The New Territory Magazine

“Listen Up: Behind the Mic of the Podcast RIVER TOWN" at the Big Muddy Speakers Series
2025-02-11 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Stephens Lake Reichmann Pavilion, Columbia, MO, United States
Warm up those ears! The co-producers of the River Town podcast will be presenting at the Big Muddy Speakers Series on Tuesday, February 11.
Billed as, “A Magical Disneyland Log Ride Down the Missouri River,” River Town is a podcast exploring how this mighty waterway shapes the people and places it flows through.
Join us for an evening with River Town producers, Janet Saidi and Tina Casagrand Foss, who will share clips from the podcast, stories from the making of the series, and its reception so far. They will also provide a preview of The New Territory Magazine‘s forthcoming feature of photos from river towns such as Jefferson City, Chamois, Glasgow, Rocheport, and Hermann.
Learn more on the Big Muddy Speakers Series web page.
RSVP on Facebook.
Event image by John Elizabeth Stintzi.

Missouri Women Who Write Winter Retreat
2025-02-22 09:00 - 13:00 | Serendipity Salon and Gallery, 1020 E Walnut St., Suite 100, Columbia, MO, 65201, United States
Join Missouri Women Who Write for a retreat at Serendipity Gallery in Columbia, Mo. on Feb. 22. The morning will have two writing talks, time to write, and then lunch. Tina Casagrand Foss, founder, publisher, and editor-in-chief of The New Territory magazine, will be leading the two sessions on the craft of writing. The focus of this half-day retreat aims to be useful, rejuvenating, and supportive for writers of all experience levels and all genres.

There are 30 seats available for this event; please register for your seat through this Google Forms link.

Issue 17 Launch Party
2025-05-22 17:00 - 20:00 | Abe & Jake’s Landing, 8 E 6th St,, Lawrence, KS, 66044, United States
Enjoy magazines, merch, merriment, books and other fun with The Raven, Friends of the Kaw, and The New Territory Magazine!
RSVP Here
Facebook Event
Program
Thursday, May 22, 2025
5:00 p.m. – Doors open, meet & greet with cash bar and snacks
6:00 p.m. – Welcome and introductions
6:10 p.m. – Readers: Haines Eason & Kelly Barth
6:45 p.m. – Program ends, mix & mingle until 8:00 p.m.
Food & Drink!

We’ll have a few cheeses, crackers, and cookies. GF, too!
Abe & Jake’s will provide a cash bar.

Learning & Merch

The New Territory will have a merchandise table.
So will Friends of the Kaw!
So will The Raven Book Store!

It’s like a teeny tiny festival.
Location
Abe & Jake’s Landing
8 E 6th St, Lawrence, KS 66044
Meet the Speakers

Haines Eason
Eason is the owner of startup media agency Freelance Kansas. He went into business for himself after a stint as a managing editor on the content marketing team at A Place for Mom. Among many other roles, he has worked as a communications professional at KU and as a journalist with work in places like The Guardian, Eater and KANSAS! Magazine. He lives in Lawrence, Kansas.

Kelly Barth
Barth has received fellowships from the Missouri Arts Council and the Kansas Arts Commission. Her work has been published in anthologies and literary journals. Her memoir, My Almost Certainly Real Imaginary Jesus, was published in 2012 by Arktoi Books, an imprint of Red Hen Press. It was a finalist for the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Non-Fiction and named one of the top ten spirituality books of 2012 by the American Library Association. Barth is the co-owner of the Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas, where she lives with her wife, landscape painter, Lisa Grossman.

Plein Air Micro Essay Writing with The Story Center
2025-05-31 10:00 - 16:00 | The Story Center, 8900 NE Flintlock Road, Kansas City, MO, 64157, United States
Join The New Territory magazine and The Story Center for a full-day intensive on the micro essay form, led by Michaella Thornton. Through a series of talks and guided writing prompts, participants will draw from the natural and cultural history of the Woodneath property to write an essay of 300 words or less and will end the day with a complete working draft. Please note that, weather permitting, part of this program will take place outside and will involve using a gravel trail.
Visit The Story Center website for more information and a link to register.

Issue 18 Launch Party
2025-10-25 15:00 - 17:00 | Boone County History & Culture Center, 3801 Ponderosa St., Columbia, MO, 65201, United States
Join The New Territory Magazine editors, contributors, and friends for an afternoon of talks and historic building tours! Speakers will include:

Jessica Vaughn Martin on her feature about the legacy of Annie Fisher, a turn-of-the-century Black culinary entrepreneur in Columbia, MO
Tim Carson, reading from his Here essay on the Katy Roundhouse in Franklin, MO
Kieron Walquist, reading from “Deer Season, Youth Firearms. You’re 13,” and other poems from their debut collection, OUR HANDS HOLD VIOLENCE.

Plus: surprise guests, tours of the Boone County Historical Society buildings, homemade biscuits, and more!
RSVP Here
Facebook event page
Program
Saturday, October 25, 2025
arrive early to explore Boone County History & Culture’s exhibit on printing history and the Mid Missouri Arts Alliance show in the Montminy Gallery
3:00 p.m. – Doors open, meet + greet, snacks!
3:00 – 3:45 p.m. – Maplewood house (Annie Fisher’s kitchen) tours, mix + mingle
4:00 p.m. – Readers: Kieron Walquist, Jessica Vaughn Martin, Tim Carson
4:30 p.m. – Program ends, mix and mingle until 5:00
Food & Drink!

We’ll have a few cheeses, crackers, and biscuits.

Buy some books!

The New Territory will have a merchandise table filled with Issue 18, back issues, tees, pins and more.
Yellowdog Bookshop will also have a table!
And Kieron’s new book will be for sale!

Meet our readers!
Kieron Walquist, Poet
Kieron Walquist [he/they] is a queer autistic poet + visual artist from mid-Missouri. He holds an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis + is currently a PhD candidate at University of Utah. Author of the chapbook LOVE LOCKS [Quarterly West, 2023], their other work is found in Best New Poets, The Missouri Review, Poet Lore, + Third Coast, + has been supported by the Fine Arts Work Center, Monson Arts, + Vermont Studio Center.
Kieron Walquist will read from “Deer Season, Youth Firearms. You’re 13,” and other poems from their debut collection, OUR HANDS HOLD VIOLENCE.

Jessica Vaughn Martin, journalist
Jessica Vaughn Martin is a writer, food journalist, and gastronomic enthusiast. Her writing centers around foodways, forgotten histories, and other mostly Midwestern motifs. She is a co-founder of Missouri Women Who Write, a writing retreat series for women, and Leftovers Community, a food media platform. She lives in Jefferson City, Missouri, with her young family in an old bungalow, where she’s running out of space for her growing collection of vintage Missouri cookbooks.
Jessica will be reading from her feature about the legacy of Annie Fisher, a turn-of-the-century Black culinary entrepreneur in Columbia, MO.

Tim Carson, essayist
After serving many years as a parish pastor, Tim now teaches in the Honors College of the University of Missouri. He specializes in the concept of Liminality, and for that he writes, edits, blogs and speaks. He lives a stone’s throw from the Missouri River in Rocheport.
Tim will read from his Here essay on the Katy Roundhouse in Franklin, MO.

Lingering Inland Book Launch Party
2025-12-13 15:00 - 17:00 | Wydown United Church, 6501 Wydown Blvd, St. Louis, MO, 63105, United States
Join us to celebrate Lingering Inland, an expansive anthology edited by Andy Oler. 73 original short essays explore locales in Midwestern literature relevant to the life and work of literary figures and canonical authors such as Toni Morrison, Willa Cather, and more. The program includes readings, live music, merch tables and merriment!
Details
Date and time: Saturday, December 13th, 3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Location: Wydown United Church, St. Louis Missouri
Program
3:00-3:30 – Book and merch sales, mingling & other merriment
3:30-3:40 – Welcome from Tina Casagrand Foss
3:40-3:45 – Live music: Confluence Wind Quintet, playing “Escape the Candy Factory”
3:45-3:55 – Welcome and intro from Andy Oler, editor of Lingering Inland
3:55-4:30 – Contributor Readings
4:40-5:00 – Book signing, further merriment, goodnight!
RSVP Here

Just in: LIVE MUSIC!

The group Confluence Wind Quintet, a brand new project affiliated with the Alliance Philharmonia Orchestra, will perform at the Lingering Inland showcase event. This will be the quintet’s first performance!

The piece is called “Escape the Candy Factory,” composed by Nathan Buckwalter of Fulton, Missouri. Mr. Buckwalter is a high school senior at Fulton High School, where he is part of the music program among several other extracurriculars and leadership positions. “Escape the Candy Factory” was entered into the 19th Annual Creating Original Music Project in 2024 (hosted by the Mizzou New Music Project) where it won 2nd place in its category. The quintet is thankful to Mr. Buckwalter for sharing his music with us to perform.

Meet our readers!

Marc Blanc
Marc Blanc is Assistant Professor of English at Saint Xavier University. His writing and research focus on working-class literary movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, especially those active in the American Midwest. A lifelong resident of the Rust Belt, the culture and politics of postindustrial cities directly inspire his work. His essays and articles have appeared in Jacobin, History News Network, Belt, College Literature, and The New Territory.

Devin Thomas O’Shea
Devin is the author of The Veiled Prophet, publishing with Haymarket Books in June 2026. His writing is in The Iowa Review, The Nation, Slate, LA Review of Books, Boulevard, and elsewhere. Represented by Erik Hane, Headwater Literary.

Leslie VonHolten
Leslie VonHolten writes about land and culture in the prairie and Great Plains regions. She is co-editor of the anthology Kansas Matters: 21st-Century Writers on the Sunflower State with Thomas Fox Averill (University Press of Kansas). Her essays have appeared in The New Territory, Literary Landscapes, The Dark Mountain Project, and on High Plains Public Radio. She lives in Lawrence with her husband Tim and their misbehaving dogs and garden.

Michaella Thornton
Michaella Thornton’s writing often explores levity, lust, and letting go. Her work has appeared in Brevity, Creative Nonfiction, Fractured Lit, HAD, Moon City Review, New South, The New Territory Magazine, Pithead Chapel, Reckon Review, Southeast Review, and trampset, among other fine publications. In recent years, her writing has also been nominated for Best of the Net, a Pushcart Prize, and Best Microfiction. She holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Arizona and lives in suburban St. Louis, Missouri with her daughter. She loves exploring what it means to be a writer born and raised in the lower Midwest. She is exceptionally grateful for the ongoing artist support of the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis. You can read more of Kella’s work at https://www.michaellathornton.com/ or find her on Bluesky @kellathornton.

Karen Dillon & Naomi Crummey
Karen Dillon has been teaching American literature and first-year writing at Blackburn College since 2011. During that time, she has published the book The Spectacle of Twins in American Literature and Popular Culture and co-edited and co-authored with her colleague Naomi Crummey the book The Wire in the College Classroom: Pedagogical Approaches in the Humanities and an essay for The New Territory Magazine. Currently, Karen serves as director of the college’s writing center.
Naomi Crummey earned her PhD in Non-Fiction Writing from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her essays have appeared in Prairie Fire, Kudzu House, and Grain. She has enjoyed collaborating with her colleague, Karen Dillon, on an essay published in The New Territory Magazine and a co-edited book, The Wire in the College Classroom: Pedagogical Approaches in the Humanities. She serves as Chair of English & Communications at Blackburn College.

Evan Allen Wood
Evan Allen Wood is a writer living in Columbia and the publisher of Missouri Life magazine. He writes essays, book reviews, and short fiction about people planting trees and losing their minds.

Jason Stacy
Jason Stacy is a Distinguished Research Professor of History and Director of the Social Science Education Program at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), specializing in U.S. print culture and historical pedagogy. His research includes the journalism of Walt Whitman leading up to the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass, explored in his book Walt Whitman’s Multitudes (2008), and a cultural analysis of Edgar Lee Masters’s work in Spoon River America: Edgar Lee Masters and the Myth of the American Small Town (2021). Stacy also serves as a Contributing Editor for The Walt Whitman Archive. Having earned his Ph.D. from Loyola University Chicago and previously taught public school history for ten years, he has also co-authored several U.S. history textbooks, including Fabric of a Nation (2020, 2024) and Documenting United States History (2015), designed for high school and Advanced Placement courses.

Marc Seals
Marc Seals is a professor of English at the Baraboo campus of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, where he teaches courses in American literature, composition, and film. He has published articles and book chapters on authors such as Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Chandler, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gwendolyn Brooks, Dashiell Hammett, and Zona Gale. A native of the Deep South, he has grown to love the Midwest.

Unbound Book Festival
2026-04-18 09:00 - 10:15 | Orr Street Studios, 106 Orr St, Columbia, MO, 65201, United States
Join us at the 11th annual Unbound Book Festival, a world-class gathering of national authors in the heart of Missouri. The New Territory will be welcoming some old friends in a special panel celebrating 10 years of publishing The Autobiography of the Lower Midwest!
Mark your calendars now!
panel description
A Decade of Writing the Lower Midwest (New Territory 10th Anniversary)
Big rivers, sweeping prairies, cities, towns, graveyards, homes, farms, fields, back roads and back woods: alumni from the pages of The New Territory magazine will take you on literary adventures to the Ozarks and Great Plains, and reflect on how writing influences a sense of self in an often overlooked region. If place-writing is your interest, you’ll locate a lot to love in this panel.
Panelists:
George Frazier, Riverine Dreams
Leslie VonHolten, Kansas Matters
Andy Oler, Lingering Inland
Kieron Walquist, Our Hands Hold Violence

Issue 19 Showcase
2026-07-03 16:00 - 18:30 | Boat Town Brewing, 214 W Commercial St, Lebanon, MO, 65536, United States
Join The New Territory Magazine editors, contributors, and friends for an afternoon of readings and fun in celebration of Issue 19! This showcase event is happening Friday, July 3rd at Boat Town Brewing in Lebanon, Missouri.
Please RSVP below so we can pull up a chair for you.
RSVP Here

Program
Friday, July 3rd, 2026
Arrive early to enjoy the 250th anniversary celebration in downtown Lebanon
“Free hot dogs, chips, and water will be served while supplies last. Civic clubs and local organizations will be handing out hot dogs. The America 250 Committee is aiming to serve 15,663 hot dogs — one for every person who calls Lebanon home.” Find even more detailed information here.
4:00 p.m. – Doors open, meet + greet! Check out merch and collaborator tables
5:00 p.m. – Readers: Amy De La Hunt, Dean Klinkenberg, Brooks Blevins
5:30 p.m. – Program ends, mix and mingle until 6:00
Food & Drink!

Order from the bar and pizza counter
We’ll have some cookies too!

Buy some books!

The New Territory will have a merchandise table filled with Issue 18, back issues, tees, pins and more.
Lebanon-Laclede County Library will have a table

Meet Our Readers
Amy De La Hunt
Amy De La Hunt is a journalist, writer and editor living in the St. Louis metro area, where she covers dining and restaurants for St. Louis Magazine. She also writes about community development, education, and entrepreneurship for a variety of clients and publications across the U.S. She frequently joins her two adult children for adventures as they explore their new home turf in Springfield, Missouri, and Olathe, Kansas.

Dean Klinkenberg
Dean Klinkenberg explores themes of place, identity, ambiguity, and the quiet tensions that linger beneath everyday lives through historical fiction, essays, guidebooks, and noir-inspired fiction. He draws inspiration from travel, especially the people and places he’s come to know along the Mississippi River, as well as from his prior professional experiences as a Clinical Psychologist. (In 2006, he was awarded the Theodore H. Blau Early Career Award for Outstanding Contribution to Professional Clinical Psychology.) He lives in St. Louis with his husband.

Brooks Blevins
Brooks Blevins is the Noel Boyd Professor of Ozarks Studies at Missouri State University in Springfield. A native of the Arkansas Ozarks, he holds a PhD in American History from Auburn University. Blevins is the author or editor of more than a dozen books, including Ghost of the Ozarks: Murder and Memory in the Upland South and the three-volume A History of the Ozarks. His podcast, The Old Ozarks, returns for a second season in July 2026.
