Submission Calls for Writers 10/3/2019

submissions

After taking September off, I’m finally back with a quick list of a dozen opportunities for writers. But really, this short list is the tip of the iceberg considering how many excellent journals have opened their reading periods this fall. Good luck sending your work out.

Subtropics

Subtropics seeks fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from established and emerging authors. We ask that you submit only one story, essay, or group of poems (please send no more than four poems in any one batch) at a time, and wait until you have heard from us before sending another.

http://subtropics.english.ufl.edu/index.php/submissions/

 

The Rappahannock Review

The Rappahannock Review, an online literary journal published through the University of Mary Washington, is currently accepting submissions in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction from established and emerging writers. We’re currently reading for our Fall 2019 Issue 7.1, which will be published in December, and we’d love to consider your work. For poetry, submit up to five poems. For fiction and nonfiction, submit one longer piece or up to three flash pieces. Submissions will remain open until October 20, 2019.

https://rappahannockreview.submittable.com/submit/

 

Galileo Press

Galileo Press is having a 3-week open reading splash to add to its 2020-21 catalogue. Submit a full-length collection of poems, essays, stories, novella, novel, or hybrid (with exception to 4-colour art / text hybrids). There is also a separate chapbook call. Unlike our late Spring reading period, manuscripts should be buttoned up and ready to sail. We are seeking: vivid imagery and the balance of abstract to concrete imagery, the capacity to surprise, an elastic syntax, pace, and music, thematic cohesiveness and the emotional range and maturity, deft handling of highly charged emotion, use of wit, humor, and self-implication, choice and use of extended metaphor, skillfully juxtaposing the micro and the macro, and more. Please include a brief artist statement (pull back the curtain with one or two tugs). $500 upon signed contract. Standard royalties. Submit between October 3 and October 24, 2019. Please note an important change to our guidelines: an “appealing, confident voice” is no longer needed.

https://freegalileo.com/submissions/

 

Anti-Heroin Chic

Anti-Heroin Chic will publish a special winter issue about Loss and Grief, edited by Erica Anderson-Senter. Please send 3 to 5 poems or up to two pieces of CNF (preferably no more than 20 pages) to Erica at antiheroinchicpoetry (at) gmail (dot) com. Poems can be pasted into the body of the email or sent attached in a word document. Send up to two pieces (preferably no more than 20 pages) of micro or long form fiction to James Diaz at jamesjdiaz68 (at) gmail (dot) com. Simultaneous submissions are okay. Reprints are also okay. Submissions close on October 30, 2019.

http://heroinchic.weebly.com/blog/special-winter-issue-on-loss-grief-editorial-guidelines

 

Inscape

Inscape, Washburn University’s literary magazine in its 48th year of publication, seeks high-quality creative nonfiction, visual art, poetry, and fiction for its 2020 issue. Submissions of creative nonfiction and visual art are especially encouraged. The best submissions in each genre will receive a $100 Editors’ Choice Award and be nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Submission deadline: October 31, 2019.

https://washburn.edu/inscape/submit.html

 

Sunken Garden Poetry Prize

The Sunken Garden Poetry Prize is a prestigious national poetry prize for adult writers. The Sunken Garden Chapbook Poetry Prize includes a cash award of $1,000 in addition to publication by Tupelo Press, 25 copies of the winning title, a book launch, and national distribution with energetic publicity and promotion. This year’s final judge is Cornelius Easy. Submission deadline: October 31, 2019.

https://www.tupelopress.org/sunken-garden-poetry-prize/

 

The Larry Brown Short Story Award

Submissions are now open for the fourth annual Larry Brown Short Story Award. The winners will receive the following prizes: 1st prize $400, 2nd prize $50, and 3rd prize $50. Each prize winner will be published in the January 2020 issue of Pithead Chapel. The 2019 guest judge is Leesa Cross-Smith. The submitted story must be less than 4,000 words. There is a $10 entry fee per story. Submit by October 31, 2019.

https://pitheadchapel.com/the-larry-brown-short-story-award/

 

Southern Humanities Review

Southern Humanities Review is currently open for submissions of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, online fiction features, and book review pitches. SHR seeks submissions from writers in all stages of their careers, especially work from historically underrepresented voices. Fiction and nonfiction manuscripts should be no longer than 8,000 words, double-spaced. Only one piece should be submitted by the same author in a given submission period. Online fiction feature submissions should be no longer than 4,000 words. Book Review pitches should be no more than 300 words. Poets may send up to three poems per submission. Book Review pitch submissions and online fiction feature submissions are free. Submissions for all genres will be open until November 1, 2019.

http://www.southernhumanitiesreview.com/submit.html

 

Bateau Press Boom Poetry Chapbook Contest

Bateau Press is accepting manuscripts for the annual Boom Poetry Chapbook Contest. Winning chapbook is a handmade, hand-sewn, letter pressed work of art. Winner gets $250 plus 25 copies. Print run of 400 chaps.  $14 entry fee includes a copy of the winning chapbook (or any chap in our catalogue) sent to you via USPS. Submission deadline is November 1, 2019.

https://bateaupress.org/index.php/submission-guidelines/bateau-chapbook-contests/

 

Unearthed

Submissions for the Fall 2019 issue of Unearthed, the literary magazine at the State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), are open until November 1, 2019. Unearthed publishes work that responds to immediacy and place, and that occupies the changes inherent in speaking to, with, and for the environment. Submissions to Unearthed are free.

https://unearthedesf.com/submissions/

 

San Miguel Writer’s Conference Writing Contests

The 2020 San Miguel Writer’s Conference Writing Contest is open for submissions. Submit your poetry, creative nonfiction, fiction, and Spanish short story for a chance to attend the 15th annual San Miguel Writers’ Conference free in San Miguelde Allende, Mexico, free of charge. Four writers will be awarded the entire five day “Full Conference Package” (Feb 12-16th 2020) as well as have their housing provided during the conference, and a chance to pitch to a literary agent. Submission Deadline: November 4, 2019 (Midnight CDT).

https://sanmiguelwritersconference.submittable.com/submit

 

Michigan Quarterly Review Special Issue on Water

This forthcoming special issue of the Michigan Quarterly Review will explore urgent, complex, and revelatory writing on water from around the world. “Not One Without: A Special Issue on Water” will explore the paradoxes of water, how at once it gives life and takes it; how it divides us along cruel lines of inequality even as it binds us. Water connects us, and our planet, to our origins and to an indivisible fate. We are seeking work that addresses any aspect of water: from the contested oil pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac to water shut-offs in Cape Town; from flooding in the Midwest to water scarcity in India and the Sahel; from the role of water in regional and global conflict and migration to the way that storm surges and shifting coastlines are forcing us to rethink the shapes of urban centers. We are looking for pieces that consider water through the lens of history and of contemporary geopolitics, and are excited to receive submissions that consider water through mythology, religion, and art history. We welcome a range of genres, including nonfiction, fiction, poetry, drama, translations, and pieces that don’t fit into a neat category. MQR is also open for general submissions in poetry, essay, fiction, translations, reviews, and interviews until December 15, 2019.

https://mqr.submittable.com/submit

Submission Calls for Writers 6/4/2019

For as long as I’ve been writing and submitting work, there’s always been the idea that summer is a dead period, and there’s no use in sending out work. It seems like that couldn’t be less true. Here are a dozen calls and opportunities for writers, and I hope you’ll take advantage of them and get your words out there. Good luck!

Assistant Director for Baltic Writing Residency

The Baltic Writing Residency, an international residency program for writers, with locations in the UK, Sweden, and the U.S, seeks an Assistant Director. In consultation with the Director, the Assistant Director will help oversee operations including the planning of readings, securing of lodgings, updating social media posts, sending out announcements, responding to general emails, communications with readers/screeners, as well as with judges, and universities, as well as offering input on applications, website, and general workings of BWR (we welcome innovation and change!).  The position is volunteer, and the number of hours per week worked by the Assistant Director depends on the residency application cycle. The hours are not enormous, but the work substantive and important. In turn, the Assistant Director will have immense control over when they work, and will work entirely from where they reside, by accessing the BWR email and online submission manager, etc.  In turn, the readers/screeners will receive comprehensive exposure to the workings and business of writing residencies in a friendly, congenial atmosphere, leaving with job experience, a deepened literary education, and an excellent reference for his or her resume.  Qualifications: Applicants for this position should have experience working with a literary organization (residency, literary journal, writing program, etc.). Any graphic design experience is highly appreciated, but not necessary. If interested please email: balticresidency (at) gmail (dot) com.

http://balticresidency.com/

Cobalt Review/Cobalt Press Fiction Editor

Cobalt Review/Cobalt Press is seeking a new fiction editor to help us reimagine how we publish our literary journal this summer. The position is unpaid/volunteer, but will have full autonomy over content selected and published. A new website and a new publishing schedule are in development, and the fiction editor would determine their own time commitment. If you are interested in joining this scrappy team of misfits, shoot an email to Publisher/Chief Baseball Officer Andrew Keating: ak (at) cobaltreview (dot) com.

Creative Nonfiction Seeks Submissions on “Power”

Deadline: June 10, 2019. Creative Nonfiction is looking for new work about power. For this issue, we are seeking true stories that explore the dynamics within groups and systems, however big or small—for example, family units, schools, sports, churches, and government. Share your stories about power lunches, power grabs, power suits, powerlifting, people power (and/or power to the people), or willpower. Above all, we are seeking vivid narratives, sourced from true events, that demonstrate strong storytelling, voice, and grasp of detail. Essays must be previously unpublished and no longer than 4,000 words.

www.creativenonfiction.org/submissions/power

Prairie Ronde Invites Applications for Artists Residencies

The Prairie Ronde Residency is looking for individuals who are highly independent, engaged and curious. We do not limit our residency to any specific medium but, rather, are looking for people who can creatively interact with the space we have to offer and the community of historic Vicksburg, Michigan. Through the program, visual artists, writers, and musicians will receive a $2,000 stipend, a $500 travel grant, and the private use of a car for a residency of between four and seven weeks. Residencies will occur October 1, 2019, through December 15, 2019. Application deadline: June 15, 2019.

prairierondeartistresidency.com

Orison Books Anthology about Eve

Orison Books invites submissions of poems on the subject of the Biblical character Eve for a forthcoming anthology, to be edited by Luke Hankins and Nomi Stone. Send up to 4 poems in Word or RTF format for consideration to editor (at) orisonbooks (dot) com, along with a biographical note of 50 words or less. Use “Eve Anthology” as the subject line. Poems may be new or previously published; if previously published, please include information about where they originally appeared. Contributors will receive a complimentary copy of the anthology and a discount on any additional copies. Deadline: July 1, 2019.

http://orisonbooks.com/submission-guidelines

The Familiar Wild: On Dogs and Poetry

Sundress Publications announces an open submission call for The Familiar Wild: On Dogs and Poetry, an anthology that centers the storied, yet perpetually mystifying connection that dogs and humans share with a new focus: the historical and contemporary relationships between poets and dogs. Reaching beyond a generic celebration of the “dog-owner bond,” The Familiar Wild: On Dogs and Poetry will also interrogate and focus it: why (and how) do dogs appear in poets’ poems, and what does it mean to have a dog beside a poet at their writing desk? Why might poets in particular be drawn to dog companionship? This collection will examine both the routine and the unexpected lives we’ve built with our dogs, exploring wildness and domestication, boundaries and freedom, rescue, and grief through poetry centered on the complicated, expansive dog-poet connection. This call takes particular interest in voices and histories not usually centered in this conversation, particularly those that consider the role of the dog-poet bond in relation to disability, queerness, race, gender, age, and more. Interested poets should submit a cover letter, 3-5 poems, and an optional short (max.. 500 words) essay that considers their personal relationship to the anthology’s subject matter. We intend to include these essays alongside chosen poems for each author. Please feel free to interpret the themes of the anthology widely: however best fits you, your work, and your relationship to dogs. We want to be surprised! That said, poems must engage with dogs or dog companionship/ownership in some way (we’re not looking for poems not about dogs). The deadline for submissions is July 1, 2019. To submit, attach your manuscript as a single DOCX or PDF file to thefamiliarwild (AT) gmail (DOT) com. If the poems have been previously published elsewhere and/or simultaneously submitted, please indicate this in your cover letter. We will happily consider previously published poems so long as the poet retains the rights to reprint them. The poets Ruth Awad and Rachel Mennies will serve as co-editors for this anthology.

Charlotte Mew Contest

Headmistress Press announces our 5th annual Charlotte Mew Chapbook Contest. Winner receives $300 plus 20 copies of the winning book. All entries will be considered for publication. Contest closes on July 4, 2019. There is a sliding scale reading fee, with fee waived upon request. Our judge for this year is Robin Becker.

https://headmistresspress.submittable.com/submit

Sand

We are open to submissions through July 6, 2019. We are looking for writing and art that catches us by surprise. We accept previously unpublished short stories, poetry, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, and many forms of visual art. We’re particularly interested in work by women, people from the LGBTQ+ community, people of color, and people from marginalized locations. Aside from submissions for our print journal, we are always looking for guest website posts that relate to literature, art, and Berlin.

sandjournal.com/submit-your-work

Poetry South

Poetry South is reading for issue 11. Send 1-4 poems by July 15, 2019. Published by the low-residency MFA program at Mississippi University for Women, Poetry South is an international journal, open to a diverse range of poets from all backgrounds, nationalities, and styles. Back issues are available to read on our website. There is no fee to submit; payment in copies.

https://www.poetrysouth.com/submit

The Tishman Review

Please send at least three (3) poems and up to four (4) poems, with each new poem beginning on a fresh page. We prefer the concrete over the abstract. We are open to the possibilities an author may present and are not expecting a particular kind of story. With that in mind, please submit your very best work, the work you are most proud of, the work that best represents your voice in the world. Micro-fiction: up to 300 words. You may include up to 3 pieces of micro-fiction in one submission. Flash fiction: up to 1,000 words. Short Story: up to 6,000 words. We are also looking for personal essays, memoir, lyric essays and literary journalism up to 5,000 words. Submit by July 15, 2019.

thetishmanreview.com/2019/01/submit

The Collagist

The Collagist will consider short fictions of up to 8000 words, though much of the work we publish is considerably shorter. Our tastes are idiosyncratic, but a look at work we’ve published recently may help. If sending very short fiction (less than 1000 words), you may submit up to three such very short fictions as a single file. We’ll also consider submissions of up to 6 poems and no more than 8 pages. We enjoy reading a broad range of styles, from formal to free to experimental, and are looking to publish work that feels urgent and finely tuned. Essays and nonfiction of up to 8000 words are also accepted. Simultaneous submissions are fine; multiple submissions are not. Submit by July 31, 2019.

https://thecollagist.submittable.com/submit

Gay Magazine

Gay is a new publication partnership between Roxane Gay and Medium. Laura June Topolsky is the Deputy Editor and Kaitlyn Adams serves as Managing Editor. We will be publishing work weekly, covering a wide variety of topics. We will also assemble ambitious, compelling quarterly themed issues. We are now accepting submissions, on a rolling basis, and look forward to hearing from new and established writers who possess original voices. The PITCH DEADLINE for the second quarterly issue: August 17th: Pain. What hurts you? How do you deal with hurt and suffering? How have you hurt others or yourself? How do you negotiate the suffering of others?

https://gay.submittable.com/submit

My 2018 Reading List

I love to read, but I struggle constantly with my own expectations of how and what to read and specifically with how much to read. The struggle comes to a head about this time of year when I look back and make some kind of judgment about how I spent my limited time and energy. For 2018, I ended up reading 52 books, obviously, an average of one per week, although it wasn’t paced out that way at all.

Dorie and Book Shelf
Seen here, my cat Dorie picks out her next book to read.

Does it matter? Does the number of books I’ve read make me a better person? Does it make me a better writer? There’s some science to back up both possibilities. But more importantly, I enjoy reading. I love a book that captures me with its language and its characters, and yeah, a great narrative helps too.

Two of the books I loved the most this past year are Jacob Shores-Arguello’s In the Absence of Clocks and John Brandon’s Further Joy. Neither writer was familiar to me when I came across their work in magazines. Arguello’s poetry was found in The New Yorker, and I found a short story by Brandon in Oxford American. Both journal pieces blew me away. I felt so lucky to discover that each had books that were as thoroughly good as their individual publications.

Here’s the list of all 52 books I read this year. I’d love to see what you read in 2018. And I’d love to year which books were your favorites and which ones will stick with you.

1. Russell Banks – A Permanent Member of the Family
2. Virgil – Eclogues
3. Julia Cameron – The Artist’s Way
4. Laura Hunter – Beloved Mother
5. Elaine Fletcher Chapman – Hunger For Salt
6. Jacob Shores-Arguello – In the Absence of Clocks
7. Michael Dowdy – Urbilly
8. Eric Shonkwiler – Moon Up, Past Full
9. William Shakespeare – The Merchant of Venice
10. Marie Howe – What the Living Do
11. Robert Pinsky – At the Foundling Hospital (Feb)
12. William Shakespeare – As You Like It
13. Marie Howe – The Good Thief
14. Jacob Shores-Arguello – Paraiso
15. Madeline Ffitch – Valparaiso, Round the Horn
16. Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge – Poemcrazy
17. Todd Boss – Tough Luck: Poems
18. Walt Whitman – Song of Myself (Mar)
19. Marc Harshman – Believe What You Can
20. Rita Quillen – The Mad Farmer’s Wife
21. Linda Parsons Marion – This Shaky Earth
22. Greg Wrenn – Centaur
23. John Brandon – Further Joy
24. John Lane – Anthropocene Blues
25. Larry Thacker – Drifting in Awe
26. Rachel Danielle Peterson – A Girl’s A Gun
27. Michael Knight – The Holiday Season
28. Jia Oak Baker – Well Enough to Travel
29. James M. Gifford – Jesse Stuart, Immortal Kentuckian
30. Manuel Gonzales – The Miniature Wife
31. Sharon Kay Penman – Falls the Shadow
32. Crystal Wilkinson – The Birds of Opulence
33. James Herriot – All Things Wise and Wonderful
34. Ottessa Moshfegh – My Year of Rest and Relaxation
35. Rowling, Tiffany & Thorne – Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
36. William Glasser – Choice Theory
37. James Herriot – All Creatures Great and Small
38. Sylvia Lynch – Jack Lord: An Acting Life
39. Kevin Fitton – Dropping Ballast (manuscript)
40. Jane Smiley – A Thousand Acres
41. Stephen Mitchell – Gilgamesh
42. C.D. Wright – One with Others
43. Kevin Canty – Into the Great Wide Open
44. George Eliot – Silas Marner
45. Michael Kardos – The Three-Day Affair
46. Christopher Smith – Salamanders of the Silk Road
47. Grant Faulkner, Lynn Mundell, Beret Olsen – Nothing Short of 100
48. Maureen Seaton – Fisher
49. Amy D. Clark – Success in Hill Country
50. Langston Hughes – Let America Be America Again and other poems
51. Cassie Pruyn – Lena
52. Kathryn Stripling Byer – Catching Light