Call for Submissions: Centaur

Centaur is on the lookout for writing that’s inspired, bold, and surprising. With four seasonal issues a year, and up to eight pieces in each, there’s only room for your best 400 words or fewer. Learn more about Centaur in the interview Six Questions.

Centaur’s pledge to its writers and artists You will not pay a submission fee. Ever. You’ll get a nice acceptance or an equally nice decline within two months of story or artwork submission. (If you don’t hear from Centaur, check your spam folder. Every submission receives a response!)

Writers: 

• Centaur will nominate pieces for each of the annual literary competitions or anthologies, including Best Small Fictions, Best Microfiction, and Best of the Net.

• Additionally, your editor will light her Dolly Parton candle for Centaur’s writers at each issue’s launch, in hopes that your work may be honored and anthologized elsewhere. (Please just credit Centaur as first publisher.)

• Centaur will feature its author and artist books on its Bookstore page.

• Your published story or art will be its own prize—shined (copyedits on stories), shown (social media), and shared (however, all rights reserved and rights revert to creator upon publication).

• Your published story or art will receive $20 in payment and a fortune in goodwill.

Your pledge to Centaur

• Your work is original and previously unpublished. No-AI generated or violent work.

• Artists: If you’re interested in illustrating in any way the magical being known as a centaur in an upcoming issue, please email Centaur with a short note about yourself and your idea for an illustration, as well as a link to samples of your work.

Writers: 

• Submit a mashup of fiction with prose poetry or nonfiction, also known as hybrid. Open to most styles of writing, but not to horror. Please, 400 words maximum and words only—no mixed media or multimedia. Words only. Only one (not multiple) submission every three months. If your work is published by Centaur, please wait a year before submitting again.

• If you have not heard back on the status of your submission within 2 months, please reach out with a query. Apologies, sometimes the spam folder is overzealous.

• Paste your submission with your full name in 12-point Times New Roman font in the body of an email to Centaur. No attachments, please. Include the word “Submission,” your piece’s title, and your full name in the email subject line, like this: Submission: The Orange Chair – Sadie Smith. New: Please include a 50-word bio so the editor knows who she is communicating with.

• Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let the editor know immediately if your piece has been accepted elsewhere.

Everyone: You won’t be a horse’s ass, a blockhead, or both and hassle the editor. Examples include pulling your story or art after it’s been accepted for publication, questioning the editor’s decision to decline a piece, or missing deadlines.

Call for Submissions from Canadian Writers: The Malahat Review

 

The Malahat Review welcomes submissions of poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction, as well as translated work in any of these three genres, by new and established writers from Canada and abroad. We particularly welcome submissions from those writers who for reasons of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, geography, class, culture, or religion have been historically under-represented in Canadian literary contexts. The best way to know what kinds of work we might publish is to order a print or digital issue, or subscribe.

Submissions from Canadian writers are accepted for consideration from January 1 to June 30 each year. 

Submissions from international (including US) writers are accepted for consideration from February 14 to February 28 or until our submission cap is reached for the month. *Please note there will be a small submission fee of CAD$7 (approximately USD$5) per regular submission for international (including US) submissions.*

We try our best to get back to writers as soon as possible. Due to the many submissions we receive, please allow for one to six months for poetry and up to nine months for fiction and creative nonfiction.

We accept submissions via Submittable only. Please submit your work in a single .doc, .docx, or .pdf file. Please list the word count (for prose) or line count (for poetry) at the beginning of each piece. For regular submissions, make sure your name and contact info appear on the first page.

We don’t publish any work that has previously been published, whether in print or online, even if the print run or online audience was small. No work that has been excerpted elsewhere is eligible for submission, nor is any work that has been revised since its original publication.

For regular submissions, please inform us if you’re making a simultaneous submission, and please update us as soon as possible with any changes to the status of your submission.

The magazine’s Editorial Boards are not interested in AI-generated work as such (e.g., machine-written work generated by a prompt). Given the increasing cultural presence and uses of AI, submitters will be asked in Submittable whether AI has been used in the creation of the work being submitted and, if the answer is yes, to explain the extent and nature of its use and what artistic ends it is meant to serve.

We pay CAD$70 per published page plus a one-year print subscription and two copies of the issue in which your work appears. We purchase first world serial print and digital rights for publication in English; copyright remains with the author.

Call for Submissions: The Dolomite Review

Submissions for The Dolomite Review are now open for the Fall 2026 issue.

We seek writing that tells a story—whether driven by plot or character, it should pull readers in through vivid voices and authentic moments. The Dolomite Review celebrates the spirit of the Midwest and the art of storytelling in all its forms. We welcome submissions from both emerging and established writers.

We welcome fiction, poetry, and first-person essays that resonate with clarity, curiosity, and depth.

Beginning with the Fall 2026 issue, The Dolomite Review will award $50 each to one featured poem, one featured short story, and one featured essay per issue. Featured selections are chosen at the sole discretion of the editorial staff based on editorial vision and are not determined by submission order, theme, or author status. Our submission fee for all manuscripts is still $3.50.

The Dolomite Review also welcomes art by Midwest photographers. We’re seeking compelling images that capture the landscapes, communities, and atmosphere of the Midwest. Submission is free, though we are unable to offer payment for published photography at this time. Please send submissions directly to:

info (at) thedolomitereview (dot) com (Change (at) to @ and (dot) to . )

Note that work may be used throughout the magazine and may be lightly edited for size or layout. Credit will be given, though it may not appear directly beneath the image.

The Dolomite Review is an online-only publication.​

If your work is accepted, we request first electronic rights, as well as the right to archive your piece on our website. After publication, all rights revert to you, with the understanding that The Dolomite Review will be credited as the original publisher should your work appear elsewhere.

We look forward to reviewing your work and discovering the voices and art that will shape our next issue.

Submit your work here. 

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 for Issue 6 are now open!

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

Send subs to:

nocturnehorror@gmail.com

Call for Submissions on Theme of "Teaching Writing": Mississippi Review

 

Mississippi Review 54.3 is now open for submissions. For this issue, we're looking for work that focuses on the following: teaching, writing, the teaching of writing, classroom spaces, learning spaces, or creative spaces. We're happy to read work that approaches these topics or related ones.
Though we will read and consider all work submitted, we are particularly interested in receiving work from writers who have not yet been published.

We’re Open For Submissions!

We are currently accepting Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction for Mississippi Review 54.3, with an estimated publication date of Winter 2027. We will accept work until June 30 (2026).  

Theme -- Teaching Writing

In 1990, Mississippi Review published a special issue on Workshops. The editors "wrote to over two hundred twenty writing program heads, chair persons, etc., soliciting samples of what they considered the best work written in their programs during calendar year 1989." While reviewing those submissions, they "had the idea to include a mini-symposium on the teaching of writing" (MR 19 1&2). The result was a collection of various writing from workshops along with a collection of thoughts on the experience of teaching writing.

For Mississippi Review 54.3, we plan to release the next iteration of that Workshop issue. Though we are interested in the teaching of writing in workshops, we'd also like to widen the scope to include the teaching of writing across various courses as well as in wider community contexts.

For this issue, we're looking for stories that focus on the following: teaching, writing, the teaching of writing, classroom spaces, learning spaces, or creative spaces. We're happy to read stories that approach these topics or related ones. 

Stories should be 8,000 words or less.

Submit up to 5 poems in 1 document (document should be 10 pages total or less).

Essays should be 8,000 words or less. We tend to select creative nonfiction pieces, but are open to reading essays that are researched and/or have a more academic voice for this issue. 

Though we will read and consider all work submitted, we are particularly interested in receiving work from writers who have not yet been published.

Cover Letter

In your cover letter, include a short professional bio (max 100 words) and any social media tags.
Simultaneous/Multiple Submissions

We do consider simultaneous submissions. If your work is accepted elsewhere, please notify us via Submittable immediately and withdraw the appropriate piece.

We also welcome multiple submissions. Each submission requires a separate $4.00 submission fee.
Compensation

As a university-supported literary journal, we are working to find new ways to compensate our contributors. For Mississippi Review 54.3, we are able to provide two free copies of issue 54.3 along with a lifetime subscription to Mississippi Review.

Mailed Submissions

We prefer to receive submissions through Submittable. If you are unable to access Submittable, however, we are happy to consider submissions through mail. Send mailed submissions to the address below with a cover letter (including contact information) and your submission fee as a check.

Mississippi Review

118 College Drive #5144

Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406-0001

Who Can Submit

Anyone who is not currently student, staff, or faculty at the University of Southern Mississippi, or affiliated with the Mississippi Review in any way, can submit.
Questions?

If you have any questions, email msreview@usm.edu. You can also visit our website for more info.

More information and submission portal here. 

Writing Grant: The PEN/Phyllis Naylor Grant for Children's and Young Adult Novelists

The PEN/Phyllis Naylor Grant for Children’s and Young Adult Novelists is offered to an author of children’s or young adult fiction for a novel in progress. Previously called the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship, the award was developed to help writers whose work is of high literary caliber and assist them in completing their novel at a crucial moment in their career. The author of the winning manuscript, selected blindly by judges unaware of nominees’ names, receives a grant of $5,000.

Deadline: Submissions will be accepted from April 15 through June 15, 2026. Submissions will close at 11:59 p.m. EST on June 15th.

 Eligibility: 

• Candidates must be writers of children’s or young adult fiction.

• Candidates must have published one or more novels for children or young adults that have been warmly received by literary critics, but have not generated significant sales.

• The writer’s previously published book(s) must be published by a U.S. trade publisher. Self-published works are ineligible.

• The submitted work must be a novel in progress that will not be published prior to April 15, 2027.

• NOT eligible: Graphic novels and picture books. Manuscripts written by more than one person.

Submission guidelines:

All documents should be formatted in 12pt Times New Roman, single spaced, with 1-inch margins.

This application requires two PDFs. The judges will only review the second, which asks for an outline, letter of utility, and manuscript. Please make sure these materials do not contain the author's name. Other materials are for internal use.

A first PDF containing: A 1-2 page cover letter including a 1-3 sentence summary of the project, a description of how the candidate meets the criteria for the grant, and a list of the candidate’s published novel(s) for children and/or young adults.
1-3 reviews of the candidate’s novel(s) from professional publications. These may be copies or links.
A 1-2 page letter of recommendation or support from an editor or fellow writer.

A second, anonymous PDF containing: 

• The candidate’s name should not appear anywhere on this PDF to ensure anonymity. A 2-4 page outline of the novel in progress being submitted.

• A 1-2 page description of how the funds will be used to complete the project. What will the candidate be able to accomplish with this funding that they could not do otherwise? Book sales, earnings, or other relevant information may be included here.

• A 50–75 page manuscript sample. This document should be double spaced for legibility.

Please consult our FAQ before directing any questions to awards@pen.org

Submit your entry here. 

Call for Submissions: South Carolina Review

Editorial and Publications Policy

South Carolina Review

SCR publishes fiction and poetry primarily, but will also consider creative nonfiction, scholarly essays, and book reviews. The editors of SCR thank you for your interest in submitting a manuscript for their consideration.

We prefer electronic submissions (in PDF or Word Doc format) via Submittable. SCR submissions are free and are accepted on a regular reading periods. We will no longer be accepting submissions through email.

No previously published work, work accepted elsewhere, or multiple submissions accepted. Please note that we cannot acknowledge receipt of manuscripts and that we cannot return manuscripts under any conditions. Contributors will receive two copies of the issue in which accepted work appears. 

Deadline: July 15, 2026

Please submit new work in fiction, poetry, or creative non-fiction. No more than one submission per submission period. Poetry submissions may contain as many as six poems; fiction and creative non-fiction submissions should contain a single story/essay (unless they're very short and/or interconnected for purposes of publication). No minimum or maximum page limit. We accept simultaneous submissions; please notify of acceptance elsewhere.

Submit your work here.