TOUGH POETS REVIEW
ISSUE 01 / FALL 2025
$20.00
Tough Poets Review 01
Edited by Kathleen Cullen & Rick Schober
October 15, 2025
ISBN 9798218776558 Paperback / 188 pages / $20.00
"Tough Poets Review is revolting—in the best sense of that word. The writers, artists, and thinkers in this debut issue are rebels to their core. Their work is alternately funny, smart, unpredictable, and startlingly honest. Think of this as the antidote to the AI-curated echo chamber of nonsense at the heart of a civilization on life support. In a future (better) world, this will be a long-lived journal."
— Alan Bisbort, editor of PleaseKillMe.com; author of Hip, Bohemian, and Counterculture: History and Legacies from 1830 to the Present
"Tough Poets Review is wild. It's cool, nerdy, committed, rich with DIY lineages—an impressive labor of love on the part of its editors, whose curatorial skills shine through in this cultural cornucopia. I came for the poetry but stayed for the conversations, the stories, the photographs, and the quietly powerful synergies that animate the issue. I hope Tough Poets Review will run and run . . ."
— Dr. Rona Cran, Associate Professor in Twentieth-Century American Literature at the University of Birmingham; author of Collage in Twentieth-Century Art, Literature, and Culture: Joseph Cornell, William Burroughs, Frank O’Hara, and Bob Dylan
Featured pieces in our inaugural issue include new stories by critically acclaimed debut novelists John Tottenham (Service) and Nini Berndt (There Are Reasons for This), a photo essay by the international performance artist Marcher Arrant, as well as interviews with novelist, playwright, screenwriter, nonfiction writer, and AIDS historian Sarah Schulman (The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity), Reclaim NYC activists and poet-artists HOMESICK and Damian Bielak, and writer Alejandro Heredia, author of the highly praised debut novel Loca.
Additional contributors:
Kali Abel, David Anderson, Finn Brown, Marsha Burger, Peyton Burgess, June Chua, Maureen Clark, Marvin Cohen, Holly Coleman, Richard Collins, Joseph Cooper, Emily Coppella, Will Cordeiro, Megan Davis, Charles Day, Sarah Rose de Souza, Jaydn DeWald, Brian Engles, Corwin Ericson, Rachel Desiree Felix, Nicholas Fillmore, Jefferson Fortner, Barry Foy, Justin Gradin, Samina Hadi-Tabassum, Erin Heney, Juleigh Howard-Hobson, Colin James, Robert Kinerk, Aaron Lelito, LindaAnn LoSchiavo, Vanessa Matic, Maisie May, Bruce McRae, Elinor Nauen, Martina Reisz Newberry, Per Olvmyr, Magdalen Papa, Larry Parker, Marie-Louise Plum, David Preizler, David Salner, Neal Allen Shipley, Mark Simpson, Abhishek Kumar Singh, J. D. Smith, Willow Sommer, Amy Soricelli, Johnny Stanton, Aden Thomas, Kevin Tosca, Edwin Vásquez, Wendy Walker, and Omar Zefier
Read our contributors' bios here.MISSION STATEMENT
Tough Poets Review is a biannual print journal featuring the work of critically engaged writers and artists. We publish irreverent work with the aim of generating conversations that go beyond exposition and instruction. Tough Poets believes this approach can be applied to our collective experience to confront the world with defiant optimism.
FOUNDING DONORS
Brian R. Boisvert
Scott Chiddister
Maureen Crowley Heil
Dave Holets
Anonymous
We are grateful for the pioneering spirit and support of our founding donors, whose generosity helped bring Tough Poets Review into existence. Their belief in our vision made our launch possible.
We invite you to join them in helping us to continue to fulfill our mission by making a donation here: buymeacoffee.com/toughpoets
SUBMISSIONS
Submissions of previously unpublished works are always free and open year-round.
We provide contributor's copies and a $5 payment to writers and artists whose work is accepted.
We accept simultaneous submissions. However, please send us a note if your work is picked up elsewhere.
Prose should be limited to 7,500 words. Poetry should be limited to five poems, no more than ten pages in total. Visual art and photography should be in black and white, no larger than 6″ × 9″, and with a resolution of 300 dpi. If submitting multiple pieces of written work, please combine them into a single document.
Cover letters are optional, but you are encouraged to introduce yourself and share any previous publication info.
All pieces should be submitted as email attachments to submissions@toughpoets.com
You will retain the copyright for any work submitted. If your work is accepted, you will agree to grant us the non-exclusive right of first publication to the piece(s). We will make no changes or alterations to the work without your permission.
Please allow up to twelve weeks for a response.
We look forward to receiving your work.
SHIPPING INFO
We currently accept orders through this website from buyers with U.S. addresses only. Buyers outside of the U.S. can email info@toughpoets.com to determine shipping costs to their destination. We charge a flat rate of $4.00 for U.S. shipping on orders less than $50.00. Shipping is free for all orders of $50.00 or more. Sales tax is included. Please allow up to two weeks for delivery.
ABOUT TOUGH POETS REVIEW
Tough Poets Review, a labor-of-love publishing project that had been on the back burner for almost 10 years, finally became a reality in April 2025, following a series of conversations between soon-to-be collaborators and co-editors Rick Schober and Kathleen Cullen, both seeking a meaningful creative endeavor that would foster a communal effort. Our objective was to create a literary magazine showcasing quality, contemporary writing and visual art from contributors around the globe who enlighten and entertain through their honest exploration of social issues. We are committed to remaining a print-only publication, never charging submission fees, and always paying our contributors.
Copyright © 2015–2025 by Tough Poets Press