Writing Competitions: The Baltimore Review Prizes for Flash Fiction, Flash Creative Nonfiction, and Prose Poetry

The Baltimore Review Contests for Flash Fiction, Flash Creative Nonfiction, and Prose Poetry

No theme! Subject matter is entirely up to you. Surprise us.              

But keep it short. See how much you can accomplish, how much of an impact you can have, with a small number of words. We want to wonder how you abracadabra words into magic. We want to be amazed and maybe a little jealous of how you do that.               

One writer in each category will be awarded a $400 prize and published in the winter issue. All entries are considered for publication with payment at our regular rate ($75).              

Total word limit for this category is 1,000. The guidelines are the same for flash creative nonfiction and prose poetry No more than 1,000 words for a combination of stories or prose poems. Seriously. And shorter is often better. We love shorts.              

Deadline is November 30, 2026.              

Fee is $8.               

Please do not include your name on your work.

Submit your entry here. 

Call for Submissions and Writing Competition: The Georgia Review

The Georgia Review welcomes submissions both online and by post from August 15 to May 15. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts outside this period.

All manuscripts receive serious, careful attention; each submission is read by a published writer in a salaried position at The Georgia Review. We aim to respond to submissions within ten months. Committed to supporting authors at all stages in their careers, The Georgia Review pays contributors. Journal subscribers can submit for free during our general submissions period (excluding contests); general paper submissions by mail are free (aside from the cost of postage) to subscribers and non-subscribers.

Work previously published in any form will not be considered. Please tell us in your cover letter if your submission is simultaneously being considered elsewhere, and please let us know immediately, via Submittable, if your work is accepted by another publication. Likewise, please notify us if any part of your submission is known to be included in a book already accepted by a publisher (include the anticipated date of book publication).

At The Georgia Review, we view literature as a rich and ever-unfolding human conversation—as demonstrated by our commitment to editorial exchange and our focus on fostering literary community. In keeping with this ethos, we are interested in literature written by humans. Please do not send us work written or assisted by generative AI.

We do not publish work by current University of Georgia students.

To find out more about what we publish, browse the work featured on our website, or consider purchasing a recent issue from our shop.

Online submissions should be sent through Submittable. Each general submission requires a $3 processing fee, with an exception for current print subscribers to The Georgia Review, who may submit online at no cost. Subscribers: Please email:

garev@uga.edu 

to receive a link to submit for free, providing the genre of the work to be submitted and your full name and address (including zip code).

Paper Submissions

General paper submissions do not require a submission fee. All paper manuscripts must include a cover letter with your name, mailing address, email address, and phone number. If you’d like to receive our decision by mail, your submission must be accompanied by a postage-paid and self-addressed return envelope. If you would prefer to receive notice of our decision via email (and forgo a return of your manuscript), please indicate this preference in your cover letter. Submissions should be addressed to:

The Editors
The Georgia Review
706A Main Library
320 S. Jackson St.
The University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-9009

Payment and Copyright

The Georgia Review’s current standard pay rates for our print issues are $50 per printed page for prose and $4 per line for poetry, up to $800. In addition, all contributors receive two copies of the issue their work appears in and a 50% discount on additional copies of that issue.

The Georgia Review buys first North American serial rights and non-exclusive digital rights only. All other rights revert to the author at publication, but we offer formal, written reassignments upon request. We ask that whenever an author reprints work that first appeared in our pages, The Georgia Review be given acknowledgment for the specific work(s) involved.

The Georgia Review is pleased to announce that our 2027 Prose Prize opens on Sunday, November 1, and will be judged by Vauhini Vara. The best short story and essay will both be published in The Georgia Review. The overall winner, chosen between the two, will receive $1,500. The runner-up will receive $600. All entries will be considered for publication.  

The winner and runner-up of last year’s prose prize will be featured in our forthcoming Winter 2026 issue. 

• Submissions must be sent either through Submittable between November 1 and January 15 or by regular mail postmarked within the same span of time. 

•  An entry should include either one short story or one essay. Only one entry per writer. 

• No translations.

• Submissions cost $25. Simultaneous submissions are permitted; however, writers must notify us immediately if the work is accepted elsewhere.

At The Georgia Review, we view literature as a rich and ever-unfolding human conversation—as demonstrated by our commitment to editorial exchange and our focus on fostering literary community. In keeping with this ethos, we are interested in literature written by humans. Please do not send us work written or assisted by generative AI.

Postal submissions: Include (1) a cover letter that provides your phone number and email address and (2) a check for $25 for your entry fee. Checks should be made payable to The Georgia Review, and envelopes should be addressed to The Georgia Review Prose Prize, The Georgia Review, Room 706A Main Library, the University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-9009. If you’d prefer to be notified by post, please also include a self-addressed, stamped envelope; otherwise, we will notify you by email.

Please note that students, faculty, staff, and administrators currently affiliated with the University of Georgia are ineligible for the contest. Intimate friends, relatives, colleagues, and former or current semester-length students of a judge are also ineligible to enter. Previous winners of our contest should wait three years before entering again.

We can’t wait to read your work!

Call for Submissions: Seam Allowance

Seam Allowance is the invisible expanse between the cutting line and the stitching line.

Seam Allowance celebrates literary experimentation and unconventional style.

Seam Allowance is a margin of excess.

"The phrase that is always in my mind is 'never before seen'. When I see it on the catwalk, I am shocked, because I never expected it to be what it is. It never is what I expect. It's always gone beyond that."

— Vivienne Westwood

Seam Allowance 

What should you send?

• Never before seen' poetry or prose (under 1,000 words).

• Send writing about anatomy, biology, technology, fashion, sexuality, architecture, astronomy, asymmetry, metamorphosis, decay, alchemy, ritual, the uncanny, etc.

• ​Book reviews (under 1,000 words).

• Daring multilingual constructions and translations.

• Sublime abstractions and blurred lines.

• Unexpected materials and designs.

• Subversive, multivalent wordplay.

• Hybridity and dissymmetry.

Notes on Publication

 

If selected for publication, your writing will be paired with an introductory editorial note and a garment of the editor's choosing.

 

Simultaneous submissions are permitted. We kindly ask that you notify the editor if your submission is chosen for publication elsewhere.

 

All submissions should include a cover letter, a third-person biographical note, and any relevant social media handles.
 

Response time can take up to three months.
 

Send something faster than the eye can follow to:

 

seamallowancejournal (at) gmail (dot) com (Change (at) to @ and (dot) to . )

Call for Submissions: The Writing Disorder

 

 The Writing Disorder

CURRENT NEEDS:
Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction, Art, Reviews, Interviews, Comic Art and Experimental work.
We would like to see more poetry, long fiction, nonfiction, artwork, reviews and interviews.

The Writing Disorder accepts Microsoft Word (storytitle.doc or .docx) submissions by email. We always try to publish your work exactly as you wrote and formatted it. We are Mac users. Please attach file to your email.

NOTE: Please include your last name in the title of your Word document.

Send your fiction, nonfiction and artwork to:

submit@thewritingdisorder.com 

Send your poetry to:

poetry@thewritingdisorder.com 

AI POLICY:

We accept original, previously unpublished material. If artificial intelligence (AI) has been used to generate any portion of your work, you must disclose the usage in detail within the piece and in your cover letter.

All writing, fiction, poetry and nonfiction work must be authored by a human. Manuscripts that utilize generative AI tools to draft, generate, or fact-check work are not considered. Writers must affirm their original authorship upon submission. Word processor staples like standard spell-check and grammar-check are permitted.

Do not submit work generated, modified, edited, translated, or in any way assisted by generative artificial intelligence (AI). If you are submitting work that makes use of AI, please include a note acknowledging the purpose therein.

ACCEPTANCE:

Once your work is accepted, we will send you an Acceptance Form agreement that allows us to publish your work. The agreement stipulates that your work will not be published elsewhere (for at least six months). We also request a current bio and author photo. If you do not wish to include a photo of yourself, that is fine, too. Perhaps you can send us artwork or a photograph to accompany your work.

Our Submission Policy

The Writing Disorder is published four times a year: new issues are posted at the beginning of Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.

Needs:

We seek work of the highest quality, but do not have specific guidelines for style or subject matter. Check our website before submitting for any updates. Although we look for short stories and poetry, we also publish personal essays and memoirs. Novel excerpts are acceptable, if self-contained. Reviews, nonfiction pieces, humor, comic art, and criticism are also welcome. We also love experimental work. For poetry, please submit TWO to EIGHT poems. Also, let us know what type of work you are submitting. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell whether a piece is fiction or nonfiction.

Format:

Submit one prose piece or two to eight poems. A notation of publications and awards, if any, is helpful. Poems should be individually typed either single- or double-spaced on one side of the page. Prose should be typed double-spaced on one side and can be as many pages as you need.

Deadline:

Our reading period is all year long. Submit your work at any time during this period; if a manuscript is not timely for one issue, it may be considered for another.

Submitting Your Work:

Send only one manuscript at a time online. Do not send duplicate or multiple submissions. There is a limit of four total submissions per writer per reading period (season), regardless of genre, whether it is by mail or online. Do not send a second submission until you’ve heard about the first. We cross-reference our database periodically, and if we find more than one active submission, or a fifth submission (or more) during the reading period, all submissions will be immediately rejected unread. Simultaneous submissions to other journals are amenable as long as they are indicated as such and we are notified immediately upon acceptance elsewhere.

NOTE: We accept previously published work—as long as it is not currently available online.

Submissions by Email:

Email one file to:

submit@thewritingdisorder.com

containing one prose piece or two to eight poems. If you have a legitimate association with a staff editor you may address that editor by name in your email. You should also include a brief citation of publications and awards (less than 50 words), if any. A longer citation of credits or a cover letter may be included as the first page of your submission document. Submissions must be sent as a Word (.doc or .docx) file. Any files that don’t adhere to our guidelines will be withdrawn from consideration. In general, you will receive a faster response by email versus by regular mail.

Notifications and Queries:

Expect at least three months for a decision. Please be patient. Do not query us until three months have passed. If you write us, please include a current email address and indicate the date of your submission. You can also send us an e-mail. We must be notified of changes in address or email. We cannot be responsible for delay, loss, or damage.

Thank you for submitting your work.

We appreciate your talent, commitment and patience.

Call for Submissions on Theme of "Trauma and the Government": Tendrils

 

Trauma and the Government, Issue 3

Submissions Open

Tendrils, a trauma-focused art & literary journal, seeks visual art and short-form literature for our upcoming “Trauma and the Government” issue. This edition will explore the profound theme of trauma and the government—how policy, laws, and programs have rippled through communities, neighborhoods, and lives.

The work can reflect historical or contemporary themes related to local, national, or global policies, laws, etc. We’re interested in thoughtful, bold, and distinctive voices that contribute fresh and meaningful perspectives to this topic. We invite artists and writers to submit work that offers a unique perspective, whether abstract, realistic, or something else entirely.

The work submitted can reflect governments from around the world, but we ONLY publish US-based (incl. territories) artists and writers. Each selected artist and writer will be paid a $20 honorarium.

Fee: There is no fee for submission.

Deadline: Dec. 19, 2026

What kind of art can you submit?

Art submissions: any medium or size that explores the themes of trauma and the government.

Literature: Short-form pieces (max. 1000 words) such as poetry, essays, and short stories that focus on the trauma and the government theme. We're open to considering an excerpt if you have a long-form work that aligns.

Deadline: Dec. 19, 2026

Address the theme of “Trauma and the Government”

Only original, human-created works will be considered.

Submitter MUST be 18 years old or older

Submitter MUST live in the US and/or its territories

Artworks can be of any medium or size (if video or performance, please submit a still image AND a link to view the video)

Artist Statement about how the work addresses the theme (between 100 and approximately 300 words)

For art submissions: upload jpg (jpeg) files at 300dpi. The longest side should be no greater than 3500 pixels. Each file must be saved as “FirstnameLastname_Title”

For literature submissions: upload pdf files. Each file must be saved as “FirstnameLastname_Title”

Literature must be short-form (poetry, essay, short story, etc.), OR an excerpt from a long-form text. (max. 1000 words)

Max 2 submissions will be reviewed.

Each selected artist and writer will be paid an honorarium of $20. They will also receive a free printed copy of Tendrils, Trauma and the Government issue.

Selected art and literature will be published in a full-color printed edition. A small number of these works will also be showcased in an online edition on our website, see Issue 2 as an example.

Submit your work here. 

Call for Submissions: The Orange Rose

The Orange Rose Literary Magazine

SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN UNTIL NOVEMBER 7

Send all work to theorangeroselitmag@gmail.com

We accept Fiction, CNF, Flash Fiction, Micro Fiction, Poetry, Art, and Photography.

We ask that you submit to only ONE of the listed genres at a time, and that you wait for a response before submitting again.

You may submit from one of the following:

One fiction or CNF piece (1,001 to 3,000 words)

One flash fiction / CNF piece (401-1,000 words)

Up to three micro fiction / CNF pieces (maximum 400 words)

Up to three poems (each poem should start on its own page) 

Up to three pieces of art and/or photography All work must be previously unpublished

• All work must have a title, including art and photography

• We are open to any genres, but will automatically reject any work that includes graphic imagery or hateful content.

• No AI-generated texts or art – we prefer pieces created by humans.

• We ask that any photography submitted not include people due to our inability to verify their consent.

• Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere. We want to congratulate you!

• Please attach submissions as a .doc or .docx file only (or .jpg for images)

• Include a short third-person bio in the cover letter of your submission, along with any social media handles or personal website links.

• Please refrain from telling us about your story in the cover letter – let your stories speak for themselves. The cover letter is for us to learn about you.

• In the email subject line, use the format “SUBMISSION: [Genre]”

• We ask for First North American Serial Rights. All rights revert back to the author after publication. If your work is reprinted elsewhere, we ask that The Orange Rose be acknowledged as the site of first publication

Call for Submissions: Rawhead: Point Blank

 

Rawhead is an online journal that publishes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art. We are not a horror publication, though we are interested in work that unsettles through emotional depth, sharp craft, and surprising clarity.

We believe the arts are a form of resistance against monsters, in whatever shape they take. Artists draw their blades. Writers raise their shields. Creators are found at every last stand and keep the truth breathing.

That’s why we need your voice: your witness, your joy and fury, your circle of salt. We need your silence to be broken.

Send us the still dripping pieces of the beast you’ve finally slain. Show us the scars of an ongoing fight. Or throw out the plot entirely and just share something that you believe in.

Submissions to Rawhead: Point Blank and requests for Editorial Feedback are open year-round.

Rawhead: Point Blank

Please Note that Rawhead: Point Blank is a separate project from Rawhead's general issues. Before submitting, we strongly encourage contributors to read the project's purpose and previous features to ensure their work is a good fit. Work that is not selected for Point Blank may still be considered for general issues of Rawhead.

Read Rawhead: Point Blank 

Purpose

Point Blank is a Rawhead digital series featuring the work of a single writer or artist, released semi-monthly, in response to what is happening now. We accept Poetry, Visual Art, CNF, Fiction, and Hybrid works for this series. Point Blank exists as a form of resistance and documentation, a way of marking what is being done, who it is being done to, and how it is being fought. This series extends our core mission into the present tense, serving as a rapid-response record for the stories and injustices unfolding right now that cannot afford the distance of traditional publication schedules.

This is a space to name the realities of state violence: from the kidnapping and murder of our neighbors by ICE, to the genocide of the Palestinian people, to the plunder of the earth itself as our forests and oceans are sacrificed to endless greed. It is also a place to witness structural rot of the everyday: the indignity of economic hardship, the legislative attacks on our LGBTQ+ community, and the systemic racism that decides who is protected and who is pushed to the margins. This is a space to call out the corruption that impacts most people’s daily lives. We are meeting that force with a point-blank record of our own.

At the same time, we recognize that resistance is found in the persistence of hope, the labor of community care, and the bravery of everyday heroes. Rawhead: Point Blank is a space for the work that documents what is being built as much as what is being broken. We value stories of the things we create in spite of the powers that be: the mutual aid, the art, the healing & recovery, the defense of neighbors, the unexpected kindness of the world, and the daily ways we choose each other over the systems that despise us. A ledger of the moment is incomplete without the stories of those who insist on beauty and survival in the face of injustice.

We want to hear from anyone paying attention, whether that perspective comes from the shop floor, the classroom, the kitchen table, the picket line, the waiting room, the cell, the back roads, or the street. Rawhead has always been committed to work that does not look away, and this series holds space for these conditions to be named and remembered as they unfold.

Honorarium

Rawhead: Point Blank offers a flat $30 honorarium to each featured contributor and a $10 donation to the charity of their choice. We recognize this is a modest amount, but it is an acknowledgment of your time, your labor, and the value of your voice. We hope to be able to offer more in the future.

Free to Submit

We believe financial reasons should never be a barrier to sharing creative work and are fully committed to always offering free submissions.

We do, however, offer paid submission options in the form of Supporter, Expedited, and Priority response submissions simply to cover operation costs and allow our journal to grow. Expedited submissions will receive a guaranteed response within two weeks and Priority subs will hear from us within 72 business hours.

Rawhead is actively seeking funding to help support operational costs, produce print issues, offer payment to each contributor, and expand our reach. If you'd like to help us reach those goals, please consider selecting a paid submission option or donating to our journal here: Support Rawhead on Ko-fi

Donations are appreciated but do not influence our editorial decisions.
Submission Guidelines

Poetry

Submit 3 to 7 poems in a single document, totaling no more than 15 pages (.doc or .docx preferred). Use 12pt Times New Roman or Arial font. Format one poem per page unless part of a sequence. Indicate stanza breaks if a poem spans multiple pages.

Prose

We accept one to two nonfiction or fiction pieces up to 3,000 words each. For flash or experimental works (under 1,000 words), submit up to three pieces. Use 12pt Times New Roman or Arial font. Double space all prose pieces. Note: If a piece relies on non-standard font and/or spacing, please submit it to the Hybrid category.

Visual Art

Submit 3 to 10 pieces in any medium—illustration, photography, digital collage, mixed media, painting, sculpture, etc. Upload high-quality images (min 1500px, .jpg/.png/.tiff).

Hybrid

We welcome work that crosses or blends forms such as prose/poetry hybrids, lyric essays with embedded images, comics, sound pieces, etc. You may submit one larger hybrid work up to 3,000 words, 5 shorter pieces (provided they total no more than the limits above), or up to 10 images. Please provide a brief description of your mixed-genre piece.

AI Policy

We do not accept AI-generated content. Submissions must be original, human-made, and free of AI assistance.

Simultaneous & Previously Published Work

We accept simultaneous submissions because we believe that powerful work deserves more than a single appearance. Too often, published pieces reach only a limited audience before slipping into obscurity. At Rawhead, we’re committed to giving exceptional writing and art a second life where it can continue to resonate, provoke, and endure. Please ensure that you credit the original publication in your submission note, retain the rights to your previously published work, and wait at least 6 months after its publication before submitting again.

Cover Letters

Include a third-person bio, previous publications (if applicable), and any personal sites or social media handles you’d like us to share.

Submit your work here.