West Texas Literary Review is a national print literary journal, founded in 2016, that showcases the work of writers and photographers across the United States and the world. Its goal is simple: to provide a forum for artists who have something to say. We are looking for poems, flash fiction, essays, and photographs that are thoughtful, deliberate, and authentic. Beyond that, there are no strict requirements. All of our content comes from submissions, which we evaluate blindly based purely on aesthetic merit. We have published the work of many establsihed voices but we are just as thrilled to elevate first-time writers.
Starting in 2019, West Texas Literary Review will publish two issues annually (Spring and Fall) and will provide contributing artists with a free print copy. Additional copies, as well as back issues, are available at our online store. They are perfect-bound and professionally printed on high-quality paper.
Brandon Beck - Editor-in-Chief
Brandon Beck, the founder and editor-in-chief of West Texas Literary Review, lives in Lubbock, Texas. He writes poems, short stories, essays, and academic articles, which have appeared in Iron Horse Literary Review, Oddball Magazine, The Texas Tribune, Texas Tech Law Review, and South Texas Law Review. He has degrees from The University of Texas at Austin, Boston University, and Texas Tech University School of Law.
Matt Stefon - Poetry Editor
Matt Stefon is an editor and writer north of Boston. He is the author of the electronic chapbook The Long Contraction: Twelve Rejected Poems and the print chapbook Shaking the Wind (Finishing Line Press, 2017). His poems have appeared in such journals as Oddball Magazine and Coup D'Etat, and in the “poemfilms” that he uploads to his YouTube and Vid.Me channels.
Jennifer Beck - Essays Editor
Jennifer Beck resides in Lubbock, Texas where she maintains a blog on the power of daily life. She writes fiction and essays, and is currently working on her first novel. She holds a B.A. in English Literature from Georgia College & State University, and an M.S.S.W. from The University of Texas at Austin.
Joel Page - Fiction Editor
Joel Page’s fiction has appeared in The New Times, Word Machine Magazine, and a Solarcide anthology. His nonfiction has been performed at oralfixationshow.com. He admires the prose of Borges, Katie Chase, Ellison, Anne Valenti, Orwell, Wallace, Roy, and whomever wrote Genesis, but will read with an open mind.
Helen Liggett - Reader
Helen lives and reads in Lubbock, Texas. She is a human, friend, wife, mother, lawyer, daughter, sister. “26 years in criminal law, both prosecuting and defending, has taught me that life is just a series of stories. I want to read them all.”
Chhunny Chhean - Reader
Chhunny studied creative writing, philosophy, and law in California. Now in Texas, she works in local government and reads and writes in her spare time.