors of The Florida Review have chosen 3 titles as finalists for the Jeanne Leiby Chapbook Award. The 2025 finalists are:
Wednesday Trash Day, Mary Kate Coleman
Rules for Resurrection, Mary Grimm
How to Build a Bridge Across the Ocean, Matthew Torralba Andrews
The winning manuscript will be announced in March. The winner receives one thousand dollars, publication, and fifty copies of the printed chapbook. The winning title will be published in October, 2025.
All entrants to the contest receive a one-year subscription to The Florida Review.
Submissions Are Open for Our Editor’s Prizes
Submissions are still open for our annual Editor’s Prizes in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry. You have until April 15th to enter!
Each winner receives publication in The Florida Review and $1,000 upon publication. Entry fee of $25 includes a one-year subscription to The Florida Review.
You can find further guidelines and submit your work on our Submittable page.
Aquifer Round Up
“Solace and Hope: A Conversation with Bridget Bell,” Interview by Sophia Saco
Bridget Bell’s debut poetry collection—All That We Ask of You Is to Always Be Happy (CavanKerry, 2025)—explores maternal mental health. She is the recipient of a North Carolina Arts Council Artist Support Grant and teaches composition and literature at Durham Technical Community College. Additionally, she pours points at Ponysaurus Brewery in Durham, NC and proofreads for Four Way Books, a literary press based in Manhattan. Originally from Toledo, Ohio, she is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence’s MFA program in creative writing. You can find her online at bridgetbellpoetry.com.
Sophia Saco is a second-year MFA candidate and Provost Fellow at the University of Central Florida. A graduate of Wellesley College, Sophia has been published in her alma mater's journals, including The Wellesley Review, as well as The Acentos Review and others. She focuses on prose poetry with a narrative arc, and sestinas for fun.
Michael Chang, “CONFESSIONAL” (poetry)
Michael Chang (they/them) is the author of many volumes of poetry, including TOY SOLDIERS (Action, Spectacle, 2024), THINGS A BRIGHT BOY CAN DO (Coach House Books, 2025) & HEROES (845 Press, 2025).
Melina Papadopoulos, “What Washes Up” (nonfiction)
Melina Papadopoulos is an editor from Ohio. Her work has appeared in Booth, Plume Poetry, Rattle, and trampset. She loves birds and tea.
Laura Chow Reeve, “Coming Home to Roost” (graphic narrative)
Laura Chow Reeve is the author of the short story collection A Small Apocalypse. Her writing and graphic work can be found in The Offing, Lit Hub, The Rumpus, Catapult, Joyland, and elsewhere. She is a winner of the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize and was a Blackburn Fellow at the Randolph College MFA program. She lives in Richmond, VA.
“To Bury a Secret: A Conversation with Brian Alessandro,” Interview by Leona Strong
Brian Alessandro has written for numerous publications including Interview Magazine, Newsday, Kirkus, The Gay & Lesbian Review, and many others, and is the author of three novels, The Unmentionable Mann, Performer Non Grata, and Julian’s Debut, as well as coauthor of Edmund White’s A Boy’s Own Story: The Graphic Novel and coeditor of Fever Spores: The Queer Reclamation of William S. Burroughs.
Leona Strong is a multi-genre writer currently pursuing an MFA in creative writing at the University of Central Florida. She is an intern at The Florida Review and has most recently been published in Thread. Leona is the mother of five boys and one very cute cat. She happily splits her time between soggy, sunny Florida, the barren desert of southern Utah, and most points in between, gathering friends and stories as she goes.
Submit Your Work!
The Florida Review wants you! Our Submittable awaits your poetry, creative nonfiction, fiction, graphic narratives, book reviews, and interviews.
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