Welcome to The Citron Review. We publish new issues four times each year—in the spring, summer, fall, and winter—so check back every now and then to find some great new literature to enjoy. And if you can’t wait for the new, take a look at the old—our archive of previous issues.

Our Journal

The Citron Review started back in 2009 when a group of writers decided to create a literary venue that celebrates short literature. These writers had all graduated from the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program at Antioch University in Los Angeles, where they were collectively known as The Citrons. 

In each issue of the journal, you can experience the larger world through very small, focused lenses—fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction in small, economical packages. The essays and poems and stories in The Citron Review land all along the spectrum of human experience. They do what literature does best—tell us what it’s like to be human in new and different ways. We hope to include all of the possibilities that entails within this journal.

What We Publish

We publish short poetry, flash fiction, micro fiction, and flash creative nonfiction. The Citron Review doesn’t have a particular aesthetic, nor does it have a theme, though we have published a themed issue, and we may publish more of them in the future. Generally, we’re looking for pretty much anything that fits within our guidelines. It can be traditional or experimental. For you writers out there, please visit our submissions page to find out about our guidelines and to send us your work.

Who We Are

The Citron Review exists because a group of people put their time and money and passion and expertise into it. We are that group. We are the “we” you see on this website, and we are the folks who create this journal anew every quarter.

We do this not because it’s a lucrative enterprise (we don’t make any money from The Citron Review, as a matter of fact), but because each of us owes a lot to literature, and because we all believe profoundly in the power that it has to bring people together and to enrich human lives. You can read more about each of us below.

Editor-in-Chief I Poetry Editor
Angela M. Brommel is a Nevada writer with Iowa roots, and former Clark County Poet Laureate. She is the author of two books, Mojave in July and Plutonium & Platinum Blonde. Her poetry has been published in the North American Review, The Best American Poetry blog, The Literary Review’s (TLR) Share, and many other journals and anthologies. For more, visit angelambrommel.com

Online Editor I Micros Editor
JR Walsh was born in Syracuse, NY. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from Boise State University. He teaches poetry and fiction at SUNY Oswego. His writing is in beloved publications such as New World Writing, Litro, Juked, The Greensboro Review, HAD, FRiGG, Hong Kong Review, Flash Frontier, Blink-Ink, Bull, Taco Bell Quarterly, Fractured Literary, and Esquire. For more, visit itsjrwalsh.com.

Creative Nonfiction Editor
Ronit Plank is a Seattle-based writer, teacher, and editor whose work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Writer’s Digest, The Rumpus, American Literary Review, Hippocampus, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir, When She Comes Back, about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, the Best of the Net, and the Best Microfiction Anthology, and her short story collection Home Is a Made-Up Place won Hidden River Arts’ Eludia Award. Her weekly podcast Let’s Talk Memoir features interviews with memoirists about craft, the creative process, and the writing life and is available on Apple, Spotify, and at ronitplank.com.

Flash Fiction Editor
Elizabeth De Arcos lives in Arizona with her husband and three young boys. She has an MFA in Creative Writing with an emphasis in Fiction from Antioch University Los Angeles, and a BA in Secondary English Teaching from Grand Canyon University. Previously, she worked as a high school English teacher for ten years.

Micros Editor
Marcena Hooks was born and raised in Oklahoma City, and now resides in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. She earned a BA in Broadcast Journalism from Langston University, and her MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University. You can find her work as a contributing author in the following anthologies: The Motherhood Diaries, The Motherhood Diaries 2, and The Dating Game.

Flash Fiction Guest Editor
Carolyn Abram is a writer, teacher, and editor based out of Seattle. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications, including The Under Review, Scary Mommy, Lit-Sea, Bellevue Literary Review, Lilith, and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. She is also the author of eight editions of Facebook for Dummies. She currently teaches classes at Seattle’s Hugo House and is searching for representation for her novel. Get in touch or find out more: carolynabram.com

Creative Nonfiction Guest Reader
Lisa K. Buchanan (lisakbuchanan.com) lives in San Francisco. Her writings can be found in Bending Genres, The Brevity Blog, The Citron Review, The Ekphrastic Review, and New Ohio Review. Notable, Best American Essays 2023; First Place, Short Fiction Prize, CRAFT, 2022.

Founding Editors: Antonia Crane, Aaron D. Gansky, Trish Fallin, Judy Sunderland

Former Editors: Amye Archer, Jennifer Ettelson Besmehn, Marianne Woods Cirrone, Hedwika Cox, Jeff Edwards, Nathan R. Elliott, Charlotte Hamrick, Zach Jacobs, Levi Jessup, Heather Luby, Erica Moody, Jacqui Morton, Liza Olson, Lee Stoops, Eric Steineger.