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And the winner is...
February 1 2012
Congratulations to Ellen McGrath Smith whose story "On Its Way to Some Long Fable" was chosen as the winner of the January flash contest. The February prompt is: "It was certainly not your typical love story." Send us your best work inspired by the prompt and see it here next month!

A Little Night Music: Kenneth Frost’s Night Flight
January 27 2012
Christina Cook reviews Kenneth Frost's Night Flight.

In Memoriam Rosita Nunes
January 27 2012
Rosita Nunes, founding editor of Switchback,  passed away on December 28, 2011, at her home in Castro Valley, after spending Christmas with her loving family—husband Stanton, sons Nicholas and Alex,  and beloved granddaughter Cali.

Over the years, Rosita lent her support to many enterprises that embodied her beliefs in social and environmental justice, strengthening community, and promoting the arts. Her vision when she entered the MFA writing program at USF was to established an online literary journal. She was the creative force behind Switchback and served as its first editor.

Today, as Switchback enters its ninth year, the gift that Rosita gave through her time and dedication continues to provide a platform for new and seasoned voices, serving as a focal point for the USF-MFA writing community, and inspiring writers and readers everywhere.

She will be deeply missed.

Bonus Audio vs. Visual: 0909_far_50 and a Review by Aline Soules
January 17 2012
For January we have a bonus installment of Switchback: Audio vs. Visual, as Maureen Alsop reads and discusses her recent collaboration with Joshua Gottlieb Miller and Sparky Campanella. Also, Aline Soules reviews the new collection Compartments: Poems on Nature, Femininity and Other Realms by Carol Smallwood.

And the winner is...
January 1 2012
Congratulations to Erica Jamieson whose story "Angels in the Wind" was selected as the winner of the December flash contest.  

The January prompt is: "No, that's not funny." Send us your best work inspired by the prompt and see it here next month!

An Interview with Michelle Tea
December 19 2011
Kristin Seabolt interviews Michelle Tea, author of Rent Girl, Valencia, The Chelsea Whistle and other works.

0909_far_50: A Collaborative Project
December 13 2011
New for December, "0909_far_50" a collaborative project featuring poetry and visual art from Maureen Alsop, Joshua Gottlieb Miller and Sparky Campanella. 

Audio vs. Visual: Jess & Jain
December 12 2011
For the December episode of Switchback: Audio vs. Visual, Associate Fiction Editor Juli C. Lasselle reads and discusses  "Jess & Jain" by Candra Kolodziej, originally published in Switchback Issue 13: Intuition vs. Logic. Listen to it here or on iTunes.

And the winner is....
December 1 2011
Congratulations to Melodie Corrigall whose story "Polar Bear Perils" was chosen as the winner of the November flash contest. The December prompt is: "They realized they were not alone." Send us your best work inspired by the prompt and see it here in January!

Global vs. Local Is Here Now
November 29 2011
We are proud to announce the release of Switchback: Global vs. Local, featuring work by Truong Tran, Kate Moses, Elizabeth Robinson, Abeer Hoque, Robyn Carter, and more! You can read the entire issue for free online or download it in pdf format from our media page. Switchback: Global vs. Local is also available in kindle format over at Amazon, where we are busy making our entire archive available for download.

We are also excited to announce that Switchback is now accepting unsolicited literary reviews. Please visit our submission page for more details regarding reviews as well as our monthly flash contest.

Audio vs. Visual: Spanking Without a Cause
November 14 2011
For the November installment of Switchback: Audio vs. Visual, Fiction Editor Jorge Cino reads and discusses "Spanking Without a Cause" by Kevin Killian, originally published in Switchback Issue 10: Figurative vs. Literal. Listen to it here or on iTunes.

An Interview with Ryan Van Meter
November 9 2011
Switchback's Michelle Boise talks Broken Social Scene and the Iowa Workshop with author Ryan Van Meter.

"On Despair" by Elizabeth Robinson
November 2 2011
Switchback: Global vs. Local is almost here! To hold you over in the meantime we are pleased to offer a new poem by Elizabeth Robinson, whose work will be included in our upcoming issue. Look for it here on December 1.


And the winner is.....
November 1 2011
Congratulations to Sarah Stafford whose story "The Morning after My Wedding" was selected as the winner of the October flash contest. 

The November prompt is: "Nobody ever knows anything for a fact." Send us your best work inspired by the prompt and see it here next month!


Audio vs. Visual: The Sympathizer
October 18 2011
For the October episode of Switchback: Audio vs. Visual, Associate Fiction Editor Aysegul Savas reads and discusses  "The Sympathizer" by David Booth, originally published in Switchback Issue 2: Confession vs. Mask. Listen to it here or on iTunes.

Talking with Augusten Burroughs, Reading Christopher Hennessy
October 4 2011
This month Nonfiction editor Lina Shustarovich interviews acclaimed writer Augusten Burroughs, while Poetry editor Karen Biscopink reviews the debut collection by Christopher Hennessy Love-in-Idleness.

And the winner is....
October 2 2011
Congratulations to Bob Thurber whose story "Here and Here and Here" was the winner of the September flash contest. 

The October prompt is: "I do, always, what I must do because I cannot undo it." Send us your best work inspired by the prompt and see you work appear in Switchback!

Out of Our and Switchback Present: Everywhere Is Home
September 21 2011
Switchback is proud to be participating in this year's Lit Crawl. We hope to see you at Mission Pie on October 15th where you'll hear Switchback contributors Jon Sindell, Tony Press, and Robyn Carter along with Out of Our contributors Jennifer Barone, Steven Gray, Jack Hirschman and Sarah Page. For more information please visit the Lit Crawl website.

Book Review: The Incompossible
September 12 2011
Patrick James Dunagan reviews Carrie Hunter's new full-length collection of poems, The Incompossible.

Audio vs. Visual: Three Poems by Todd Melicker
September 9 2011
On this edition of Switchback: Audio vs. Visual, poetry editor Karen Biscopink reads and discusses three poems by Todd Melicker, "Wait", "Tremble" and "Brittle", originally published in Switchback Issue 1: Tradition vs. Experimentation. Listen to it here or on iTunes.


Here Comes The Switchback Flash Contest
August 31 2011
Switchback is proud to announce the start of our monthly Flash Contest. Each month we will be giving you a prompt and we want you to give us your best work inspired by that prompt. The winning entry as decided by our editors will then be featured on the site. Submissions can be fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or even art, so long as it's amazing and 500 words or less.

The September prompt is: "He knew he should never have come here..."

That's it. Now it's your turn. Show us what you've got.

Book Review: The Madonnas of Echo Park
August 30 2011

C. Adán Cabrera reviews The Madonnas of Echo Park, the debut novel by Brando Skyhorse.


Audio vs. Visual: The Joys of Watching a Dog Fall Apart
August 15 2011

On this month's edition of Switchback: Audio vs. Visual, co-art editor Michelle Boise reads and discusses "The Joys of Watching a Dog Fall Apart" by Matt Farrell, originally published in Switchback Issue 13: Logic vs. Intuition. Listen to it here or on itunes.


An Interview with Truong Tran
August 5 2011
For our August interview, Switchback co-art editor Alex Rieser sits down with poet and visual artist Truong Tran to discuss his work and his transition from poetry to new mediums.

Gary Snyder’s New Beginner Enlightenment
July 12 2011
For the July book review Switchback contributor Patrick James Dunagan examines The Etiquette of Freedom: Gary Snyder, Jim Harrison, and the Practice of the Wild, a companion piece to the 2010 documentary The Practice of the Wild

Audio vs. Visual Podcast Episode 2
July 6 2011
On this episode of Switchback: Audio vs. Visual Stephen Beachy reads "12 Minutes" by Marream Krollos, originally published in Switchback Issue 8: Stillness vs. Frenzy. Listen on our media page or subscribe on itunes.

Switchback's Interview with Joyce Carol Oates
June 30 2011
For our July interview, Switchback's own Kate Folk has five questions for the preeminent author of Black Water, them, and Blonde.

Switchback Podcast now on itunes
June 14 2011
Switchback is proud to announce our official podcast is now available on itunes. Subscribe today and listen to staff members, past and present, read and discuss work we have featured over the years. We are likewise pleased to be featuring a poem by Stephen Bett, whose collection Track This: A Book of Relationship was reviewed earlier this month in Switchback.

An Interview with Tamim Ansary and the June Book Review
May 31 2011
No more long waits between issues for fresh Switchback content! Starting now, we are proud to announce that Switchback will be featuring monthly interviews and reviews with emerging and established writers. For June we have Aysegul Savas interviewing Tamim Ansary, as well as a review by Kelci Baughman McDowell of poet Stephen Bett's collection Track This: A Book of Relationship. Also, stayed tuned later this month for Audio vs. Visual, the official Switchback Podcast. Coming soon to itunes but available now on our website.

Goodbye Themes, Hello Submissions
April 30 2011

Switchback is now accepting submissions for issue 15! Switchback publishes fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and visual art. The deadline to submit is August 31, 2011, so make sure to check out our guidelines and send us your best work!

 

On a related note, it is with lowered heads and heavy hearts that we lay to rest our tradition of building each issue around a theme of juxtaposition. From “Tradition vs. Experimentation” all the way up to “Global vs. Local,” the “versus” concept has been a part of Switchback, challenging us to approach literature from contrasting points of view. Going forward, the onus will be on us to maintain that approach, independent of any specific theme, while continuing to publish the best in new work from emerging and established writers and poets.

 

Will our new theme-less approach lead us into strange and dangerous new territory? Unburdened from the constraints of a “versus” dichotomy will we run amok with our new found editorial freedom?

 

We certainly hope so. Be part of the experiment by submitting now to Switchback Issue 15. 


Moving Forward
April 22 2011
Hello All. I'm Keith, the incoming Managing Editor for Switchback. I'm thrilled to be stepping into the role after serving as an Associate Editor for the past two years. First off, I'd like to thank our outgoing editor Kelci M. Kelci for all her tireless, and at times unappreciated, work over the past few years. I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that without her leadership there wouldn't be a Switchback today.  I know I speak for the entire staff when I say we're all sorry to see her go and wish her the best with her future endeavorers. 

We here at Switchback are extremely proud of Issue 13 Intuition vs. Logic. Not only do we have some amazing new work from both new and established writers, poets, and artists, but  we have also added some new features to our website to more fully embrace our identity as an online literary journal. Available on our media page, you can now find a pdf of the entire issue for convenient reading on your Digital Reader free of charge. You can also find us now on Amazon.com, where we are available for download directly to your Kindle. If you head over to itunes you can check out our new audio podcast "Switchback: Audio vs. Visual" where each month a member of the team reads and discusses a selection from a past issue. 

 And all of that is just the beginning. 


Coming in June, Switchback will be the place to go online to read reviews about new and exciting work as well as to find interviews with important literary figures from the community and beyond. 

We're very excited for the future of Switchback and we hope you are too. Thanks for reading. 

Party! Fiesta! Partito! Issue 13 Launch Party April 21
March 22 2011
We're putting the finishing touches on Issue 13: Intuition vs Logic... proofing the issue and waiting for one final review.

With great anticipation we announce our Issue 13: Intuition vs Logic launch party!

Thursday April 21, 2011
7:00-9 p.m.
Dog Eared Books (900 Valencia St.) in the Mission District of San Francisco

The following contributors will read their original works while free wine and good books are enjoyed in the background:

Aaron Shurin
Nicholas Leaskou
Patrick Dunagan 
Jon Sindell
Libby McDonnel
Candra Kolodziej
+ more!

Hosted by our fabulous retiring managing editor, Kelci M Kelci

We do hope to see you there! RSVP on Facebook

Another Issue Building Party in the Mid Richmond District: A Farewell
March 5 2011
Log in to staging server, create author bio, open plain text document, paste from plain text document, open formatted Word document, format from .doc, insert italics and indents...

Little by little the new issue 13 is coming together. The team here—Alex, Karen, Aysegul, Colin, and Keith via satelite—Röyksopp flowing from the stereo—type, click, paste, format, and mouse away. I periodically check the table of contents and see Aaron Shurin's two poems appear, then Heliotropes, then The Joys of Watching a Dog Fall Apart...

For me, this magical process of creating a whole from parts is bitter sweet because it is my last issue as Managing Editor. In between accepting submissions for issue 14: Global vs Local next month and building that issue in the Fall, I will demote myself to Advising Editor and hand over the reigns to Keith Powell, our fearless new leader.

This semester Switchback has undergone other organizational changes. We have appointed and initiated genre editors who head up the work of selecting for Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Art and delegate tasks to the Associate Editors. We are focusing on new types of content, opening up to publishing reviews and podcasts. We're excited to have an interview of Noel Alumit by C. Adán Cabrera, our correspondent at large currently reporting from Los Angeles.

One thing I know for sure is that with or without me the staff of Switchback will continue to do what small and independent lit mags do best—publish work from new authors and poets and support our local literary scene.

I hope you enjoy Issue 13: Intuition vs Logic and don't forget—there is still a bit of time to submit your writing and art to Issue 14: Global vs Local. The deadline is St Patty's Day.

-Kelci Baughman McDowell, a.k.a. Kelci M. Kelci



Sip some vino and hear some great writing!
November 9 2010
Issue 12: Minority vs Majority is LIVE and by golly, we're gonna c-e-l-e-b-r-a-t-e! We've got free wine courtesy of Bear Flag Wine and an awesome line up of issue 12 contributors!

Join us on November 18, 2010 at Books and Bookshelves (99 Sanchez St in San Francisco) at 7:30 p.m. to sip some vino and listen to some great nonfiction, fiction, and poetry...

Jamey Genna (fiction)
Brian Martin (fiction)
Donna Laemmlen (fiction)
Danny Bracco (fiction)
Candy Shue (poetry)
Nicholas Leaskou reading the poetry of Dilruba (Ruba) Ahmed
Faith Adiele (nonfiction)
+ more!



From the barracks
September 25 2010
Another sunny San Francisco day, another issue-building party at Switchback.

Issue #12, "Minority vs Majority," is about to go live: one of the wildest Switchback issues ever. Lots of mind-bending, ear-popping, gravity-defying stuff; something about monkeys in the middle east, the Terracotta Army, and Peter Pan growing up to be a post-hippie. Authors that don't toe the literary line. 

And while we finish this one, we are gearing up for the next one: the submission period for issue #13 is almost over. Intuition vs Logic: Enemies? Allies? Secret lovers? 

Send us your work! Lucky Issue #13
June 30 2010
Lucky numbers! Chance! Fate! Destiny! Synchronicity! Kismet! Roulette! Blackjack! Nickel slots! Quarter slots! Card Counting!

...Intuition vs Logic...

Lucky Issue #13!

Send us your best work by October 1, 2010.

submissions@swback.com

Summer time and the living's easy...
June 14 2010
Hello everyone! Summer has hit San Francisco full force... we are oscillating between record breaking highs and our normal permi-fog. Most of us on staff here are taking it easy, traveling or working on Major Project (the class USF MFA students take over the summer where they work on their theses). We are also looking forward to meeting the incoming cohort of MFA students... welcome to USF, class of 2012!

So what's going on at Switchback?

We've secure our line-up for issue 12.
We're soliciting art for issue 12.
We're thinking about doing a Switchback Editor's Reading this summer... Would you come if we read?
We've secured a new venue for our issue 12 launch party: Books and Bookshelves in the Castro, which we're super excited about. It's gonna be on November 18, 2010!
We're discussing the theme for issue 13, so we can open up the call for submissions.
We're looking forward to recruiting some new staff members from the incoming class!



Issue 12 Submissions Closed
March 18 2010
As yesterday came and went, so did our Issue 12 call for submissions (Minority vs Majority). The managing editor has just finished logging all the submissions and now the staff will begin reading them. We will discuss the work and make our publication decisions over the next few months. We hope to contact everyone with our publication decisions by late Spring or early Summer. From everyone at Switchback, we want to give a big THANK YOU to everyone who submitted.

For those writers and artists that missed the deadline, our next reading period will begin sometime mid-Summer, once we decide on the next theme. Keep checking our call for submissions page, follow us on twitter, or befriend us on Facebook to be the first to know!

Issue 11 is Live!
March 11 2010
Today is our issue 11 launch party at Cantina... and we do have reason to celebrate: as you can see we've just loaded up a brand new issue of Switchback! We were excited building it but even more excited to see it LIVE. The issue turned out lovely thanks to our art contributors, we've got a full line up of quality writing thanks to our talented contributors of the written word, and the issue is flawless thanks to our relentless team of editors. Please enjoy browsing around and checking out the new issue!

Don't forget: we're still taking submissions for Issue 12: Minority vs. Majority until March 17. We especially need nonfiction and art submissions so send us your best!



Building and Taking Submissions!
February 6 2010
Even though it is a beautiful afternoon in San Francisco, staff members of Switchback have spent it inside, building Issue 11.  It looks good and we know everyone will love reading it as much as we have.  It's a new year and the first issue of Switchback in 2010 will be a big one, sure to offer something for readers of all tastes!

We are also reading for Issue 12: MINORITY V. MAJORITY!  Check out our submission guidelines and send us something awesome.  Our deadline is St. Patrick's day, the perfect excuse to reward yourself with a green cookie or beer after you've given us your best work.

Issue 11 Submissions
November 1 2009
The submission deadline for issue 11, Process vs Product, was yesterday, Halloween. Thanks to everyone who submitted work! We are really excited about the quality and the quantity and we're looking forward to discussing it.

We hope to make final acceptance decisions by Christmas time, and open up submission for issue 12 on New Years. Hopefully everything will run according to schedule...

Thanks again for reading and submitting!

Sincerely,
The Switchback Staff 

Party With Us!
October 3 2009
Put us on your calendar!  On October 22 we will have the launch party for issue 10, Figurative vs. Literal.  Our reading will be at 7pm at Cantina, located at 580 Sutter Street (between Mason and Powell).  We'll be in the basement, so make your way past the bar and come down the stairs to join us.

You don't want to miss this line up!  Three great poets as well as David Vann, the newest faculty member in USF's MFA in Writing Program, will be reading:

  • Alison Doernberg
  • David Vann
  • Christina Hutchins
  • Linda Phillimore

See you there!

Now Accepting Issue 11 Submissions!
October 3 2009
Submit your work for issue 11!  The theme is Process vs. Product.  Art work submissions should reflect this theme, and all works of poetry, fiction and nonfiction will be considered, regardless of relation to theme.

The deadline is October 31st, so be sure to submit before Halloween candy goes on sale.  More information on submitting can be found here!  We can't wait to see or read your work!

Welcome
August 22 2009
Welcome to Switchback!  A new year is starting here at the University of San Francisco, bringing together old and new Switchback staff as we launch issue 10 and begin looking at submissions for issue 11.  As part of this new year, the site itself is getting an updated look!  It has been a lot of hard work and a lot fun making Switchback an even more enjoyable experience for our readers and we hope you enjoy all the new features!

Masthead

Managing Editor
Keith J. Powell

Tech Editor
Colin Bean

Faculty Advisor
Stephen Beachy

Poetry Editor
Karen Biscopink

Associate Poetry Editors
Catherine T. Kidd
Stephen Novotny
Alex Rieser

Fiction Editor
Jorge Cino

Associate Fiction Editors
Michelle Boise
Kate Folk
Juli C. Lasselle
Aysegul Savas
Kristin Seabolt

Nonfiction Editor
Lina Shustarovich

Associate Nonfiction Editor
Catherine Wargo Roberts

Art Editors
Michelle Boise
Alex Rieser

Associate Art Editor
Kristin Seabolt

Advising Editor
Kelci M. Kelci

Founding Editors
Rosita Nunes & Alex Davis

All Current & Former Staff

 

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