About
Stymie is an online literary magazine, notioned in 2006, plotted in 2007, and officially founded in 2008. We kicked tail and took names for six years before closing in 2014. Then far too many years later, late one night, in the middle of a pandemic, we decided, "Eh, what the hell? Stymie is open for submissions and we want to see your best stuff!" If you're not familiar with our aesthetic, we are focused on sport (and games) in literature, be it through fiction or nonfiction.
We love the sport themed work published at places Hobart and The Southern Review (and more recently the Under Review and Cartridge Lit) or the serious sports writing that has historically taken place at the likes of The Classical and Grantland (may ye both rest in peace) - basically, we enjoy great writing.
We were ecstatic when we finally had a chance to publish an essay on 1986's Double Dribble for the NES. We miss Tecmo Bowl, though we believe Joe Montana's NFL had superior gameplay, and we believe in our heart of hearts that Wiffle Ball should be a professional sport.
We're partial to smart prose, quirky stories, engaging words, you know - the usual. Please take a moment to check out our archived issues or previously published web content for a better feel of what we like.
Occasionally, Stymie gets mentioned outside the confines of our own website, some examples include: The Classical, The Writer magazine, ESPN The Magazine, and we've been fortunate to publish writers and words recognized by Best American Sports Writing.
Editorial Staff:
Erik Smetana, founding editor & publisher
Editors Emerita include:
Billy Jones, lead editor
Jeanie Chung, fiction editor
Danny Goodman, social media editor
Kari Nguyen, nonfiction editor
Julie Webb, fiction editor
Brett Elizabeth Jenkins, poetry editor
Matt Ferrence, managing editor
Casey Clabough, contributing editor
Margaret LaFleur, social media editor
Nickolas Butler, poetry editor
Courtney Davison, poetry editor
Sara Lippmann, nonfiction editor
Shane Solar-Doherty, social media editor
Amandine Abraham, poetry editor
Todd Banks, senior editor
April Miller, editor
Kristi Stokes, poetry editor
We love the sport themed work published at places Hobart and The Southern Review (and more recently the Under Review and Cartridge Lit) or the serious sports writing that has historically taken place at the likes of The Classical and Grantland (may ye both rest in peace) - basically, we enjoy great writing.
We were ecstatic when we finally had a chance to publish an essay on 1986's Double Dribble for the NES. We miss Tecmo Bowl, though we believe Joe Montana's NFL had superior gameplay, and we believe in our heart of hearts that Wiffle Ball should be a professional sport.
We're partial to smart prose, quirky stories, engaging words, you know - the usual. Please take a moment to check out our archived issues or previously published web content for a better feel of what we like.
Occasionally, Stymie gets mentioned outside the confines of our own website, some examples include: The Classical, The Writer magazine, ESPN The Magazine, and we've been fortunate to publish writers and words recognized by Best American Sports Writing.
Editorial Staff:
Erik Smetana, founding editor & publisher
Editors Emerita include:
Billy Jones, lead editor
Jeanie Chung, fiction editor
Danny Goodman, social media editor
Kari Nguyen, nonfiction editor
Julie Webb, fiction editor
Brett Elizabeth Jenkins, poetry editor
Matt Ferrence, managing editor
Casey Clabough, contributing editor
Margaret LaFleur, social media editor
Nickolas Butler, poetry editor
Courtney Davison, poetry editor
Sara Lippmann, nonfiction editor
Shane Solar-Doherty, social media editor
Amandine Abraham, poetry editor
Todd Banks, senior editor
April Miller, editor
Kristi Stokes, poetry editor
