Bellevue Literary Review

Daniel Greenhalgh

The Bellevue Literary Review is published twice a year in the Fall and Spring by the Department of Medicine at New York University Lancone Medical Center. The Bellevue Medical Center is the oldest public hospital in the U.S. and their literary journal has been published since 2001. The BLR specializes in poetry and prose that discovers the human experience that can be found only through the lenses of illness, health and healing. All published pieces reflect this sensibility and although such a specialization seems rather narrowly focused, the poetry and prose published is quite beautiful.

The editors prefer prose and poetry that appeals naturally and easily to a broad audience. Interested writers should consider this when preparing a piece for submission to the journal. They prefer the pieces they publish to be readable and clear to broad, non-technical or overly-literary readers. The editors believe that health and illness are aspects of humanity to which all can relate and so they strive to publish work that reflects this point of view. Due to the subject matter, issues can sometimes be weighed down by the tragedy of early death and/or a hopeless affliction, however, generally the editors try to emphasize works where tragedy gives way to hope.
The BLR accepts unsolicited manuscripts all year ling except for August and September. They allow simultaneous submissions but will only consider previously unpublished work. They only require the rights to first publication, after that rights revert back to the author, but they request acknowledgement in any further publications. They do offer prizes for outstanding poetry, fiction and non-fiction related to their primary themes through their annual contest which runs from February through June, but payment for accepted work occurs only in the form of two copies of the issue the work appears in and a year’s subscription.

Although Bellevue Literary Review is a relatively small journal, several writers who have had work published in BLR have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, which celebrate small press literary work. Other writers published in BLR have gone on to publish complete books in both fiction and poetry.

Submission guidelines request that prose be limited to 5000 words and only three poems at a time. Poems should be submitted in a single document. They try to have several readers consider each submission for possible inclusion and sometimes it can take a while to hear back from them. However, they encourage you to follow up if you have not heard back for six months. Submissions are only accepted electronically and can be submitted through a link on the website. (http://blr.med.nyu.edu/)

The following poem by Nancy Naomi Carlson was published in the Fall 2009 issue which can also be viewed < href="”http://blr.med.nyu.edu/content/archive/2009”">here.

What Bears Your Name

by Nancy Naomi Carlson

for Matthew, who lived 13 1⁄2 hours

In Haifa an old cypress bears your name—
planted from seed to honor your one day

of life—above a bay I’ve never seen,
no doubt blue as your room, your layette sheets.

No way to hold back deserts. Miles and miles
away, still they invade our walled-in heights,

our measured roads, our album faces pressed
and saved. I should have named you Redwood, made

to last the wear of centuries, each growth
ring a celebration of your birth.

Or Air—fickle, but true. This atom raised
in hand or floating through me like a wraith,

might have brushed an ancient olive crest
or tamarisk, or blushed you pink with breath.