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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 19h

"Sustenance is safer entombed in glass jars or in tins shaped like the artillery shell that tore through her twenty-four-year-old son’s pelvis in Indiana while he was serving in the National Guard." In today's miCRo, Dustin M. Hoffman explores a child's unusual inheritance. Link in thread.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

"I started to distinguish between two kinds of relationships within my family archive: those linked to a version of my identity others easily accepted, and those that reflected an identity I frequently had to prove." Today on the site, @asaldrake.bsky.social walks us through family photos.

Asa Drake, an Asian-American woman with long dark hair wearing a red checked top, rests her head on her hand in front of a window.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

"They sat across from each other at a long craft table, their fingers still numbed from the cold." In today's miCRo by Wanying Zhang, small moments stand in for something larger.

Centered typographic quote: "They sat across from each other at a long craft table, their fingers still numbed from the cold." — credited to Wanying Zhang, "The Broken Leaf"; white text on a dark gray background.

An Asian woman with shoulder length black hair stands in a white dress against a nighttime city skyline.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Congratulations to contributor Shara McCallum on the publication of "Behold" with @alicejamesbooks.bsky.social!

CR contributor book release graphic featuring the cover of Shara McCallum's "Behold": a painting of a grassy expanse with what appears to be a hole dug into the ground at bottom.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

"Editing is a solitary job in many ways (in that it’s generally done by one person at a time, reading one Word document at a time), but it’s also fundamentally an act of community." A (re)introduction from Managing Editor Lily Davenport.

White text on a gray background: "Editors' Dispatches: 'Editing is a solitary job in many ways (in that it's generally done by one person at a time, reading one Word document at a time), but it's also fundamentally an act of community.'"

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

"My granddaughter is nine months old today. In the world for as long as she was in the womb." In today's miCRo by Michael Eyre, a series of dualities and pauses evoke a meditation on infancy and its fragility.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Congratulations to contributor Jen Siraganian on the release of "Everything Has Been Moved, Even the Dead" with @perugiapress.bsky.social!

Contributor book release graphic featuring the cover of Siraganian's collection, with a Peter Max-style painting depicting abstract shapes and buildings.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

A few weeks ago, Assistant Editor Arah Ko interviewed UC alum Lisa Low for our site. Today at 5:30, Lisa reads in the Elliston Room alongside grads Afsheen Farhadi and Kathleen Spada. All are welcome!

Featured interview graphic with quote from Lisa Low: "I like to think of poetry as good at complicated feelings, and nonfiction as good at complicated situations."

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

"Outside, the moon hangs like a wax seal above the mountain line, gibbous and brimming, threatening to drip onto the ridges." In today's miCRo, @skoeplin.bsky.social explores faith and belief. Link in thread.

A woman with long hair and red lipstick smiling softly. She is standing in the middle of a garden

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

"I consider the novel to primarily be a character study." Today on the site, UC alum Afsheen Farhadi talks about writing and his new novel, FALSE PROPHET from @melvillehouse.bsky.social. Afsheen joins us this Thursday for our first alumni reading of the year.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

"I think what draws me to museum after museum is how much power I hold as a museumgoer." Today on the site, contributor Nick Kunze walks with us through a series of museums.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Congratulations to contributor @cubistoctopus.bsky.social on this week's publication of PYRRHIC SYMPHONY with @univnebpress.bsky.social !

CR book release graphic featuring the cover of "Pyrrhic Symphony" by Adam O. Davis: a blurred street crossing symbol in black on a white background.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

"How odd, he thinks, for the world to wait till the end to reveal its most magnificent self." Living somewhere between Russian fairy tale and American myth, today's miCRo by Peter Krumbach is both haunting and strangely wry.

Peter Krumbach, a white man with a salt-and-pepper beard, wears a hood over his head and smiles.

Quote centered on a dark gray background: "How odd, he thinks, for the world to wait till the end to reveal its most magnificent self." — Peter Krumbach, "Endgame"

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Wow. We reached our submissions cap--for both the journal and miCRo--within a record 24-ish hours. We appreciate everyone who eagerly submitted this time. If you didn't get a chance to send to us, we open again in December. And keep an eye on our social accounts for special calls for submissions!

Submission period closed for The Cincinnati Review — bold text "submissions are closed" over a large gray crescent moon, scattered autumn maple leaves, and smaller text reading "Try us again Dec 1."

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"Schizophasia is my natural language; every time I speak cogent English, it is because I have medicated away a natural state in favor of participating in an inaccessible society." Today on our site, volunteer Rose Zinnia interviews contributor Rob Macaisa Colgate. Link in thread.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

"In hopes of making a living, my eleven-year-old sister takes up the trumpet and stops caring about anything else." In today's miCRo, Theodore Heil sets a snapshot of familial isolation and longing to the tune of B-flat. Link in thread.

Centered serif quote on a dark gray background reading: "In hopes of making a living, my eleven-year-old sister takes up the trumpet and stops caring about anything else." — Theodore Heil, "Luster".

Theodore Heil, a young white person, looking over their shoulder toward a distant bridge at sunset, wearing round glasses, a dark baseball cap, a white T‑shirt and a tote strap, framed by trees and calm water.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

"I like to think of poetry as good at complicated feelings, and nonfiction as good at complicated situations." @arahko.bsky.social interviews Lisa Low about her debut full-length poetry collection, *Replica* (@uwiscpress.bsky.social ), the ethics of writing about family, and more. Link in thread.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Outgoing Managing Editor @lisaampleman.bsky.social says goodbye in a hermit-crab essay with proofreading marks. Among her thoughts: Her replacement, Lily Davenport, "knows The Chicago Manual of Style like the back of her proverbial hand." Link in thread.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

"a leather trunk and handmade pine box, coffin-sized, for holding rice air-tight." In today's miCRo by Alison Lubar, the speaker reaches for an unnameable loss by glancing at everything around the negative space left by a lost family member. Link in thread.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

"as soon as the scent lay like a feather onto his waiting cloth inside, he clasped tight, oh the way the poor man hunched and dipped out of the crowd . . ." Today's miCRo by @cherylpappas.bsky.social offers the reader a journey downward and inward on the back of a scent. Link in thread.

Centered typographic quote reading: "as soon as the scent lay like a feather onto his waiting cloth inside, he clasped tight, oh the way the poor man hunched and dipped out of the crowd" — Cheryl Pappas, "What Is Missing"

Head-and-shoulders portrait of Cheryl Pappas, a fair-skinned woman with short blond hair, looking slightly off-camera against a backdrop of leafless trees and tangled branches, framed inside a rounded arch with a dark gray border.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Today on the site, contributor Gordon Taylor shares "The Moonbeam Elf," a delightful poetry collection written by his grandfather. Link in thread.

CR "from our contributors" graphic with photo of Gordon Taylor, a white bald man with a 5-o-clock shadow, wears a black long-sleeved shirt against a blue background. He smiles, looking up and to the right. Text reads, "From Our Contributors: "The Moonbeam Elf," by Gordon Taylor.

Title "THE MOONBEAM ELF" centered at top above rows of dashed lines that shorten progressively to form an inverted triangle, suggesting a descending beam or spotlight.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

"The crows lie through their beaks." Today on the site, contributor Megan Callahan shares with us a very pigeon-forward comic to accompany her story, "Pigeon Language." Link in thread.

Three pigeons in a comic panel: one flying and exclaiming, "Ma plume! C'est un miracle!", a second saying, "But—the crows lie through their beaks."

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

"I am a cat, always running away on instinct. Since graduating high school in 2010 I have tried to put as much physical distance between us as possible." Our latest online web exclusive is by Ismael Rodriguez on how the shortcomings of family members can shape us. Link in thread.

Red polygon over a gray background. Small circular black-and-white photo of a bearded, smiling Latino man. Text above the photo reads: "Special Feature." Text below reads: "And where does that put me? I am a cat, always running away on instinct. since graduating high school in 2010 I have tried to put as much physical distance between us as possible, sometimes at the expense of others." Ismael Rodriguez, "Specs"

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Last call for the Robert and Adele Schiff Award! Contest closes this Wednesday at 11:59 pm. Send us your best work for a chance to win $1000 and publication.

Call for submissions to the 2026 Robert and Adele Schiff Awards — 2 days left to enter; $1,000 prize and publication in The Cincinnati Review; categories: poetry, fiction, LNF; decorative mirrored red lions above the award title.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

"My true north has nothing to do with audience, but is about my own vision for my art, myself, and my joyful process of making." Today on the site, contributor Eric Weiskott speaks with poet and contributor @victoriachang.bsky.social, whose new book, TREE OF KNOWLEDGE, is out this week. Link below.

Featured interview graphic for The Cincinnati Review featuring Victoria Chang and her quote: "My true north has nothing to do with audience, but is about my own vision for my art, myself, and my joyful process of making."

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

We secretly opened up miCRo last week for a very short, exclusive, and fabulous submission period. miCRo is OPEN until we hit 300 submissions, so get your best 500-word pieces in ASAP!

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

"How beautiful were those documents that organized the learning we would do in a class. I still love to look at them." Today on the site, 2025 Robert and Adele Schiff Award-winner Jessica Cuello shares some of the documents that inspired her prize-winning essay. Link in thread.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Congratulations to contributor B. Do, whose miCRo, "Revision," was selected by contributor @andrewporter01.bsky.social for inclusion in this year's @wigleaf.bsky.social Top 50!

Magazine-style cover showing two winged cherubs kneeling beside a central ornate chalice, painted in pastel greens and purples, with the title "the wigleaf top 50 [very] short fictions" displayed across the bottom.

Heading reading "B. DO, 'Revision'" with the word Revision highlighted in red; below it, italicized credit reading "from The Cincinnati Review."

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Congratulations to contributor Adam Scheffler on this month's publication of SO THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE: EMPATHY IN THE POETRY OF JAMES WRIGHT with @lsupress.bsky.social! buff.ly/Isq5yfT

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

"I’m wondering whatever happened to compassion/for that box of seconds picked up at the farmers market to make into sauce . . ." In today's miCRo, D. Dina Friedman extols the beauty and diversity of the tomato, one of the garden's most complex crops. Link in thread.

Quote from Friedman: "I'm wondering whatever happened to compassion/for that box of seconds picked up at the farmer's market..."

Black-and-white head-and-shoulders portrait of a woman with curly shoulder-length hair and glasses, wearing a light T-shirt and dark cardigan, offering a calm, thoughtful smile against a dark background framed by a thin red arched border.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

“We are used to being invisible in math classes. As early as elementary school, mathematics erased us, all the problems about trains or trucks, billiards or bowling, boys named Bobby and Dave..." @sfmontgomery.bsky.social's essay "Handprints," is our special web feature this week! Link in thread.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

"I’d build a cathedral to touching, all pinnacles and arcs." In today's miCRo, Lyn Li Che reminds us of how we can be surrounded by others and still be lonely. Link in thread.

Quote from Che: "I'd build a cathedral to touching, all pinnacles and arcs."

Lyn Li Che, an Asian-American woman with long hair and dark-rimmed glasses, smiles on a seaside beach.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Our beloved Lisa Ampleman is moving into a leadership role with our sister press, @acrebooks.bsky.social. We're so excited for everything she will do for the press and can't wait to see what comes next for her. But...that means we're looking for a new Managing Editor! Application in thread.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

"nightly departure into the dreaming water made of wave forms oscillating in to the body’s container..." In this week's miCRo, "Traversing Floodwaters In Helios’s Cup" by @lowermelody.bsky.social, an enigmatic poem puzzles the classical. Read the full poem at our site. Link in thread.

white text on a dark-gray background: nightly departure / into the dreaming / water made of wave / forms oscillating in / to the body's container. D. W. Baker, "Traversing Floodwaters in Helios's Cup"

A closeup of a tarnished but shiny vase with sea scenes engraved on it

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Ell Huang ♠️🩶🤍💜 @nocturnalxlight.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

“The wolf explores the house, but then he remembers there’s something much more interesting outside, and it would make more sense to read the book later, so he leaves and does not think about the house again, because he is on the trail of blackberries” The gentle micro story we all deserve. 🩶

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Brandon Haffner @thebrandonhaff.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Extremely happy to have my very weird story, "The Route," appear in this spring's issue of @cincinnatireview.bsky.social. Dream journal. An eager reader stole my contributors copies right from the envelope (!), so I'm still waiting to see it print, but soon! www.cincinnatireview.com/issues/issue...

cincinnatireview.com

Issue 23.1 - The Cincinnati Review

Featuring fiction by Pam Durban; nonfiction by Marcia Aldrich and Megan Harlan; poetry by Rosebud Ben-Oni, David Hernandez, Dong Li, and Adrienne Su; our Schiff contest winners, and more

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Awards! Three awards of $1000, one each for fiction, literary nonfiction, and poetry. Entry fee is $25, which includes a 1-yr subscription. Read more guidelines on the blog today! Link in thread.

Red text on a cream background: Submit your best work to the 2026 Robert and Adele Schiff Awards. In the middle of that phrase are two red lions facing each other. Below is a red box with other red text: $1000 prize, Publication in The Cincinnati Review, Contest closes July 15, poetry, fiction, LNF

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

"Really, how many of us have spent the entire weekend in one pair of sweatpants, lounging around the house, putting off chores, or nursing a recent breakup." @stdougherty.bsky.social writes about his experiences at work, a residential facility for traumatic brain injuries. Link in thread.

White text on a dark gray background: "And really, how many of us have spent the entire weekend in one pair of sweatpants, lounging around the house, putting off chores, or nursing a recent breakup . . . Sean Thomas Dougherty, 'Green Hoodie'"

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Community of Literary Magazines & Presses (CLMP) @clmporg.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

“The little patience I have, I learn from a mango tree. In Bangalore’s monsoon thunderstorms I stand with my grandmother, face tilted to the leafy sky…” —“Mango Season” by Preeti Talwai, in @cincinnatireview.bsky.social #APAHeritageMonth www.cincinnatireview.com/micros/mango...

cincinnatireview.com

Mango Season - The Cincinnati Review

Assistant Editor Blessing Christopher: Preeti Talwai's essay lands on the taste buds and ripens into an impactful narrative about time, family,

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

The Schiff Awards are open! The Schiff Awards are open! Spring is springing! Win $1000 and publication in CR! Contest closes July 15. Link in thread.

Schiff graphic featuring CR's lion mascots. Text reads, "Submit your best work to the 2026 Robert and Adele Schiff Awards. $1000 prize. Publication in The Cincinnati Review. Poetry, fiction, LNF."

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Today on the site, Arah Ko shares four stunning poetry collections that honor rage—especially the feminine variety—to keep you company in the sauna of summer. Link in thread.

Photo of Ko and quote: "While I was stewing in front of an AC unit and mulling over some poems, I thought, why not embrace the heat? The anger and the temperature."

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bestofthenet.bsky.social @bestofthenet.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

Check out one of our 2026 Poetry Selections, "Revision" by B. Do (The Cincinnati Review), selected by Cyrus Cassells on bestofthenetanthology.com/2026-2/2026-poetry/revision/ #bestofthenetanthology #poetrywriting #finalist

REVISION
“After they had me, my mother and father ended up not getting better after all they had inherited from the American War; if anything, they would only get worse and worse in their resentment and bitterness, their anger and sorrow, their accumulated hurt and their capacity to inflict it. No, the truth is that my mother and father were gentle, loving people, until the day they quietly passed in their old age. In truth, I became a poet because of all this, all the ways in which I have been destroyed. No, the truth, also, is that I became a poet because of all this, all the ways in which I have been loved.”
B. Do (The Cincinnati Review)

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

"Fiddlehead godhead maidenhead furred tendril up from ankle-deep bed, I unkneel moment by moment..." This week's miCRo, "Born Again" by Linda Parsons, is perfect for the season. Read the full essay on our site--link in thread.

White text on a dark-gray background: Fiddlehead godhead maidenhead furred tendril up from ankle-deep bed, I unkneel moment by moment. Linda Parsons, "Born Again"

An older white woman with a blue textured top on. She has white hair and glasses and is smiling and resting her face on her right hand.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

"I remember wanting two specific things in the poem: the tradition of that intentional beginning of slave narratives ('I was born') and clear, deliberate, declarative speech." Stephen Foster Smith tells us about his poem "The Yam Reflects" in our spring issue. Link in thread.

White text over a black and purple background: Emerging Writers, Stephen Foster Smith, Poet and CR 23.1 contributor ("The Yam Reflects") On the left is a circular photo of a Black man with a beard in a pink ballcap. He's in a kind of bluish light.

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The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

"How many / bags, I wondered, would my life fit inside?" This week's miCRo is a short poem by Chelsea Rathburn that exhibits empathy for the woman of the title. Link in thread.

White text on a dark-gray background: "How many / bags, I wondered, would my life fit inside?" Chelsea Rathburn, "The Bag Lady"

A white woman with black and gray hair in a short pixie cut. She's wearing glasses and a teal sleeveless shirt and leaning on a wide wooden door next to a brick wall.

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