ALL ABOUT RED MOUNTAIN REVIEW

Red Mountain Review takes its name from the seam of iron ore that runs through the heart of central Alabama. The magazine is produced at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, with the support of the Alabama State Council on the Arts, Southern Progress Corporation, and the creative writing faculty at Jefferson State Community College and the University of Montevallo. In partnership with the Red Mountain Reading Series--which has hosted such writers as Dana Johnson, Peter Meinke, Tom Franklin, Natasha Trethewey, and many more--RMR is poised to take its place in Alabama’s long tradition of helping America’s best writers of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction find an audience.

We have a simple goal—to produce a fine literary magazine that gets noticed, and to do so with Birmingham’s roots in mind. The Magic City has a long history of working hard and of grappling with hard truths. We will, therefore, always seek to recognize those in our field who do the hard work, who tell the hard truths, and who do so expecting little or no remuneration. Which is to say, the vast majority of writers of contemporary literature, literature that—for reasons of form, length, subject, or project—has traditionally had a difficult time finding the light of day in mainstream commercial venues. Luckily, our editorial tastes are broad: academics and “real people;” sonneteers and the so-called “Grrl-esque” poets; writers of very short nonfiction; those who write long, leisurely, expansive fiction. The list goes on.

In addition to publishing great individual poems, stories, and essays, we are the champions of the chapbook. Every issue will feature the winning collection from our chapbook contest, which is free to enter and is judged independently by a poet of national reputation. The contest winner recieves a $250 honorarium and publication in the magazine.

Thanks for your interest in RMR and in contemporary writing in general. Please peruse the rest of this site to see more about what we’re up to. And you might as well bookmark us, because we'll have a steady stream of contest announcements and updates, book reviews, links, and other fun tidbits.

Contact the editors at RMRsubmissions@gmail.com.