Submission Sunday 4.21.19

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

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PEN America Writing for Justice Fellowship (Deadline May 15) 

PEN America’s Writing for Justice Fellowship will commission six writers—emerging or established—to create written works of lasting merit that illuminate critical issues related to mass incarceration and catalyze public debate.

The PEN America Writing for Justice Fellowship aims to harness the power of writers and writing in bearing witness to the societal consequences of mass incarceration by capturing and sharing the stories of incarcerated individuals, their families, communities, and the wider impact of the criminal justice system. Our goal is to ignite a broad, sustained conversation about the dangers of over-incarceration and the imperative to mobilize behind rational and humane policies. As an organization of writers dedicated to promoting free expression and informed discourse, PEN America is honored to have been entrusted by the Art for Justice Fund to engage the literary community in addressing this pressing societal issue.

F(r)iction Call for Submissions

F(r)iction is the imprint of the international literacy nonprofit Brink Literacy Project. At the heart of our mission to increase literacy rates and engagement with storytelling, F(r)iction draws together the best works from our education programs and submissions.

For our print magazine, we accept short fiction, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and comics—regardless of genre, style, or origin. Experimental, nontraditional, and boundary-pushing literature is strongly encouraged. Show us your wildest and weirdest! To get an idea of the kind of work we look for, we strongly encourage you to check out a past issue of F(r)iction, available in our shop. On our blog, we look to feature underrepresented voices and view points, with writing that challenges the norm and eschews the commonplace. Additionally, we want to be a home for webcomics that explore issues both universal and extraordinary.

New Letters Conger Beasley Jr. Award for Nonfiction, Patricia Cleary Miller Award for Poetry, and Robert Day Award for Fiction (Deadline May 20 – $2500)

The mission of New Letters magazine, its radio companion, New Letters on the Air, and BkMk Press, is to discover, publish and promote the best and most exciting literary writing, wherever it might be found. We publish and serve readers and writers worldwide. In recent years, New Letters has won a National Magazine Award, the industry's highest honor, plus multiple Pushcart Prizes, and is reprinted often in Best American anthologies.

The first New Letters Literary Awards competition was held in 1986. Its purpose was to discover, encourage, reward, and publish fresh, new material from aspiring and accomplished writers. In the first year of the competition, over 1,600 entries arrived from established and emerging writers across the country and around the world. Today, the contest remains one of the most influential and has become a model for similar competitions sponsored by various literary organizations. Each year, hundreds of entries from writers from all over the globe receive professional, anonymous judging from a distinguished panel. The best entries are then featured in the special awards issue of New Letters. Due to its continued commitment to anonymity and fairness, the New Letters Literary Awards has become one of the most respected literary contests in the country.

Hinterland Call for Submissions

Hinterland is a new quarterly, print and digital magazine, based out of the University of East Anglia, dedicated to creative non-fiction.

Hinterland offers an answer to the question ‘what is creative non-fiction?’ by showcasing the best new writing across the fields of memoir, essay, travel and food writing, reportage, psychoscape, biography, flash non-fiction and more. Our pages bring together work by established, award-winning authors alongside new writers, many of whom we are thrilled to publish for the first time and whose work, we promise, will merit your full attention. Often, the pieces you’ll find in Hinterland will straddle the boundaries between strands and be difficult to classify: we see this as a strength. Hinterland intends to challenge, move, entertain and, above all, be a fantastic read.

BOMB’s Biennial Fiction Contest (Deadline May 5 – $1000)

Each year BOMB hosts a literary contest to recognize the talents of an emerging writer, selected by a distinguished guest judge in the field. This year’s winner will receive a $1,000 prize and publication in BOMB’s literary supplement, First Proof. We are pleased to announce that this year’s fiction contest will be judged by writer and artist Renee Gladman.

BOMB Magazine has been publishing conversations between artists of all disciplines since 1981. BOMB’s founders—New York City artists and writers—decided to publish dialogues that reflected the way practitioners spoke about their work among themselves. Today, BOMB is a nonprofit, multi-platform publishing house that creates, disseminates, and preserves artist-generated content from interviews to artists’ essays to new literature. BOMB includes a quarterly print magazine, a daily online publication, and a digital archive of its previously published content from 1981 onward.

The Offing Call for Submissions

The Offing is an online literary magazine publishing creative writing in all genres and art in all media. The Offing publishes work that challenges, experiments, provokes—work that pushes literary and artistic forms and conventions. The Offing is a place for new and emerging writers to test their voices, and for established writers to test their limits. The Offing actively seeks out and supports work by and about those often marginalized in literary spaces, including Black and Indigenous people, and people of color; trans people, cis women, agender, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, two-spirit, and non-binary people; intersex people; LGBQA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, asexual/aromantic) people; people with disabilities; and especially people living at the intersections of these identities. The Offing believes that writers and artists deserve to be compensated for their work, and we pay our contributors.

Boulevard Poetry Contest for Emerging Poets (Deadline June 1 – $1000)

$1,000 and publication awarded for the winning group of three poems by a poet who has not yet published a book of poetry with a nationally distributed press. Boulevard was founded in 1984 in New York City and incorporated in 1985 as a nonprofit by writer Richard Burgin. Its first issue, published January 2, 1986, featured fiction by Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer, poetry by Kenneth Koch, and interviews with renowned composers Philip Glass and Steve Reich and an essay on John Dos Passos and the Soviet Cinema. By its third issue in 1987, Boulevard had attained national bookstore distribution, which continues into the present.

Boulevard has published works by generations of important writers and critics, including John Ashbery, Ann Beattie, Billy Collins, Mark Doty, Jennifer Egan, Donald Hall, Alice Hoffman, David Mamet, Joyce Carol Oates, Carl Phillips, Francine Prose, Gerald Stern, Mark Strand, and others. Poet laureate Daniel Hoffman has called Boulevard “One of the half-dozen best literary journals.”

HippoCamp: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction Writers 2019 Scholarships (Deadline May 1)

HippoCamp, now in its fifth year, is a production of Hippocampus Magazine and Books LLC. This summer writing conference in PA is dedicated to creative nonfiction—the craft and the community! Hippocampus Magazine is awarding four full scholarships to HippoCamp 2019. One will definitely be awarded to a full-time undergraduate student, one will be awarded to a full-time graduate student, and for the other two student status does not matter. For this scholarship competition, we’ll consider quality of writing, financial need, and ambition, so we’re looking for a writing sample and some additional information.

Upcoming Deadlines   
  
DIAGRAM/New Michigan Press Chapbook Contest (Deadline April 26 – $1000)
CRAFT Short Fiction Prize (Deadline April 30 – $2000)
Redivider Beacon Street Prize (Deadline April 30 – $1000)
Blood Orange Review Inaugural Literary Contest (Deadline April 30 – $500)
Waxwing Call for Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Dorothy Call for Manuscript Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Catapult/Soft Skull Tiny Nightmares Call for Anthology Submissions (Deadline May 1 – $100)
HippoCamp: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction Writers 2019 Scholarships (Deadline May 1)
BOMB’s Biennial Fiction Contest (Deadline May 5 – $1000)
PEN America Writing for Justice Fellowship (Deadline May 15)
New Letters Conger Beasley Jr. Award for Nonfiction, Patricia Cleary Miller Award for Poetry, and Robert Day Award for Fiction (Deadline May 20 – $2500)
Contrary Magazine Call for Submissions (Deadline June 1)
Boulevard Poetry Contest for Emerging Poets (Deadline June 1 – $1000)
The Wax Paper Call for Submissions (Deadline June 30)

Submission Sunday 4.7.19

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

If you would like to receive the Submission Sunday list by email every other Sunday, please sign up for the WWLA newsletter.

A Public Space Call for Submissions (Deadline April 15)

A Public Space is an independent nonprofit publisher of an eponymous award-winning literary, arts, and culture magazine, and A Public Space Books. Under the direction of founding editor Brigid Hughes since 2006, it has been our mission to seek out overlooked and unclassifiable work, and to publish writing from beyond established confines. A Public Space offers three fellowships annually to fiction and nonfiction writers who have not yet published a book-length work. Fellows are selected through an open application each fall.

The 2019 Gulf Coast Prizes (Deadline April 15 – $1500)

Judges: Garth Greenwell, Leslie Jamison, Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Entries for Gulf Coast Prizes in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry are accepted annually between March 1 and May 1. The contest awards $1,500 and publication in Gulf Coast to the winner in each genre. Two honorable mentions in each genre are awarded $250. All entries are considered for publication and the entry fee includes a one-year subscription to Gulf Coast.

Begun by Donald Barthelme and Phillip Lopate, Gulf Coast is the nationally-distributed journal housed within the University of Houston's English Department, home to one of the US's top ranked creative writing programs. We seek to promote and publish quality literature in our local and national communities while simultaneously teaching excellence in literary publishing to graduate and undergraduate students. While we are committed to providing a balanced combination of literary approaches and voices, all of the editorial positions are two-year terms, thus ensuring a regular turnover in the specific personality and style of the journal. In addition, Gulf Coast differs from many other literary journals in its commitment to exploring visual art and critical art writing. The journal has always featured portfolios by two artists, along with short introductions from critics familiar with their work.

Brevity Call for Submissions

Brevity publishes well-known and emerging writers working in the extremely brief (750 words or less) essay form. We have featured work from two Pulitzer prize finalists, many NEA fellows, Pushcart winners, Best American authors, and writers from India, Egypt, Ireland, Spain, Malaysia, Qatar, and Japan. We have also featured numerous previously-unpublished authors, and take a special joy in helping to launch a new literary career. Over the past year Brevity has averaged 10,000 unique visitors per month. Authors are paid a $45 honorarium for featured essays and craft essays. We are not currently able to pay for book reviews.

Cosmonauts Avenue 2019 Nonfiction Prize (Deadline April 15 – $500)

JUDGE: Esmé Weijun Wang

Cosmonauts Avenue is an online, monthly literary journal run by women and non-binary folks dedicated to elevating and amplifying underrepresented voices. We publish fiction, poetry, nonfiction, interviews, and more, from writers around the world, in English and in translation. Submissions are free and always will be. This is one way we hope to remain accessible to all writers, whether new or emerging or established.

We are committed to providing a platform for folks who are marginalized in the literary community, including but not limited to people of color, ciswomen, trans men and women, nonbinary people, members of the LGBTQIA community, and people with disabilities. We want to elevate underrepresented voices and include a wide range of identities and experiences. We want work that pays careful attention to craft while remaining urgent and surprising. As Beyoncé might say, we want your most flawless work. We can’t wait to read it. We believe in you.

The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review Call for Submissions

The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review was founded in 2010 as an online and print literary and arts journal. We take our title from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and include the full archives of our predecessor Moon Milk Review. Our aesthetic is eclectic, literary mainstream to experimental. We appreciate fusion forms including magical realist, surrealist, meta- realist and realist works with an offbeat spin. We value character-focused storytelling and language and welcome both edge and mainstream with punch aesthetics. We like humor that explores the gritty realities of world and human experiences. Our issues include original content from both emerging and established writers, poets, artists and comedians such as authors, Rick Moody, Cris Mazza, Steve Almond, Stephen Dixon, poets, Moira Egan and David Wagoner and actor/comedian, Zach Galifianakis.

Currently, Eckleburg runs online, daily content of original fiction, poetry, nonfiction, translations, and more with featured artwork—visual and intermedia—from our Gallery. We run annual print issues, the Eckleburg Reading Series (DC, Baltimore and New York), as well as, the annual Gertrude Stein Award in Fiction, first prize $1000 and print publication, guest-judged by award-winning authors such as Rick Moody and Cris Mazza.

The Florida Review Annual Editors' Awards (Deadline April 15 – $1000)

The Florida Review publishes exciting new work from around the world from writers both emerging and well known. We are not Florida-exclusive, though we acknowledge having a jungle mentality and a preference for grit, and we have provided and continue to offer a home for many Florida writers. We have been in more or less continuous semi-annual print publication since 1975 and in 2017 added a new literary supplement in Aquifer: The Florida Review Online, which features new literary works on a weekly basis, as well as author interviews, book reviews, digital storytelling, visual arts, and short film.

Each year between January 1 and April 15, we accept submissions to our three Editors’ Awards contests in Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry. Each winner receives publication in The Florida Review and $1,000 (upon publication). We also frequently recognize and publish one or more finalists in each genre.

Contrary Magazine Call for Submissions (Deadline June 1)

Contrary® was founded in 2003 at the University of Chicago by students and alumni of Chicago’s Master of Arts Program in the Humanities. It was quickly embraced and has been abundantly nourished by graduates of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing program. It now operates independently and without a thought of profit on the South Side of Chicago and publishes writers from throughout the world.

The first problem is the “Contrary” above the content. Why is it called Contrary, you might ask, when some of its content isn’t? We have a contemplation to confront this contradiction: we insist that all of our content is contrary. And, we insist, so is all of yours. Doesn’t it seem possible that all content is contrary, that there is no for, there is only against? Why else does the word contrary, so openly against something, have no antonym? What opposes contrary? Nothing. That which opposes contrary, by opposing, becomes contrary.

Besides, we tend to think contrarily, and we hope our magazine expresses contrarities that otherwise might go unexpressed: writings and images that confront entities, voids, and the edges of their own categories. As for that poetic nothing, the “Journal of Unpopular Discontent,” we conceal our dreams in the double negative, hoping to become a journal of popular content.

Idyllwild Arts Writers Week Fellowship (July 1-5, 2019 – Deadline April 15)

Writers from around the world have found a special home at Idyllwild Arts. For decades, it has gathered thoughtful, provoking, and notable guests—among them Ray Bradbury, Norman Corwin, Lucille Clifton, Sharon Olds, Terrance Hayes, Billy Collins, Ted Kooser, Philip Levine, David St. John, and Natasha Trethewey. Join us to be inspired and challenged by world-class voices at our annual Writers Week.

We will be accepting submissions from February 1 through April 15; selections will be announced on May 1—six fellowships will be awarded. We are accepting poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Submit a 10 page work sample. By submitting work, you confirm that you will attend the 2019 Writers Week at Idyllwild Arts if selected. The fellowship covers tuition, meals and housing on campus. Fellowship recipients are responsible for their own transportation to and from Idyllwild, CA. Applicants must be over 18 years of age.

Upcoming Deadlines   
 
A Public Space Call for Submissions (Deadline April 15)
The 2019 Gulf Coast Prizes (Deadline April 15 – $1500)
Esalen Writer's Camp Emerging Voices Fellowship (Deadline April 15)
Cosmonauts Avenue 2019 Nonfiction Prize (Deadline April 15 – $500)
MacDowell Colony Fellowships (Peterborough, NH – Deadline April 15)
The Florida Review Annual Editors' Awards (Deadline April 15 – $1000)
Idyllwild Arts Writers Week Fellowship (July 1-5, 2019 – Deadline April 15)
The Frost Place Latinx and Gregory Pardlo Scholarships (Franconia, NH – Deadline April 15)
DIAGRAM/New Michigan Press Chapbook Contest (Deadline April 26 – $1000)
CRAFT Short Fiction Prize (Deadline April 30 – $2000)
Redivider Beacon Street Prize (Deadline April 30 – $1000)
Blood Orange Review Inaugural Literary Contest (Deadline April 30 – $500)
Waxwing Call for Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Dorothy Call for Manuscript Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Catapult/Soft Skull Tiny Nightmares Call for Anthology Submissions (Deadline May 1 – $100)
Contrary Magazine Call for Submissions (Deadline June 1)
The Wax Paper Call for Submissions (Deadline June 30)

Submission Sunday 3.24.19

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

If you would like to receive the Submission Sunday list by email every other Sunday, please sign up for the WWLA newsletter.

Jack Jones Literary Arts: The Retreat (Santa Fe, NM – Deadline March 31)

Jack Jones Literary Arts is hosting its third annual writing retreat at Immaculate Heart of Mary Retreat Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico. This two-week retreat will be held October 26-November 8, 2019, and is open exclusively to women of color writers and nonbinary writers of color. Dr. Eve L. Ewing joins us as our 2019 Writer-in-Residence.

As part of the retreat experience, Jack Jones is featuring daily Skype master classes with agents, editors and acclaimed women and nonbinary people in publishing to promote networking, learning and engagement. These sessions are mandatory for retreat participants. Housing includes individual writing suites with private bedroom, private baths, writing areas, wifi, and all meals are provided.

Professional and emerging women writers of color and nonbinary writers of color at work on book projects are eligible for residencies. Women and nonbinary people with and without MFAs are eligible, and graduate students who are currently enrolled in a degree program are eligible to apply for a fellowship.

Redivider Beacon Street Prize (Deadline April 30 – $1000)

Launched in 1986, Redivider is a literary journal produced by the graduate students in the Writing, Literature, and Publishing program at Emerson College in the vibrant literary hub of Boston. Published digitally in the Autumn and Spring, we welcome fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and graphic narrative submissions from emerging and established writers. And if you’re wondering about the name—it’s a palindrome!

Recently, Redivider shifted to a digital platform. This change is sparked by the urgency we―as with much of the publishing industry―feel towards the overall accessibility and diversity of our publication. Publishing our issues online will allow the voices of our contributors to reach more readers as our web content will be free for all. Additionally, we will drop submission fees most of the year to become more accessible to contributors.

Launched in 2012, the Beacon Street Prize is judged by expert judges and honors excellence and innovation. Welcoming submissions of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, the contest will open March 1 and close April 30th. The $10 entry fee will qualify each short story, essay, or group of poems for $1,000 each and publication in our autumn issue! This year’s prizes will be selected by Ocean Vuong for Poetry, SJ Sindu for Fiction, and Alex Marzano-Lesnevich for Nonfiction.

Off Assignment Call for Submissions

We have a hunch: that the best travel stories haven’t been told. That the most compelling world journeys don’t make it into print. That the way a writer digresses from a plan or pitch is precisely what warrants telling. Helmed by a collective of global writers, Off Assignment is a call for travel journalists, essayists with a sense of place, reporters with swollen notebooks, poets who wander, food writers with street cart taste—to go rogue. To write about what stuck and what haunts and what mattered most to their lives. We’re not here to guide vacations. We don’t cover spas or centennials. We care about voice and place and story. We want the writer back on the page—sweating, tripping, and telling a tale.

There is no Off Assignment "house style," just a taste for offbeat places, and a keen interest in "what surrounds the story," as journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski put it: "the atmosphere of the street, the feeling of the people, the gossip of the town, the smell; the thousand, thousand elements of reality that are part of the event you read about in 600 words in your morning paper."

Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing (Deadline March 31 – $10,000)

The ethos of the modern world  is defined by immigrants. Their stories have always been an essential component of our cultural consciousness, from Isaac Bashevis Singer to Isabel Allende, from Milan Kundera  to Maxine Hong Kingston. In novels, short stories, memoirs, and works of journalism, immigrants have shown us what resilience and dedication we’re capable of, and have expanded our sense of what it means to be global citizens. In these times of intense xenophobia, it is more important than ever that these boundary-crossing stories reach the broadest possible audience.

With that in mind, we are proud to present The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing. We are looking for extraordinary unpublished submissions from emerging writers of sharp, culture-straddling writing that addresses identity in a global age. Each year, a distinguished panel of judges will select a winning manuscript to be published by Restless Books. We can’t wait to read and share what the new voices of the world have to say.

Black Warrior Review Boyfriend Village Call for Submissions (Issue #3: Fox Boyfriend – Deadline March 31)

Black Warrior Review is pleased to announce that we’ll be reading submissions for our third online edition, Boyfriend Village. Submissions open March 1st and close March 31st. Boyfriend Village wants work that hungers and howls, that settles into bed soft and full of fire. It follows that our theme for this edition is Fox Boyfriend, loosely inspired by fox lore and origin stories. As always, this is up to interpretation, but BWR is interested in fairytale and myth, the visceral, the body, songs of survival, sensuality—work that interrogates and resists. We’re looking for poems, stories, and essays that defy form and expectation, that unspool worlds, inviting and dark. We’re also particularly interested in housing work that incorporates multimedia and visual elements: comics, graphic essays, video poems. We want things that transcend boundaries and dismantle binaries. Send us your foxy. Send us your spindly, your sprawling. Send us your boyfriends.

[Inspired by the former editor of Black Warrior Review, Zach Doss, who passed away in 2018.] All anyone can do is try to take what we have of Zach and thread it through our lives, carrying him forward in this way. Black Warrior Review, where we each served as editor, will name its new online edition Boyfriend Village, after Zach’s story, The Village with All of the Boyfriends. Zach writes, “The Village with All of the Boyfriends is where all of your boyfriends wind up eventually. You built this Village for them and they can’t leave and neither can you. You are not allowed inside, but you wait in the desert at the edge of town.”

Mentor and Muse Call for Submissions: Essays from Poets to Poets

As writers, we all come to the page differently, asking our own questions, seeking and scribbling down our own answers, and, of course, writing from our own experiences. Still, we share many of the same tendencies. We all learn by reading and enjoying the work of other writers. The idea is Art itself can be the artist’s best teacher. This was foremost in our minds in 2010, when we compiled our collection, Mentor and Muse: Essays from Poets to Poets (Southern Illinois University Press), an anthology of essays that investigates the elements of poetry through practice. The book unveils the insights poets gained while writing or reading a particular poem or set of poems. Each essay closes with a prompt that challenges readers to reconsider their own understanding of that principle.

With much excitement, we are now launching Mentor and Muse online. Working in our new electronic format, we hope to give more poets access to the already published essays, offer a wider range of topics, and acquire greater flexibility in both the style and medium in which poets engage their subjects. Each piece will again typically consist of three components—the essay, the prompt, and the poem(s) under consideration within the essay.

Tahoma Literary Review Call for Submissions (Deadline March 31)

Tahoma Literary Review is published three times a year in both print and e-reader formats. We produce this literary journal with the aim of contributing to and sustaining a healthy literary ecosystem: We pay for all of the poetry, fiction, and nonfiction in our pages. Every member of our staff is paid. A major goal of Tahoma Literary Review is to show that writers and publishers can support each other not only artistically, but also financially.

We are committed to fairness in the editorial process. We don’t solicit work for our pages; everything we print comes from the open submission queue. Finally, we take contributor exposure seriously. Once you’ve been in our pages we publicize you and your work on social media as often as we can. We nominate published work for major literary awards and many smaller prizes. We also give contributors the option of blogging for us, and of recording audio of their published work for our SoundCloud feature.

Work published in our journal has been selected for Best American Poetry, Best Small Fictions, Best Gay Fiction, honorably mentioned in Best American Essays, and nominated for the Pushcart Prize by the Pushcart’s editorial staff. Many of the stories and poems we have published are included in anthologies and collections.

La Napoule Art Foundation Group Residency (Mandelieu-La Napoule, France – Deadline March 31)

La Napoule Art Foundation’s guiding principle is to encourage artists to engage in cultural interchange and the creation of art that impacts the world for the common good. LNAF welcomes those engaged in a wide spectrum of artistic practice and varied backgrounds. The Group Residency from October 21 to Novmber 12, 2019 is open to individual artists—all disciplines and nationalities. All successful applicants receive accommodation, studio space, a $1,000 stipend, breakfast every morning, plus most evening meals.

The Chateau de LaNapoule is located in the historic seaside town of Mandelieu-La Napoule on the French Riviera. Situated on a spectacular site overlooking the sea, the building dates to the 14th Century and is recognized as a Monument Historique for its incredible restoration and architectural details. The former home of early 20th Century American sculptor, Henry Clews and his architect wife, Marie, it is now a museum housing Clews’ atelier and work, an impressive collection of 19th Century Clews’ Staffordshire Pottery, and additional galleries for hosting exhibits. The six acres of magnificent gardens surrounding the property have been honored as a Jardin Remarquable. Set within this walled compound is the sunny Belle Epoque Villa Marguerite. This mansion, located just across the gardens from the beaches, was the former home of the Austrian Princess of Pless. The Chateau, the walled gardens, and the historic village are inspirational settings for artists of all disciplines. The climate and the incredible light of this region have attracted artists for centuries.

Upcoming Deadlines   

Crannóg Call for Submissions (Deadline March 31)
Pembroke Magazine Call for Submissions (Deadline March 31)
Tahoma Literary Review Call for Submissions (Deadline March 31)
Jack Jones Literary Arts: The Retreat (Santa Fe, NM – Deadline March 31)
Memoir Mixtapes Call for Submissions (Vol. 9: Family – Deadline March 31)
Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing (Deadline March 31 – $10,000)
La Napoule Art Foundation Group Residency (Mandelieu-La Napoule, France – Deadline March 31)
Black Warrior Review Boyfriend Village Call for Submissions (Issue #3: Fox Boyfriend – Deadline March 31)
Chautauqua Call for Submissions (Deadline April 1)
Polis Books Call for Pitches: Both Sides—An Anthology of Border Noir (Deadline April 1)
MacDowell Colony Fellowships (Peterborough, NH – Deadline April 15)
Esalen Writer's Camp Emerging Voices Fellowship (Deadline April 15)
The Frost Place Latinx and Gregory Pardlo Scholarships (Franconia, NH – Deadline April 15)
DIAGRAM/New Michigan Press Chapbook Contest (Deadline April 26 – $1000)
CRAFT Short Fiction Prize (Deadline April 30 – $2000)
Redivider Beacon Street Prize (Deadline April 30 – $1000)
Blood Orange Review Inaugural Literary Contest (Deadline April 30 – $500)
Waxwing Call for Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Dorothy Call for Manuscript Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Catapult/Soft Skull Tiny Nightmares Call for Anthology Submissions (Deadline May 1 – $100)
The Wax Paper Call for Submissions (Deadline June 30)

Submission Sunday 3.10.19

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

DIAGRAM/New Michigan Press Chapbook Contest (Deadline April 26 – $1000)

The 2019 New Michigan Press/DIAGRAM chapbook contest is up and running. We pick the majority of our chapbook list each year from the ranks of the chapbook contest finalists, so this is the best way to get your work read by our eager readers. And what's more, it's all read blind. Plus you get a free chapbook for entering. Deadline's 04.26.19. $1000 + publication to the winner + publication to a handful of finalists.

DIAGRAM is an electronic journal of text and art. As our name indicates, we're interested in representations. In naming. In indicating. In schematics. In the labelling and taxonomy of things. In poems that masquerade as stories; in stories that disguise themselves as indices or obituaries. We value the insides of things, vivisection, urgency, risk, elegance, flamboyance, work that moves us, language that does something new, or does something old--well. We like iteration and reiteration. Ruins and ghosts. Mechanical, moving parts, balloons, and frenzy. Buzz us.

The Spectacle Call for Submissions (Deadline March 15)

We’re a little cracked, and we like it that way. We aim for content that reminds us that our lenses matter—they focus, distort, clarify, conceal. We seek out and publish revelatory writing, while also knowing that there are forms of revelation that come only through distortion or concealment. Aristotle, in his Poetics, isolated six aspects of dramatic art, of which “spectacle” (opsis) was the least important. We disagree.

We like scholars who write great poetry, poets who write incisive monographs, credulous skeptics, wary believers, hidebound experimentalists, radical realists, mystical engineers, analytical mystics, catholic snobs, and modish antiquarians. We have a soft spot for keen amateurs and sincere dilettantes. We actively seek to transgress the border between creative and critical work: see, for example, Dan Beachy-Quick’s essay-poems in our inaugural issue.

The Spectacle is based out of the English, Creative Writing, and Visual Art departments at Washington University in St. Louis. We are committed to publishing work from under-represented voices, including people of color, women, LGBTQ and gender-non-conforming artists/writers, and people who have disabilities. The Spectacle publishes issues twice a year; our blog, The REVUE, features a more frequently revolving cast of flash, poems, comedy writing, reviews, and other pieces.

Sonora Review 2019 Poetry & Fiction Call & Contest (Theme: Doubt – Deadline March 15 – $1000)

For Issue 76, we seek work that shows us doubt in its many forms and how we go about expressing it. R.O. Kwon will judge the fiction contest and Raquel Salas Rivera will judge the poetry contest.

This call is two-fold:

1. Fiction and poetry contest submissions.
2. Non-contest submissions, in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and flash prose.

Our doubts are tethered to our beliefs. And are when they come into conflict is that when the “real work” begins as Wendell Berry suggests? If so, how do we reckon with our doubts? How does a someone handle doubt in a marriage versus doubt in a religion? Which is to say, how does doubt shape-shift from person to person, culture to culture? Are there ideas, situations, conflicts that return us back, always, to what we know and don’t know? Which means returning us, always, back to doubt?

The Wax Paper Call for Submissions (Deadline June 30)

The Wax Paper is seeking all forms of moving words and still images for our quarterly printed broadsheet. We are distributed nationally and all written work will be archived on our website in audio format. Current reading period is open until June 30th. All contributors are given a lifetime subscription.

The Wax Paper is a broadsheet publication open to all forms of written word, image, and collected conversation. The Wax Paper will contain two sheets printed quarterly on heavy (35lb.) newsprint in broadsheet format (22" x 28"). The first priority of The Wax Paper is to expand our understanding of the people we share the world with, and in doing so, expand our understanding of ourselves. Pieces will be selected on their ability to illuminate the humanity and significance of the subjects that inhabit the work.

The Wax Paper was inspired by the life of Louis “Studs” Terkel. Our name is taken after his first radio show, The Wax Museum, a groundbreaking program, emblematic of his democratic fondness of variety, in which arias were played alongside folk ballads. We look to populate The Wax Paper with pieces that share the spirit inherent in Studs’ written work.  Work that required patient observation, remained steadfast in its empathy, and displayed genuine vitality.


Blood Orange Review Inaugural Literary Contest (Deadline April 30 – $500)

Winners in each genre (fiction, nonfiction, and poetry) will receive $500 and publication in the contest issue of Blood Orange Review. All entries will also be considered for publication in a forthcoming issue of Blood Orange Review. The contest judges are Aisha Sabatini Sloan (nonfiction), Aimee Phan (fiction), and Jericho Brown (poetry).

Blood Orange Review  was founded by Stephanie Lenox and H.K. Hummel, and its inaugural issue appeared online in April 2006. The first thirty issues encompass over 200 writers and artists. In 2008, Bryan Fry, an English Department faculty member at Washington State University, joined the editorial team and established a student internship, which allowed the journal to serve as an educational tool for students interested in editing.

Polis Books Call for Pitches: Both Sides—An Anthology of Border Noir (Deadline April 1)

We are thrilled to announce BOTH SIDES: An Anthology of Border Noir, edited by Bram Stoker Award nominee Gabino Iglesias. We are officially accepting submissions for this unique, timely, and important anthology. Agora Books, the new imprint dedicated to publishing diverse voices in crime fiction, will release BOTH SIDES in 2020.

From Gabino Iglesias: La frontera is full of stories. Real stories, not those Trump makes up. The border is a powerful place where countries collide. It’s a weird space of dreams, struggles, promises, lies, fear, and redemption. It’s a multicultural and bilingual space where people know that hustling to protect your loved ones or offer them a better life is a drive strong enough to blur ethical codes. Sadly, the border is also a place where drugs make people a lot of money, corruption stains everything, and violence fills the landscape with danger and ghosts. In ZERO SAINTS, I wrote this: “What happens when you cross la frontera is that you shatter, you stop being you and turn into a new person that belongs nowhere, that has no home, no roots. Going back is impossible and moving forward is like jumping into a cave and hoping that it’s not too deep, that the rocks don’t mangle you too much, and that el monstruo that waits for you en la oscuridad is not too hungry.” Now I want some of the most talented authors to visit this space from their perspective. I want them to show the world what they see on both sides. It’s time to give border noir the attention it deserves.

CRAFT Short Fiction Prize (Deadline April 30 – $2000)

Submissions are open March 1 to April 30, 2019. Guest judge Elizabeth McCracken will choose three stories from a shortlist of fifteen. CRAFT works with all writers, established as well as emerging. We use craft as a focal point and a lens through which to present fiction.

Each published work of fiction includes an author’s note which discusses the craft in the story. We love that this gives each writer the opportunity to present an inside look at their work. In some cases, authors speak about the origin of a story. Others write about a specific element, such as point-of-view or the use of time. In every case, we’ve been inspired to reread the story after reading the author’s note, and we hope you will want to do the same!

MacDowell Colony Fellowships (Peterborough, NH – Deadline April 15)

The mission of The MacDowell Colony is to nurture the arts by offering creative individuals of the highest talent an inspiring environment in which they can produce enduring works of the imagination. The sole criterion for acceptance is artistic excellence, which The MacDowell Colony defines in a pluralistic and inclusive way. We encourage applications from artists representing the widest possible range of perspectives and demographics, and who are investigating an unlimited array of inquiries and concerns.

The MacDowell Colony provides time, space, and an inspiring environment to artists of exceptional talent. A MacDowell Fellowship, or residency, consists of exclusive use of a studio, accommodations, and three prepared meals a day for up to eight weeks. There are no residency fees. MacDowell Fellows are selected by our admissions panels, which are comprised of a revolving group of distinguished professionals in each artistic discipline who serve anonymously for three years.

Upcoming Deadlines   

The Spectacle Call for Submissions (Deadline March 15)
Jet Fuel Review Call for Submissions (Deadline March 15)
The Missouri Review Miller Audio Prize (Deadline March 15 – $1000)
Djerassi Resident Artists Program (Woodside, CA – Deadline March 15)
Sonora Review 2019 Poetry & Fiction Call & Contest (Theme: Doubt – Deadline March 15 – $1000)
Pembroke Magazine Call for Submissions (Deadline March 31)
Memoir Mixtapes Call for Submissions (Vol. 9: Family – Deadline March 31)
Crannóg Call for Submissions (Open for month of March)
Chautauqua Call for Submissions (Deadline April 1)
Polis Books Call for Pitches: Both Sides—An Anthology of Border Noir (Deadline April 1)
MacDowell Colony Fellowships (Peterborough, NH – Deadline April 15)
Esalen Writer's Camp Emerging Voices Fellowship (Deadline April 15)
The Frost Place Latinx and Gregory Pardlo Scholarships (Franconia, NH – Deadline April 15)
DIAGRAM/New Michigan Press Chapbook Contest (Deadline April 26 – $1000)
CRAFT Short Fiction Prize (Deadline April 30 – $2000)
Blood Orange Review Inaugural Literary Contest (Deadline April 30 – $500)
Waxwing Call for Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Dorothy Call for Manuscript Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Catapult/Soft Skull Tiny Nightmares Call for Anthology Submissions (Deadline May 1 – $100)
The Wax Paper Call for Submissions (Deadline June 30)

Submission Sunday 2.24.19

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

Djerassi Resident Artists Program (Woodside, CA – Deadline March 15)

Residencies are awarded competitively, at no cost, to national and international artists in the disciplines of choreography, literature, music composition, visual arts, media arts, and science. We seek applications from emerging and mid-career artists, for whom appointments as resident artists may make a significant difference to their careers, as well as from established artists with national and/or international reputations.

Djerassi Program is designed as a retreat experience to pursue personal creative work and share collegial interaction within a small community of artists. Djerassi Program is located in a spectacular rural setting in the Santa Cruz Mountains over-looking the Pacific Ocean, yet is within easy driving distance of San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area.

The Idaho Review Call for Submissions (Deadline March 7)

In 1997, English Professor Mitch Wieland approached then-Provost Daryl Jones with the idea to start a new literary journal at Boise State University. The journal was envisioned as a precursor to Boise State's upcoming MFA Program in Creative Writing. The inaugural issue was published in late 1998. From the six short stories in the first issue, three of them made the top 100 stories of the year list in The Best American Short Stories 1998. Over the years, the journal has published emerging writers alongside of established writers.

Our mission is to publish strong, evocative work that belongs to the collective, vast community of writers. As we move forward we intend to broaden our reach. We hope to include writers of different identities—in terms of race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, ability, language, religion, class, age, education, and region—so that our journal is a representation of the voices present in today’s literary community.

Glimmer Train Call for Final Contests: Fiction and Very Short Fiction (Deadline February 28 – $3000)

So many stories we've read since we started. A person might think they'd begin to seem all the same, but they don't. Without fail, the stories we read each month move, surprise, and change us. We are grateful to the writers for this gift, and to you, dear readers, for completing the circle, for opening yourself to their generous offerings. We two sisters read every story ourselves, and we pay writers over $50,000 a year (almost 3/4 of that to emerging writers).

We will be accepting stories for print publication for the next 3 months. We are eager to read yours! Glimmer Train tries to set the bar for treating writers with respect, and continues—after 28 years —to actively champion emerging writers.

Memoir Mixtapes Call for Submissions (Vol. 9: Family – Deadline March 31)

Memoir Mixtapes is a mashup of the two things we all love to talk about: ourselves and music. Music never fails to evoke real emotions connected to real memories, however fleeting, superficial, profound, blissful, or distressing those emotions might be. We know most of our fellow human beings can relate, and we think sharing the stories we have, along with the songs that conjure them, is a great way to connect with each other while building some pretty groovy (or, at the very least, very “interesting”) playlists in the process.

We want to read your CNF stories and poems about family—not just holiday stories and poems, but all family tales. Tell us about a family vacation you loved or hated. Tell us about your strained relationship with your siblings. Tell us about how you found common-ground with that one cranky grandparent and got them to open up. The options are wide open here! Whether you come from a tight-knit group of weirdos, or are estranged from the people who share your bloodline, or even if you have a different idea of what family means in your life (they do say the blood of the covenant is thicker than that of the womb), we want to hear what you have to say.

Chautauqua Call for Submissions (Deadline April 1)

Chautauqua publishes writing that expresses the values of the Chautauqua Institution, broadly construed: a sense of inquiry into questions of personal, social, political, spiritual, and aesthetic importance—and when, where, and how those values and questions intersect.

The editors of Chautauqua are seeking poems, short stories, essays, and flash that explore boundaries—lines of demarcation that interrupt but also allow for new bridges and crossing points. Submissions should explore the notion of boundaries—personal, spiritual, geographic, social, political. Our interest lies in how characters define and establish borders and if, why, or how they cross them. Thresholds can open into new realms; fractures and rifts can divide us; safe passages can open up in the most unlikely places. When do we strike out looking for new frontiers or adventures? How do we find the path needed to navigate our way home—wherever that is? What does it mean to push a boundary? How does pushing one boundary reshape another? Are we able to bind instead of separate, creating a moment of beauty?

Jet Fuel Review Call for Submissions (Deadline March 15)

Through Lewis University, Jet Fuel Review is run entirely by students under the supervision of faculty advisers Dr. Simone Muench and Dr. Jackie White. In the spirit of journals such as Joliet Junior College’s Wordeater, Illinois Wesleyan University’s Tributaries, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Dear Navigator, Lewis alumna Mary Egan launched a journal run by students with a national scope for publication. Though this journal is run by English majors attending Lewis University, a university nestled in the Midwest, we hope to reach people thousands of miles from our verdant campus by being entirely online.

Plainly said, we have faith in online media, and we think it’s the best way to spread a love of the arts and to connect artists in a community that reaches beyond the boundaries of a physical community. Since fiction, poetry, and artwork are all about breaking down boundaries and pushing past expectations, an online venue is the logical choice for our contributors to reach as many people as possible, and for us to cultivate a creative community for anyone who happens to click on our site and like what they see.

Hunger Mountain Literary Prizes (Deadline March 1 – $1000)

Hunger Mountain holds five annual contests: The Howard Frank Mosher Short Fiction Prize, The Hunger Mountain Creative Nonfiction Prize, The Ruth Stone Poetry Prize, The Katherine Paterson Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing, and The International Young Writers Prize. All contests open for submission from October 1 to March 1.

Hunger Mountain was started in 2002 by founding editor Caroline Mercurio through a generous donation from a Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing alumnus. The journal has thrived since then with the assistance of MFA in writing faculty and ongoing support from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, VCFA alums, subscribers and friends of Hunger Mountain.

The Frost Place Latinx and Gregory Pardlo Scholarships (Franconia, NH – Deadline April 15)

The Frost Place is a nonprofit educational center for poetry and the arts based at Robert Frost’s old homestead, which is owned by the town of Franconia, New Hampshire. Since 1977, The Frost Place has awarded a fellowship each summer to an emerging American poet, including a cash stipend and the opportunity to live and write in the house for several months. In addition, The Frost Place has sponsored an annual Festival and Conference on Poetry for writers seeking classes and workshops with a faculty of illustrious poets, a teachers’ conference, and an advanced seminar.

The Frost Place invites submissions to the first annual Gregory Pardlo Scholarship for Emerging African American Poets. This scholarship, which is funded by an anonymous donor, was named to honor Gregory Pardlo, Pulitzer Prize winning poet and faculty at The Frost Place 2015 Poetry Seminar. The winner will receive a full scholarship to attend the Poetry Seminar (August 4- 10 2019)  at The Frost Place, including room and board (valued at approximately $1,550), and will give a featured reading at the Seminar. The 2019 LatinX Scholarship is designed to encourage the LatinX voice in poetry and the literary arts, both at The Frost Place and in the broader literary community. The winner will receive a full fellowship to attend the Conference on Poetry at The Frost Place, July 6 - 12, 2019, including tuition, room, board, and travel.

Upcoming Deadlines   

Creative Nonfiction Call for Submissions (Theme: Memoir - Deadline February 25 – $2500)
Glimmer Train Call for Final Contests: Fiction and Very Short Fiction (Deadline February 28 – $3000)
Clarion Workshop Call for Applications (Deadline March 1)
Hunger Mountain Literary Prizes (Deadline March 1 – $1000)
The Journal Non/Fiction Collection Prize (Deadline March 1 – $1500)
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts Call for Submissions (Deadline March 1)
The Idaho Review Call for Submissions (Deadline March 7)
Jet Fuel Review Call for Submissions (Deadline March 15)
The Missouri Review Miller Audio Prize (Deadline March 15 – $1000)
Djerassi Resident Artists Program (Woodside, CA – Deadline March 15) 
Pembroke Magazine Call for Submissions (Deadline March 31)
Memoir Mixtapes Call for Submissions (Vol. 9: Family – Deadline March 31)
Crannóg Call for Submissions (Open for month of March)
Chautauqua Call for Submissions (Deadline April 1)
Esalen Writer's Camp Emerging Voices Fellowship (Deadline April 15)
The Frost Place Latinx and Gregory Pardlo Scholarships (Franconia, NH – Deadline April 15)
Waxwing Call for Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Dorothy Call for Manuscript Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Catapult/Soft Skull Tiny Nightmares Call for Anthology Submissions (Deadline May 1 – $100)

Submission Sunday 2.10.19

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.


Catapult/Soft Skull Tiny Nightmares Call for Anthology Submissions (Deadline May 1 – $100)

Tiny Nightmares will be a collection of  short and terrifying tales of monsters, madness, and nightmares. The anthology follows up on Tiny Crimes, an antholothology of short crime fiction featuring stories by Carmen Maria Machado, Yuri Herrera, Brian Evenson, Amelia Gray, and more. 

For Tiny Nightmares, we’re seeking short stories that play with and expand the boundaries of horror fiction -- think of the stretch of unlit highway between Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Samanta Schweblin’s Fever Dream, and Stephen King’s IT. Stories that turn our understanding of “scary” on its (trembling) head. We’re looking for:

• Stories of new monsters, and old ones that scare us in new ways
• Tiny, intimate horrors to make our hair stand on end
• Horror as cultural/political/environmental funhouse mirror
• Subversions of traditional horror tropes
• Something so scary we haven’t thought of it yet

Stories should be under 1200 words. Stories should be previously unpublished.

Esalen Writer's Camp Emerging Voices Fellowship (Deadline April 15)

Writing By Writers is pleased to offer fellowships to Esalen Writer's Camp for emerging writers of color and members of the LGBTQIA+ community to amplify all voices that need to be heard. Fellowships cover the full cost of tuition, a shared room and all meals, but do not cover transportation.

​An "Emerging Voice" is someone who is currently DOES NOT meet any of the below criteria*:

• Has an B.A., M.A., M.F.A., Ph.D. or minors in Creative Writing.
• Currently enrolled in undergraduate or graduate degree programs.
• Writers who have published one or more books through major publishing houses, university presses, or established presses.
• Current professional magazine/newspaper feature writers or editors.
• Writers who are widely published in top tier literary journals and/or magazines.

​The deadline to apply for a fellowship is April 15th and winners will be notified by May 1st. Selection will be based on a writing sample and short statement about why you are interested in attending Esalen Writer's Camp. All submissions will be reviewed by Samantha Dunn and the finalists will be selected by Samantha Dunn and the WxW Board of Directors.

Crannóg Call for Submissions (Open for month of March)

Ireland's premier fiction and poetry magazine since 2002. Crannóg’s mission is to publish the work of Irish writers alongside the best available worldwide and to show how well such writing sits with the best available internationally. This has a dual effect of giving writers a world platform to have their work read in print and also brings work of an international standard to the attention of an Irish audience.


The Missouri Review Miller Audio Prize (Deadline March 15 – $1000)

The Missouri Review, founded in 1978, is one of the most highly-regarded literary magazines in the United States and for the past thirty-four years we’ve upheld a reputation for finding and publishing the very best writers first. We are based at the University of Missouri and publish four issues each year. Each issue contains approximately five new stories, three new poetry features, and two essays, all of which is selected from unsolicited submissions sent from writers throughout the world. The Missouri Review welcomes submissions to our 12th Annual Miller Audio Prize.

Poetry: Submit an original poem or collection of poems as a single audio file. Entries may be solely author-read or contain other voices, sounds, or music.

Prose: Submit a short story or piece of creative nonfiction. Entries may be solely author-read or contain other voices, sounds, or music.

Humor: Submit your funniest poem, story, or piece of creative nonfiction. Entries may be solely author-read or contain other voices, sounds, or music.

Audio Documentary: Submit an audio documentary on any subject. Documentaries can be presented in a variety of forms including narrative, interview, or documentary play.

Granta Call for Submissions (Deadline February 21)

From Nobel laureates to debut novelists, international translations to investigative journalism, each themed issue of Granta turns the attention of the world’s best writers on to one aspect of the way we live now. Granta does not have a political or literary manifesto, but it does have a belief in the power and urgency of the story and its supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make real.

Granta magazine was founded in 1889 by students at Cambridge University as The Granta, a periodical of student politics, badinage and literary enterprise, named after the river that runs through the town. In this original incarnation it published the work of writers like A.A. Milne, Michael Frayn, Stevie Smith, Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath. In 1979, Bill Buford transformed Granta from a student publication to the literary quarterly it remains today. Granta Books came ten years later, quickly becoming one of the most independent-minded and prestigious literary publishers in the UK.

Orion Magazine Call for Entries: The Place Where You Live

Since its inaugural issue, printed in 1982, Orion has explored the ways in which our places—our homes, our neighborhoods, our landscapes—shape us, and what it might mean to care for them in return.

“The Place Where You Live” is an ongoing project (which has appeared in various forms over the years, from print to digital) that’s meant to provide readers with space to record ideas about place: What connects you to your place? What history does it hold for you? What are your hopes and fears for it? What do you do to protect it, or prepare it for the future, or make it better? Click on the map above to find entries from all over the world.

Your contribution can take the form of a short essay of up to 350 words, and may include photographs, a painting, drawing, or handmade map. Also, in a collaboration begun in 2012, some contributors will be invited to read their entries aloud on the nationally syndicated (U.S.) public radio show Living on Earth.


DUM DUM Zine Call for Submissions

DUM DUM Zine publishes experimental lit and art that embraces all creative forms. When we’re not publishing our annual zine, we’re constantly searching for new multi-platform literature and art to share online.

In the past we’ve featured hybrid fiction and poetry, text message interviews, experimental music and art reviews, prank email chains, crowd-sourced community photo projects, and even serialized radio plays. We are looking for submissions that embody, even transcend these categories, maybe even creating a hybrid of each! Show us what you’ve got! We want you to become part of our growing collective of Dummies.

The Journal Non/Fiction Collection Prize (Deadline March 1 – $1500)

The award-winning literary journal of The Ohio State University, The Journal contributes significantly toward the literary landscape of Ohio and the nation. The Journal seeks to identify and encourage emerging writers while also attracting the work of established writers to create a diverse and compelling magazine. The Journal has recently had poems reproduced in the Best American Poetry anthology.

The Non/Fiction Collection Prize is awarded annually to a book-length collection of short stories, essays, or a combination of the two. The prize (which in previous iterations was known as the Sandstone Prize and The Ohio State University Prize in Short Fiction) carries a cash award of $1500 and publication with The Ohio State University Press under its standard contract. The award is open to writers of fiction and creative nonfiction, whether or not they have previously published a book.

Upcoming Deadlines   

Mineral School 2019 Artists Residency (Mineral, WA – Deadline February 15)
YesYes Books 2019 Pamet River Prize and Vinyl 45 Chapbook Prize (Deadline February 15 – $1000 & $250)
Granta Call for Submissions (Deadline February 21)
Creative Nonfiction Call for Submissions (Theme: Memoir - Deadline February 25 – $2500)
Clarion Workshop Call for Applications (Deadline March 1)
The Journal Non/Fiction Collection Prize (Deadline March 1 – $1500)
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts Call for Submissions (Deadline March 1)
The Missouri Review Miller Audio Prize (Deadline March 15 – $1000)
Crannóg Call for Submissions (Open for month of March)
Pembroke Magazine Call for Submissions (Deadline March 31)
Esalen Writer's Camp Emerging Voices Fellowship (Deadline April 15)
Waxwing Call for Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Dorothy Call for Manuscript Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Catapult/Soft Skull Tiny Nightmares Call for Anthology Submissions (Deadline May 1 – $100)

Submission Sunday 1.27.19

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

YesYes Books 2019 Pamet River Prize and Vinyl 45 Chapbook Prize (Deadline February 15 – $1000 & $250)

The Pamet River Prize is an annual, nomination-based contest open to first or second full-length books of poetry or prose by women writers, gender-queer writers and native writers. The winner and finalists will be chosen by KMA Sullivan, YesYes Books Publisher, and Stevie Edwards, Senior Editor of Book Development. YYB may also offer publication to manuscripts beyond the winner. Those authors will receive everything listed above except that the $1000 will be an advance against royalties.

The Vinyl 45 Chapbook contest is open to poetry, prose, and mixed genre chapbook manuscripts, 20-30 pages in length including title page and table of contents. Collaborative manuscripts are eligible for submission. The winner and finalists will be chosen by YesYes Books Publisher and Vinyl Co-Editor-in-Chief KMA Sullivan with help from some of the fantastic YesYes Books/Vinyl editorial staff.

The Chattahoochee Review Lamar York Prizes (Deadline January 31 – $1000)

Two prizes of $1,000.00 each and publication in The Chattahoochee Review are awarded to a winning story and essay in the annual Lamar York Prizes for Fiction and Nonfiction, which honor the founder and former editor of The Chattahoochee Review. The Chattahoochee Review is a literary journal published by Perimeter College at Georgia State University. Appearing regularly since 1981, we appeal to the educated general public for our readership and over the years have expanded our focus to include both international readers and writers.

Although our roots are in the South and we publish important writers such as William Gay, George Singleton, and Natasha Trethewey, we also publish writers from other regions of the US and other countries such as China, Denmark, France, and Mexico. We are committed to exploring literature in translation and to writers who transgress borders, cultural and otherwise. While the Review features poetry, fiction, nonfiction, interviews, reviews, and occasional graphic work, we are also open to nontraditional forms. We value established writers but take great pride in discovering new voices. Work from The Chattahoochee Review is regularly featured in nationally published anthologies and books.

Fiction International Call for Submissions (Theme: Body – Deadline Feburary 4)

Fiction International is the only literary journal in the United States emphasizing formal innovation and social activism. Founded by Joe David Bellamy in 1973 at St. Lawrence University in New York, the journal was relocated to San Diego State University in 1982 and is edited by Harold Jaffe.

Each issue revolves around a theme and features a wide variety of fiction, nonfiction, indeterminate prose, and visuals by leading writers and artists from around the world. We have published works by authors such as William Burroughs, Clarice Lispector (Brazil), Robert Coover, Edmund White, Joyce Carol Oates, Walter Abish, Kathy Acker, Ai, Allen Ginsberg, Alberto Moravia (Italy), Pierre Guyotat, George Perec, and Michel Serres (France), Claribel Alegria (Nicaragua), Tadeus Konwicki (Poland), J.M. Coetzee and Bessie Head (South Africa), Roque Dalton (El Salvador), Luisa Valenzuela (Argentina), Einar Schleef (Germany), Lya Luft (Brazil), Mridula Garg (India), Kanuko Okamuto (Japan), and Michael Morrisey (New Zealand).

Lambda Literary Writers Retreat (Santa Monica, CA – Deadline February 1)

The Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices was established in 2007 and is the first of its kind ever offered to LGBTQ writers: a one-week intensive immersion in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, genre fiction and playwriting. The Retreat is an unparalleled opportunity to be mentored by the very best writers in our community, to develop one’s craft, make connections with publishing industry professionals and build a strong community of peers.

Faculty have included Dorothy Allison, Jewelle Gomez, Alex Sanchez, Randall Kenan, Eduardo Corral, Samuel Delany, Claire Carmichael, Nicola Griffith, Ellen Bass, Bernard Cooper, Elana Dykewomon, Katherine V. Forrest, Rigoberto Gonzalez, Cris Beam, Ellery Washington, Carla Trujillo, Eloise Klein Healy, Fenton Johnson, David Groff, Michael Nava, D.A. Powell, Justin Torres, Kazim Ali, Sara Ryan, Linda Villarosa and John Rechy, among others. The 2016 faculty included Andrew Holleran, Sarah Schulman, Robert O’Hara, Joy Ladin, and Benjamin Alire Sáenz. The 2019 Retreat will be held August 4-11th, 2019 on the campus of Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.

Wigleaf Call for Submissions (Deadline January 31)

We feature stories under 1000 words. This year, Wigleaf is celebrating 10 years of Wigleaf Top 50.

Paper Darts Call for Submissions (Deadline February 1)

A magazine of LIT + ART fueled by volunteers and imaginary money since 2009. We prefer art that keeps it simple while packing a punch, and we think art and culture is best enjoyed with enthusiasm that hasn’t been dipped in ten-dollar words. Our online magazine isn’t our print mag’s subordinate—it’s a living, breathing publication that’s accessible to anyone (with internet access) at any time at no cost. And by pairing all of our writing with art, we’re not just making our website pretty—we’re making reading more approachable on the whole. The world’s full of misfits channeling their creativity in ways that give gatekeepers nightmares. Much as we’d like to tilt our heads toward the slush pile and default to the excuse of “we work with what we’re given,” that’s complacent, and complacency is uncool.

Ploughshares Blog Call for Pitches

We are currently accepting pitches to the Ploughshares Blog via email. Critical essays have for many years made up the backbone of the Ploughshares Blog. They engage in deep analysis of literature, both mainstream and niche, offering something new to the conversation about what writing can achieve and how storytelling is significant. They deal in the sociopolitical, the emotional, and the academic. They are strong in voice and distinct in argument. They may overlap slightly with personal essays.

Personal essays for the Ploughshares Blog should have a tie to literature, though we recognize that this may not be direct or overwhelming. They should be strong in character, narrative, voice, and introspection. They should demonstrate, in some capacity, growth or change. They may overlap slightly with critical essays.

We are looking for longform essays that are a blend of literary criticism and personal essay. In these pieces, we are looking for strong voice, narrative, and growth/change (in the very broadest of terms). We would also consider pitches for longform essays that are strictly literary criticism, though are inclined to prefer the former. We are particularly interested in pieces that consider the role of literature.

Mineral School 2019 Artists Residency (Mineral, WA – Deadline February 15)

Mineral School is an artists residency located in a former 1947 elementary school near Mt. Rainier, in Mineral, Washington. During 2019, we're offering four two-week residency periods to screenwriters, poetry and prose writers, and visual artists, providing accepted applicants with space and time to create new work without the interruptions of normal life and with the bonus of healthy meals prepared by culinary volunteers using locally-grown organic food whenever possible. The May 2019 residency is screenwriter-specific, in partnership with the Rainier Independent Film Festival. During September 2019, we'll offer one one-week residency to 4 writers or artists who are parents of children under 18, through support from the Sustainable Arts Foundation. All other sessions are mixed-resident.

Each resident will live in an 800-square foot former classroom that offers peekaboo views of Mineral Lake and Mt. Rainier, and that will double as their writing studio, with desk and chair, lighting, bookcase, and lots of chalkboards. Visual artist residents will be offered space to work outside of their classrooms (unless they wish or want work in their medium in the room where they sleep). The school building has shared bathrooms with showers. Residents are served all meals daily (plus 24/7 access to a snack fridge and coffee/tea station), and will have the opportunity to share work with the public. Mineral features a swimmable fishing lake, boat rentals, a bar, a B&B, a general store, churches, a post office, and many deer. It's a 25-minute drive to Mt. Rainier National Park.

Upcoming Deadlines

Light Bringer Project The Roswell Award and The Tomorrow Prize 2019 (Deadline January 28 & February 18)
Crazyhorse Prizes (Deadline January 31 – $2000)
Wigleaf Call for Submissions (Deadline January 31)
The Iowa Review Awards (Deadline January 31 – $1500)
Black Lawrence Press Big Moose Prize (Deadline January 31)
The Chattahoochee Review Lamar York Prizes (Deadline January 31 – $1000)
Paper Darts Call for Submissions (Deadline February 1)
The American Short(er) Fiction Contest (Deadline February 1 – $1000)
Lambda Literary Writers Retreat (Santa Monica, CA – Deadline February 1)
Barrelhouse Books 2019 Call for Nonfiction Submissions (Deadline February 1)
Fiction International Call for Submissions (Theme: Body – Deadline Feburary 4)
The Suburban Review Call for Submissions (Theme: Luck – Deadline February 6)
Mineral School 2019 Artists Residency (Mineral, WA – Deadline February 15)
YesYes Books 2019 Pamet River Prize and Vinyl 45 Chapbook Prize (Deadline February 15 – $1000 & $250)
Creative Nonfiction Call for Submissions (Theme: Memoir - Deadline February 25 – $2500)
Clarion Workshop Call for Applications (Deadline March 1)
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts Call for Submissions (Deadline March 1)
Pembroke Magazine Call for Submissions (Deadline March 31)
Waxwing Call for Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Dorothy Call for Manuscript Submissions (Deadline May 1)

Submission Sunday 1.13.19

Happy new year! Let's get those submissions going! Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

Barrelhouse Books 2019 Call for Nonfiction Submissions (Deadline February 1)

It’s that time again, writers! Barrelhouse Books is looking for its next manuscript to publish. This go-round, we’re on the hunt for innovative nonfiction: book-length projects that experiment in some way with form, or take an unusual vector through their subject matter. 

We’re probably not interested in your straight-ahead memoir about the time you ate, prayed, and loved your way across the globe. Not because that book isn’t great! It’s just not going to be for us. Innovative could apply to subject matter, or form, or both. Like, maybe you wrote letters to God every day for a year. Or you did a deep dive researching a movie you watched a hundred times as a kid. Or you’re Maggie Nelson, and you wrote a book called Bluets, but we’re living in an alternate universe where Bluets wasn’t published yet and you want Barrelhouse Books to publish it.

We realize that’s a little vague, so what we’re asking for, rather than a full manuscript, is a brief note telling us about your project (via the form below) and a brief sample. If it seems like our kind of thing, we’ll get back to you and ask to see the whole manuscript. 

Kundiman Retreat Call for Applications (Deadline January 15)

Kundiman is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing generations of writers and readers of Asian American literature. In order to help mentor the next generation of Asian American writers, Kundiman sponsors an annual Retreat (June 19-23, 2019) in partnership with Fordham University. During each Retreat, six nationally renowned Asian American poets and fiction writers conduct Master Classes and manuscript consultations for 36 fellows. Readings, writing circles, and informal social gatherings are also scheduled. Through this Retreat, Kundiman hopes to provide a safe and instructive environment that identifies and addresses the unique challenges faced by emerging Asian American writers. This five-day Retreat takes place from Wednesday to Sunday. Master Classes will not exceed six students.

The Iowa Review Awards (Deadline January 31 – $1500)

Founded in 1970 and edited by faculty, students, and staff from the renowned writing and literature programs at the University of Iowa, The Iowa Review takes advantage of this rich environment for literary collaboration to create a worldwide conversation among those who read and write contemporary literature.

We publish a wide range of fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, translations, photography, and work in emerging forms by both established and emerging writers. Work from our pages has been consistently selected to appear in the anthologies Best American Essays, Best American Short Stories, Best American Poetry, The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses, and The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories.

Each January since 2003, The Iowa Review has invited submissions to The Iowa Review Awards, a writing contest in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Winners receive $1,500; first runners-up receive $750. We accept submissions to the Iowa Review Awards during the month of January. Judges for the 2019 Awards are Kiki Petrosino (poetry), Rebecca Makkai (fiction), and Roxane Gay (nonfiction).

The Suburban Review Call for Submissions (Theme: Luck – Deadline February 6)

The Suburban Review is a literary collective that worships creativity. We publish a quarterly digital journal of short fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry and art. We’re based in Narrm Melbourne but we’re interested in publishing the work of writers from all over Australia and the world. We praise creativity, adore the tongue-in-cheek, and love having our hearts broken again and again.

The start of the year is an auspicious time—of new beginnings, of changes, turns, of potential. But when will your luck change? We thought about skipping TSR #13… but decided to try our luck instead. Bring us stories of massive moments, near misses, one-in-a-million chances. If it’s your first time submitting, well, you’ve got beginner’s luck on your side and this issue is for you! Rub a rabbit’s foot and get writing. GOOD LUCK!

Crazyhorse Prizes (Deadline January 31 – $2000)

Founded by the poet Tom McGrath in Los Angeles in 1960, Crazyhorse continues to be one of the finest, most influential literary journals published today. Past contributors include such renowned authors as John Updike, Raymond Carver, Jorie Graham, John Ashbery, Robert Bly, Ha Jin, John Gardner, W. P. Kinsella, Richard Wilbur, James Wright, Carolyn Forché, Charles Simic, Charles Wright, Billy Collins, Galway Kinnell, James Tate and Franz Wright. Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners alike appear regularly in its pages, right alongside Guggenheim fellows, National Endowment for the Arts fellowship recipients, and writers whose work appears in the O. Henry Prize, Pushcart Prize, and Best American anthologies.

From January 1st to January 31st, submit short stories and essays of up to 25 pages or a set of 1-3 poems. Winners in each genre will receive $2,000 and publication.

Kit Reed Travel Fund for Women-Identifying and Non-Binary Writers of Color

In 2019, WWS will offer two $340 grants to women-identifying and non-binary writers of color seeking professional or artistic advancement by attending a writing conference, festival, workshop, or residency. We at Women Who Submit understand the financial demands attending these artist opportunities can create for an individual writer, and we hope this grant can help offset hardships making more opportunities available to women and nonbinary writers of color from our community.

Kit Reed was a prolific novelist and short story writer, who cut her teeth in male-dominated newsrooms. A writing professor at Wesleyan University, she encouraged her students and kept personal connection with them long after they left. According to novelist and former student, Alexander Chee, “Her willingness to accept a call was an openness to another kind of connection and conversation with us, one that, for many of us, would go on for the rest of the time we knew her.” Kit Reed was a good friend and writers’ advocate who not only encouraged her marginalized students, colleagues, and writer friends to apply for advancement, but would find ways to help them behind the scenes wherever she could. This fund was made possible by a donation from her family in honor of her work as a writer, feminist, professor, and mentor. 

Palooka Call for Submissions

Palooka is an international nonprofit literary magazine of unique fiction, poetry, nonfiction, artwork, photography, graphic narratives, and comic strips. We've featured writers, artists, and photographers from United States, Canada, Australia, India, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain, Israel, Finland, Italy, and Austria. We have eclectic tastes and are open to many voices, forms, and styles. Please send your best fiction, poetry, nonfiction, graphic narratives, comic strips, artwork, and photography.

Black Lawrence Press Big Moose Prize (Deadline January 31)

Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The Big Moose Prize for an unpublished novel. The prize is open to new, emerging, and established writers. The winner of this contest will receive book publication, a $1,000 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes will be awarded on publication.

Black Lawrence Press is an independent publisher of contemporary poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. We also publish the occasional translation from German. Founded in 2004 by Colleen Ryor, Black Lawrence became an imprint of Dzanc Books in 2008. In January 2014, we spread our wings and became an independent company in the state of New York. Our books are distributed nationally through Small Press Distribution to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and various brick and mortar retailers. We also make our titles available through our website and at various conferences and book fairs. Through our annual contests and open reading periods, we seek innovative, electrifying, and thoroughly intoxicating manuscripts that ensnare themselves in our hearts and minds and won’t let go.

Upcoming Deadlines
 
Kundiman Retreat Call for Applications (Deadline January 15)
The Arctic Circle Artist & Scientist Residency (Deadline January 15)
Light Bringer Project The Roswell Award and The Tomorrow Prize 2019 (Deadline January 28 & February 18)
Crazyhorse Prizes (Deadline January 31 – $2000)
The Iowa Review Awards (Deadline January 31 – $1500)
Black Lawrence Press Big Moose Prize (Deadline January 31)
The American Short(er) Fiction Contest (Deadline February 1 – $1000)
Barrelhouse Books 2019 Call for Nonfiction Submissions (Deadline February 1)
The Suburban Review Call for Submissions (Theme: Luck – Deadline February 6)
Creative Nonfiction Call for Submissions (Theme: Memoir - Deadline February 25 – $2500)
Clarion Workshop Call for Applications (Deadline March 1)
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts Call for Submissions (Deadline March 1)
Pembroke Magazine Call for Submissions (Deadline March 31)
Waxwing Call for Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Dorothy Call for Manuscript Submissions (Deadline May 1)

Submission Sunday 12.2.18

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

Clarion Workshop Call for Applications (Deadline March 1)

Clarion is an intensive six-week summer program focused on fundamentals particular to the writing of science fiction and fantasy short stories. It is considered a premier proving and training ground for aspiring writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Instructors are among the most respected writers and editors working in the field today. Over one third of our graduates have been published and many have gone on to critical acclaim. The list of distinguished Clarion alumni includes Ed Bryant, Octavia Butler, Bob Crais, Cory Doctorow, George Alec Effinger, Nalo Hopkinson, James Patrick Kelly, Vonda McIntyre, Kim Stanley Robinson, Martha Soukup, Kelly Link, Bruce Sterling, and many others.

Clarion participants are selected from applicants who have the potential for highly successful writing careers and who submit writing samples with an application. Some have already been published. Though most come from the United States, students from countries worldwide frequently participate. Clarion students range in age from late teens to those in mid-career, and represent a wide variety of academic and working backgrounds.

A different professional writer or editor conducts the workshop during each of the first four weeks. The last two weeks are run by a two-writer anchor team. Faculty Director Shelley Streeby meets with students throughout the six weeks of the program. Workshoppers are housed in college apartments, and classes are held in seminar facilities. The resident writers live nearby and are continuously available to students. Mornings are devoted to critiquing manuscripts in a workshop setting. Afternoons, evenings, and weekends are devoted to individual writing, conferences with the current writer-in-residence, social activities, and the completion of class assignments.

Barrelhouse Call for Nonfiction Submissions (Deadline December 16)

Barrelhouse is a non-profit literary organization consisting of pop culture obsessed oddballs who like to hang out in the corner. We started in 2004 as a literary magazine that sought to bridge the gap between high-brow literary tastes and the mid-brow appreciation of daily joys like good music, bad television and a decent hot dog. Barrelhouse is a fever dream populated by a passionate squad of volunteers who do a lot of things: we’re a print and online literary magazine, a small press bringing good books and chapbooks into the world, an organizer of cool literary events, and curators of this lovely website.

Please submit no more than one essay at a time. Also, note that Barrelhouse is interested only in essays that deal, in one way or another, with pop culture, though pop culture here is defined in a fairly broad way. No specific length restrictions, though we tend to select pieces shorter than 10k words. Send me something that you love a whole lot but you think nobody else will love. Get weird with it. We are eager to publish work by writers whose voices are typically underrepresented due to race, gender, sexuality, or disability. 

The American Short(er) Fiction Contest (Deadline February 1 – $1000)

American Short Fiction has published, and continues to seek, short fiction by some of the finest writers working in contemporary literature, whether they are established or new or lesser-known authors. In addition to its triannual print magazine, American Short Fiction also publishes stories (under 2000 words) online.

We are thrilled to announce that the Danielle Dutton, author of three remarkable books and editor of Dorothy, a publishing project, will judge this year’s American Short(er) Fiction Prize. The prize recognizes extraordinary short fiction under 1,000 words. The first-place winner will receive a $1,000 prize and publication, and the second-place winner will receive $250 and publication. Previous winners of the Short(er) Fiction Prize have gone on to be anthologized in places such as The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses. All entries will be considered for publication.

Glimmer Train Call for Submissions (Theme: Family Matters – Deadline January 2 – $2500)

We are looking for stories about families of all configurations. It's fine to draw heavily on real-life experiences, but the work must read like fiction and all stories accepted for publication will be presented as fiction. Sticking too tightly to "fact" can limit the larger truth that fiction is able to reveal. Give your story the leeway it needs in order to find its own life. And, if your story is closely related to your actual experience, it is wise to change details that would allow the real-life people to say, Hey, that's me!

So many stories we've read since we started. A person might think they'd begin to seem all the same, but they don't. Without fail, the stories we read each month move, surprise, and change us. We are grateful to the writers for this gift, and to you, dear readers, for completing the circle, for opening yourself to their generous offerings. We two sisters read every story ourselves, and we pay writers over $50,000 a year (almost 3/4 of that to emerging writers). We will be accepting stories for print publication for the next 6 months. We are eager to read yours!

Third Coast Call for Submissions (Deadline December 15)

Founded in 1995 by graduate students of the Western Michigan University English department, Third Coast is one of the nation’s premier literary magazines—and one of only a handful of nationally distributed literary magazines to regularly include four genres; Third Coast consistently publishes excellent and often award-winning fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and drama.

In the past several years, stories published in Third Coast have gone on to appear in the O. Henry Award Series, the Pushcart Prize anthologies, and Best of the West: New Stories from the Wide Side of the Missouri. Poetry first featured in the journal has been selected for Best New Poets and the Pushcart Prize Series.

LitMag 2019 Virginia Woolf Award for Short Fiction (Deadline December 15 – $3500)

LitMag is a print journal of fiction, poetry and nonfiction, a home for award-winning, emerging and unknown writers. We seek work that moves and amazes us. We are drawn to big minds and large hearts. The annual print journal is a beautiful object. Hold LitMag in your hands and feel and smell its pages. Or download the digital version wherever you are.

The contest will be judged by the editors of the magazine. Agency review by Sobel Weber Associates. The winning short stories and finalists will be announced publicly on our Web site and social media as well as by email to all contestants in March of 2019.

Burningwood Literary Journal Call for Submissions (Deadline December 5)

Burningword Literary Journal is a quarterly international publication of poetry, short fiction, short nonfiction, and photography. Burningword has been published continuously since June 2000. Burningword accepts quarterly submissions for publication. This journal conducts blind reviews, which means that the identities and details of the submitter are concealed throughout the review process.

Redivider 2018 Blurred Genre Contest (Deadline December 9 – $500)

This contest explores porous genre boundaries and honors work that doesn't quite fit into a conventional submittable category. For you this means we accept anything that bends genre and sloughs off convention--from flash fiction/nonfiction to prose poetry to labeled diagrams and beyond!

Redivider is a newly online journal of art and literature produced by and representing the graduate students in the Writing, Literature, and Publishing program at Emerson College in Boston. Published three times a year, we welcome art, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry submissions from new, emerging, and established artists and writers.  

Redivider strives to showcase the very best previously unpublished art and literature we can find; to actively engage the broader literary community, and to support and nurture that community in our pages and beyond; to welcome and serve historically underrepresented voices, including those marginalized due to class, gender, race, and sexuality; and, above all, to give good art and literature a good home.

Upcoming Deadlines

Burningwood Literary Journal Call for Submissions (Deadline December 5)
Redivider 2018 Blurred Genre Contest (Deadline December 9 – $500)
Beloit Fiction Journal Hamlin Garland Award for the Short Story (Deadline December 10 – $2000)
Embark Call for Submissions (Deadline December 15)
Third Coast Call for Submissions (Deadline December 15)
F(r)iction Winter 2018 Literary Contests (Deadline December 15 – $300-$1000)
LitMag 2019 Virginia Woolf Award for Short Fiction (Deadline December 15 – $3500)
Barrelhouse Call for Nonfiction Submissions (Deadline December 16)
RipRap Call for Submissions (Deadline December 17)
Red Bike Review Short Fiction Contest (Deadline December 31 – $1500)
Boulevard Short Fiction Contest for Emerging Writers (Deadline December 31 – $1500)
Black Heart Magazine Call for Submissions (Theme: We’ll Always Have Paris (Or Will We?) – Deadline December 31)
Glimmer Train Call for Submissions (Theme: Family Matters – Deadline January 2 – $2500)
Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency (Deadline January 10)
The Arctic Circle Artist & Scientist Residency (Deadline January 15)
Light Bringer Project The Roswell Award and The Tomorrow Prize 2019 (Deadline January 28 & February 18)
The American Short(er) Fiction Contest (Deadline February 1 – $1000)
Creative Nonfiction Call for Submissions (Theme: Memoir - Deadline February 25 – $2500)
Clarion Workshop Call for Applications (Deadline March 1)
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts Call for Submissions (Deadline March 1)
Pembroke Magazine Call for Submissions (Deadline March 31)
Waxwing Call for Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Dorothy Call for Manuscript Submissions (Deadline May 1)

Submission Sunday 11.18.18

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

The Arctic Circle Artist & Scientist Residency (Deadline January 15)

The Arctic Circle is a nexus where art intersects science, architecture, education, and activism – an incubator for thought and experimentation for artists and innovators who seek out and foster areas of collaboration to engage in the central issues of our time. Artist and scientist led, The Arctic Circle is an annual expeditionary residency program, now sailing into our 11th year.

The Arctic Circle brings together international artists of all disciplines, scientists, architects, and educators who collectively explore the high-Arctic Svalbard Archipelago and Arctic Ocean aboard a specially outfitted Barquentine sailing vessel. The Arctic Circle provides a shared experience for its participants to engage in myriad issues relevant to our time and to develop professionally through fieldwork and research, interdisciplinary collaborations, exhibit opportunities, and public and classroom engagement. The Arctic Circle program supports the creation and exhibition of new and pioneering work, and aims to empower the creative individual while fostering the collaborative.

The Mighty Line Call for Submissions

The Mighty Line is Marlowe and Company's monthly magazine. Each issue features one quality short story and one article, essay, or interview on the subject of writing, publishing, or art in general. Our goal is to support authors of short fiction while making literature more relevant to non-academic audiences.

The Mighty Line is looking for quality literary fiction that pairs refined storytelling with immediate cultural relevance. Genre fiction is discouraged, but stories that transcend their genre will be considered. Writers are paid $25 per accepted work regardless of length.* Flash submissions are welcome. Anything that tells a compelling story in less than 4,000 words is welcome.

Porter House Review Call for Submissions

Porter House Review is an online literary journal produced in conjunction with Texas State University’s MFA program in Creative Writing. We will be launching in November 2018, and will publish content regularly. 

Inspired by the legacy of Katherine Anne Porter, the journal seeks to publish bold and incisive writing that interrogates not only the complexities of the human experience, but also the prevailing social challenges of our time. In support of this mission, we seek unique perspectives from both established, award-winning authors, as well as emerging and underrepresented voices from around the world. We celebrate a wide range of literary forms and styles. We are a paying market, and are committed to paying a competitive rate for all published work.

Sweet Flash Nonfiction Essay Contest (Deadline November 30 – $500)

Sweet is thrilled to announce its second annual Flash Essay Contest. Broadly speaking, we appreciate a close attention to language and a quirky sense of humor, and you can always read published essays in previous Sweet issues on our website. We look forward to reading your work!

Sweet is about candy, cake, ice cream, chocolate—a cornucopia of desserts. There’s a reason “sweet” has come to mean “awesome” in slang. It comes back to the mouth, to pleasure. We don’t believe pleasure has to be light, as our issues show. But we also don’t want readers to go away thinking, “That was really hearty” or “What a healthy collection!” We want you to think, “Mmmm, sweeeeet.” We want you to find something here that you need, something perhaps not as practical as a potato, but just as vital.

Route 7 Call for Submissions (Deadline December 1)

We are a literary publication from Dixie State University based in the gorgeous red rock deserts of St. George, Utah. We are currently seeking original works of fiction and non-fiction, poetry, art and photography, and critique that recreate the sense of majestic beauty and wonder that exploring the desert exposes us to.

F(r)iction Winter 2018 Literary Contests (Deadline December 15 – $300-$1000)

F(r)iction is now accepting submissions for our Winter Literary Contests! F(r)iction is accepting previously unpublished works of short fiction, flash fiction, and poetry. We accept submissions from writers located anywhere in the world, as long as the work is in English. Our editorial staff favors stories that celebrate the weird, take risks, and are driven by a strong, unique voice.

Printed triannually and distributed around the world, F(r)iction publishes short fiction, flash fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, in addition to a selection of graphic stories. Since our creation in 2015, we’ve published original work by established authors such as Helen Phillips, Benjamin Percy, Jason Mott, Isaac Marion, Linda Pastan, and Scott O’Connor, as well as amazing graphic  features, including two Eisner-nominated comics. These acclaimed authors pave the way for the emerging voices  published in each issue, many of them seeing their work in print for the first time.

RipRap Call for Submissions (Deadline December 17)

RipRap is a literary journal designed and produced annually since 1951 by students in the Master of Fine Arts, Creative Writing program at California State University Long Beach (CSULB). RipRap offers a humble invitation to talented and aspiring writers of short fiction, creative nonfiction, flash fiction, and poetry, as well as creators of visual art such as photography, illustration, and comics. New editions of the journal are published each May, including interviews with award winning, published writers who are featured in the CSULB English Department’s Visiting Writers Series or from the known writing community.

This year, RipRap 41 will highlight multitude and diversity in all forms, celebrating the uniqueness of culture, race, sexuality, gender, place, and perspective. We encourage local and global submissions of writing and art inspired by the kaleidoscopic composition of Southern California, the greater US, and abroad. As always with all our submissions, we seek out work that is innovative, forward-thinking, and as entertaining as it is thought-provoking.

Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency (Deadline January 10)

Established in 2007, JTHAR is a nonprofit artist residency that awards an international community of artists the gifts of time and space amidst the extraordinary natural beauty of Joshua Tree National Park.  Group and solo residencies of six to seven weeks include scholarship funds, living accommodations, studio space designed to accommodate a broad range of artistic activity and a gallery exhibition. 

Artists selected for this program are at all stages of their careers and work in all media, including drawing, painting, photography, film, video, new media, installation, fiction and non fiction writing, interdisciplinary, social practice and architecture.

JTHAR fosters creativity through opportunities for exploring, experimenting, quiet reflection, engagement and cross-cultural exchange with the vibrant local artist community. We establish spaces where inspiration happens on a daily basis, so artists can do the work of innovating, changing the cultural landscape and generating a fresh look at the way we connect to each other and to the world.​

Upcoming Deadlines 

The A3 Press Call for Manuscript Submissions (Deadline November 20)
New England Review Call for Submissions (Deadline November 30)
Sweet Flash Nonfiction Essay Contest (Deadline November 30 – $500)
Mid-American Review Sherwood Anderson Fiction Prize and James Wright Poetry Prize (Deadline November 30 – $1000)
Route 7 Call for Submissions (Deadline December 1)
The Normal School Call for Submissions (Deadline December 1)
The Madison Review Phyllis Smart-Young Prize in Poetry and the Chris O’Malley Prize in Fiction (Deadline December 1 – $1000)
Beloit Fiction Journal Hamlin Garland Award for the Short Story (Deadline December 10 – $2000)
Embark Call for Submissions (Deadline December 15)
F(r)iction Winter 2018 Literary Contests (Deadline December 15 – $300-$1000)
RipRap Call for Submissions (Deadline December 17)
Red Bike Review Short Fiction Contest (Deadline December 31 – $1500)
Boulevard Short Fiction Contest for Emerging Writers (Deadline December 31 – $1500)
Black Heart Magazine Call for Submissions (Theme: We’ll Always Have Paris (Or Will We?) – Deadline December 31)
Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency (Deadline January 10)
The Arctic Circle Artist & Scientist Residency (Deadline January 15)
Light Bringer Project The Roswell Award and The Tomorrow Prize 2019 (Deadline January 28 & February 18)
Creative Nonfiction Call for Submissions (Theme: Memoir - Deadline February 25 – $2500)
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts Call for Submissions (Deadline March 1)
Pembroke Magazine Call for Submissions (Deadline March 31)
Waxwing Call for Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Dorothy Call for Manuscript Submissions (Deadline May 1)

Submission Sunday 11.4.18

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

The Black Mountain Institute and The Believer Fellowships (Deadline November 11)

The Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute + The Believer magazine invite applications for residential fellowships for the 2019-20 academic year. Visiting fellows will join a community of creative writers and scholars in a thriving literary scene in Las Vegas and on the campus of UNLV, supported by individuals and groups who share our commitment to bringing writers and the literary imagination into the heart of public life. For writers who have at least one book published by a trade press or a significant literary press.

The A3 Press Call for Manuscript Submissions (Deadline November 20)

We're launching a new small press: The A3 Press. We'd love you to share your work with us. Do you have a series of poems or short stories, or maybe a long story that can be spread out over several pages? How about a short play in 12 parts or scenes, or even 12 very short plays? Do you have a combination of drawings and short stories? Or poems and photographs? Or maybe 12 drawings or photographs without text that would fit into our A3 map-fold format?

Think of us as a chapbook press, a place for work that might struggle to find a traditional home, work that's lyrical and intense, a bit weird, perhaps, hybrid, experimental. We also welcome work that's traditionally beautiful. We like work that is urgent, that says something about what it's like to be alive at this point in history. Our first six titles will appear in early 2019. We'll then publish six new titles every six months.

Each title will receive individual care. As we do with all our publications, we want The A3 Press' titles to be intriguing objects as well as inspiring and thought-provoking reads. We work closely with our writers and artists throughout the editing process, and will make sure the design, paper, and packaging are relevant to each title. 

The Madison Review Phyllis Smart-Young Prize in Poetry and the Chris O’Malley Prize in Fiction (Deadline December 1 – $1000)

The Madison Review annually hosts the Phyllis Smart-Young Prize in Poetry and the Chris O'Malley Prize in Fiction. The finest unpublished short story (30 page max), and the finest group of three unpublished poems will be awarded $1,000 with publication in the issue of The Madison Review. 

The Madison Review is an independent literary arts journal published through the University of Wisconsin-Madison Creative Writing Department. Published semiannually, each issue of The Madison Review contains previously unpublished fiction, poetry, and art as well as interviews with well-known writers. The Madison Review is also committed to bringing literary arts to the community by hosting readings, discussions and other events.

Pembroke Magazine Call for Submissions (Deadline March 31)

When Norman Macleod (1906-1985) founded Pembroke Magazine in 1969, he had already edited some of the top "little" magazines in the country, including Morada (1929-30), Front (1930-31),  Maryland Quarterly (1942-44), and the Briarcliff Quarterly (1944-47). Macleod edited Pembroke Magazine for ten years, when poet and North Carolina native Shelby Stephenson assumed the editorship. Stephenson, current Poet Laureate of North Carolina, served as editor from 1979 until his retirement in 2010. Jennifer Key, winner of the 2012 Tampa Review Prize for Poetry, served as interim editor from 2010-12. Jessica Pitchford, former editor-in-chief of The Southeast Review, held the post of editor of Pembroke Magazine from 2012 - 2017. The current editor, Peter Grimes, started his position in August 2017.

Published at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Pembroke Magazine has been printed annually since its founding. It has grown from a student publication of forty-eight pages to a book-length publication international in scope, featuring poetry, fiction, nonfiction, interviews, and visual art from North Carolina, the United States, and beyond. Peruse the pages and get to know this unique publication, providing the best literary offerings from North Carolina and beyond since 1969.

Boulevard Short Fiction Contest for Emerging Writers (Deadline December 31 – $1500)

$1,500 and publication in Boulevard awarded to the winning story by a writer who has not yet published a book of fiction, poetry, or creative non-fiction with a nationally distributed press.

Boulevard was founded in 1984 in New York City and incorporated in 1985 as a nonprofit by writer Richard Burgin. Its first issue, published January 2, 1986, featured fiction by Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer, poetry by Kenneth Koch, and interviews with renowned composers Philip Glass and Steve Reich and an essay on John Dos Passos and the Soviet Cinema. By its third issue in 1987, Boulevard had attained national bookstore distribution, which continues into the present.

Mental Papercuts Call for Submissions

We accept pieces of fiction and creative nonfiction under 1,000 words. There’s no minimum requirement for length, only quality—if you think you can make us cry in a tweet, hit us with your best shot. We typically favor stories with a strong personality and are open to any genre and style! We value diverse voices and encourage submissions from all walks of life. We love experimentation with form, tone, and subject matter, but we’re not interested in gimmicks or shock value—your story should still be able to stand on its own. Most importantly, don’t bore us! We’re here to engage, entertain, and challenge, not validate your English degree.

Beloit Fiction Journal Hamlin Garland Award for the Short Story (Deadline December 10 – $2000)

$2,000 and publication will be awarded to the top unpublished story on any theme. The judge for this year’s contest is Bonnie Nadzam, author of Lions: A Novel.

The Beloit Fiction Journal publishes the best in contemporary short fiction. Traditional and experimental narratives find a home in our pages. We publish new writers alongside established writers. Our fiction-only format allows us to consider very long as well as very short stories. We occasionally publish excerpts.

Mid-American Review Sherwood Anderson Fiction Prize and James Wright Poetry Prize (Deadline November 30 – $1000)

The people of Mid-American Review seek to publish works of fine literary art from a diverse body of artists. We are on the lookout for work that has the power to move and astonish us while displaying the highest level of craft. We dedicate ourselves to encouraging, nurturing, teaching, and learning from the writers we meet through careful consideration of their work and meaningful dialogue. The writers in each issue shall include both well established poets and authors and brand new voices.

Because the acts of writing and reading force people to slow down and examine the world and their part in it, MAR is in a position to foster peace and understanding and to make a positive difference, and we fully embrace the challenge of making the world a better place through literature. We are dedicated to finding new audiences for contemporary writing and to building the audience for our journal, while also providing an outlet for professional development and personal growth among staff members.

Upcoming Deadlines 

The Black Mountain Institute and The Believer Fellowships (Deadline November 11)
One Story Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship (Deadline November 15)
The A3 Press Call for Manuscript Submissions (Deadline November 20)
New England Review Call for Submissions (Deadline November 30)
Mid-American Review Sherwood Anderson Fiction Prize and James Wright Poetry Prize (Deadline November 30 – $1000)
The Normal School Call for Submissions (Deadline December 1)
The Madison Review Phyllis Smart-Young Prize in Poetry and the Chris O’Malley Prize in Fiction (Deadline December 1 – $1000)
Beloit Fiction Journal Hamlin Garland Award for the Short Story (Deadline December 10 – $2000)
Embark Call for Submissions (Deadline December 15) 
Red Bike Review Short Fiction Contest (Deadline December 31 – $1500)
Boulevard Short Fiction Contest for Emerging Writers (Deadline December 31 – $1500)
Black Heart Magazine Call for Submissions (Theme: We’ll Always Have Paris (Or Will We?) – Deadline December 31
Light Bringer Project The Roswell Award and The Tomorrow Prize 2019 (Deadline January 28 & February 18)
Creative Nonfiction Call for Submissions (Theme: Memoir - Deadline February 25 – $2500)
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts Call for Submissions (Deadline March 1)
Pembroke Magazine Call for Submissions (Deadline March 31)
Waxwing Call for Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Dorothy Call for Manuscript Submissions (Deadline May 1) 

Submission Sunday 10.21.18

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

New York Times Tiny Love Stories Call for Submissions

What kind of love story can you share in two tweets, an Instagram caption or a Facebook post? The Modern Love team wants to read yours. Tell us a love story from your own life — happy or sad, capturing a moment or a lifetime — in 100 words or fewer. Include a picture taken by you that complements your narrative, whether a selfie, screenshot or snapshot. We seek to publish the most funny and heart-wrenching entries we receive. We call them Tiny Love Stories. They are about as long as this paragraph. They must be true. Share yours today.

The Molotov Cocktail Flash Monster Contest (Deadline October 21 – $200)

It’s that time of year again. Time to head back to the lab and cook us up something sinister. The Flash Monster contest is the theme that started it all back in 2014, and we’re anticipating that this year’s crop of abominations against god and nature will be the most horrific yet. 

Now the theme for this one is pretty self-explanatory. But we’d also like to point out that you can go as literal or figurative with your monster as you want. We like literary approaches, but we also dig genre and pulpy takes as well.  Art house or grindhouse. Subvert the usual monster tropes or create something nobody’s ever seen before.

Puerto Del Sol Call for Submissions (The Absence Issue – Deadline October 31)

For Issue 54, Puerto Del Sol is seeking submissions that engage the theme of absence. Engage the fact of its ever-presence and show how it can define and concern. We are interested in negative space, blank maps, ghosts and the partial. We are interested in what cannot always be measured in a world that constantly seeks to count and quantify. Send us formal engagements of absence and accounts of exile. Send us the vanished, the unrecognizable. Answer the question, what’s missing? Show us your ghosts. We encourage established and emerging writers in all stages of their writing careers to send us their work.

The Test Site Poetry Series Inaugural Book Prize (Deadline November 1)

Interim: A Journal of Poetry and Poetics is happy to announce the inaugural season for the Test Site Poetry Series. A prize of $1,000 and publication by the University of Nevada Press will be given for a new, full length collection of poetry. All entrants to the contest will also receive a free issue of a print issue of Interim.

The Test Site Poetry Series is open to all writers, regardless of previous publication, though we don't accept manuscripts that have already been published. All submissions must be at least 48 pages. Translations are not accepted, but we will consider “New & Selected” or “Collected” manuscripts including work from previously published books. Series editor Claudia Keelan, along with series board members Sherwin Bitsui, Donald Revell, Sasha Steensen, and Ronaldo V. Wilson will choose the winning book. 

As our series title suggests, we’re looking for manuscripts that engage the perilous conditions of  life in the 21st century, as they pertain to issues of social justice and the earth. The winning book will demonstrate an ethos that considers the human condition in inclusive love and sympathy, while offering the same in consideration of the earth. Because we believe the truth is always experimental, we’ll especially appreciate books with innovative approaches. 

Lunch Ticket Call for Submissions (Deadline October 31)

Lunch Ticket is the online literary and art journal published by the MFA community of Antioch University (AU), a program devoted to the education of literary artists, community engagement, and the pursuit of social, economic, and environmental justice. The editors of Lunch Ticket share AU’s mission and values. With a commitment to publishing the best literary writing and visual art, we encourage submissions from underrepresented and marginalized artists and writers.

 

Atticus Review Flash Fiction Contest (Deadline October 29 – $500)

Atticus Review is happy to announce our second annual Flash Fiction Contest judged by Mary Miller. Atticus Review is a daily online journal that publishes fiction, poems, and creative nonfiction, as well as graphic art, mixed media, music essays, and, on occasion, blog posts, interviews, and non-traditional book reviews.

The writing in Atticus Review is unashamed, unadorned, and unafraid. We want our contributors to dig deep into wounds to uncover words that touch the heart of the heartache — not to wallow, but rather to transcend despair through art and arrive at something hopeful. The stories we love are often lonely, and sometimes ugly, but we’re also deeply attracted to the bright, bold, and hope-infused.

We like hybrid, unconventional work that pushes boundaries, elevates and edifies on an intellectual level, that investigates the inscrutable essence of a thing, that avoids artifice to stand firmly in its unique voice. We are a platform, but not a pulpit. Moralizing is best kept at Sunday School. Judgement is best kept in court.


Longreads Call for Pitches & Submissions

Longreads is currently accepting pitches for original work. We pay competitive rates. Please note that we’re not accepting any fiction at this time. Blog posts / Reading lists / Short interviews: These posts go beyond curation to engage with longform essays and journalism published online. The idea here is to either take an item or discussion in the news — or a recently published piece of longform journalism that is being discussed online — and thread together a post that may lead the reader to other great longreads they may not have known about. Personal Essays and Memoir: These pieces should tell a true story. Where necessary, there can be some journalistic reporting, but generally these are personal narratives. Reported, Researched and Critical Essays: These kinds of essays have been the heart of Longreads for the past several years, and they are thoughtfully written and engaging, often dealing with topics in the news from a personal angle or a historic one. This is the place you can be a bit experimental with your writing or research, ideas-based essays are particularly welcome here. These are generally between 2,000-3,000 words, but could be longer. Features / Long-form Journalism / Investigative Projects: Long-form features take a considerable amount of time and research to develop. These stories can involve multiple reporting trips, sources, and in-depth research. Although they don’t necessarily need to deal with current events, they should have an excellent sense of story and purpose and be able to hold a reader’s attention with a compelling premise. Features are generally between 3,000 and 6,000 words, but can be longer or broken up into a series depending on length and subject matter.

Light Bringer Project The Roswell Award and The Tomorrow Prize 2019 (Deadline January 28 & February 18)

Light Bringer Project and Sci-Fest L.A. present two science fiction writing competitions designed to identify and nurture the up-and-coming science fiction writing talent of Los Angeles and worldwide. Science fiction is a uniquely inspiring medium that has enabled many of our great thinkers and scientists to imagine the heights and limits of human achievement, leading to important moral and ethical debate, long range planning for humanity, and scientific innovation. Writers are encouraged to explore scientific, social, technological, environmental, and philosophical themes in their writing and always, at the core, to master the art of great storytelling. Dramatic readings by celebrity guests and awards presentations for The Tomorrow Prize and The Roswell Award 2019 will take place at LitFest Pasadena the weekend of May 18-19, 2019. Submissions open October 1, 2018.

Upcoming Deadlines 

The Molotov Cocktail Flash Monster Contest (Deadline October 21 – $200)
Inlandia Call for Submissions (Deadline October 22)
Atticus Review Flash Fiction Contest (Deadline October 29 – $500)
Lunch Ticket Call for Submissions (Deadline October 31)
South 85 Journal Call for Submissions (Deadline October 31)
Puerto Del Sol Call for Submissions (The Absence Issue – Deadline October 31)
Kenyon Review Call for Submissions (Deadline November 1)
The Test Site Poetry Series Inaugural Book Prize (Deadline November 1)
[PANK] Call for Folio Submissions: Latinx and Latinidad (Deadline November 1)
One Story Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship (Deadline November 15)
New England Review Call for Submissions (Deadline November 30)
The Normal School Call for Submissions (Deadline December 1)
Embark Call for Submissions (Deadline December 15) 
Red Bike Review Short Fiction Contest (Deadline December 31 – $1500)
Black Heart Magazine Call for Submissions (Theme: We’ll Always Have Paris (Or Will We?) – Deadline December 31
Light Bringer Project The Roswell Award and The Tomorrow Prize 2019 (Deadline January 28 & February 18)
Creative Nonfiction Call for Submissions (Theme: Memoir - Deadline February 25 – $2500)
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts Call for Submissions (Deadline March 1)
Waxwing Call for Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Dorothy Call for Manuscript Submissions (Deadline May 1)

Submission Sunday 10.7.18

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

One Story Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship (Deadline November 15)

Together with the Talve-Goodman Family, One Story is happy to announce the Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship. This educational fellowship will offer a year-long mentorship on the craft of fiction writing with One Story magazine. Our hope is to give a writer outside of the fold a significant boost in their career.

The fellow will receive:

• Free tuition for all One Story online classes and programming offered in 2019.
• Travel stipend ($2,000) and tuition to attend One Story’s July 2019 week-long summer writers’ conference in Brooklyn, which includes craft lectures, an in-person intensive fiction workshop, and panels with literary agents and publishers.
• A full manuscript review & consultation with One Story Executive Editor Hannah Tinti (story collection or novel in progress up to 150 pages/35,000 words).

Requirements: This fellowship calls for an early-career writer of fiction who has not yet published a book and is not currently nor has ever been enrolled in an MFA program. We are seeking writers whose work speaks to issues and experiences related to inhabiting bodies of difference. This means writing that explores being in a body marked by difference, oppression, violence, or exclusion; often through categories of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, religion, illness, disability, trauma, migration, displacement, dispossession, or imprisonment. All applicants must be at least 21 years of age as of January 1st, 2019.

JuxtaProse Call for Submissions

Founded in 2015, JuxtaProse is an online literary journal that publishes fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, art, and photography from around the world. We pride ourselves on providing a venue where emerging writers can find a voice alongside some of the most respected names in world literature. Recent issues have included Pulitzer Prize and Man Booker International Prize winners, as well as several previously unpublished writers. JuxtaProse currently reaches over 5,000 readers each month and we consider general submissions year round. Begnning with our Fall 2018 issue, we will provide a small honorarium to those writers we publish.

Waxwing Call for Submissions (Deadline May 1)

Waxwing is a literary journal promoting the tremendous cultural diversity of contemporary American literature, alongside international voices in translation. It is the editors’ belief that American literature is thriving, both in terms of aesthetics and cultural inclusiveness. Waxwing believes that American voices are, at their cores, both multicultural and multinational, and so the editors’ mission is to include American writers from all cultural identities — in terms of race, ethnicity, indigenous tribe, gender, class, sexuality, age, education, ability, language, religion, and region — alongside international voices, published bilingually. Waxwing aims to broadcast as widely as possible, in each and every issue, singular voices — and to hear these voices together, in all their harmony and dissonance.

Waxwing is published in October, February, and June of each year. The journal publishes poetry, fiction, essays, interviews, reviews, art, and music, as well as international literature in translation. Waxwing currently accepts submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and translations; all other content is solicited.

Hunger Mountain Call for Submissions (Theme: Silence & Power – Deadline October 15)

Hunger Mountain is OPEN for general submissions for our next print issue #23, guest edited by Natalie Scenters-Zapico, Yamile S. Méndez, and James Scott. Our current theme is "Silence & Power." We are looking for excellent work that explores silence and/or power in loud and soft ways. Our reading period for general submissions is open from May 1 through October 15.

Hunger Mountain is a print journal of the arts. We publish fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, visual art, young adult and children’s writing, and literary miscellany. Our print issue comes out annually in the spring. Our mission is to cultivate engagement with and conversation about the arts by publishing high-quality, innovative literary and visual art by both established and emerging artists, and by offering opportunities for interactivity and discourse.

Creative Nonfiction Call for Submissions (Theme: Memoir - Deadline February 25 – $2500)

Creative Nonfiction is seeking new work for an upcoming issue dedicated to memoir. We’re looking stories that are honest, accurate, informative, intimate, and—most importantly—true. Whether your story is revelatory or painful, hilarious or tragic, if it’s about you and your life, we want to read it.

Submissions must be vivid and dramatic; they should combine a strong and compelling narrative with an informative or reflective element, and reach beyond a strictly personal experience for some universal or deeper meaning. We’re looking for well-written prose, rich with detail and a distinctive voice; all essays must tell true stories and be factually accurate.

Creative Nonfiction editors will award $2,500 for Best Essay and two $500 prizes for runner-up. All essays will be considered for publication in a special "Memoir" issue of the magazine to be published in 2020.

Dorothy Call for Manuscript Submissions (Deadline May 1)

Recently named one of five small presses “slyly changing the industry for the better” (flavorwire), Dorothy, a publishing project is dedicated to works of fiction or near fiction or about fiction, mostly by women.

Each fall, we publish two new books simultaneously. We work to pair books that draw upon different aesthetic traditions, because a large part of our interest in literature lies in its possibilities, its endless stylistic and formal variety. Dorothy books are available through most major retail channels, but we offer special sales on titles purchased together through this website, to encourage readers to approach them as a conversation (a project).

The press is named for its editor’s great-aunt Dorothy Traver, head librarian, author, gardener, animal-lover, and bookmobile-driver, who on each birthday gave her niece a book stamped with an owl bookplate.

Inlandia Call for Submissions (Deadline October 22)

Inlandia: A Literary Journey is the official online literary journal of the Inlandia Institute. Founded in 2010, Inlandia: A Literary Journey is published annually. The Inlandia Institute is a lively center of literary activity serving the 29,000 sq. mile inland Southern California Region. It grew out of the highly acclaimed anthology Inlandia: A Literary Journey through California’s Inland Empire, published by Heyday Books in 2006 with the active participation of the Riverside Public Library.

We are primarily seeking stories, poems, novel excerpts, memoir, images, etc., by writers and artists whose work is in some way grounded in the Inland Southern California region; works that will give readers around the globe a sense of the region and its people.

To give a clearer picture of where this region is located, it is in the southeastern corner of California and encompasses all of Riverside and San Bernardino counties from the heights of San Gorgonio Mountain to the lows of Death Valley, from the wineries of Temecula to the shuttered citrus packing houses of Riverside, and all points in-between. Above all else we want fresh, compelling writing.

Elsewhere Studios Residencies for Parent Artists (Paonia, Colorado – Deadline October 9)

Thanks to the generous support of Sustainable Arts Foundation, Elsewhere Studios is excited to be able to offer specific support to parent artists during the month of July 2019. Accepted artists have the choice to bring their spouse/ partner and children or come on their own, are provided with living and studio space, and are awarded a stipend of up to $1500. The artist has the freedom to use the stipend for childcare, bills, travel / material costs, or for summer camp fees for children (there are several in Paonia.) Residencies will be short-term between one to two weeks and Elsewhere staff can assist in connecting parent artists to childcare, summer camps, additional housing, etc.

Families will be housed in either the Basement Apartment: an independent living / studio space with its own kitchen, bathroom and sauna in the lower level of the main house, or the Suite: the upstairs living / studio space with two bedrooms, its own bathroom and shared kitchen. If parents will be attending with older children, we are happy to have them pursue their own creative pursuits as part of the residency and will include them (if they desire) in critiques, open studios, and other Elsewhere events.

Elsewhere Studios exists in the heart of the small, vibrant mountain town of Paonia, Colorado. Located on the western slope of the Rockies, Paonia has a population of about 1500 with another 5000 in the surrounding mesas. The town is rich with creativity and is home to many organic orchards, farms and vineyards. Though small, Paonia doesn’t have a lack of things to do for families, especially during the summer!

Upcoming Deadlines 

Elsewhere Studios Residencies for Parent Artists (Paonia, Colorado – Deadline October 9)
The 2019 A Public Space Fellowships (Deadline October 15)
Amy Lowell Traveling Poetry Scholarship (Deadline October 15 – $59,000)
Hunger Mountain Call for Submissions (Theme: Silence & Power – Deadline October 15)
Pochino Press Call for Zine Submissions (Themes: Ancestors, Place, and Memory, The Land Lives Forever – Deadline October 15)
Inlandia Call for Submissions (Deadline October 22)
South 85 Journal Call for Submissions (Deadline October 31)
Kenyon Review Call for Submissions (Deadline November 1)
[PANK] Call for Folio Submissions: Latinx and Latinidad (Deadline November 1)
One Story Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship (Deadline November 15)
New England Review Call for Submissions (Deadline November 30)
The Normal School Call for Submissions (Deadline December 1)
Embark Call for Submissions (Deadline December 15) 
Red Bike Review Short Fiction Contest (Deadline December 31 – $1500)
Black Heart Magazine Call for Submissions (Theme: We’ll Always Have Paris (Or Will We?) – Deadline December 31
Creative Nonfiction Call for Submissions (Theme: Memoir - Deadline February 25 – $2500)
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts Call for Submissions (Deadline March 1)
Waxwing Call for Submissions (Deadline May 1)
Dorothy Call for Manuscript Submissions (Deadline May 1)

Submission Sunday 9.23.18

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

[PANK] Call for Folio Submissions: Latinx and Latinidad (Deadline November 1)

The only thing more vast than our twenty-one sovereign states and territories is the rich diversity of the Latinidad experience. We want to celebrate this beauty in all its manifold forms for our first folio. We are seeking submissions from Latinx / Latina / Latino writers for this special feature. As always, we remain open to all voices and the ways in which they emerge. Fiction, CNF, poetry, hybrid writing, graphic narrative, visual art, and multimedia work are all welcome.

John Gosslee, Chris Campanioni, and Maya Marshall edit PANK. At the end of 2015, John Gosslee purchased PANK Magazine after the founders announced they planned to close the riskiest magazine on the literary scene. They co-edit the magazine to continue the original vision of the founding editors and the rich history that’s published so many innovative voices.

The Masters Review Summer 2018 Flash Fiction Contest (Deadline September 30 – $3000)

Send us your stories under 1000 words! We love a good piece of flash fiction. The winner will receive $3000 and publication. Our love of flash fiction runs deep. And throughout our years of reading work by emerging writers we’ve seen some incredible pieces of small and powerful fiction. We are proud to now offer a contest dedicated solely to flash. So here it is: a home for your very best small fiction. Send us big worlds in tiny packages, large ideas with a low word count. Dazzle us with your best fiction under 1000 words.

The Masters Review is an online and in print publication celebrating new and emerging writers. We are on the lookout for the best new talent with hopes of publishing stories from writers who will continue to produce great work. We offer critical essays, book reviews by debut authors, contest deadlines, submissions info, and interviews with established authors, all with the hopes of bridging the gap between new and established writers.

Embark Call for Submissions (Deadline December 15)

Embark is a literary journal designed for novelists and featuring exclusively novel beginnings—those crucial first pages that must engage the reader’s attention and often receive more polishing than any other part of the book. We believe that crafting the opening of a novel is an art in itself, and that reading beginnings can be both inspiring and delightful. If you prefer novels to short stories, love collecting first sentences, and enjoy reading the opening pages of any book that comes to hand, Embark is for you! And if you’re a writer working on your first or fifth or fifteenth book, Embark offers you a chance to share your latest project with fellow writers and readers.

Issues of Embark are released quarterly on this website. Every issue includes ten novel beginnings, each accompanied by a brief Author’s Statement that might offer a summary of the plot, the intentions behind the novel, a meditation on its theme—whatever the author feels is most important or meaningful about the project.

Boston Review Aura Estrada Short Story Contest (Deadline October 1 – $1500)

Aura Estrada (1977–2007) was a promising young Mexican writer and student, and the wife of Francisco Goldman. This prize is meant to honor her memory by supporting other burgeoning writers.

Deadline: October 1, 2018
Judge: Alexander Chee
Prize: $1,500

Boston Review is a political and literary forum—a public space for discussion of ideas and culture. Independent and nonprofit, animated by hope and committed to equality, we believe in the power of collective reasoning and imagination to create a more just world.

Pochino Press Call for Zine Submissions (Themes: Ancestors, Place, and Memory, The Land Lives Forever – Deadline October 15)

Pochino Press offers a multi-media stage for change makers and culture creators. Our mission is to publish works that illuminate stories, which originate in the intersections where hybrid cultures not only meet, but form a new sensibility.​Pochino Press is seeking short stories, essays, and poems, as well as illustration, photography, and visual art for a small zine publication to be released in late November 2018, in print and electronic versions.
 
After the success of Ancestors, Place and Memory, Our Stories Will Never Die, in 2015, we are now opening a we are excited to announce a second call for vol.2. This year’s zine will focus on the same concept of Ancestors, Place, and Memory with a different theme that focuses on our connections to Land. We welcome submissions of finished, unpublished works with these themes to be considered for a zine published and distributed in Oakland, CA and online.

Southern Indiana Review 2018 Mary C. Mohr Awards (Deadline October 1 – $2000)

Southern Indiana Review will award three prizes of $2000 each and publication in SIR for works of creative nonfiction (personal or scholarly); fiction (flash fiction, short story, novella, or stand-alone novel excerpt); or poetry written in English.

Southern Indiana Review presents a cross-section of emerging and established artists and writers whose work is both regional and national in scope and degree of recognition. With the support of the Indiana Arts Commission and National Endowment for the Arts, SIR is published in October and May by the University of Southern Indiana and sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts. The editors invite submissions of drama, fiction, interviews, nonfiction, and poetry September 1—November 15 & February 1—April 15 for our annual fall and spring issues.

Cherry Tree Call for General Submissions and Literary Shade (Deadline October 1)

Founded in 2014, with its debut issue released on February 15, 2015, Cherry Tree: A National Literary Journal @ Washington College is an annual literary magazine featuring poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and literary shade by emerging and established writers from across the United States, and all over the world. Washington College undergraduates participate in all facets of the production of this print journal. All work submitted to our poetry, fiction, or nonfiction categories will be considered for inclusion in the Literary Shade feature section of our upcoming print issue. If you’re not yet familiar with our Literary Shade feature, which we debuted in Issue 3, here’s a brief description of what we’re keeping a lookout for:

In the great tradition of Jennie Livingston’s documentary, Paris is Burning, we are looking for impeccably-crafted shade. But not just ordinary shade: we’re especially interested in poems, short stories, or essays that throw shade at the institutions that have whitewashed our literature and history, be they laws or events or texts authored by dead old cisgender white supremacist misogynistic homophobes. We believe that shade—subversive wit, withering critique—can empower. And we want to read the shadiest shade around.

The 2019 A Public Space Fellowships (Deadline October 15)

We are pleased to announce that applications will open on September 15 for the 2019 A Public Space Fellowships. ​The aim of these fellowships is to seek out and support writers who embrace risk in their work and their own singular vision. Writers who have not yet contracted to publish a book are invited to apply. Three fellowships will be awarded, which will include:

—six months of editorial support from A Public Space editors to prepare a piece of prose for publication in the magazine;
—a $1,000 honorarium;
—the opportunity to meet with members of the publishing community, including agents, editors, and published writers;
—the opportunity to participate in a public reading and conversation in New York City with A Public Space editors and contributors.

A Public Space is an independent nonprofit publisher of an eponymous award-winning literary, arts, and culture magazine, and APS Books. Under the direction of founding editor Brigid Hughes since 2006, it has been our mission to seek out overlooked and unclassifiable work, and to publish writing from beyond established confines.

Upcoming Deadlines 

The New Guard Volume VIII Machigonne Fiction and Knightville Poetry Contests (September 24 – $1500)
Sarabande Books Open Reading Month (Deadline September 30)
Boulevard Nonfiction Contest for Emerging Writers (Deadline September 30 – $1000)
The Masters Review Summer 2018 Flash Fiction Contest (Deadline September 30 – $3000)
Dzanc Books Prizes: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Story Collection (Deadline September 30)
CRAFT Elements Contest: Setting, Dialogue, and Character (Deadline September 30 – $1000)
Zoetrope: All-Story Short Fiction Competition (Deadline October 1 – $1000)
Boston Review Aura Estrada Short Story Contest (Deadline October 1 – $1500)
Cherry Tree Call for General Submissions and Literary Shade (Deadline October 1)
Southern Indiana Review 2018 Mary C. Mohr Awards (Deadline October 1 – $2000)
The Missouri Review 28th Annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize (Deadline October 1 – $5000)
Gimme the Loot: Stories Inspired by The Notorious B.I.G. Call for Submissions (Deadline October 1)
The 2019 A Public Space Fellowships (Deadline October 15)
Amy Lowell Traveling Poetry Scholarship (Deadline October 15 – $59,000)
Pochino Press Call for Zine Submissions (Themes: Ancestors, Place, and Memory, The Land Lives Forever – Deadline October 15)
South 85 Journal Call for Submissions (Deadline October 31)
Kenyon Review Call for Submissions (Deadline November 1)
[PANK] Call for Folio Submissions: Latinx and Latinidad (Deadline November 1)
New England Review Call for Submissions (Deadline November 30)
The Normal School Call for Submissions (Deadline December 1)
Embark Call for Submissions (Deadline December 15) 
Red Bike Review Short Fiction Contest (Deadline December 31 – $1500)
Black Heart Magazine Call for Submissions (Theme: We’ll Always Have Paris (Or Will We?) – Deadline December 31
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts Call for Submissions (Deadline March 1)

Submission Sunday 9.2.18

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

Amy Lowell Traveling Poetry Scholarship (Deadline October 15 – $59,000)

The American poet Amy Lowell died in 1925. Her will established an annual scholarship to support travel abroad for gifted American-born poets. The scholarship is administered by the Trustees under her will at the law firm of Choate, Hall & Stewart in Boston, Massachusetts.

Any poet of American birth who is able and willing to spend one year outside the continent of North America. There is no age requirement, and there is no requirement that applicants be enrolled in a university or other education program. While many recent winners have been published poets, there is no requirement that applicants have previously published their work. The 2019-2020 Scholarship award will be approximately $59,000, adjusted for inflation. If there are two winners, each will receive the full amount.

The Normal School Call for Submissions (Deadline December 1)

The Normal School is a bi-annual print and online journal featuring nonfiction, fiction, poetry, criticism, journalism, author interviews, and multi-media texts. We are nestled happily into the California State University at Fresno like a comfy spore in a benign and mighty lung. We dig quirky, boundary-challenging, energetic prose and poetry with innovations in content, form, and focus, which isn’t actually as high-falutin’ as it sounds. We’re just sort of the lit mag equivalent of the kid who always has bottle caps, cat’s eye marbles, dead animal skulls, little blue men and other treasures in his pockets. We also actively seek to publish and promote work by historically under-represented and marginalized voices.

New England Review Call for Submissions (Deadline November 30)

By publishing new fiction, poetry, and nonfiction that is both challenging and inviting, New England Review encourages artistic exchange and thought-provoking innovation, providing publishing opportunities for writers at all stages in their careers.

The selection of writings in each issue presents a broad spectrum of viewpoints and genres, including traditional and experimental fiction, long and short poems, translations, criticism, travel writing, essays on the arts and literature, and rediscoveries. New England Review exists in a place apart from mass culture, where speed and information overload are the norm. At NER, serious writing is given serious attention, from the painstaking selection process through careful editing and publication, where finally the writer’s words meet up with a curious and dedicated readership.

Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts Call for Submissions (Deadline March 1)

Begun by Donald Barthelme and Phillip Lopate, Gulf Coast is the nationally-distributed journal housed within the University of Houston's English Department, home to one of the US's top ranked creative writing programs. The journal spent its nascent years (1982-1985) as Domestic Crude, a name that nodded to the major industry of the Houston area. It was a 64-page (magazine-formatted) student-run publication, with editorial advising coming from Mr. Lopate, who also contributed work to the first issues.

In 1986, the name Gulf Coast premiered. It stuck. After some experimenting, the journal found its dimensions and, eventually, its audience. The journal has since moved beyond the student body of the University of Houston and into the larger world. Our readership of the print journal currently exceeds 3,000, with more and more coming to our ever-expanding website. The print journal comes out each April and October.

Gulf Coast is still student-run. We seek to promote and publish quality literature in our local and national communities while simultaneously teaching excellence in literary publishing to graduate and undergraduate students. While we are committed to providing a balanced combination of literary approaches and voices, all of the editorial positions are two-year terms, thus ensuring a regular turnover in the specific personality and style of the journal.

Sarabande Books Open Reading Month (Deadline September 30)

Sarabande Books publishes essay collections between 150-250 pages in length. We accept essay manuscripts for consideration each September. Sarabande Books was founded in 1994 by Sarah Gorham and Jeffrey Skinner to publish poetry, short fiction, and essay; to disburse these works with diligence and integrity; and to serve as an educational resource for readers, students, and teachers of creative writing. First titles appeared in 1996, and the press currently has more than 220 titles under contract or in print, many of them prize-winning. Sarabande authors and staff members conduct an estimated 225 readings, workshops, and lectures per year, and they strive to make their programs and services accessible to all.

Sarabande publishes ten to twelve books each year, including selections for the Mary McCarthy prize in fiction, the Kathryn A. Morton prize in poetry, and the Linda Bruckheimer Series in Kentucky Literature. In 2016, the McCarthy prize will be judged by Stacy D'Erasmo, and the Morton will be judged by Dean Young. Sarabande authors and titles have won or been short-listed for, among many others, the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, the National Jewish Book Award, LA Times Book Prize, Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award, Lambda Literary awards, Story Prize Spotlight award, and several PEN/American honors, including the PEN/Hemingway. 

Cobalt 2018 Earl Weaver Baseball Prize (Deadline September 15 – $100)

Earl Weaver, inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996, was manager of the Baltimore Orioles for 17 years (1968-1982 and 1985-1986). The legend, who died in 2013, once said that baseball is all "pitching, defense, and the three-run homer." This contest is dedicated to The Earl of Baltimore.

The 2018 Baseball Issue will be edited by Publisher/Chief Baseball Officer Andrew Keating, who will also select finalists. Regardless of genre, each work should have baseball as a central theme or key component.

We are looking for creative non-fiction/essays that come hard and straight down the pipe; fiction that throws us a curveball; and poetry that reinvigorates our love for the game. Any written work (including scholarly essays) on the amazing game of baseball is welcomed!

Kenyon Review Call for Submissions (Deadline November 1)

Building on a tradition of excellence dating back to 1939, the Kenyon Review has evolved from a distinguished literary magazine to a pre-eminent arts organization. Today, KR is devoted to nurturing, publishing, and celebrating the best in contemporary writing. We’re expanding the community of diverse readers and writers, across the globe, at every stage of their lives.

With a bold new design, the Kenyon Review has transformed itself from one of America’s most important literary magazines, publishing groundbreaking work by both Nobel Prize–winning authors and daring new voices, to a fresh, exciting, and timely multi-platform publication, reaching out to a diverse audience.

CRAFT Elements Contest: Setting, Dialogue, and Character (Deadline September 30 – $1000)

What makes your fiction stand out? When we read stories, we often note their strength in a certain element of craft. Perhaps the setting—a place the reader has never been or is very familiar with—is perfectly rendered. Perhaps the dialogue brings the characters to life but also reveals subtext. Perhaps a character is drawn so well that the reader cannot forget the character, even weeks after reading the story. 

For this contest, we will be reading the stories though the lens of craft, and selecting winners based on the strength of the story in each of the following craft categories: Setting, Dialogue, and Character. One story will be awarded in each category, and each of the three authors will receive $1000 and publication. Finalists will also be noted in each category. So send us that story that really shines in one (or all!) of these categories. We can’t wait to read your fiction!

Upcoming Deadlines 

Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and Prose Literary Prizes (Deadline September 5 – $1000)
Cobalt 2018 Earl Weaver Baseball Prize (Deadline September 15 – $100)
The New Guard Volume VIII Machigonne Fiction and Knightville Poetry Contests (September 24 – $1500)
Sarabande Books Open Reading Month (Deadline September 30)
Boulevard Nonfiction Contest for Emerging Writers (Deadline September 30 – $1000)
Dzanc Books Prizes: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Story Collection (Deadline September 30)
CRAFT Elements Contest: Setting, Dialogue, and Character (Deadline September 30 – $1000)
Zoetrope: All-Story Short Fiction Competition (Deadline October 1 – $1000)
The Missouri Review 28th Annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize (Deadline October 1 – $5000)
Gimme the Loot: Stories Inspired by The Notorious B.I.G. Call for Submissions (Deadline October 1)
Amy Lowell Traveling Poetry Scholarship (Deadline October 15 – $59,000)
South 85 Journal Call for Submissions (Deadline October 31)
Kenyon Review Call for Submissions (Deadline November 1)
New England Review Call for Submissions (Deadline November 30)
The Normal School Call for Submissions (Deadline December 1)
Red Bike Review Short Fiction Contest (Deadline December 31 – $1500)
Black Heart Magazine Call for Submissions (Theme: We’ll Always Have Paris (Or Will We?) – Deadline December 31
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts Call for Submissions (Deadline March 1)

Submission Sunday 8.19.18

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

Boulevard Nonfiction Contest for Emerging Writers (Deadline September 30 – $1000)

We are thrilled to announce the debut of our inaugural nonfiction contest. $1,000 and publication in Boulevard awarded to the winning essay by a writer who has not yet published a book of fiction, poetry, or creative non-fiction with a nationally distributed press.

Boulevard was founded in 1984 in New York City and incorporated in 1985 as a nonprofit by writer Richard Burgin. Its first issue, published January 2, 1986, featured fiction by Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer, poetry by Kenneth Koch, and interviews with renowned composers Philip Glass and Steve Reich and an essay on John Dos Passos and the Soviet Cinema. By its third issue in 1987, Boulevard had attained national bookstore distribution, which continues into the present.

Boulevard has published works by generations of important writers and critics, including John Ashbery, Ann Beattie, Billy Collins, Mark Doty, Jennifer Egan, Donald Hall, Alice Hoffman, David Mamet, Joyce Carol Oates, Carl Phillips, Francine Prose, Gerald Stern, Mark Strand, and others. Poet laureate Daniel Hoffman has called Boulevard “One of the half-dozen best literary journals.”

Persimmon Tree Call for Submissions

Persimmon Tree, an online magazine, is a showcase for the creativity and talent of women over sixty. Too often older women’s artistic work is ignored or disregarded, and only those few who are already established receive the attention they deserve. Yet many women are at the height of their creative abilities in their later decades and have a great deal to contribute. Persimmon Tree is committed to bringing this wealth of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art to a broader audience, for the benefit of all.

We are looking for work that reveals rich experience and a variety of perspectives. Each issue of the magazine will include several fiction and nonfiction pieces, poetry by one or more poets, and the work of one or more visual artists. The magazine is published quarterly, in association with Mills College.

Western Humanities Review Call for Submissions

Established in 1947, Western Humanities Review is a journal of contemporary writing published by the University of Utah’s Department of English. Recent issues have included the work of Carol Maso, Stanley Corngold, Thalia Field, Shelley Jackson, Laird Hunt, Susan Steinberg, Michael Martone, Lee Ann Roripaugh, Kazim Ali, and Ilya Kaminsky.

Work first published in WHR has been reprinted or cited in the Pushcart Anthology, O. Henry Prize Stories, Best American Short Stories, Best American Poetry, Best American Essays, and on Poetry Daily. Western Humanities Review accepts unsolicited submissions of original poetry, fiction, nonfiction, hybrid work, audio/visual work, and essays year round.

Zoetrope: All-Story Short Fiction Competition (Deadline October 1 – $1000)

Judge: Colum McCann

The three prizewinners and seven honorable mentions will be considered for representation by William Morris Endeavor; ICM; the Wylie Agency; Aragi, Inc.; Regal Literary; Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency; Markson Thoma Literary Agency; Inkwell Management; Sterling Lord Literistic; Aitken Alexander Associates; Barer Literary; the Gernert Company; and the Georges Borchardt Literary Agency. We accept all genres of literary fiction.

In 1997, Francis Ford Coppola launched Zoetrope: All-Story, a quarterly magazine devoted to the best new short fiction and one-act plays. It has received every major story award, including the National Magazine Award for Fiction, while publishing today's most promising and significant writers: Mary Gaitskill, David Mamet, Ha Jin, Elizabeth McCracken, Yiyun Li, Don DeLillo, Andrew Sean Greer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Woody Allen, Yoko Ogawa, David Means, Susan Straight, Charles D'Ambrosio, David Bezmozgis, Neil Jordan, and Haruki Murakami among them.

South 85 Journal Call for Submissions (Deadline October 31)

South 85 Journal is a semi-annual online literary journal run by the Converse College Low-Residency MFA Program.  We publish fiction, non-fiction, poetry, reviews, and art by new, emerging, and well-established writers and artists. While we consider all quality work that follow the submission guidelines, we are especially interested in pieces that demonstrate a strong voice and/or a sense of place. So, write like mad, and if it’s good, we want to see it.

The A3 Review's August Contest (Theme: Ball – Deadline August 25 – £175)

The A3 Review is an international magazine that behaves like a map. The prompt for this month's Contest is: Ball. Beach balls, tennis balls, volley balls, and yes, balls. Write about the last time you had a ball? (Not to be confused with bawl. Or, perhaps, yes. Confuse them.) The ball's in your court. Send us poems, short stories, essays and images inspired by ball. Tell an entire life story through sports and the different balls you or a character have played with: cricket, golf, net, volley, bowling, soccer. And juggling. Write a poem about learning to juggle.

Be inspired by John Berryman's "The Ball Poem" to explore existential themes. Or write about throwing a ball for your dog to catch, and be inspired by "Old Man Throwing a Ball" by David Baker. Be on the ball! You could write about medicine balls and Swiss balls at the gym or snooker balls in the pub.

Tell the story of a crystal ball and the time you had your fortune told. What's it like to be the belle of the ball? Or to be at a ball, at all. Write a brief essay on the role of the ball in Cinderella. Write about two characters who meet at a ball, or about ball gowns and the person who makes them. We'd like stories and poems about a glamorous ball, but make sure they're a bit radical. This, after all, is a free-for-all. Other prompts include: snowball, eyeball, and meatball!

Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and Prose Literary Prizes (Deadline September 5 – $1000)

Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and Prose is an annual national literary journal seeking works from writers during its fall reading period each year. We publish fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction of both contest winners and other writers in May of each year. The literary journal is produced by the faculty in the Department of English at Fairfield University.

We are thrilled to announce that Lia Purpura will judge the 2019 Dogwood Literary Awards in poetry and nonfiction. Lia Purpura is the author of eight collections of essays, poems, and translations, most recently a collection of poems, It Shouldn’t Have Been Beautiful (Penguin.) On Looking (essays, Sarabande Books) was finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her awards include Guggenheim, NEA, and Fulbright Fellowships, as well as four Pushcart Prizes, the Associated Writing Programs Award in Nonfiction, and others.  Her work appears in The New Yorker, The New Republic, Orion, The Paris Review, The Georgia Review, Agni, and elsewhere. She lives in Baltimore, MD, is Writer in Residence at The University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and teaches in the Rainier Writing Workshop’s MFA program. $1,000 will be awarded for the best poem, essay, and story entered into the contest, and all submissions are considered for publication.

Black Heart Magazine Call for Submissions (Theme: We’ll Always Have Paris (Or Will We?) – Deadline December 31)

Paris, City of Lights, city of love and romance. Mythical, magical Paris. Foreign, exotic Paris. Political, passionate Paris. What’s your myth about Paris? What’s your reality? What do you think of when you think of Paris? Tell us a story, set near the Seine, the Louvre, Notre-Dame, the Champs-Élysées – anywhere, so long as it features Paris past, present, future… or only in your dreams.

Black Heart Magazine is an independent online literary magazine, transmitting tenacious text around the world at the speed of wifi. Since 2004, our site has been combating clichés and skipping straight to supercharged stories with a simple catchphrase: we heart art. Join us, if you dare. We publish the best in short-form modern literature, from pulp and literary fiction to poetry, along with all manner of literary commentary to keep readers informed and entertained. You’ll find new writing by both up-and-coming and established authors, and we nominate pieces annually for Best of the Net as well as the Pushcart Prize.

Upcoming Deadlines 

The A3 Review's August Contest (Theme: Ball – Deadline August 25 – £175)
The Matador Review Call for Submissions (Deadline August 31)
Sustainable Arts Foundation Awards (Deadline August 31 – $5000)
Proximity Call for Submissions (Theme: Aging – Deadline August 31)
Black Warrior Review 2018 Contest (Deadline September 1 – $500/$1000)
Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and Prose Literary Prizes (Deadline September 5 – $1000)
The New Guard Volume VIII Machigonne Fiction and Knightville Poetry Contests (September 24 – $1500)
Boulevard Nonfiction Contest for Emerging Writers (Deadline September 30 – $1000)
Dzanc Books Prizes: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Story Collection (Deadline September 30)
Zoetrope: All-Story Short Fiction Competition (Deadline October 1 – $1000)
The Missouri Review 28th Annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize (Deadline October 1 – $5000)
Gimme the Loot: Stories Inspired by The Notorious B.I.G. Call for Submissions (Deadline October 1)
South 85 Journal Call for Submissions (Deadline October 31)
Red Bike Review Short Fiction Contest (Deadline December 31 – $1500)
Black Heart Magazine Call for Submissions (Theme: We’ll Always Have Paris (Or Will We?) – Deadline December 31

Submission Sunday 8.5.18

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

Dzanc Books Prizes: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Story Collection (Deadline September 30)

The Dzanc Books Prize for Fiction recognizes daring, original, and innovative novels. A $5,000 advance  and publication in Fall 2019 by Dzanc Books will be awarded to the  winner. Finalists will be compiled in-house and passed along for  evaluation to this year’s judges:John Domini (Movieola! and The Sea-God’s Herb), Emily Geminder (Dead Girls), and Alice Hatcher, author of The Wonder That Was Ours, which was chosen as the winner of last year’s Prize for Fiction.

The Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Prize celebrates imaginative and inventive writing in book-length collections. Past winners include Kirstin Allio (Clothed, Female Figure), Anne Valente (By Light We Knew Our Names), Jen Grow (My Life as a Mermaid), and Chaya Bhuvaneswar (White Dancing Elephants, coming October 2018). The winning submission

The Dzanc Books Nonfiction Prize is awarded annually for the most innovative and inspiring book-length work of nonfiction--including but not limited to memoir, essays, polemical writing, historical writing, and biography.will be awarded a $2,500 advance and publication in Fall 2019 by Dzanc Books.

Psychopomp Magazine Call for Submissions (Fee-free until August 15)

Psychopomp Magazine is a quarterly, online publication that exists to showcase stories and art that challenge genre and form conventions with particular attention to work that deals with conceptions of passages, rites of passage, transitions, juxtapositions, and the betwixt and between. We also run an annual fiction contest.

Psychopomp (Greek – psuchopompos – “Guide of Souls”): n. Creatures, angels, spirits, or deities who are responsible for escorting the dead to the afterlife. Their role is to provide safe passage. In Jungian psychology, the psychopomp is a mediator btw. the conscious and unconscious realms.

The Psychopomp Magazine staff is committed to publishing original fiction that dares to redefine traditional storytelling and genre borders. While we like stories that treat the concepts of passages, transitions, and the state of being betwixt and between, we are open to all work regardless of theme. We are generally not looking for traditional realist fiction or pure hard genre. With that said, we are certainly open to publishing more traditional literary work or more hard genre (no fan fiction) so long as it’s really, really good. The best way to get a feel for what we publish is to read our issues. In addition to publishing fiction, we are also dedicated to showcasing art that echoes our themes.

Gold Line Press Chapbook Competitions (Deadline August 15 – $500 + 10 copies)

Gold Line Press and Ricochet Editions are small presses run by students and alumni of the University of Southern California’s PhD Program in Creative Writing. This year’s chapbook judges are Eve Ewing and Hanif Abdurraqib (nonfiction), Tongo Eisen-Martin (poetry), and Dodie Bellamy (fiction). Manuscripts must be 20-30 pages in length for poetry entries, and 7,500-15,000 words for fiction and nonfiction entries. We seek works of prose that are purposefully planned as chapbooks: novellettes, carefully curated collections of vignettes, short stories, essays, or other projects that take the chapbook format as an instrumental element of their design.

Fiction Advocate AFTERWORDS... Call for Pitches

…AFTERWORDS are uncommon books that blend personal essay and literary criticism. In the tradition of Rebecca Mead on Middlemarch, and Geoff Dyer on DH Lawrence, each volume features an acclaimed writer interrogating a book they adore to create a distinctive new work of art.

Fiction Advocate is an independent publisher based in San Francisco, CA. Our mission is to discover and promote new approaches to storytelling. We use fiction, criticism, and hybrid forms to destabilize literary conventions and introduce people to alternative ways of being real. Our founders have worked for Little, Brown and Company, Simon & Schuster, Oxford University Press, The Rumpus, Electric Literature, and the Barack Obama administration. Our award-winning books have been recognized by The New Yorker, Bookforum, and NPR. Contributors to our web site have won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the PEN/Faulkner Award, among other honors.

Black Warrior Review 2018 Contest (Deadline September 1 – $500/$1000)

Nonfiction Judge: Kate Zambreno

Fiction Judge: Laura van den Berg

Poetry Judge: Vanessa Angélica Villarreal

Flash Judge: Jennifer S. Cheng

Black Warrior Review is named for the river that borders the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Established in 1974 by graduate students in the MFA Program in Creative Writing, BWR is the oldest continuously-run literary journal produced by graduate students in the United States.

BWR publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, and art twice a year. Contributors include Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners alongside emerging writers. Work appearing in BWR has been reprinted in the Pushcart Prize series, Best American Short Stories, Best American Poetry, New Stories from the South, and other anthologies.

Electric Literature Recommended Reading Commuter Call for Submissions (Deadline August 8)

The Recommended Reading Commuter is our new home for poetry, flash, graphic, and experimental narratives. It publishes weekly on Monday morning, and has already showcased the likes of Noy Holland, Lulu Miller, Daniel Mallory Ortberg, Shelly Oria and Nelly Reifler, and more. For this submissions period, submit up to 3 flash fiction prose pieces, either standalone or connected. The total word count should not exceed 1,500 words.

Electric Literature is a nonprofit dedicated to making literature more exciting, relevant, and inclusive. We are committed to publishing work that is intelligent and unpretentious, to elevating new voices, and to examining how literature and storytelling can help illuminate social justice issues. Our writers and readers are engaged with current events as well as arts and culture.

Sustainable Arts Foundation Awards (Deadline August 31 – $5000)

Artists and writers with at least one child and a strong portfolio of polished work are welcome to apply. We are inspired by anyone who is making creative work while raising a family. Given the intense demand for these awards (we typically receive over 3,000 applications), and the fact that the awards are based on demonstrated excellence in your discipline, we don’t recommend that artists or writers who are beginning their creative careers apply to this program.

This year, we will make awards of $5,000 each to twenty artists and writers. Additionally, we will name ten award finalists. Our awards offer unrestricted cash, and recipients can use the funds as they see fit. Our program is an award program that rewards excellence in a creative field (note that this is different from a grant program, in which the application is focused on a proposal for new work). Our selection process is focused almost entirely on the strength of the submitted portfolio.

Narratively Call for Personal Essays

Narratively publishes a wide range of short memoir/personal essays, and we’ve recently divided them up into four categories. I’m sharing those four categories in the hope of giving writers a clearer idea of what we’re looking for, and maybe sparking some new ideas.

SECRET LIVES: These stories focus on obscure or unusual jobs or pursuits, taking readers behind the scenes of these experiences, showing them what it’s like to live another life. Most importantly, they tell a story and show the shared humanity in even the oddest of jobs.

THE DEFINING MOMENT: These stories are similar to Secret Lives pieces, but they zero in on one key moment that defines how the writer thinks about their job or their unique situation. Think of these as having all of the elements of the Secret Lives stories listed above, but distilled into the one moment that you would use to describe your experience. These are usually moments of change, or dramatic incidents that cause the writer to reevaluate their relationship to the job or role they’re writing about.

IDENTITY: These are stories about events in your life that shift your perception of what it means to be you. They’re about how your identity (or identities) (such as race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, etc.) informs the way you move through the world, and intersects with your everyday experiences. They’re stories about “what it’s like to be you,” but illustrated through gripping narrative and active scenes (that part is important! We don’t publish meditations/topical essays — there has to be a narrative).

FAMILY MYSTERIES: These stories a cross between memoir and investigative journalism, stories where writers set out to uncover and untangle a family secret.

Upcoming Deadlines 

Electric Literature Recommended Reading Commuter Call for Submissions (Deadline August 8)
Mill House Residency (Bend, Oregon – Deadline August 15)
Chalk Hill Artist Residency (Sonoma, California – Deadline August 15)
Psychopomp Magazine Call for Submissions (Fee-free until August 15)
Gold Line Press Chapbook Competitions (Deadline August 15 – $500 + 10 copies)
The Matador Review Call for Submissions (Deadline August 31)
Sustainable Arts Foundation Awards (Deadline August 31 – $5000)
Proximity Call for Submissions (Theme: Aging – Deadline August 31)
Black Warrior Review 2018 Contest (Deadline September 1 – $500/$1000)
The New Guard Volume VIII Machigonne Fiction and Knightville Poetry Contests (September 24 – $1500)
Dzanc Books Prizes: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Story Collection (Deadline September 30)
The Missouri Review 28th Annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize (Deadline October 1 – $5000)
Gimme the Loot: Stories Inspired by The Notorious B.I.G. Call for Submissions (Deadline October 1)
Red Bike Review Short Fiction Contest (Deadline December 31 – $1500)

Submission Sunday 7.22.18

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

 
Vermont Studio Center Displaced Artists Fund

Vermont Studio Center’s Displaced Artists Fund exists to assist visual artists and writers displaced due to natural disasters, climate change, or political turmoil or threat by providing residencies in a safe and supportive community of creative peers.

By providing a creative community of refuge in Vermont, these residencies restore normalcy to studio practice, ease the isolation that often accompanies displacement, and extend VSC’s founding spirit of “artists supporting artists” to those most in need. 

Artists and writers from anywhere in the world who have been directly affected by natural disaster and U.S.-based international artists displaced by political turmoil or threat may apply for Displaced Artist Fund residencies. These residencies are 4- to 6-weeks in duration.

The Matador Review Call for Submissions (Deadline August 31)

The Matador Review is an online literature and art quarterly based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in January 2016, our purpose is to promote "alternative work" from both art and literature, and to encourage respect for online publications. In a world of print, we celebrate the digital decision.

The Matador Review strives to be a cultural conservationist for the alternative world. In each issue, we offer a selection of work from both emerging and established artists, as well as exclusive interviews and reviews from creators who are, above all else, provocative.

For us, "alternative" is a way of voice and experience. It is the distinction from what is conventional, and it advocates for a progressive attitude. The Matador Review binds itself to these tenets, fostering a habitat for the unfamiliar and unsung.

New York Times Call for "Rites of Passage" Essays

The editors of Rites of Passage, a column that will appear regularly in Styles, want to read your essays about notable life events that sparked change. A “rite of passage” can be big or small, though sometimes it’s the less obvious moments that carry even greater meaning: Making the final payment on your student loan debt and what it represented; finding a first gray hair and deciding not to pluck it; a first crush after a spouse’s death. These essays should be written as personal narratives, so please make sure to tell us how the event unfolded and what it meant to you. Send a completed essay of 1,200-1,500 words to ​rites@nytimes.com.

Red Bike Review Short Fiction Contest (Deadline December 31 – $1500)

Red Bike Press is an indie publishing house located in San Luis Obispo, California, an idyllic spot on California’s Central Coast about halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Red Bike Press will release its first book titles very soon! Dates to be announced. It is our ultimate goal to unearth, publish and promote literary gems. Red Bike Press is not currently accepting book manuscript submissions.

Red Bike Press will also publish Red Bike Review, a literary magazine committed to discovery fresh voices and shining a light on underrepresented segments of the writing community. The first issue of Red Bike Review will be published in spring 2019. In furtherance of our goal to give ear to undiscovered writing talent, we proudly sponsor the Red Bike Review Short Fiction Contest.  The inaugural contest which will accept submissions through December 31, 2018.

Redivider Call for Submissions

Issue 15.2 (Spring 2018) will be the final print issue. 16.1 (Autumn 2018) will be our very first digital issue. This change is sparked by the urgency we―as with much of the publishing industry―feel towards the overall accessibility and diversity of our publication. Publishing our issues online will allow the voices of our contributors to reach more readers as our web content will be free for all. Additionally, we will drop submission fees most of the year to become more accessible to contributors.

Redivider is a newly online journal of art and literature produced by and representing the graduate students in the Writing, Literature, and Publishing program at Emerson College in Boston. Published three times a year, we welcome art, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry submissions from new, emerging, and established artists and writers. Each spring, we host the Beacon Street Prize (a nod to our beginnings as the Beacon Street Review), and in the fall we host the Redivider Blurred Genre Contest. Winners of these contests receive cash prizes, and their work is featured online in a subsequent issue of our journal! And if you’re wondering about the name—it’s a palindrome!

The New Guard Volume VIII Machigonne Fiction and Knightville Poetry Contests (Deadline September 24 – $1500)

The New Guard Volume VIII Contests in Fiction and Poetry are in full swing! We're excited to read your work! Judged by Rick Moody and Patricia Smith. The New Guard is a contest-centered, independent literary review, publishing 35+ emerging writers each year. We proudly publish in print, with the exception of our online feature, BANG!, a page on this site that publishes three short works by a single writer for a full month at a time.

The New Guard is here to showcase newcomers alongside established writers, and to juxtapose tradition with experiment to create a new dialogue. We publish all finalists and semi-finalists of our contests in our print-only journals, and we strive to feature at least forty debut writers in each issue. The Writer's Hotel and MFA in A Day make up the editorial arm of The New Guard literary review. Via The Writer's Hotel, we host a conference in NYC each June, The Writer's Hotel NYC Writers Conference and we also work with writers to develop their writing via our online component, Private Study. We are writers for writers' sake.

Proximity Call for Submissions (Theme: Aging – Deadline August 31)

At Proximity, we’re curious about the shape-shifting nature of our proximity to one another. We’re fascinated by the things that connect us, across real and imagined boundaries, across time and place. We believe that tangible connections — the kind that root us in a specific place, time, or culture — are living wells of fresh ideas, offering new perspectives and a better understanding of the way we live our lives. We hope the stories here, however different from your own, will resonate with and enlighten you. We hope they will expand your view of the world while grounding you in your own community, that they will encourage laughter, conversation, difficult-but-important questions, and even, on occasion, a really good cry.

Proximity is looking for true stories that explore the concept of aging, either your own experience or how you are dealing with the aging of those around you — grandparents, parents, old friends, your dog, or even a beloved possession. Aging as a process. Aging as a place. Aging across cultures or belief systems. We're looking for in-depth stories that analyze and reflect upon your own feelings about aging and how your community or culture approaches it.  And don’t forget: Proximity seeks a strong sense of place, so keep that in mind as you send us your essays, images, reportage, and multimedia around the theme of AGING.

Mill House Residency (Bend, Oregon – Deadline August 15)

Writing By Writers is pleased to offer a two-week, dog-friendly, residency in Bend, Oregon, November 2-16, 2018, for up to 6 writers.  The Mill House Residency is open to fiction writers, creative nonfiction writers and poets.  Writers may apply as an individual, with a co-applicant to share a 2-bedroom cottage, or as a group of up to six.  All residents are provided with a 1 or 2-bedroom cottage.  Lodging is provided free of charge, however all residents are responsible for their own meals, transportation and personal needs while at the residency. Applications are due by August 15th and selections will be made by September 15th. Winners will be selected by Pam Houston. 

Upcoming Deadlines 

Cosmonauts Avenue 2018 Nonfiction Prize (Deadline July 23 – $500)
Sangam House 2019 Residencies (Bangalore, India – Deadline July 31)
PEN Emerging Voices Fellowship (Deadline August 1)
Prairie Schooner Summer Creative Nonfiction Contest (Deadline August 1 – $500)
Mill House Residency (Bend, Oregon – Deadline August 15)
Chalk Hill Artist Residency (Sonoma, California – Deadline August 15)
The Matador Review Call for Submissions (Deadline August 31)
Proximity Call for Submissions (Theme: Aging – Deadline August 31)
The New Guard Volume VIII Machigonne Fiction and Knightville Poetry Contests (September 24 – $1500)
The Missouri Review 28th Annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize (Deadline October 1 – $5000)
Gimme the Loot: Stories Inspired by The Notorious B.I.G. Call for Submissions (Deadline October 1)
Red Bike Review Short Fiction Contest (Deadline December 31 – $1500)

Submission Sunday 7.8.18

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

PEN Emerging Voices Fellowship (Deadline August 1)

The Los Angeles-based PEN Emerging Voices Fellowship is a seven-month literary fellowship that provides new writers who are isolated from the literary establishment with the mentorship, tools, skills, networking opportunities, and knowledge they need to launch a professional writing career.

By the end of the Emerging Voices Fellowship, a writer will leave with:

• Seven months of guidance from a professional mentor and written notes on their current writing project.
• An author photo and bio.
• A logline—the short summation of the project in progress.
• A clear action plan for finishing this project.
• Writing life, and craft tips, from notable visiting authors.
• An editing guide from a professional copy editor.
• Insider knowledge of publishing from agents, publishers, and editors.
• An individualized submission guide for literary journals, agents, residencies, and fellowships.
• Improved reading technique from a professional voice coach.
• Public reading experience for a variety of audiences.
• An understanding of how to be an effective workshop participant.
• Lifetime membership in PEN America.
• An introduction to the Los Angeles literary community.

The Emerging Voices Fellowship runs from January to July. Participants need not be published, but the fellowship is directed toward poets and writers of fiction and creative nonfiction with clear ideas of what they hope to accomplish through their writing.

Booth 2018 Nonfiction Prize (Deadline July 15 – $750)

This Nonfiction Prize invites submissions of any and all creative nonfiction: essay, memoir, criticism, documentary, graphic/comics nonfiction, testimony, field notes, hermit crab, braided, experimental and so on.

Booth publishes one new piece or author every Friday, square on our home page. Also, we publish two print issues yearly, usually in winter and summer. Booth was established in 2009. Our staff is comprised of MFA faculty and students in the Butler University graduate writing program.

Coffin Bell Call for Submissions

Dark times call for dark literature. Coffin Bell is a new quarterly online journal of dark literature seeking poetry, flash fiction, short stories, and creative nonfiction exploring dark themes. When we say “dark themes,” we don’t necessarily mean traditional horror. Send us your waking nightmares, dark CNF, dystopian flash, cursed verse. Surprise us. Make us think in a new way. Give us a new fear. Make our skin crawl.

Catamaran Literary Reader Call for Submissions

Catamaran Literary Reader is a quarterly literary and visual arts journal. Catamaran features fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and fine art in a full size, full color magazine. The Catamaran nonprofit is based in the Tannery Arts and Digital Media Center, in Santa Cruz, California, and our nonprofit mission is to capture the vibrant and creative West Coast spirit in writing and art from around the world. Among the themes we address are nature and the environment, personal freedom, and the artistic spirit. We seek to present diverse voices in a creative, sophisticated format by publishing the best literary writing and fine art we can find.

The Missouri Review 28th Annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize (Deadline October 1)

$5,000 Fiction | $5,000 Nonfiction | $5,000 Poetry

Winners receive publication, invitation to a reception and reading in their honor, and a cash prize. Submit one piece of fiction or nonfiction up to 8,500 words or any number of poems up to 10 pages.

The Missouri Review, founded in 1978, is one of the most highly-regarded literary magazines in the United States and for the past thirty-four years we’ve upheld a reputation for finding and publishing the very best writers first. We are based at the University of Missouri and publish four issues each year. Each issue contains approximately five new stories, three new poetry features, and two essays, all of which is selected from unsolicited submissions sent from writers throughout the world. The Missouri Review maintains an “open submission” policy and read year round, sifting through approximately 12,000 submissions each year.  New, emerging, and mid-career writers whose work has been published in the Missouri Review have been anthologized over 100 times in Best American Short Stories, Best American Essays, Best American Travel Writing, Best American Poetry, The O. Henry Prize Anthology, and The Pushcart Prize.

Argot Magazine Call for Submissions

We’re interested in writing and visual art that spans the worlds of queer culture, the feminine narrative, marginalized communities, and politics and culture. Are you an engineer struggling to succeed in a sexist environment? A non-binary cosplayer who’s found your perfect nerd community? A teacher with lupus who constantly questions how much to divulge about your disability? We’re interested in the margins, in questions of alienation and community building, but it doesn’t stop there. Tell us about your activism, your healing moments, your isolation and danger. Is there something happening in your community that the world needs to know about? Are you on the frontlines of something weird, unique, and/or really important? Whether you’re a university student researching assault on campuses, an activist investigating the effects of fracking in local communities, or a writer researching the history of trans representation in science fiction, we want to hear from you.

Chances are, you have opinions and varied perspectives about what’s going on in the news and in your community we’re interested in being a platform for stories on what’s going on in pop culture and politics - with a unique sociological perspective. And please, send us your short stories, poetry, satire, comics, illustrations, and photo essays. Fiction, nonfiction, that poem you wrote for the woman you could hardly see there were so many stars in your eyes, but you still never sent it? Fill our inboxes with them. Classic, satirical, single panel illustrations, photography based travelogues of queers with disabilities - we want it all. This is a queer-focused website, and we have a strong preference for work created by queer writers and artists.

Chalk Hill Artist Residency (Sonoma, California – Deadline August 15)

Chalk Hill Artist Residency provides artists of all media with live and work space on the Warnecke Ranch and Vineyard. Located in Sonoma County wine country, an hour and a half north of San Francisco, the Ranch is a stunning natural environment boasting oak-covered hills, redwood and bay groves, bass-filled lakes, hiking trails and private access to the Russian River.

During the residency, artists stay in a 3 bedroom 1920’s farm house and studio spaces are provided in repurposed barns. Although there is ample opportunity to be quietly absorbed in creative work, the residency is community oriented - the house and studios are located in the vineyards of the100-year-old family ranch. The residency supports Sonoma County arts and culture by organizing seasonal Open Studios, Outsider Artist Programs, Workshops, Lectures, and Fundraising events for local non-profits. 

Chalk Hill Residency is an opportunity to be inspired by a uniquely beautiful natural setting. We offer the space and time to pursue creative work on a working ranch within the context of an organization that is dedicated to supporting its local art community. 

Sangam House 2019 Residencies (Bangalore, India – Deadline July 31)

The word sangam in Sanskrit literally means “going together.” In most Indian languages, sangam has come to mean such confluences as the “flowing together of rivers” and “coincidence.” The intention of Sangam House is to bring together writers from around the world to live and work in a safe, peaceful setting, a space made necessary on many levels by the world we now live in. Our residency programs are designed for writers who have published to some acclaim but not yet enjoyed substantial commercial success. Sangam House seeks to give writers a chance to build a solid and influential network of personal and professional relationships that can deepen their own work, in effect, expanding and diversifying literature. We believe that literature can and must remain a thriving force of illumination for our times.

Assembling writers from various cultural backgrounds broadens the scope of each individual’s work. Exposure to regional and national trends in literature, to multiple political and economic obstacles and varied social and cultural milieus enhances each writer’s understanding of his/her work, as well as his/her own notions of identity and home. We recognize the dearth of such opportunities in South Asia and strive to encourage the work of those writing in all languages, regional and dominant. Such a unique environment enriches the work of its participants and the texture of international literature. Our program also facilitates interaction between the visiting writers and the local communities. Cultivating such an intersection infuses the local communities with inspirations and new ideas, while allowing each participating writer to deepen his or her understanding of the diverse emotional and social climates in which literature is conceived and received.

Upcoming Deadlines 

The Wild: Artist In Residence Call for Applications (Amalfi Coast – Deadline July 9)
The Los Angeles Review Summer 2018 Literary Awards (Deadline July 14 – $1000 plus publication)
Booth 2018 Nonfiction Prize (Deadline July 15 – $750)
Creative Nonfiction Call for Submissions (Theme: Let's Talk About Sex – Deadline July 16 – $1000)
Cosmonauts Avenue 2018 Nonfiction Prize (Deadline July 23 – $500)
Sangam House 2019 Residencies (Bangalore, India – Deadline July 31)
PEN Emerging Voices Fellowship (Deadline August 1)
Prairie Schooner Summer Creative Nonfiction Contest (Deadline August 1 – $500)
Chalk Hill Artist Residency (Sonoma, California – Deadline August 15)
The Missouri Review 28th Annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize (Deadline October 1 – $5000)
Gimme the Loot: Stories Inspired by The Notorious B.I.G. Call for Submissions (Deadline October 1)

Submission Sunday 6.24.18

Our consultants can help you edit your drafts, prepare your submissions, and find places to submit! Contact us for customized submission assistance.

The Wild: Artist In Residence Call for Applications (Amalfi Coast – Deadline July 9)

At The Wild: Artist In Residence, we provide artists with space and support by sharing our remarkable land, inspiring accommodations, professional studios, vibrant community, resources and experience. We collaborate with artists to create an inclusive, immersive, career propelling platform and archive from their residency in our wild places. Wandering through the wilds of 'The Divine Coast' and UNESCO World Heritage Site, immersed in the natural and cultural wonders of this vertical landscape, a small group of creative thinkers will be invited to make pilgrimage to the winding cliffs near one of the smallest villages in Italy. Beyond these wilds, we explore Ravello, Atrani, La Valle Dragone, Maiori, Minori, Furore, Positano, and the famous il Sentiero Degli Dei: the Walk Of The Gods trail high above the Tyrrhenian Sea.

In the Wilds of Amalfi (October 1–8, 2018), we will immerse ourselves in the sensory pleasures of our natural surroundings and connect with the wild energies that nurture creation through educational wild plant hikes, farm visits, shared meals, and trips to the trails, towns, and beaches that dot this wild coast. While our schedule favours free time for internal and external exploration, our time together will serve to introduce like minds and form new connections, infusing our awareness with exponential perspective and sense of possibility.

The Feminist Press Louise Meriwether First Book Prize (Deadline June 30 – $5000 plus publication)

The prize was founded in 2016 to honor author Louise Meriwether by publishing a debut work by a woman or nonbinary author of color. The prize is granted to a manuscript that follows in the tradition of Meriwether’s Daddy Was a Number Runner, one of the first contemporary American novels featuring a young black girl as the protagonist. Meriwether’s groundbreaking text inspired the careers of writers like Jacqueline Woodson and Bridgett M. Davis, among many others. The prize continues this legacy of telling much-needed stories that shift culture and inspire new writers.

First time authors, submit your complete manuscript, either fiction or nonfiction (such as: novel, memoir, short story collection, biography, manifesto, or other work of nonfiction), of 30,000 to 80,000 words. One winner will be awarded a $5,000 advance (half at the time of the initial award and half upon publication) and a contract to publish their book with the Feminist Press in print and digital editions in spring 2020. We expect to work closely with the winner and provide editorial guidance on their manuscript.

The Suburban Review Call for Submissions (Deadline July 1)

The Suburban Review is a literary collective that worships creativity. We publish a quarterly digital journal of short fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry and art. Send us work that will open our minds and hearts. Show us life, the world, the universe. Make us swoon, make us rage, make us laugh. We want your words.

We’re based in Narrm Melbourne but we’re interested in publishing the work of writers from all over Australia and the world. We praise creativity, adore the tongue-in-cheek, and love having our hearts broken again and again. 

Creative Nonfiction Call for Column Pitches

Have an idea for a literary timeline? An opinion on essential texts for readers and/or writers? An in-depth, working knowledge of a specific type of nonfiction? Pitch us your ideas; Creative Nonfiction is now accepting query letters for various sections of the magazine.

Please note that we are especially--though not exclusively--interested in pitches that overlap with our upcoming themes: Science & Religion (Fall 2017); Monsters or Dangerous Creations (Winter 2018); Starting Over (Spring 2018); Risk (Summer 2018). Queries only. Please do not send completed pieces. Please do not send attachments. Please send brilliant ideas and a solid plan for turning said brilliant ideas into brilliant pieces of writing.

Fifth Wednesday Journal Call for Submissions

Submissions to the fall 2018 issue of Fifth Wednesday Journal are now open. Please be aware that we are featuring writers of Mexican heritage in the issue. Residents of the United States and Mexico are encouraged to submit their work. We are committed to the proposition that immigration brings new creativity, new ideas, and new intellectual and cultural strength to every facet of our life as Americans. We know that those young residents now identified as DACA youth will continue this tradition. They have grown to adulthood in the United States; they are “Americans” who bring with them a diverse cultural history very closely linked with our own, one that adds its own richness to ours. We are seeking writing for the fall issue that will demonstrate the benefits of adhering to our tradition of inclusion and expansion of the meaning of citizenship.

Prairie Schooner Summer Creative Nonfiction Contest (Deadline August 1 – $500) 

Each year from May 15 to August 1, Prairie Schooner accepts submissions to the Summer Creative Nonfiction Contest, open to all types of creative nonfiction essays, up to 5,000 words. The entry fee is $18. Winner receives $500 and publication in the following Spring issue.

Prairie Schooner publishes short stories, poems, imaginative essays of general interest, and reviews of current books of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Prairie Schooner is published in cooperation with the University of Nebraska Press and the Creative Writing Program of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln English Department and is endowed by the Glenna Luschei Endowed Editorship and Fund for Excellence at Prairie Schooner.

Blood Orange Review Call for Submissions (Opens August 1)

Blood Orange Review publishes emerging and established writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Our editors look for compelling voices and work that demonstrates attention to craft. We want writing that changes us and challenges us to redefine our sense of perspective. We thrill when we publish someone for the first time, and though our journal is modestly sized and our selection is competitive, we encourage writers to submit.

Blood Orange Review was founded by Stephanie Lenox and H.K. Hummel, and its inaugural issue appeared online in April 2006. The first thirty issues encompass over 200 writers and artists. In 2008, Bryan Fry, an English Department faculty member at Washington State University, joined the editorial team and established a student internship, which allowed the journal to serve as an educational tool for students interested in editing.

Elsewhere Studios Residency Program Call for Applications (Paonia, CO – Deadline July 7)

The Residency Program provides space and time for artists. We welcome visual artists, writers, composer/musicians, performance artists at any stage of their careers as well as scientists, activists, teachers, students, or any kind of creative thinker interested in exploring and expanding their work in a unique and supportive environment. Elsewhere consists of artistically crafted and unique living and studio spaces. Time spans are individually based - 1 to 6 months, accommodating 4 to 6 artists at a time.

Elsewhere is a choose-your-own-adventure style residency. Situated in downtown Paonia, the spaces are versatile, providing residents with opportunities to connect and interact with other artists in the community, to create or participate in art exhibitions, and to teach classes or workshops. Elsewhere Studios is a not-for-profit organization and we aspire to keeping this experience accessible to all artists. Therefore, we have set the residency fees on a sliding scale starting at between $600 and $850 per month (depending on space).

Upcoming Deadlines 

The Feminist Press Louise Meriwether First Book Prize (Deadline June 30 – $5000 plus publication)
Radar Poetry Call for Submissions & Coniston Prize (Deadlines June 30 & September 1 – $1000)
The Suburban Review Call for Submissions (Deadline July 1)
Quarterly West 2018 Chapbook Contest (Deadline July 1 – $500)
Owl Canyon Press Short Story Hackathon (Deadline July 1 – $1000)
PEN America Writing for Justice Fellowship (Deadline July 1 – $10,000)
NPR and the John Alexander Project Above the Fray Fellowship (Deadline July 1)
Elsewhere Studios Resdiency Program Call for Applications (Paonia, CO – Deadline July 7)
The Wild: Artist In Residence Call for Applications (Amalfi Coast – Deadline July 9)
The Los Angeles Review Summer 2018 Literary Awards (Deadline July 14 – $1000 plus publication)
Creative Nonfiction Call for Submissions (Theme: Let's Talk About Sex – Deadline July 16 – $1000)
Cosmonauts Avenue 2018 Nonfiction Prize (Deadline July 23 – $500)
Prairie Schooner Summer Creative Nonfiction Contest (Deadline August 1 – $500)
Gimme the Loot: Stories Inspired by The Notorious B.I.G. Call for Submissions (Deadline October 1)