Spring Updates
[379 words] Hello readers! It’s Spring here in Los Angeles, and I’m writing to you with a couple updates. Since we’re closed to new submissions …
Category: Editorial
A Slush Reader’s Journey by M.R. Lehman Wiens
Slush reader M.R. Lehman Wiens shares his writing journey, plus a poem by the slush reading team. #TheMetaworker #ForgeFriday
February Submissions Update
Announcement: We will be closing submissions early on Feb 14 at 11:59pm PT. We will reopen on April 1st.
2024 Pushcart Prize Nominations
Announcing our 2024 #PushcartPrize nominees! #TheMetaworker
New Submissions Schedule and Call for Slush Readers
Announcement: Submissions will close Nov. 30, new schedule for the new year, and open call for slush reader applications. #TheMetaworker
Summer Updates
Announcement: We will publish twice a week on Mondays and Fridays at noon PT during July and August! #TheMetaworker #ForgeFridays
Submissions Pause and New Slush Readers
Announcements: Submissions will close during the month of May, and we introduce our two newest slush readers: Amita and Katie! #TheMetaworker
Slush Readers, Interns, and Pushcart Prize Nominations
Introducing our new slush readers, intern, and Pushcart Prize nominees! @dannyjbrennan @coopd88 @mlmcguinness #TheMetaworker #ForgeFriday #PushcartPrize
Holiday Hiatus
Hey folks! It’s the editor-in-chief Matthew Maichen. This won’t be a long post. We’ve had a great 2022, and everything that we’ve published has been …
Profile: Jeremy Bock
Jeremy Bock is a West Virginia native and technologist currently expatting Bangkok with his wife and daughter. His novel, Caroline, is independently published and available …
Nominations and Internships
Hello folks! It’s Matthew. It’s been a while since I’ve made an announcement, I know. You may have noticed that we put Searching for The …
Call for Micro Pieces!
Short update for you all this Wednesday. The observant among us will have already noticed that something changed at our Submissions Guidelines. If you haven’t, …
A Bittersweet Goodbye
After six long years, and a lot of great memories, we’re saying goodbye to one of our editors, Darin Milanesio. He’s informed us that much …
2021 announcements!
…Even though it is still, technically, 2020! Hey all, sorry for shutting down as long as we did, but we had a boatload of submissions …
A few updates!
Hey all, you may have already seen it if you looked at our submission guidelines in the last…maybe ten minutes? But in the next month …
Meet Melissa Reynolds!
Hey everyone! We told you that we have big plans for this publication and here’s one of them. We took on an intern! For the …
Our Fifth Birthday!
Hello everyone! It’s Matthew. Happy birthday to us, I suppose. I just want to announce here that we have been around for HALF A DECADE!!! …
We’re back and on Patreon.
Thank you to everyone who continued to follow us during this hiatus, and thank you especially to those submitting to us. We’re back, and better …
“untitled” by Darin Milanesio
Life is supposed to be music But we are the notes not the listeners Maybe we are God’s music Chords being strummed on some cosmic …
“On Halloween” by Matthew Maichen
My earliest memories involve skeletons. I remember watching The Nightmare Before Christmas with the same vague fascination that grabbed the hearts of basic goth children …
June Hiatus – A Message from the Editor in Chief
I’ll start with what we most want you to hear: We’re still taking submissions. You’ll recall that a little over a year ago now, we …
“I Spit Dust” by Darin Milanesio
The fog was making whispering sounds It was rising up from the earth Like spirits from the past I spit dust from my mouth …
“Rocks” by Elena L. Perez
Obsidian, black, but when held up to light it is semi-transparent. Also known as Apache Tears. Roughly circular in shape, about half an inch by …
“TRUTH #4: The Face Behind the Mirror” by Matthew Maichen
I only ever wrote to be close to you. You didn’t exist. I knew that. But it didn’t matter when I could create words that …
“The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes” by Marina Shugrue
Every morning I look in the mirror and hope for a different reflection. The problem with makeup is that it doesn’t cover every scar. And …
Upcoming Changes
And The Metaworker is locked down through the end of 2016. Thank you to everyone who’s kept submitting, and especially to everyone who’s kept reading. …
Happy Birthday to The Metaworker!
Too bad there’s no internet cake. It’s a year later, and we didn’t think we’d last a year. Q: You didn’t? A: No. We really …
Our New Editor!
Hello! Matthew here with another announcement! And this is one I’ve been waiting for. Those of you who have been reading our about us will have …
And…We’re Back!
Well it’s about damn time, and here we are. We, at the Metaworker, hope you were impatiently waiting. Because we, at the Metaworker, were impatiently …
Interview with Your Editors
What sort of subjects/genres do you like to write about and why? MARINA: I’m a big proponent of mixing genres, so everything and anything is …
The Good Break – An Update from the Editor in Chief
Happy Leap Year, everyone. And I have an announcement for you all. I wanted to start with: I can’t believe we’re still a thing. Literary …
“On Writing” by Marina Shugrue
The reason I write is a simple one: I’ve always done it, and I can’t imagine living my life without writing. When I think about …
“Write” by Elena Lucia Perez
Sit up straight, feet flat, pen poised – ready? Now don’t think, just write what comes to mind. Don’t pick up your pen, just keep …
Beating a Dead Horse (Or Good Prose Writing) by Matthew Maichen
I want to address something that, in hindsight, should have been brought up before. We’ve posted a few editorials about the process of writing, but …
Hump Day Update from the Editor in Chief
Wait, it isn’t Monday! Yeah, well I’m about to drop some news on you suckas. It fits pretty solidly into the good news/bad news/okay news …
“How to become a Professional Writer (And Get Paid Too)” by Nicole Mormann
How to Become a Professional Writer (And Get Paid Too) It sounds like a headline too good to be true, right? Finding a good writing …
“4 AM Girl” By Matthew Maichen
She wanders through the streets past midnight. They assume it’s too dangerous for her. It isn’t because anyone who would harm her is asleep. She, …
“Steps” By Elena Lucia Perez
She looks at the ground, the sky, the trees; anywhere but her own heart. She must, at all costs, keep the poison from entering her …
“Battlegrounds” by Marina Shugrue
The needle pricks my skin and I gasp as I shake out my hand. A little speck of red blood lands on the grey flooring. …
“Bandile” by Darin Milanesio
Out by the creek behind our home, the moon and stars reflect off the water, and Bandile would often go out there. The trees were …
“The Last Time I Spoke to Penelope” by Matthew Maichen
She led me out of my house in the middle of the night. I went with her because she was moving away the next day, …
The Cycle of Writing by Nicole Mormann
The first time I tried to ride a two wheel bike, I remember my dad running alongside my six-year-old self as I swerved down the …
On Art – An Update from the Editor in Chief
Hey guys, happy hump day (or at least it was when I started this). I just wanted to take this opportunity to talk about art. …
Maichen Nation Here
Please never call me that. Why did I call myself that? As of now, there is no deadline for when we’re going to start publishing …
We’re Doing What Scares the Sh*t Out of Us and We Love It
No one ever said it would be easy being writers. Instead, we heard things like, “So what do you plan to do with your degree? …