LET'S MEET AT BARSTOW & GRAND. Barstow & Grand – the literary journal, not the downtown E.C. streets – is awaiting your submissions for its 7th issue.

With several issues under its belt, local literary journal Barstow & Grand continues to platform writers from the Chippewa Valley and across the Upper Midwest – some earning their first publication from it – and now, they’re callin’ to you, local writers.

Now accepting submissions for its seventh issue, Barstow & Grand was founded in 2016 and crafted thanks to volunteers in the Chippewa Valley literary community. Today, the journal is still edited and created thanks to its volunteer-filled masthead, including local English teacher Eric Rasmussen, Dotters Books co-founder Elizabeth de Cleyre, and UW-Eau Claire Professor B.J. Hollars, among others.

Published each fall, the seventh issue is poised to release in early November this year, and it’s open to everyone with words to share – established authors, the occasional scribbler, the new-to-the-game poet; shoot your shot!

Rasmussen – published author (North American Review, The MacGuffin, Fugue, etc.), UW-Eau Claire and Augsburg University graduate, and current Memorial High School English teacher – has been an editor of B&G from the start, and noted the approachability of the local publication.

B&G has printed roughly 20-25 poems and eight to 10 prose pieces, both fiction and nonfiction, in each issue so far, those works making up about 20% of the total submission they receive each period. “This unfortunately means we have to forego too much quality writing, but when lots of other journals are only accepting 1-2% of the work they receive, we are actually one of the more approachable creative writing outlets out there,” Rasmussen said.

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LITERARY SUCCESSES ARE FLEETING, NO MATTER HOW GRAND THEY ARE. BUT HELPING BUILD WRITERS? THAT'S THE KIND OF WORK THAT LASTS.

ERIC RASMUSSEN

BARSTOW & GRAND EDITOR

While the journal originally started out accepting submissions exclusively from the Valley, they have expanded to accept works from across the Upper Midwest while still keeping true to their mission of supporting local writers while opening up its platform.

“The years we’ve managed to put together some marketing to the literary world have attracted a fairly impressive spread of Upper Midwestern authors. Other years we’ve been content with our more regional reach, but it’s interesting – the scope of our submitters doesn’t impact the quality of the journal,” Rasmussen explained. “Our more ‘local’ issues are just as compelling as the ones with a bigger footprint.”

He added how, as a longtime writer who has received hundreds of rejections of his own work among the published pieces, it’s “thrilling” to be part of emerging writers’ journey while building a career, reputation, or body of work.

“Dozens – hundreds? – of quality stories and poems are published in various outlets every day,” he said. “Literary successes are fleeting, no matter how grand they are. But helping build writers? That’s the kind of work that lasts.”

Head to Barstow & Grand's website to learn more about the journal and see its submission process.