Call for Submissions on Theme of "Ages/Stages": Mom Egg Review

Call for Submissions to MER vol. 22

MER – Mom Egg Review will be open from April 23, 2023 to July 15, 2023 for literary submissions for our annual print issue. We publish poetry, fiction, creative prose/nonfiction, and hybrid works whose lens or focus is mothering or motherhood. We also seek mother-themed art. You need not be a mother to submit. MER 22 will be a themed issue.

Theme – AGES/STAGES
AGES Newborn. Sixth-grader. Teen. “Don’t Wear This After Thirty.” Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic. The Anthropocene. STAGES The Terrible Twos. Midlife Crisis. Maiden, Mother, Crone. Trainee, Assistant, Associate, Manager. Instagram, Broadway, The Art World.

Please give us your most original creative takes on ages and/or stages. Think locally and globally, metaphorically and literally. We can’t wait to read your work!

Calendar
Early Bird Submissions (Free) April 23 – 30, 2023, or until we reach our Submittable limit for free submissions. One per person, please, so as to allow fair access.
Regular Submissions ($3 fee) April 23 to July 15, 2022. 

We will respond by November 2023. The issue will be published in April 2024. Contributors will receive a complimentary PDF copy of the issue.

What to submit

Your submission should reflect this year’s theme and and our general focus on motherhood.

• Please read our print journal and online quarterly to get an idea of the kind of work we publish. Current and back issues of the journal are available here, as well as PDF copies of the current and recent issues for $5 each. Submit work that has not been published previously online or in print.

• Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please let us know promptly if your submission is accepted elsewhere, by using your Submittable.com account to add a note to your submission telling us which titles are no longer available for consideration.

• Submissions will be considered for the print issue and for MER Online on our website unless you specify that you are only submitting for one or the other. If you have previously submitted to MER (or Mom Egg Review), we request that you submit work other than that previously submitted.

• If your work was included in Mom Egg Review Vol. 21, please wait until next year to submit to our print issue. If you submit work, it will be considered for online publication only.

How to submit

We use Submittable for online submissions, and do not accept paper or email submissions.

Cover Letter
Please include the title(s) of each individual work in the submission and a brief (50-75 word) third person bio.

All Genres: Name your submission document “Last name, First name, Genre.”
(docx. preferred; pdf okay for specific formatting).

Poetry
Please submit up to 4 poems in a single word or text document of no more than 6 pages with the file name Last name, First name, Poetry. Please number your pages and start each poem on a separate page. Formatting request: Please left justify your poem without indenting and single space (unless indenting or extra spacing is an integral part of the poem).

Fiction, Creative Prose, Hybrid
Please submit one piece up to 1000 words, or several short-short pieces that total fewer than 1000 words in all, in a single word document. Please double space, number your pages, and put title of the submission on top of each page.

Visual Art
Please submit up to four works of art (drawings, paintings, photos, etc.) that relate to mothers or motherhood, in a .jpg file at 300 dpi. (MER cover is color; interior art is black and white. If your art is selected, we will request a larger file.

We have a limited number of submission scholarships available. If the submissions fee is a hardship, you may submit during the “Early Bird” period or email us at MERsubmissions @gmail.com with your submission, cover letter and bio. Please put “Scholarship Application” as subject line.

Contact: MERsubmissions@gmail.com