Call for Submissions on Theme of "Invisible Chains: Contemporary Slavery and Forced Migration": IHRAM

International Human Rights Art Movement (IHRAM)

We publish an ever-expanding collection of original works from lesser known and up-and-coming writers who seek to bring attention to urgent social justice issues around the world.

We base our work on the values of beauty, sincerity, vulnerability, engagement and celebration of diversity.

IHRAM Publishes has presented work from 73 countries and 30 U.S. States.

Before submitting, please review the following guidelines, including (1) IHRAM’s accepted media, required supplemental information, and quarterly magazine themes. We are only accepting pieces which align with our annual themes at this time. Thank you!

We are interested in reviewing and publishing the following for the 2025 quarterly magazine:

Poetry

Short stories (2500 words or less)

Essay (2500 words or less), or

Artwork*

*Accepted Visual Art includes: mixed media, acrylics, oil paintings, drawings, photographs, collages, sculptures, or any forms that fit our magazine themes.

Submission for artwork is unlimited. Please note, your published artwork might be presented in black-and-white and therefore should be suitable for “print”. We WILL NOT accept any AI-Generated art. Ensure your artwork is submitted as .JPG, .PDFs, or .PNGs.

Current Theme: Invisible Chains: Contemporary Slavery and Forced Migration

Deadline to submit: June 1st 2025

A poignant reflection on contemporary slavery and forced migration, this issue delves into exploitative labor practices, human trafficking, and the loss of human rights. It examines the economic and personal challenges faced by migrants, including discrimination, culture shock, and the lingering mental health effects.

We are dedicated to publishing firsthand experiences of forced migration, factual retellings on contemporary slavery, reflections of the author’s personal experiences with the economic challenges or discrimination, and feelings of hope and perseverance. We encourage submissions from all over the world, regardless of gender or identity.

Magazine Themes: Modern slavery, forced migration, human trafficking, economic challenges, cultural discrimination, first-hand accounts, feelings of hope and perseverance.

Please submit your poetry, short story, essay, or artwork to:

submit@humanrightsartmovement.org 

along with the following required information:

Your full name and/or pen name.

Your country of residence.

A brief third-person bio (roughly 100 words). If your bio includes references of your past work, feel free to provide links!

A brief foreword to your piece (between 300-500 words), explaining your inspiration for creating it, background information, explanation of key characters, and any other key insight for the reader.

*If your piece is accepted, we will request a high-resolution author photograph. However, authors are not required to provide photographs of themselves and are always welcome to decline, should they wish to remain anonymous.

IHRAM Press pays $50 per accepted written piece.

IHRAM Press pays $25 per accepted artist.

More information here.

Call for Submissions to Anthology: Monstrous Angels

Monstrous Angels is an anthology that will explore one of the most enduring questions of religious horror–why are angels so compelling as anti-heroes and/or villains? We’ve seen it time and time again: Angelfall, Constantine, Legion, Angelology, the list goes on. We love our dark angels.

We want stories of the morally gray. Of angels and humans trying their best and failing. We want to explore all corners of this topic so feel free to be broad. Angel-like beings from other cultures are welcomed and encouraged. Our definition of angel is loose. We want winged divine creatures trying to navigate moral quandaries, being consumed by righteous anger, and experiencing the consequences of being too close to humans.

Give us your nasty angels. Your conflicted angels. We want dark, complicated stories.

Looking for:

Microfiction up to 250 words

Flash pieces up to 1,000 words

Short stories up to 8,000 words

Reprints?

If you have the rights back, yes. Please include original/copyright supporting information.

Simsub? Absolutely, just let us know ASAP if you get accepted somewhere else.

Honorarium: $20

Maximum: Only 15 submissions will be accepted.

Submission window opens February 25th, 2025 and closes May 25th, 2025.

Early or late submissions will be deleted and left unread.

Submissions should be in the Shunn format but no need to put your address or phone number, just your state/country is fine.

Include a short Bio

One submission per author, please.

Please send submissions in .docx or .pdf format.

All proceeds will be donated to the Avian Haven Wildlife Rehabilitation Center .

Submit here.

Call for Submissions: Fine Print Press

SUBMISSIONS WILL BE OPEN MAY 1ST THROUGH AUGUST 1ST, 2025

We accept the following for consideration for publication in Fine Print: poetry, prose, essays, flash, fiction, comics, illustrations, and photography. We are open to submissions/ideas that are not listed above pending review by our selection committee. We do not publish unsolicited critical reviews of any kind but will certainly consider publishing critical articles in the areas of literary and cultural studies. We ask that all submissions be previously unpublished works. Our staff members review all texts and visual art pieces submitted for consideration; if your work is (unanimously) selected, you will be contacted prior to publication. All rights revert to the artist upon publication. Simultaneous submissions are permitted, but we ask that you inform us immediately if your work gets published elsewhere. We do not require a cover letter.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Poetry – you may submit up to five poems. Each poem should not exceed three pages in length.

Prose / Flash / Fiction / Essays – You may submit up to three pieces. Each piece should not exceed a maximum word count of 1,200.

Illustrations / Comics / Photography – You may submit up to five pieces. All artwork should be submitted in black and white as either a .PDF or .JPG file and saved at 300 DPI.

We do not accept any submissions that were created using AI.

Any submissions that do not adhere to these guidelines will not be considered.

SUBMISSION FEE

We require a submission fee of $3.00. This fee is due per submission category. You do not need to pay a submission fee for each piece submitted within the same category, but an additional submission fee is required if you are submitting for multiple categories. Please pay the submission fee before moving on to submit your work. If our submission fee would bar you from submitting due to financial circumstances, please get in touch and we will waive that fee. The money collected from our submission fees goes solely to funding the printing and distribution of our publication, as well as other expenses.

Call for Submissions: Asterales: A Journal of Arts and Letters

 

Asterales: A Journal of Arts and Letters is a quarterly journal publishing five poems, one piece of fiction, one CNF/essay, and accompanying visual art. Just as plants in the asterales family are many-petaled, we are interested in a wide range of styles. We like writing and visual art that has an authentic perspective and makes us think about the world in new ways.

Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please notify us by email if the work is accepted elsewhere so we can congratulate you! All material must be original and cannot have appeared in another publication. For poetry and prose, this includes social media and personal blogs.

Asterales is not a paying market, but we will promote your work with wild abandon.

We do not accept any writing or artwork created with AI software because our publication is an outlet for human creativity. If your work does engage with AI by purposefully quoting lines generated by AI software, as with an allusion to another text or publication, you must cite your sources.

Submissions for our July 2025 issue will be open from May 1-June 15, 2025.
All pieces must be submitted via this Google form.
We do not accept submissions via email.

Poetry: Please send us one to three of your poems.

Prose: Please send a single work up to 7500 words. It can be fiction, creative non-fiction, or something in between.

Visual Art: Please send us three to five images, which may include photographs as well as images of three-dimensional pieces or works that are created in other mediums (e.g., watercolor, oils, mixed media, collage, etc.). Please submit as individual jpgs of at least 300 dpi.

It should go without saying, but we will say it: work that is abusive or hateful in its spirit or language is not welcome here.

Please submit only one entry per genre, once per submission period.

We are a staff of two, and we will do our best to respond to every submission within 75 days. If you need to withdraw all/part of your submission or if you have not received a response within this time period, please send us an email at asteralesjournal@gmail.com.

Call for Submissions: Nocturne Magazine

Nocturne Magazine strives to publish writers and artists who work primarily in the genre of horror. This is an often overlooked genre that has a reputation for cheap scares, predictable plots, and, even worse, is seen as entertainment (like that’s a bad thing).

We challenge that notion. Entertaining as horror is, it also strikes at something profoundly human within us all. It’s art, it’s frightening, and it’s fantastic. We want to provide artists whose work has been deemed too “genre” for other literary magazines a home.

Additionally, our goal is to pay each contributor with any profits we make from each issue. At the end of the submission period, all profits will be divided amongst our contributors to support them and their art.

Lastly, we will be nominating our published writer’s work to contests like Best of the Net, Pushcart, and more. Horror doesn’t always need to lurk in the shadows. It needs a little time in the moonlight, too.

Submissions are now open for issue 5!

Nocturne Magazine accepts work that may *sort of* fit into the genres of horror, dark fantasy, or speculative. However, we can be convinced of branching out as long as there’s something deeply unsettling about your submission.

We want something that makes us stay awake at night. Or have strange dreams. Or wake up still thinking about your piece while we drink our morning coffee. We don’t just want “eww,” or “yikes.” We want to scroll through your submission with trembling fingers.

We vibe with Stephen King’s weird dream scenes, Shirley Jackson’s “castles” and murderous young women, and Grady Hendrix’s fierce vampire-fighting book club, and anything else surreal, unusual, or downright terrifying.

But we also have some things we don’t love:

• Gratuitous rape/sexual assault, abuse, torture

• Children’s horror

• Fan-fiction

• Chapters or excerpts from other work

• Non-fiction pieces that disclose confidential information about any of the non-authors in the piece

• Fiction pieces that about real victims of murder, no matter how highly publicized.

• Nothing about pandemics/viruses. Please. We’ve had enough.

• Husbands killing wives. We get dozens of these, so it's a hard sell.

Here are the guidelines for fiction, art, and errata. Don’t worry too much about the formatting. We aren’t fussy. We accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if your piece is accepted elsewhere. We aim to respond to your submission within one month, but please do not query until 90 days has passed. We do not accept reprints or AI generated stories. Submit only once per submission period per category. Submit all written work in a a single document, either Word, rtf, txt, or PDF.

*If we have previously rejected your submission, please do not resubmit it, even if it has gone through major edits*

Fiction: Submit a single story 6000 words or less. For flash fiction (less than 1000 words), submit up to 3 pieces in a single document.

Cover art: We take one piece of art per issue. This piece will be featured on our cover. See past issues for examples of what we like. Ideally size 5x8". Send a tremor down our spines. Please refrain from sending: sexually graphic images, illegal images we feel compelled to report on, AI art, or photo-illustrations (sorry, but we really don’t want to be concerned about the photo occupants in scary situations!). Submit up to 5 pieces.

Errata: Do you have a poem-ish piece? Non-fiction that nobody will believe? Something that we don’t yet have a name for or that doesn’t fit into any category? Send here. Submit up to 5 pieces totaling 5000 words or less in a single document.

Please note that if your submission doesn't adhere to the guidelines that we will notify you and reject your submission.

Payment upon publication is $10 per contributor and $25 for the cover art.

So, do submissions cost?

Submissions are free! Just email us your work at:

nocturnehorror@gmail.com

Or, if you'd like, we do take tip jar submissions along with 48-hour responses. Just please include a screen shot of your order confirmation (or the order confirmation itself in plain text) in your email submission. All proceeds from these submissions go to paying operation costs and contributors.

PLEASE NOTE: We only accept 3 paid submissions per contributor per submission window. We do not refund.

Writing Competition: Drue Heinz Literature Prize

Drue Heinz Literature Prize

The Drue Heinz Literature Prize recognizes and supports writers of short fiction and makes their work available to readers around the world. The award is open to authors who have published a book-length collection of fiction or at least three short stories or novellas in commercial magazines or literary journals.

Manuscripts are judged anonymously by nationally known writers. Past judges have included Robert Penn Warren, Joyce Carol Oates, Raymond Carver, Margaret Atwood, Russell Banks, Rick Moody, and Joan Didion.

Winners receive a cash prize of $15,000, publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press, and support in the nation-wide promotion of their book.

Drue Heinz Literature Prize Submission Guidelines

Eligibility

• The award is open to writers who have published a novel or a book-length collection of fiction with a reputable book publisher, or a minimum of three short stories or novellas in magazines or journals of national distribution. Digital-only publication and self-publication do not count toward this requirement.

• The award is open to writers in English, whether or not they are citizens of the United States.

• Current University of Pittsburgh employees and students, and former employees and students affiliated with the University within the last three years, are not eligible for the award.

• Translations are not eligible if the translation was not done by the author.

• Eligible submissions include an unpublished manuscript of short stories; two or more novellas (a novella may comprise a maximum of 130 double-spaced typed pages); or a combination of one or more novellas and short stories. Novellas are only accepted as part of a larger collection. Manuscripts may be no fewer than 150 and no more than 300 pages. Prior publication of your manuscript as a whole in any format (including electronic) makes it ineligible.

• Stories or novellas previously published in magazines or journals or in book form as part of an anthology are eligible.

• Manuscripts may also be under consideration by other publishers, but if a manuscript is accepted for publication elsewhere and you wish to accept this offer, please notify the Press immediately. Manuscripts under contract elsewhere are no longer eligible for the Prize.

• Authors may submit more than one manuscript to the competition as long as one manuscript or a portion thereof does not duplicate material submitted in another manuscript.

Dates for Submission

Manuscripts must be received during May and June. That is, they must be submitted on or after May 1 and on or before June 30.

Format for Electronic Submissions

• Submittable contest site: http://upress.submittable.com/submit During the submission period (May 1 – June 30) simply click the link above. You’ll be taken to our secure submittable.com web page where you’ll find easy-to-follow instructions:

• Manuscripts must be double-spaced and pages must be numbered consecutively.

• Each submission must include a list of all of the writer’s published short fiction work, with full citations. You will be given an opportunity to enter this information into a field in Submittable.

• Manuscripts will be judged anonymously. Therefore, the author’s name, other identifying information, and publication information must not appear within the manuscript. Only your uploaded manuscript is visible to the judges.

If you have any questions about these guidelines, please email:

eomalley@upress.pitt.edu

Call for Submissions on Theme of "Music": Eternal Haunted Summer

Eternal Haunted Summer

EHS is an ezine dedicated to 1) original poetry and 2) short fiction about the Gods and Goddesses and heroes of the world’s many Pagan/polytheist traditions. We feature 3) reviews of books, graphic novels, academic journals, magazines, movies, plays, and so forth which have a Pagan focus, or which otherwise might interest our Pagan readership. And 4) interviews with established and new Pagan authors, or authors of texts that interest a Pagan audience. And finally, 5) essays concerning the Gods, Goddesses, heroes, myths and folklore of the world.

What do we mean by “original?” The submission must not have been previously published in hardcopy, or on another ezine, or website, or blog. Since people often discuss their writing on email lists and message boards, we do not consider that previous publication. That is, if your poem or story or review has only appeared on email lists or message boards, we still consider it original.

Submission Guidelines

We’re looking for hymns to Odin and Inanna and Sekhmet and Pele. Prayers to Hermes and Brigid and Asherah and Amaterasu-omikami. Short stories featuring (or otherwise referencing) Lugh and Yinepu and Hekate. Every poetic form, from sonnet to rhyming couplet to free form, is acceptable. There is no set length.

Any genre of short story is welcome, from mystery to fantasy to true lifeish to reimaginings of classic myths, provided the Deities and heroes are treated respectfully (no bashing someone else’s Gods, please!). Please limit your story to 3000 words or less (though a smidge over is fine).

We are also interested in reviews of: classic works of literature (such as new translations of The Eddas or The Iliad); books about the ancient world; books by modern Pagan authors about contemporary Paganism/s; academic journals and popular magazines that deal with Pagan themes or issues of interest to Pagans, such as The Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Biblical Archaeology Review and witches&pagans; and comic books and graphic novels.

We are also interested in essays that address the nature of the Deities, the mythologies of the various pantheons, folklore, ritual, et cetera and et cetera. So, for example, we would be keen to read your essay on Hermanubis and how He relates to Hermes and Anubis. Or, your essay examining primary sources for The Cailleach. Or, a discussion of the evolution of Veles from (benevolent) God of the Underworld to (Christian) demon and how Polish and Slavic Pagans are resurrecting His worship.

Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know as soon as possible if your work is accepted elsewhere.

The Big No-Nos. We absolutely WILL NOT accept submissions of writing or artwork created with AI software (e.g., Midjourney, ChatGPT). No generative AI. Any work must be wholly the creation of a human being. The use of assistive AI, such as spellcheck, is fine. In other words, use the tools to create something yourself, don’t let the tools do the creating for you.

Absolutely no ancient aliens. Pieces featuring Atlantis, Mu, UFOs, aliens, or subterranean civilizations, as well as levels of gore, violence, and sexual content will be judged on a submission by submission basis. No plagiarism. We trust you to be honest. If we discover that a submission has been plagiarized it will be rejected; if the discovery is made after publication, the submission will be removed and payment must be refunded to EHS. And be prepared to be stomped by the Fates for your poor character.

AI Training Prohibition: The creators of the individual poems, short stories, essays, and other works that appear in Eternal Haunted Summer retain control of their work. The creators retain all rights to their work; the appearance of that work in Eternal Haunted Summer is agreed upon by both parties, and compensated as agreed. Any use of this publication and the works it contains to develop and “train” AI in any way, for any reason, is prohibited without the express permission of the creator/s.

Submission Address:

lyradora@yahoo.com

Please be sure to note in the subject line if your submission is fiction, poetry, essay, or review. Please only submit during the open reading period. Submitting outside of that window will make the editor very grumpy.

While we have no doubt that everything you have written is absolutely amazing, please limit yourself to three poems; or one short story; or one essay; or three reviews per acceptance period. Please send all submissions as a .rtf or .txt or .doc/.docx attachment, or in the body of the email, to:

lyradora@yahoo.com 

during the acceptance period.

EHS will pay a flat rate of $5.00 for an original piece. We retain first electronic publishing rights. After the piece moves to the archives and the new issue is posted, all rights revert to the author. Payment will be made via PayPal. No checks or cash. If you do not have a PayPal account, payment may be made in the form of an online gift certificate to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Kobo (all purveyors of fine literature). All payments will be made before the issue is launched on the Solstice.

Upcoming Themes!

Summer Solstice 2025: Music. 

Submission Period: 1 May through 1 June 2025.

Jazz and blues. Rock and opera. Ballads and folk songs. Music has been an integral element of human creativity and culture since we first learned to carve holes into bones. Send us your best poems, short stories, and essays about music — in all its forms — from a Pagan/polytheist, witchy, and mythological point of view. Send us poems about the duel between Apollo and Marsyas, Bragi wooing Idun, and Pan stalking a poacher with madness-inducing pipe music. Send us short stories about a desperate musician making a crossroads deal with Dionysus, a composer praying to Hymen for inspiration, an archaeologist uncovering a temple and sacred instruments of Kothar-wa-Khasis. Send us essays about Väinämöinen as archetypal musician, Mozart’s opera Apollo et Hyacinthus, and the rise of the modern Pagan music scene.