Happy Halloween!

 

Call for Submissions from Non-native English Writers: Tint Journal

Tint Journal is Open for Submissions by Non-native English Writers

Deadline: November 30, 2020 (midnight CET)

Tint Journal, the online literary magazine for English as a second language or non-native language writers, is open for submissions for their fifth issue, Tint Spring '21, appearing on March 10, 2021. Tint Journal publishes poems, short stories, and creative nonfiction written by authors whose first language is something other than English. Emerging and well-established authors are welcome to submit. We also accept art submissions (paintings, photographs, collages, and more) to accompany our stories.

The deadline to be considered for our Spring '21 issue is Monday, November 30, 2020 (midnight CET).

Writers and artists are asked to consider our submission guidelines here.

Call for Rejected Prose and Poetry: Second Chance Lit

Submission Period: October 22 - December 22

What can I submit?

First a reminder that we only look at work that has been rejected (at least once) from other literary magazines and presses. In your cover letter, you may let us know from where your piece was previously rejected (just let us know one place if it has been rejected from multiple places), but it is not required. This stays confidential. While we default to trust, we do reserve the right to contact other lit mags if necessary.

We publish poetry and short (typically no more than 1,000 words) prose. Please do not send us longer stories or manuscripts. Our tastes are eclectic and we especially love reading pieces written by poets in marginalized communities. We aren’t looking for any particular themes or styles, though as the issue develops we may group accepted pieces into similarly themed collections for the issue. You may submit just one poem or short prose story during an open submission period, so make it count!

Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know right away if your work is accepted somewhere else so we can send you a virtual high-five!

Please keep in mind that we do not want pieces that were rejected because they were deemed racist, homophobic, hateful, antisemitic, sexist, overly graphic, nsfw, etc. etc. etc. This is definitely not the place for any of that. 

How do I submit?

Send all submissions to:

secondchancelit@gmail.com

Your submission’s subject line should read: PoetrySubmission/LastName or ProseSubmission/LastName.

In the body of your email please include a short (25-50ish word) greeting letting us know who you are (and optional: one place where your submitted piece was not accepted. Again, this stays confidential). Please also include a short (25-50ish word) third-person bio and social media handle(s) so we can hopefully promote/tag you later!

We ask that your work be sent as an attachment in .doc(x) or .pdf file format.

For more information, please visit our website. 

Call for Submissions: Counterclock

Submissions are open for Issue 11 from October 1 - December 5, 2020.

All submissions are read blindly. Everyone is eligible to submit, regardless of age or geographic location.

Submissions in multiple categories are encouraged. Upon acceptance, COUNTERCLOCK receives first North American publishing rights and archival rights. All rights revert back to the author upon publication. We ask that you credit us if the work is reprinted in the future.

Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please notify us immediately if the work is accepted elsewhere. We do our very best to respond to all submissions within one month. We also offer expedited submissions (48-hour response time) and Feedback Corner (in-depth feedback on your work within 2-4 weeks, depending on the package selected). If you do not hear back from us after 3 months, please feel free to send us another email inquiring after the status of your submission.

All works should be attached to the email in .docx or .pdf format.

We do not currently pay our contributors, but hope very much to in future issues! We are committed to keeping COUNTERCLOCK accessible and will always offer fee-free submissions.

All submissions should be sent to:

counterclocksubmissions@gmail.com

We look forward to reading your work!

Writing Competition: 2021 Monadnock Essay Collection Prize

Bauhan Publishing is now accepting submissions for the 2021 Monadnock Essay Collection Prize

Bauhan Publishing is pleased to announce our fifth year of The Monadnock Essay Collection Prize. This prize will be awarded for a book-length collection (roughly 120-160 pages or 50,000-60,000 words) of nonfiction essays. These essays can take any form: personal essays, memoir in essay form, narrative nonfiction, commentary, travel, historical account etc. as long as they have not been previously published as a collection.

Entrants can be from any country with the stipulations that the manuscript is in English and the author is willing to share in shipping costs for foreign delivery of books.  

Award: The winner will receive $1,000, publication of their collection in the fall of 2021, and 50 free copies of the published book along with distribution with our other titles through our partner, Casemate IPM. 

Entry Fee: The cost for submission is $30 per manuscript, entrants may submit multiple manuscripts if they desire.

Submit your work via our Submittable link.

The judge for this round is Steven Harvey. The deadline for submissions is December 15, 2020, and the winner and finalists will be notified in the spring.

 Please contact us at:

contest@bauhanpublishing.com 

if you have any questions about the contest, and include “The Monadnock Prize” in the e-mail subject line. Below are our submission guidelines.

Submission Guidelines:

1. Manuscripts must be typed, paginated, and roughly 120-160 pages in length OR 50,000-80,000 words (these are general guidelines, we most likely will not turn away a manuscript based on length. If you are uncertain if your manuscript will qualify, reach out and ask us.)
YOUR NAME SHOULD NOT APPEAR IN THE MANUSCRIPT ITSELF OR ON THE TITLE PAGE.
2. Translations and self-published books are not eligible. The manuscript must be the product of only one author.
3. Please do not include acknowledgments, biographical material, or dedication pages at this stage. A cover letter is not necessary.
4. No illustrations, photographs, or images should be included.
5. The manuscript should ONLY include the following: Title page without author’s name, table of contents or list of essays, and the essays.
6. Any person who has studied in a formal program with this year's judge through a college, university, community program, residency, or private tutorial—within the last two years is not eligible to submit a manuscript to this contest.
7. All submissions should be formatted in Word Doc or PDF.
8. Manuscripts must be received by December 15, 2020. A winner will be announced approximately two months later depending on the number of submissions. After the winner and runners-up are notified, the results will be published and all contestants emailed.

NOTE: PLEASE EXCLUDE YOUR NAME AND ALL PERSONAL INFORMATION FROM THE DOCUMENT IN ORDER TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THIS YEAR'S PRIZE. WE WILL BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION VIA SUBMITTABLE.

Bauhan Publishing reserves the right to cancel the contest for any reason. In that unlikely event, all entry fees will be returned to contestants.

GOOD LUCK and thank you for enabling us to continue providing these contests for the writing community!

Call for Submissions: The Last Line

Fiction: All stories must end with the last line provided. The line cannot be altered in any way, unless otherwise noted by the editors. The story should be between 300 and 5,000 words (this is more like a guideline and not a hard-and-fast rule; going over or under the word count won't get your story tossed from the slush pile).

Also, we understand that writers may add our last line to a story that they are currently working on or have already completed, and that's cool. But please do not add our last line to a previously published story and submit it to us. We do not accept previously published stories, even if they have been repurposed for our last lines.

All Stories: Writers should include a two- to three-sentence biography of themselves that will appear in the magazine should their story run.

Multiple Submissions: We don't mind if you want to submit multiple stories for the same issue. However, it is unlikely we will use more than one of your stories in the same issue.

Submissions: We prefer you send manuscripts via e-mail to:

submission (@) thelastlinejournal (dot) com

We accept stories in MS Word or Word Perfect format (we prefer attachments). Please do not send .pdf versions of your story. Make sure your name and contact information, as well as your bio, are part of the attachment. Stories also can be sent to The Last Line's post office box:

PO Box 250382

Plano, TX

75025-0382

No manuscripts will be returned without an accompanying SASE with sufficient return postage. The last line for 2021 will be released in November.

Notification: We don't make decisions about stories until after each issue closes. We typically send notices out within two to three weeks after the issue's deadline to everyone who submitted a story. You can also check the home page of the Web site as we will indicate each issue's production status there.

Payment: We pay on publication: $20.00 - $40.00 for fiction (all U.S. dollars). We also send you a copy of the issue in which your piece appears. You'll receive your money and issue at the same time. 

Please visit our website for more information.

Writing Competitions: The 2021 Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Awards

The 2021 Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Awards

The Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Awards is an annual series of awards to encourage poets to explore and illuminate positive visions of peace and the human spirit. The Poetry Awards include three age categories: Adult, Youth 13-18, and Youth 12 & Under. 

The deadline for entries is July 1, 2021.

The annual contest is open to people worldwide. Poems must be original, unpublished, and in English.

Deadline: All entries must be postmarked (or emailed) by July 1, 2021.

Awards:
Adult Winner - $1,000
Youth (13 to 18) Winner - $200
Youth (12 and under) Winner - $200
We may award Honorable Mentions in each category.

Entry Fee:
Adults - $15 for up to three poems
Youth (13 to 18) - $5
Youth (12 and under) - no fee

If submitting on paper, please make checks payable to Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Cash and money order are also accepted.

For more information and to submit, please go here.

Call for Submissions: The American Bystander

We are a reader-supported, creator-friendly publication committed to preserving the classic print humor experience. We publish material in the tradition of the great humor magazines like The National Lampoon, SPY, The Realist, MAD, Punch, Private Eye -- you get the point.

We accept submissions year-round on a rolling basis. Due to our small staff and the massive volume of submissions we receive, we cannot respond to individual submissions; we will get in touch if a piece fits.

 

The best way to increase your chance of success? Familiarize yourself with past issues.

 

General Submission Guidelines

• The American Bystander accepts simultaneous submissions. Please notify us immediately if you need to withdraw a piece because it has been accepted elsewhere.

• We do NOT accept multiple submissions within a month. This is designed to keep us from being flooded, and to encourage submitters to submit their best work. Multiple submissions will result in all submissions being rejected.

• Authors of work under consideration may receive editorial feedback and requests to revise prior to final acceptance.

• All submissions should include a brief cover letter that includes a short author bio.

• For all submissions, please include the following information in your cover letter and in the top left corner of the first page of all documents:

Name
Email address
Title of the work
Word count (or page count, for poetry)

 
Pages should be numbered and include the author’s name on every page.
All text submissions must be in .doc, .docx, or .pdf file format. Images may be submitted in .jpg, .tiff, .gif, or .png.
Use 12pt. Times New Roman font unless there is a stylistic reason to do otherwise.

Payment varies with size/type of material. In addition to payment, contributors receive three print copies of the issue in which their work appears, and the opportunity to appear before a highly selective audience, many of whom work in comedy, entertainment, and media.

 

Submit your work here.

Call for Submissions on Theme of Diverse City: The Electric Rail

Submissions are now open for our Fall 2020 issue! This fall, we will be considering poetry, fiction (up to 5,000 words), photography, and visual art that speaks to our fall theme, Diverse City.

 

At the Electric Rail, we celebrate differences, and we want to know about the diverse places, people, and experiences that have touched your work.

 

To have your work considered, please email your submission. along with a brief bio to our team at:

 

electricraillitATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

 

by November 30.

Chapbook Competition: The Vern Rutsala Book Contest

The Vern Rutsala Book Contest

A prize of $1,000 is awarded, plus publication of the manuscript.

Deadline for submissions November 10, 2020

• Submit 60 to 90 pages of poetry and/or flash fiction.

• Reading fee is $25 and includes a copy of Cloudbank.

• Electronic and postal submissions are accepted from around the world with no citizenship limitations.

• To submit electronically through our submissions manager click here.

• To submit by mail send manuscript to: 

Cloudbank Books

P.O. Box 610, 

Corvallis, OR 97339-0610

Make check for fee out to Cloudbank. Mailed submissions are not returned. A self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) can be included for notification of the judge’s decision.

• Submissions should include two title pages, one with title only, one with title and author name.

• Cloudbank poetry editors seek a wide range of styles, approaches, forms, and aesthetics, for example: lyric, prose poems, experimental, flash fiction, etc.

• This year’s judge is Christopher Buckley.

Call for Submissions on Theme of American Unrest: SLAB

SLAB is seeking CNF, fiction, poetry, and text-based graphic art documenting the state of American unrest for its upcoming issue. Send us your work limning injustice, resistance, violence, change, representation, et al.

We read fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and text-based graphic art submissions from August 1 through February 14. Work submitted outside of our reading period will not be read.

We encourage you to read over back issues of SLAB to see if your work is akin to the work we have previously published. SLAB is only seeking unpublished work.

More info at our website.

Call for Submissions: Deep Wild: Writing from the Backcountry

DEEP WILD: WRITING FROM THE BACKCOUNTRY, the home for creative work inspired by journeys to places where there are no roads, wants your wild words, all genres.

Deadline: December 31.

We will also be sponsoring an Undergraduate Student Poetry Contest, with submissions open from January 1 through February 28. Students, please wait until then to submit your work.

For guidelines, visit our website.

Call for Submissions: APEX Magazine

APEX MAGAZINE
Maximum word length is a firm 7,500 words. Anything more will be auto-rejected.

Payment for original fiction is eight cents per word up to 7,500 words. Minimum of $50. If we podcast your story, additional payment is one cent per word up to 7,500 words.

Apex Magazine is a genre zine that focuses on dark and spectacular science fiction, fantasy, and horror. New issues are released every two months.

Call for Submissions on Theme of Black Voices: TriQuarterly

 

Submissions Open for TriQuarterly Issue 160: Black Voices

Deadline: December 1, 2020 for poetry and prose; January 15, 2021 for video essays

This fall, TriQuarterly is open to free submissions from October 1 to December 1, 2020 (and January 15, 2021 for video essays), for our 160th issue. We will be working with guest editors to select and curate work exclusively by Black poets, prose writers, and video artists for June 2021.

Call for Submissions: MudRoom

Deadline: January 1, 2021

MudRoom is open for submissions until January 1st! We are seeking poetry and prose in all their forms. Submissions are free, and we aim to respond to work quickly. MudRoom is somewhere between where you’ve come from and where you’re going. We believe in the liminal, the dirty, the messy, and the mundane. We publish four issues of prose and poetry a year, and we also work to put out content devoted to developing a practice—we feature short essays on craft and interviews with writers. Send us your work, we’d love to read it!

Writing Competition: The Creative Block Essay Contest

Announcing The Creative Block Essay Contest

Deadline: November 30, 2020

We seek previously unpublished personal essays up to 2,000 words about the creative endeavor that you paused. Yes, we want to hear about the dreaded creative block. Tell us a story about your circumstances and what was going through your head as you put down your work. Was it a relief to put aside your art? A regret? Is it still an idea that you kept coming back to, unable to shake?

The winner will receive $650, and the submission fee is $10.

The contest is open to writers worldwide until November 30.

For more details, go here.

Writing Competition: Narrative Fall Story Contest

Fall 2020 Story Contest

Our fall contest is open to all fiction and nonfiction writers. We’re looking for short shorts, short stories, essays, memoirs, photo essays, graphic stories, all forms of literary nonfiction, and excerpts from longer works of both fiction and nonfiction. Entries must be previously unpublished, no longer than 15,000 words, and must not have been previously chosen as a winner, finalist, or honorable mention in another contest.

Narrative winners and finalists have gone on to win Whiting Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, the Pushcart Prize, and the Atlantic prize, and have appeared in collections such as The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, and many others. View the recent awards won by Narrative authors.

As always, we are looking for works with a strong narrative drive, with characters we can respond to, and with effects of language, situation, and insight that are intense and total. We look for works that have the ambition of enlarging our view of ourselves and the world.

We welcome and look forward to reading your pages.

Awards: First Prize is $2,500, Second Prize is $1,000, Third Prize is $500, and up to ten finalists will receive $100 each. All entries will be considered for publication.

Submission Fee: There is a $27 fee for each entry. With your entry, you’ll receive three months of complimentary access to Narrative Backstage.

All contest entries are eligible for the $4,000 Narrative Prize and for acceptance as a Story of the Week.

Timing: The contest deadline is November 30, 2020, at midnight, Pacific standard time.

Judging: The contest will be judged by the editors of the magazine. Winners and finalists will be announced to the public by December 31, 2020. All writers who enter will be notified by email of the judges’ decisions, which will be final. The judges reserve the option to declare ties and to designate and award only as many winners and/or finalists as are appropriate to the quality of contest entries and of work represented in the magazine.

Submission Guidelines: Please read our Submission Guidelines for manuscript formatting and other information. 

Click here to submit your work.

Writing Competition: Academy of American Poets First Book Award (formerly Walt Whitman Award)

Academy of American Poets First Book Award

The Academy of American Poets First Book Award is a $5,000 first-book publication prize. The winning manuscript, chosen by an acclaimed poet, is published by Graywolf Press, a leading independent publisher committed to the discovery and energetic publication of contemporary American and international literature. The winner also receives an all-expenses-paid six-week residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in the Umbrian region of Italy, distribution of the winning book to thousands of Academy of American Poets members, and promotion in American Poets magazine.

The 2021 judge is Claudia Rankine. Submissions will be accepted from September 16, 2020 to November 16, 2020.

This award was established in 1975 to encourage the work of emerging poets and to enable the publication of a poet’s first book. It is currently made possible by financial support from the members of the Academy of American Poets. From 1975 - 2020, the award was titled in tribute to Walt Whitman. 

Entry Fee: $35.00

Deadline: November 16, 2020

Writing Competitions: The New Guard Poetry and Fiction Contests

The New Guard Tenth Anniversary Editor’s Edition is open for submissions! TNG Volume X will be judged by TNG Founding Editor Shanna McNair and Consulting Editor Scott Wolven. The deadline for both contests is November 20, 2020. We’re excited to read your work!

KNIGHTVILLE POETRY CONTEST: Final Judges are TNG Founding Editor Shanna McNair and Consulting Editor Scott Wolven. $1,500 and publication for an exceptional poem in any form. Up to three poems per entry. Up to 150 lines per poem. Please submit all three poems in a single document. $22 entry fee.

MACHIGONNE FICTION CONTEST: Final Judges are TNG Founding Editor Shanna McNair and Consulting Editor Scott Wolven. $1,500 and publication for an exceptional work of fiction in any genre. Submit up to 5,000 words: anything from flash to the long story. Please note we do not accept novel excerpts. $22 entry fee.

The new guard CONTEST GUIDELINES:

We accept .doc and .docx files. International entries are welcome. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, provided we're notified upon publication elsewhere. Entrants have no submission entry limit. Each submission is carefully considered for publication.

We do pay strict attention to word and line count. Stories submitted over word count (5000 words) will be disqualified; poetry over the 150 line count will also be disqualified. Please submit previously unpublished work only. Any size print run or online publication (including self-publishing, blogs and/or social networking or video readings) disqualify an entry. We no longer accept entries via postal mail.

Finalists and semi-finalists receive one free copy of The New Guard; winners receive two copies. Winners and selected finalists and semi-finalists will be published in our print publication. TNG is not published online.

TNG retains standard first publication rights; all rights immediately revert to the writer upon publication. Writers must be at least eighteen years of age to enter. Please note that we do not presently accept unsolicited submissions--we are considering contest entries only at this time.

A note on conflict of interest when submitting: Please submit writing that our Judges have not read. Writers who have directly worked with TNG Founding Editor Shanna McNair or TNG Consulting Editor Scott Wolven on a poem or short story (via The Writer’s Hotel or other venue) may not enter that same poem or short story for the contest; the short story or poem will be disqualified.

TNG holds a membership with Community of Literary Magazines and Presses. We follow standard literary magazine contest rule ethics. 

Enter here.

 

Call for Submissions to Anthology: Essential Voices: A COVID-19 Anthology

Call for Submissions: Essential Voices: A COVID-19 Anthology

Deadline: December 31, 2020

While the pandemic has ravaged our world, certain populations have been impacted more deeply than others. Essential Voices strives to give voice to those who have been silenced. Send us your poems, stories, recipes, or works of art that reflect upon the experience of COVID and COVID related issues in your life. This anthology will be published by West Virginia University Press. Visit us at our website for guidelines before submitting to:

essentialanthologyATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

Call for Submissions from Young Creatives: BreakBread Literacy Project

BreakBread Magazine Seeks Work From Young Creatives

Extended Deadline: November 15

 BreakBread Magazine is a magazine for all young creatives between the ages of 13 and 25. We are always looking for vivid, timely poetry, nonfiction, short stories, comics and visual arts (photography, illustrated narratives, and hybrid work) that explore new directions in arts and letters. Submissions are always free.

Visit our Submittable link to send us your work.

Check out our website for more information.

Call for Submissions on Theme of Underrepresented Protagonists: Utopia Science Fiction

Call for Submissions - Utopia Science Fiction

We're looking for enthralling, upbeat stories set in futures we might want to live in. In contrast to growing dystopian stories and darker themes that seem so abundant in today's literature. We invite you instead to share in our vision of a better tomorrow. Of a future filled with wonder and hope. We publish stories that transport us to another world, a bright future, one we want to believe in, one we'll fight to see realized.

The theme of our next issue is ‘underrepresented protagonists.’

Call for Submissions: great weather for MEDIA

Call for Submissions - great weather for MEDIA

Deadline: January 15 2021

great weather for MEDIA seeks poetry, flash fiction, short stories, dramatic monologues, and creative nonfiction for our annual print anthology. Our focus is on the fearless, the unpredictable, and the experimental.

Please visit our website for guidelines.

Virtual Writers Conference: Nimrod International Journal

2020 Virtual Conference for Readers and Writers

October 17th – November 18th, 2020

For 41 years, Nimrod has hosted an in-person, all-day writing conference in conjunction with the publication of our fall issue. While we’ve had to cancel this year’s in-person events due to the pandemic, we’re thrilled to host our first-ever all-virtual Conference for Readers and Writers. This year’s Conference will feature a month of virtual panel discussions, craft talks/writing workshops, Q&As, readings, and one-on-one critique sessions with members of our editorial team.

To view the full schedule and register for events, please visit our website.

Just a few of our online events include:

• Ask Us Anything: Editing and Publishing Q&A

• Women of Color: Writing with an Authentic Voice

• Honoring the Journey: A Poetry Workshop on Creating through Loss and Pain

• Young Writers Under 25: Performing Arts and Playwriting as a Vehicle for Social Change

• Conceit: The Third Foundation of Fiction

• Compression and Collaboration: Haiku and Tanka

• One-on-One Written or Virtual Critique Sessions with a Nimrod Editor

And more!

Cost:

• All panel discussions, craft talks/workshops, readings, and Q&As are free and open to the public, but donations are requested from those who can give so that we can continue to offer programs like these.

• One-on-One Critique Sessions range in price from $15-$25.

We're excited about this new venture—and about being able to bring our Conference classes and remarkable workshop leaders directly to you during a time when we cannot gather together. You can view the full schedule and register for events on our website, and we hope to see you at one or more of our Virtual Conference events this fall!

Best,

Eilis O'Neal
Editor-in-Chief
Nimrod International Journal

Call For Submissions: Apple in the Dark

APPLE IN THE DARK is a new online publication focusing on works of fiction and creative nonfiction no longer than 1,500 words apiece. They’re taking submissions for their Winter/Spring 2021 issue until February 15. 

More info here. Free submissions; donations through the “Tip Jar” appreciated.

Call for Submissions to Anthology: Great Weather for Media

GREAT WEATHER FOR MEDIA seeks poetry, short stories, flash fiction, dramatic monologues, and creative nonfiction for our next anthology. Focus is on experimental and risk-taking themes and styles.

Deadline: January 15, 2021.

Submission guidelines here.

Call for Submissions to Anthology on Themes of Education and Social Justice: Cave Moon Press

CAVE MOON PRESS is currently seeking submissions of 3–5 poems relating to education and social justice. We anticipate the 2021 print publication of a new anthology of poetry that responds in a meaningful way to the theme of empowerment through education, recognizing that recent developments have posed serious challenges for students and educators. Proceeds from the anthology will benefit the Malala Fund. All styles of poetry are welcome.

Simultaneous submissions will be considered, but please notify us promptly if your work is accepted elsewhere. Editors will try to respond to all submissions within 3 months or sooner.

Contributors receive 2 copies of the anthology. Please send your work in a Word file, along with a brief bio of up to 75 words, to:

pazarteproject@gmail.com 

Deadline: December 31.

Chapbook Competition: Black Lawrence Press

The Black River Chapbook Competition is a semi-annual prize from Black Lawrence Press for a chapbook of poems or prose (including fiction, creative non-fiction, lyric essay, and prose hybrid manuscripts). Entries should be between 16 and 36 pages in length. The winner will receive $500 and publication.

Recent winners include: Meghan Privitello, Ruth Baumann, Jacqueline Doyle, Nancy Reddy, Amy Sayre Baptista, Ashley Morrow Hermsmeier, Alan Chazaro, Christopher Locke, Veronica Montes, and Danielle Rose.

Entry deadline for the Fall Competition:  October 31, 2020

Black Lawrence Press accepts submissions and payment of the entry fee ($15) exclusively through our online submission manager, Submittable. All entries are read blind by our panel of judges and editors.

Visit us online for complete submission guidelines. Submissions are accepted via Submittable now through October 31. We look forward to reading your work!

Writing Competition: Carve Magazine

Carve Magazine Prose & Poetry Contest

Deadline: November 15

Carve Magazine's Prose & Poetry Contest is open October 1 - November 15. Accepting submissions from all over the world, but work must be in English. Max 10,000 words for fiction and nonfiction; 2,000 words for poetry.

Prizes: $1,000 each for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. All 3 winners published online in Spring 2021.

Entry fee $17 online only. Guest judges are Shruti Swamy for fiction; Kendra Allen for nonfiction; and Roy G. Guzmán for poetry.

Writing Competition: Acacia Fiction Prize

Acacia Fiction Prize! $1,200 & Publication

Deadline: December 31, 2020

The Acacia Fiction Prize winner is awarded $1,200, twenty author copies, plus publication and promotion by Kallisto Gaia Press for a collection of Short Stories, Flash Fiction, Novellas, or any combination of fiction totaling between 40K and 75K words. Richard Z. Santos (Trust Me, 2020) will judge. Runner up receives $100.

Entry fee is $25. All entrants receive a copy of the winning collection!

Deadline: December 31, 2020. Sponsored by Duotrope. More info here.

Writing Competitions: Cloudbank Books

The Vern Rutsala Book Prize

The Vern Rutsala Book Prize is an annual contest sponsored by Cloudbank Books. The winner receives a $1,000 cash award, plus publication. This year's judge is Christopher Buckley. Most recent prize winners are Jane Craven for My Bright Last Country and Timothy Geiger for Weatherbox.

Due date for the 2021 prize is Nov. 10, 2020.

Entry Fee: $25.00

Entrants receive a copy of Cloudbank. For details visit Contest Guidelines.

Cloudbank also awards a $200 prize for one poem or flash fiction published in each magazine. Due date for this contest is February 28, 2021.  

Regular submissions are accepted year round. For more about Cloudbank Books visit our website. Revive us with your fire.

Call for Submissions: Nobody's Home: Modern Southern Folklore

 

Beliefs, Myths, and Narratives in Southern Culture

Deadline: December 15, 2020

Founded in 2020, Nobody's Home: Modern Southern Folklore is an online anthology of creative nonfiction works about the prevailing beliefs, myths, and narratives that have driven Southern culture over the last fifty years, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The publication collects personal essays, memoirs, short articles, opinion pieces, and contemplative works about the ideas, experiences, and assumptions that have shaped life below the old Mason-Dixon Line since 1970.

Call for Submissions to Anthology: Rhyme and Rhythm: An Anthology of High School Sports Poems

Call for Sports-themed Poetry for a Young Adult Anthology

Deadline: November 1, 2020

We have so many wonderful sports-themed young adult novels and short stories, but our industry is missing a collection of contemporary poetry for our student-athletes that represents their lives in this current climate. Archer Publishing seeks identity-inclusive/affirming poems for this anthology addressing contemporary sports-themed topics that are of high interest to high school students and relevant to their lives.

Editor: Sarah J. Donovan, Oklahoma State University.

Email submissions to:

yasportspoemsATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

Submission deadline is November 1, 2020 with decisions made by January 1, 2021. Anticipated publication date is December 2021 or January 2022.

See our website for more information about the project.

Call for Submissions: Rougarou: A Journal of Arts and Literature

We ask that writers submit only one submission at a time. We hope to respond to all submissions within 6 months. If you do not receive a response within six months, please check on the status of your submission in Submittable; if you encounter any problems, email us at:

rougaroueditors@gmail.com 

We ask that writers submit only once every 4 months.

Include a brief, third person bio in the “Cover Letter” box that we may use should we choose to publish your work. Please also include your email address with your submission.

We do not accept previously published work. Simultaneous submissions are welcomed, but please withdraw immediately if the work is accepted elsewhere. Also, if Rougarou has published your work, please wait 1 year before resubmitting in that genre.

Note: University of Louisiana at Lafayette English Department faculty and graduate students are ineligible for publication in Rougarou.

If you have specific, genre-related questions or inquires, please email us at:

rougaroueditors@gmail.com 

Specify the genre in the subject field. 

Deadline: Nov. 20, 2020 

Submit your work here.

Writing Competitions: Quarterly West Poetry and Prose Contests

Poetry and Prose Contests

This fall, Quarterly West will open for its inaugural poetry and prose contests. The winners will each receive $1000 and publication in the Issue 102 of Quarterly West. Two runners-up will each receive $250 and all entries will be considered for publication.

To enter, please submit up to three poems or a prose piece (i.e., fiction, non-fiction, or any hybridization therein) through our Submittable link.

The submission fee is $10.

Deadline: Nov. 1, 2020

This year, the inaugural poetry judge is Natalie Scenters-Zapico and the inaugural prose judge is Jen George.

Our 2020 Poetry Judge

Natalie Scenters-Zapico is a fronteriza from the sister cities of El Paso, Texas, USA, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México. Her first collection, The Verging Cities (2015), won the PEN America/Joyce Osterweil Award, GLCA’s New Writers Award, NACCS Foco Book Prize, and Utah Book Award. Lima :: Limón is her second collection. She has won fellowships from the Lannan Foundation, CantoMundo, and a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation. Her poems have appeared in a wide range of anthologies and literary magazines, including Best American Poetry 2015, POETRY, Tin House, Kenyon Review, and more. Most recently she was a finalist for the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award (2020) and the International Griffin Poetry Prize (2020).

Our 2020 Prose Judge

Jen George was born and raised in Southern California. She is the author of the story collection The Babysitter at Rest, out with Dorothy, a publishing project. Her writing has appeared in BOMB, Harper’s, the Los Angeles Review of Books, n+1 and the Paris Review Daily, among other places. She lives in New York, where she is currently at work on a novel.

Writing Competition: Perugia Press Prize

The winner of the Perugia Press Prize receives:

• Book publication and a $1,000 prize
  

• Ten author copies and an ongoing discount of 50% off of the cover price for additional copies

• Time to work with the editor to create a book she loves with input into book editing, design & promotion

• Mentoring from the Perugia Poet Liaison during the publication and promotion of her book

• Review copies and entry copies to a range of post-publication contests, provided and sent by the Press

• Some book launch events planned by the Press, with a partial travel stipend and reading honorariums provided

• Ongoing publicity support through our website, newsletter, and social media

• Exposure through Press attendance at local and national book fairs to promote the work of Perugia poets

Eligibility

• Poets must be women, which is inclusive of transgender women and female-identified individuals. Because gender inequity still occurs in publishing, it is part of our explicit feminist mission to support and promote women’s voices in print.

• Perugia Press seeks to highlight marginalized and underrepresented voices in our publications, and to that end we encourage submissions written by poets of all abilities, ages, and sexual orientations, and from across all cultural, socio-economic, ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds.

• Poets must have no more than one previously published full-length book. You are still eligible if you have published a poetry chapbook/s or books in other genres. You are still eligible if you have published more than one full-length poetry collection in a language other than English.

• Perugia Press welcomes diversity of expression in content, form, and language. We are open to considering hybrid manuscripts, including those incorporating visuals or created in collaboration.

• Individual poems may have been published previously in magazines, journals, anthologies, and chapbooks, but the collection as a whole must be unpublished.

• Translations of the work of others and previously self-published books are not eligible.

• Submissions from poets living outside the U.S. are not eligible, though international submissions from poets based in the U.S. but away during our contest period are fine. As a small press, we are not able to support the promotion of our books on a global scale.

• Poets may not be a close friend or colleague of the editor/director as she facilitates the contest and takes part in the final decision about the winning manuscript.

• Simultaneous submissions are fine. Notify Perugia Press through Submittable if accepted elsewhere.

The 2021 contest is open for submissions from August 1 – November 15, 2020.

Entry Fee: $27.00

Submit your entry here.

Call for Photo Essays: Nowhere

Nowhere publishes literary travel writing, photo essays and, sometimes, video. To us, that means anything with a strong sense of place, character or time. Most of our submissions are from seasoned photographers, but we are also interested in stories from anthropologists, musicians, poets, film directors and anyone else who spends time traveling with a camera.

We have featured photos of of the Cane River National Heritage Area in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, snapshots from across Brazil from a photographer just beginning his now-successful career and a moving collection of images from the Oceti Sakowin Camp during their protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Nowhere is produced by working journalists. We are trying to make something different—something without space or content limitations that’s as fulfilling for the writer or photographer as it is for the reader. We like rich detail, unusual perspective and tight collections of perhaps a dozen thematic images. We’d love to see a portfolio about a Kansas City street corner that is significant for some reason. We don’t want destination, how-to or service fluff of any kind. Be sure your submission is all color or all black and white. Please remove your name or other identifying details from your submissions, as we review all entries blind.

Please allow eight to ten weeks for our very small staff to review your work. 

Submit your work here.

Writing Competition: So to Speak's 2020 Fiction Contest

Entry Fee: $10.00

First Prize: $500

Deadline: Nov. 10, 2020

Natalie Lima will be the judge for So to Speak's 2020 Fiction Contest. Winners will be awarded an honorarium, publication in our 2020 print issue, and two contributor copies.

About Natalie: Natalie Lima is a Cuban-Puerto Rican writer and a graduate of the MFA program in creative nonfiction at the University of Arizona. Her essays and fiction have been published or are forthcoming in Longreads, Guernica, Brevity, The Offing, Catapult and elsewhere. She has received fellowships from PEN America Emerging Voices, the Tin House Workshops, the VONA/Voices Workshop, the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing, and a residency from Hedgebrook in 2020. You can find Natalie on IG and Twitter @natalielima09.

What Natalie is Looking For: I'm drawn to stories that speak to emotional truths, from realism to fabulism. For me, this most often happens through strong characterization. I love to be taken on a journey, especially unconventional ones, about people who make mistakes or do "bad" things. A strong voice is my favorite.

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In your submission, please upload and enter the following information:

• A single doc., docx., or pdf. file with a single prose fiction piece. Your submission should not exceed 4,000 words. All fiction submissions should be double-spaced with numbered pages.

• A Cover Letter that includes your name, address, phone number, email address, how you heard about So to Speak, and brief bio describing your background as a writer or artist and any applicable awards or publications.

• A brief statement about intersectional feminism.

You may enter multiple submissions (ex: 2 submission packets each with a single fiction piece), so long as you pay the submission fee each time.

Find more information on our Contest here.
Find more information on our Submission Guidelines here.
Find more information on our Mission Statement here.

Call for Submissions: Cutbank Literary Journal

Electronic submissions open from September 15 to February 1.

For the print editions of CutBank, we accept poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and visual art submissions. Please only submit online; paper submissions will be recycled. We now charge a $5 reading fee, which goes toward paying our contributors for their work. Rates will be decided at the close of the submission period.

We encourage you to read CutBank before submitting.

Submit unpublished, original work, and include a cover letter (in the designated space) with a brief biography and contact information. Please do not include your contact information or biography in the document.

Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but ask that you withdraw your work immediately via Submittable if it is accepted elsewhere. Poets please email us if an individual poem in your submission becomes unavailable, and add a note in Submittable detailing the change.

Response time is typically 3 to 5 months. We appreciate the opportunity to read your work, however please do not submit again until you hear back from us, and please submit no more than twice per reading period.

FICTION should be double-spaced, in a conventional, readable font such as 12 point Times New Roman. We are unable to read unsolicited submissions of more than 8,500 words.

NONFICTION should be double-spaced, in a conventional, readable font such as 12 point Times New Roman. We are unable to read unsolicited submissions of more than 8,500 words.

POEMS should be uploaded as one file, with page breaks between poems. We accept up to five poems per submission. To withdraw your entire submission, use Submittable. To withdraw part of your submission, add a note in Submittable detailing which poems are no longer available.

VISUAL ART should be uploaded as high quality PNG or JPEG files. CutBank welcomes submissions of all types of visual art for publication in our upcoming print edition! Painters, encausticists, draughtswomen, draughtsmen, sculptors, printmakers, photographers, collagists, ceramicists, illustrators, comics-creators, metalsmiths, and Calderesque mobile constructors are welcome to submit. Conceptual and installation artists can join the party as well, as long as there is a way to exhibit your art in our journal! Please submit no more than five high quality PNG or JPEG files and include a short artist biography. Please do not send multiple submissions. You may direct any questions to:

CutBankArt@gmail.com 

Every piece will be read first by an editor, and then by an enthusiastic, trained pool of readers. Reading your work is the most exciting part of our jobs, and we’re happy to say the majority of our content for CutBank comes from unsolicited submissions. We’re all writers here, and we appreciate the opportunity to read your work. Keep writing and we’ll see you on the flip side!