It’s been a while, friends.
Last year, submission posts like this one fell by the wayside, and I’m sorry. When I looked back at 2024, I saw that I did not submit enough of my own work, and I realized how building and sharing these lists and my own submissions go hand in hand. So I’m trying to start 2025 off the right way by sending some of my own work out into the world.
As we move forward, I want to give some extra energy to finding new journals and magazines to recommend to you. There are so many great outlets, and there are new journals emerging all the time. I often feel overwhelmed by all these magazines I’ve never heard of. So you’ll see on this list of ten submission opportunities a few names that are new to me. I hope they are new for you also.
How do we rank these new journals or compare them to some of the ones we’re more familiar with? I don’t know that yet. Please take a look at each one to determine if it feels like a good match for your work and your publication goals.
Today was a great day for me to think about all this, as I was somewhat snowed in. I’m guessing some of the rest of you in the South and East might stuck inside, too, if not by snow then probably by these Arctic temperatures. I hope the timing is right for you to receive this list.
For those of you in Southern California, especially those directly affected by the wildfires, please know that there are so many of us heartbroken by the extreme loss that you’re experiencing. I’m praying for your safety. To anyone and everyone reading this, I wish you all the best for the new year. Happy submitting.
The 2025 Yeats Poetry Prize is a public program since 1997 of the all-volunteer WB Yeats Society of NY. Our 2025 Judge is January O’Neil who also served as last year’s judge. Poets of any age from anywhere in the world may enter through February 1, 2025. There is no limit on entries, and they can be on any topic. They must also be in English, unpublished, and no more than 60 lines in length. First prize is $1,000, second prize is $500, and two or three honorable mentions are usually awarded at the judge’s discretion. The entry fees, which help to underwrite the competition, are $15 for the first poem and $12 for each additional poem. Winners are announced in early March, and awards are presented in New York City in April. https://yeats.submittable.com/submit
Deep South Magazine accepts original fiction, short stories and shorts, nonfiction and poetry during open reading periods. For fiction and nonfiction, we will do special themed calls. We will announce a new theme sometime in 2024. For poetry, our reading period will be open through February 14, 2025. We will mainly publish poetry in April during National Poetry Month, so around 30 selections will be chosen. All submissions must have a Southern connection, whether the author lives in the South, used to live in the South, has family in the South or was inspired by a visit to the region. Poetry submissions can be up to five poems of any length. Fiction, short stories and nonfiction are limited to one work at a time and may not be longer than 3,500 words. https://deepsouthmag.com/submission-guidelines/
Beaver Magazine publishes poetry, flash fiction and nonfiction, hybrid works, art and anything else you have to offer during our open reading periods. For poetry, send 3-5 poems of any format, each beginning on a new page. We love work that plays with traditional forms and modes. We want the lyric, the narrative, and everything in between. For prose, send up to 3 flash pieces of no more than 1,000 words each (though we do prefer brevity). Creative nonfiction can include personal, research, or lyric essays as well as memoirs. Fiction can be of any genre or style. Hybrid work can be whatever you want it to be! We celebrate and yearn for work from LGBTQIA2S+ and BIPOC. Submit through February 15, 2025, for the Spring Issue. https://beavermag.org/submit/
The Santa Clara Review is a student-edited literary magazine that publishes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art. The magazine is published biannually in February and May, drawing on submissions from Santa Clara University students, faculty, and staff, as well as from writers around the nation and globe. Please submit works of fiction or nonfiction prose under 6,000 words. Please submit no more than five poems or pieces of artwork at a time. Submissions for Volume 112.2 are currently open through February 15, 2025. https://santaclarareview.com/submit
Canary is published four times a year to welcome each new season on the solstices and equinoxes. We will be open from February 1- 28 for Spring-themed work for the Spring Equinox issue due out March 21, 2025. Please submit no more than 5 poems, or essays/short stories of not more than 1500 words. We look forward to reading your work on your experience of the losses to the natural world in your home environment and the joys of that natural world that we stand to lose. https://canarylitmag.org/submissions.php
Brevity publishes well-known and emerging writers working in the extremely brief (750 words or fewer) essay form. We have featured work from Pulitzer prize winners, NEA fellows, Pushcart winners, Best American authors, and writers from India, Egypt, The Netherlands, Ireland, Spain, Malaysia, Qatar, and Japan. We have also featured many previously-unpublished authors, and take a special joy in helping to launch a new literary career. While Brevity (the magazine) publishes the finest examples of flash nonfiction, the Brevity Blog offers a place to discuss issues related to the writing of creative nonfiction. https://brevitymag.com/submissions/
Pine Hills Review seeks submissions of previously unpublished fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art. We are interested in quality work, no matter the genre, form, or style. Hybrid and experimental works are especially encouraged. Poetry submissions should include no more than six poems total. Nonfiction, fiction submissions, and hybrid or cross-genre work should be no more than 3,000 words total. Our regular reading period ends April 30, 2025. https://pinehillsreview.com/submit/
The Baffler is America’s leading voice of incisive and unconventional left-wing political criticism, cultural analysis, short stories, poems, and art. Founded in 1988 by Thomas Frank and Keith White as “the journal that blunts the cutting edge,” the magazine is currently edited by Matthew Shen Goodman. Nonfiction should be submitted in pitch form (no complete manuscripts, please), consisting of two paragraphs that describe your project. Poetry and fiction are welcome; our preferred length for prose is between 2,200 and 5,000 words. https://thebaffler.com/about/submissions
Forge Literary Magazine publishes one prose piece per week selected by a rotating cast of editors. Free submissions open on the 1st of each month. If there is no free link, we’ve hit our quota. We will reopen at the top of each month, except for September and December. We prefer stories under 3,000 words but will consider up to 5,000 words. We love flash and micro! We consider previously unpublished pieces only. We are open to all genres and voices, and stories with any background, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual or personal identity from all over the world. Literary excellence is our only criteria. https://forgelitmag.submittable.com/submit
Streetlight Magazine reads year-round and typically responds to submissions within three months. Send us 3-5 unpublished poems in a single document. Please send one story at a time, 2,000 words max. We currently seek creative essays/memoirs with an emphasis on the interaction of place and one’s personal relationship to it. We also welcome guest bloggers. We’re interested in topics about the literary and visual arts as well as personal perspectives on much more. Blogs should be between 300-700 words and may be edited to fit SL format. https://streetlightmag.com/submissions/
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Thanks for reading. Please feel free to share these opportunities with other writers. If you’re not already receiving these posts directly to your inbox, please subscribe.
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Denton Loving 