Resources
From Category: Magazines and Literary Journals
Obscura
Obscura, the literary journal of Lehman College in the Bronx, publishes poetry, fiction, artwork, and drama that reflects their community's vibrant multicultural and Latinx influences. Open to submissions from current students and alumni.
One Throne Magazine
Founded in 2014 at Dawson City, Yukon, One Throne is an online literary magazine published quarterly (always on the first day of each season). Editors say, "We showcase the foremost in writing, spanning genres, and running the gamut from elegant prose and poetry, to plot-driven stories, to speculative fiction." One Throne also hosts contests where entrants receive a writing prompt and have 24 hours to write their entry. The prize is a percentage of entry fees.
Only Poems
Launched in 2023 by award-winning poets Shannan Mann and Karan Kapoor, Only Poems seeks to publish longer suites of poems by each contributor in order to showcase their style and range. Authors receive $55 for each feature. They are open year-round to submissions of up to 10 pages/10 poems. Unpublished work only. Follow specific formatting guidelines on website. Editors say, "We love prose poems, traditional forms (ghazals, villanelles, sestinas), love poems, sex poems, speculative poems, and experimental questionnaires, but we are not married to a style or genre."
Open Minds Quarterly
Open Minds Quarterly is a publication of The Writer's Circle, a project of NISA/Northern Initiative for Social Action. Open Minds Quarterly is dedicated to writers worldwide who have survived depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. The journal publishes fiction, book reviews, poems, and first-person narrative accounts, and sponsors the annual BrainStorm Poetry Contest for mental health consumers and survivors.
Oyez Review
Well-known contributors have inclued Barry Ballard, Ace Boggess, Gaylord Brewer, Moira Egan, and John Surowiecki. Authors of narrative free verse, prose-poems, and magical realism may find this journal a particularly good fit. Reading period August 1-October 1; no simultaneous submissions.
Paper Lanterns
Based in Ireland, Paper Lanterns publishes poetry and short fiction aimed at teens and young adults, as well as book reviews and feature articles about young adult literature. Authors aged 13+ are welcome to submit. See website for submission periods and formatting guidelines. This is a paying market.
Parks & Points
Handsomely illustrated with nature photography, Parks & Points is an online journal of personal essays and poetry about national parks and other public lands. See website for annual writing contests.
Parody Poetry Journal
Launched in 2012, PPJ features authors such as David Alpaugh, Bruce Boston, Tracy Koretsky, and Hal Sirowitz.
Pavement Saw
Pavement Saw Press also publishes innovative poetry books and chapbooks that get good reviews. See website for their contests.
Peacock Journal
Launched in 2016 by poet W.F. Lantry and musician Kathleen Fitzpatrick, this online literary journal seeks to publish beautiful creative work, taking advantage of the graphic possibilities of modern web technology. They also put out an annual print anthology of poetry and flash fiction. Send previously unpublished poetry, fiction, personal essays, artwork, or short audio files. See website for lengths and formats. Michael Linnard, the editor of the literary press Little Red Tree, is the journal's publication liaison.
peculiar: a queer literary journal
peculiar is a bi-annual queer literary journal publishing poetry, fiction, essays, art, and photography. Co-editor Jack Garcia says, "Based in Provo, Utah, the title is a nod to the Mormon claim of being a 'peculiar people' because, let's face it, being queer is far more peculiar!" Read an interview with him at Trish Hopkinson's writing resources blog.
Pencilhouse
Pencilhouse is a writers' resource site that aims to help writers at all levels improve their craft. You can submit two poems or one short prose piece per month for a free critique (enter early because submissions are capped at 35 per month). Pencilhouse also publishes Zero Readers, a process-oriented literary journal that provides extensive feedback to accepted authors and guides them through the revision process.
Pensive: A Global Journal of Spirituality & the Arts
Founded in 2020, Pensive is a literary journal sponsored by the Center for Spirituality, Dialogue, and Service at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. They are currently open to submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, cross-genre, photography, visual art, and translations, from writers of all spiritual and philosophical perspectives. Editors say, "Pensive publishes work that deepens the inward life; expresses a range of religious/spiritual/humanist experiences and perspectives; envisions a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world; advances dialogue across difference; and challenges structural oppression in all its forms."
Pentimento Magazine
Pentimento publishes poetry, short fiction, essays, and artwork by writers with disabilities (including children), and authentic, well-written essays and poetry with a disability-related theme. Submissions may be by a individual with a disability or an individual who is part of the community such as a family member, educator, therapist, etc. Please indicate in your submission which category you are in. "Pentimento" is the term for an underlying image that shows through the top layer of a painting. The journal's name reflects their mission of "seeing beyond the surface". Currently a print magazine, with an online edition in the works.
Plenitude Magazine
Based in Canada, Plenitude Magazine is an online literary journal publishing poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, graphic narrative, and short film by queer creators. No submission fees. Editors say, "We define queer literature and film as that which is created by LGBTQ2S+ people, rather than that which features queer content alone...Plenitude aims to complicate expressions of queerness through the publication of diverse, sophisticated literary writing, art and film, from the very subtle to the brash and unrelenting."
Ploughshares
Submissions are accepted June 1-January 15. They publish mainly poetry and literary fiction, with a small amount of creative nonfiction. Ploughshares is a paying market. See website for print and online submission guidelines.
Poems for Ephesians
Poems for Ephesians is an online journal of poetry that leaps out of the images, ideas and inspirations of St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians in the New Testament. It is edited by D.S. Martin, Poet-in-Residence of McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario.
Poets & Writers
Excellent classifieds for contests, calls for manuscripts, workshops and services for writers.
Public Books
Founded in 2012, Public Books is an online journal that aims to "unite the best of the university with the openness of the internet." Featuring accessible articles by scholars in a variety of disciplines, from anthropology and history to literature and television, the journal brings academic research to a general audience. They have an extensive book review archive.
Quartet Journal
Launched in 2021, Quartet Journal is an online poetry journal for women writers aged 50+. See their submissions page for their reading schedule.
Queen Mob’s Tea House
Queen Mob's Tea House, affiliated with the respected cultural journal Berfrois, is an international online literary magazine for "weird, serious, gorgeous, cross genre, spell conjuring, rant inducing work." The many genres they accept include poetry, fiction, satire, sex columns, music journalism, queer translations and more.
Quick Brown Fox: The Literary Journal of the Five Colleges
Editors say, "We seek to bridge the barriers between the colleges and to promote our generation's voice by providing students with space for writing, discussion, and a collaborative intellectual experience."
Quiddity: International Literary Journal & Public-Radio Program
Quiddity is a literary journal published by Springfield College-Benedictine University in Illinois. Contributors to the journal may also be invited to read their work and be interviewed about the writing process on Illinois Public Radio, an NPR affiliate. Links to samples of these broadcasts are available on their website. Contributors have included Douglas A. Blackmon, Dan Guillory, and Martin Willitts, Jr.
Rain Taxi
Rain Taxi is a well-regarded print and online literary journal that "provides a forum for the sharing of ideas about books, particularly those that may be overlooked by mainstream review media or marginalized for presumed strangeness, difficulty, or other othering." They publish book reviews, interviews, and critical essays.
Rawboned
Rawboned publishes flash fiction and nonfiction, poetry, and hybrids up to 750 words. The magazine is published monthly online, and the editors' favorites are reprinted in a biannual print journal. They offer a weekly Twitter micro-essay contest and an annual themed flash fiction and essay contest with cash prizes. Their motto is "the marrow of the story".
Redheaded Stepchild
The biannual online journal Redheaded Stepchild only accepts poetry that was rejected by other magazines. During the months of February and August, submit 3-5 unpublished poems that have been rejected elsewhere, with the names of the magazines that rejected the poems. They do not want multiple submissions, so please wait for a response to your first submission before you submit again.
Relief: A Quarterly Christian Expression
"In an effort to never offend, too many Christian publications fail to express the power of a real Christ in a real world, opting instead for clichés and placating expressions of the ideal. Relief seeks to bridge the gap between mainstream fiction and cotton-candy Christianity. Christ's goal was never to keep us sheltered and comfortable. He did not pull his punches. The primary measuring stick for good Christian writing cannot continue to be safety. It must be skill - the ability to expose what is real, express it eloquently, punch the reader."
RHINO Poetry
RHINO is a well-regarded poetry journal established in the 1970s. Their handsomely designed online archive features selections from back issues up to 2015, with more to come.
Rock & Sling: A Journal of Literature, Art, and Faith
The journal was launched in 2004 to find a middle ground between "the narrow religious market, which is driven more by theology than literary quality, and the literary world which is often dismissive of faith." Contributors include award-winning writers such as Ellen Bass, Luci Shaw, Sydney Lea, and Susanna Childress. Rock & Sling suspended operations in fall 2008, then re-launched in summer 2010 with new editors under the auspices of Whitworth University, a Presbyterian college in Spokane, WA.
Scraps Journal
Scraps is an online journal that "showcases the abandoned work of writers and artists," defined as work that the creator has indefinitely shelved after receiving several rejection letters from traditional publications. Editors say, "These pieces should be complete and polished, and mostly competent, but not quite good enough." Along with a short piece of abandoned work, you should submit a sample of rejection letters and a brief reflection (750 words) on what you think went wrong with the work. The editors will remix the rejection letters to create a new collaborative piece of art, such as graphics or illustrations, erasure poetry, essays, music, or bibliomancy.
Screen Door Review
Screen Door Review's subtitle is "Literary Voices of the Queer South". Launching in Spring 2018, this quarterly online journal accepts submissions year-round of unpublished poetry, short stories, flash fiction, and comics. Editors say, "The purpose of the magazine is to provide a platform of expression to those whose identities—at least in part—derive from the complicated relationship between queer person and place. Specifically, queer person and the South. The topics of your work do not have to be queer or southern in theme, but we do ask that you as a contributor belong to the queer community and also identify as southern."
Sibling Rivalry Press
Founded in 2010 in Little Rock, Arkansas, Sibling Rivalry Press is a well-regarded independent publisher of poetry and literary fiction. In addition to publishing award-winning poetry collections, SRP is home to Assaracus, a journal of poetry by gay men; Jonathan, a journal of gay fiction, and Adrienne, a journal of poetry by queer women. Writers of all identities are welcome to submit to the press. Authors in their catalog include Wendy Chin-Tanner, Collin Kelley, Megan Volpert, and Julie R. Enszer.
Sinister Wisdom
Publishing since 1976, Sinister Wisdom works to create a multicultural, multi-class lesbian space. Sinister Wisdom seeks to open, consider and advance the exploration of lesbian community issues. Sinister Wisdom recognizes the power of language to reflect our diverse experiences and to enhance our ability to develop critical judgment as lesbians evaluating our community and our world. The magazine currently welcomes work by transgender women who identify as lesbian. Read back issues online for free in their archive.
Sky Island Journal
Launched in 2017 in Luna County, New Mexico, Sky Island Journal is an online literary quarterly of poetry and flash prose (1,000 words maximum). Each piece opens in a read-only MS Word document, rather than a scroll-through webpage, to encourage readers to focus wholly on one thing at a time. The journal is free to read and has no advertising, but there is a $3 submission fee to keep this business model sustainable. Editors say, "The Florida Mountains Wilderness Study Area is our muse; its landscape is the source of our positive energy, our rugged independence, and our relentless tenacity."
Smoke and Mold
Founded by Callum Angus (author of the story collection A Natural History of Transition), Smoke and Mold is a literary journal publishing transgender and Two-Spirit writers on themes of nature, the environment, and the climate crisis.
SOLRAD
A publication of Fieldmouse Press in California, SOLRAD is a nonprofit online literary magazine dedicated to the comics arts. SOLRAD publishes comics criticism, original comics, essays, interviews, and features new, underrepresented, and otherwise marginalized creative voices, in addition to the work of well-established cartoonists, critics, journalists, and authors.
Southern California Review
Send 1-3 unpublished poems or one story or essay, maximum 8,000 words. Editors say, "We do consider genre work (horror, mystery, romance, and sci-fi) if it transcends the boundaries of the genre." They also occasionally publish one-act or ten-page plays, scenes, and monologues, and scenes from screenplays.
Spillway
Submissions of poetry, interviews, and articles should be made online only.
Spine Magazine
Spine is an online journal profiling contemporary authors, illustrators, and book designers. In-depth pieces on great cover designs will be useful to self-published authors in packaging their own work.
Spoonie Magazine
Spoonie Magazine was a weekly webzine that published creative writing and artwork by authors with physical or mental disabilities, neurodivergence, or chronic illness. There was also an annual print edition, Spoonie Journal.
Sport Literate
Personal essays, travelogues, first-person journalism, interviews, and humor are welcome. No fiction. See website for their annual contest.
spunk [arts] magazine
Spunk was started in New York City by Aaron Tilford in the fall of 2003.
St. Katherine Review
Founding editors include such notable writers as Scott Cairns and Kathleen Norris. They accept poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, book reviews, and critical essays. Enter by email. No simultaneous submissions.
Story Monsters Ink
Story Monsters Ink publishes a glossy monthly magazine with children's book reviews, author interviews, and industry news. They also offer contests and publicity packages for indie authors of children's books.
StoryQuarterly
SQ pays $150-$200 for accepted submissions, 8,000 words maximum. Enter online only. They seek to publish both prominent and first-time authors in every issue.
Subtropics
Simultaneous submissions accepted for prose but not poetry. Past contributors include Steve Almond, Charles Wright, D.A. Powell, Anne Carson, and Billy Collins. Read editors' preferences on website before submitting. Best for authors with some professional publication credits.
Sunspot Literary Journal
Founded in 2019, Sunspot Literary Journal seeks to amplify diverse multinational voices. They accept unpublished poetry, short fiction, and creative and journalistic nonfiction. There is a small fee for submissions, but the issues are free to download online. Periodic contests offer prizes around $250-$500 for micro poetry and flash prose. On the other end of the spectrum, Sunspot is willing to read literary prose pieces (stories, long-form stories, novelettes and novellas, ssays, opinions, memoir, travel, reviews) that run up to 49,000 words. Poetry can be up to 1,250 lines.
TAB: The Journal of Poetry & Poetics
TAB: A Journal of Poetry & Poetics is a national and international journal of creative and critical writing. The mission is to discover, support, and publish poems and other writing and art about poetry; to provide a forum in which the poetic tradition is practiced, extended, challenged, and discussed by emerging and established voices; and to encourage wide appreciation of poetry. TAB is part of Tabula Poetica: The Center for Poetry at Chapman University. Print issues appear annually in January; electronic issues are published during the rest of the year. Back issues can be read for free online.
Taco Bell Quarterly
Not affiliated with the eponymous fast-food chain, this quirky online journal founded by MM Carrigan publishes poetry, fiction, essays, artwork, and comics. Every piece must reference Taco Bell in some way. Editors say, "First and foremost, TBQ is about great writing. It’s about provoking and existing among the white noise of capitalism. We embrace the spectrum of trash to brilliance."
Terrain
Founded in 1997, Terrain is an online journal of creative writing and artwork with a sense of place and an ecological consciousness. They accept poetry, essays, fiction, articles, artwork, videos, and hybrid-genre work. Regular submissions are open from early September through April 30, and contest submissions from January 1 through Labor Day. Their ongoing series of "Unsprawl" case studies features locales that embody sustainable urban design. Contributors have included Rick Bass, Wendell Berry, Hannah Fries, Naila Moreira, and Pattiann Rogers.
