Call for Submissions: Catfish Creek

Catfish Creek, the national undergraduate literary journal published by Loras College, is now reading for our sixth edition, to be released in spring of 2016.

Submission Guidelines:
Any student currently registered in an undergraduate program is eligible to submit. If we accept your work, we will ask for proof of your current enrollment. All submissions should be sent electronically, as MS-Word (.doc or .docx) or RTF attachments, to:

 Catfish.CreekATlorasDOTedu (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

Please specify the genre of your submission (poetry, fiction, nonfiction) in the Subject line of your message.
Ex: Fiction submission—“Story Title”

All submissions should use standard margins and readable 12-point font (Courier, Times, etc.). Prose (fiction or nonfiction) should be double-spaced, with pages numbered. Also, please provide your name, college affiliation, home and e-mail address on the first page of your submission. This will allow us to contact you with a response. And because we want to know who you are, please include a brief cover letter and short bio in the body of the e-mail.

We are now reading for our sixth issue, due out spring 2016. Our reading period is September 1-Dec. 10. Any manuscripts received outside of that time will be deleted unread.

As a general rule we place no restrictions on style or subject matter. While we do not consider straight genre pieces (SF, fantasy, horror, etc.) we will consider literary-quality writing that crosses genre lines. We are also not looking for work that depicts excessive violence, though exceptions might be made if the work exhibits literary merit.

Catfish Creek will happily read simultaneous submissions, provided that you notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

Response time varies depending on the number of submissions, but we will do our best to respond to you within 3-4 months. Feel free to query the editor at:

Catfish.CreekATlorasDOTedu (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

if you have not received a reply after six months. Also, please do not send a new submission until we have responded to the first.

Payment for accepted works is two copies of the issue. Catfish Creek buys first North American serial rights. Should you re-publish the piece at a later date, we ask that you acknowledge that we published it first.

Poetry: No style or length restrictions, though we don’t have room for book-length poems. Submit up to three poems at a time, as separate attachments.

Nonfiction: Submit literary nonfiction: memoir, reflective essays, New Journalism-style writing, nature writing. Please submit one essay at a time (unless they are very short, in which case send up to three). Maximum length: 4000 words.

Fiction: We’re interested in literary fiction of any style: realistic or experimental, flash fiction, short-shorts, and full-length short stories. Please send one full-length story or up to three flash fiction pieces at a time. Maximum length: 4000 words. 

If you’d like to purchase an issue, copies are only $5 (which includes mailing costs). Order forms may be downloaded through our website.