Artful Dodge Overview:
Artful Dodge was conceived in 1979 by poet Daniel Bourne, who was working at the time in a rare book library in Bloomington, Indiana. After several years spent "rubbing shoulders" with historical examples of literary activity, he decided to launch a journal himself. The first issue was a humble one, printed with a Xerox machine and filled out with work by Bourne and his colleagues. However, production values quickly improved, and
Artful Dodge has since published work by acclaimed writers such as W. S. Burroughs, John Kinsella, Lynne Sharon Schwartz, and
Marlys West. Their subscriber list is 1,100 and growing.
With Apologies to Dickens:
Naming for Dickens' most skillful pickpocket,
Artful Dodge was well-armed for the hardscrabble existence of a literary journal. "In the early days we especially had to live off the
land in terms of creative financing and publishing," Bourne explains, "and even after we came to Ohio and The College of Wooster, we've continued to live up to our name because of our frequent need to think outside the box." A "
forged letter" from Dickens, wishing them "sincerity and playful fortitude" and urging them to find a "better process of printing" still lives on their site.
What They're Looking For:
Artful Dodge lists "sense of place" as among the most important qualities of the fiction and poetry that they accept. They write: "The work we print shows awareness of the cultural landscape out of which it comes, the words and deeds of the people, the language of the bus stop and bar." Yet those bus stops and bars are located around the globe: works in translation populate many of the pages of the journal and are welcome submissions.
Writing Sample from "Cold Voice" by Margaret Hutton:
"She lay with her head pressed against the prickly fibers of her well-worn carpet. In her mind she was hundreds of miles away, standing over a stove in a different house, one in which she hadn't been for years. She was tired, and her slightest movement felt weighted and confused. Then, seeing the halved and quartered sleeping pills, their yellow residue swirled and dotted on the counter, and hearing her baby, Justin, who lay shrieking in his bassinet in the next room, she remembered why."
Submit to Artful Dodge:
Artful Dodge accepts submissions from September to April. They take about 1% of the submissions they receive. Send up to six pages of poetry or thirty pages of prose to Artful Dodge, Department of English, The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio 44691, along with an SASE. Artful Dodge does accept simultaneous submissions as long as they're immediately notified if the work is accepted elsewhere. Allow one week to six months for response. They pay $5.00 per printed page, plus copies.
More Advice from the Editors:
"Above all, read Artful Dodge to get an idea of what we print. And, after you've taken a look at the world around you, at the words surrounding you, take a deep breath and send us your work."
For general information on submitting work, see "How to Publish Short Stories." You may also read about other literary journals.
