Northwind is a literary quarterly published by Chain Bridge Press available online and via Kindle and edited by Tom Howard (Managing Editor) and Abbe Steel (Editor).Tom Howard commented on the motivation to start a new literary magazine: "I guess because a world full of stories is a richer kind of world. And there's something exhilarating about not only finding stories and poems that deserve an audience, but finding that audience as well. It's a challenge and a responsibility. We also happen to think that there's still a great demand for affecting and provocative stories and poetry, maybe a greater demand than ever. With the advent of mobile devices and e-readers, literature is so much easier to discover, and somewhere out there, there is a vast untapped audience of casual, intelligent readers who wouldn't have known how or where to buy a literary magazine even ten years ago. So we're in the business of discovery, in every way."
Readers who discover Northwind, as Howard says, can expect to find "A blend of realism, surrealism, humor, melancholy, the future and the past, great characters, sharp dialogue, unguarded and unsentimental poetry, and sustained, lyrical writing. And an occasional ghost or talking chimp."
The first issue of Northwind includes fiction by Christie VanLaningham, Malcolm Dixon, Miles Klee, L.E. Sullivan, Tom Johns, Amanda Bales, Michael Trudeau, Stephen Baily, and Robert Cormack; poetry by Carl James Grindley, Kenneth Pobo, Marydale Stewart, Mark Jackley, Steve Klepetar, Laura Kathryn McRae, June Sylvester Saraceno, André Demers, Madeline Schwartz, Robert S. King, Michael Alpiner, Sarah Landenwich, Mark Harrison, William Doreski, Courtney Taylor, Christopher Dungey, and James Hudson.
Looking forward, the goals for Northwind over the next year include expanding to different mobile/e-reader formats which will help continue the publication's effort to build on the idea of a community of readers and authors who can engage with each other easily. "That means taking advantage of social media," Howard says, "and making the website more personal and familiar for our readers and authors alike."
The other major goal for Northwind is to expand content to include regular weekly essays and blogs covering a wide spectrum of cultural topics, "something along the lines of The Morning News or the Slate culture section. This wouldn't replace the current magazine content, but instead would exist alongside it, and hopefully would bring a new and diverse group of readers to the site."
Northwind accepts submissions through its online submission form only. All genres are considered, although the editors prefer cross-genre and mainstream-accessible works over anything genre-specific. (In other words, well-written magical realism over fantasy or sci-fi.) Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but writers are asked to limit their submissions to one at a time in each submission category, although up to five poems may be submitted at one time. No themed issues are planned yet, but that may change - writers should always check out the publication's submission guidelines page for the most up-to-date information.