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NewPages Blog :: Where to Submit

Stop by the NewPages Blog every Friday to find writing contests and calls for submissions from literary magazines, independent publishers, creative writing programs, and more, to help you figure out where to submit your work.

Home with the Kids? Write!

YA Guide There have been plenty of great resources shared around the web recently for keeping your kids occupied while schools are currently closed, and we’ve got another one to throw your way.

Our Young Writers Guide to Publications and our Young Writers Guide to Contests are great ways to get the creativity flowing and imaginations stimulated, and they may even secure a little bit of quiet time for your own working or writing.

There are a handful of contests deadlines left this month, which is a good place to start. Plus, you can find plenty of publications by young writers to read in between writing and submitting.

Call :: This is What America Looks Like Anthology

This is What America Looks Like coverCalling poets & fiction writers from D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (and all those who have links to these areas), The Washington Writers’ Publishing House’s first anthology in 25 years is open for submissions—This is What America Looks Like—and we want your poetry and short fiction. We are a 47-year old nonprofit, cooperative, all-volunteer press. We are looking for new and established writers, a cross-section of diverse voices, to write on America today. Be provocative, be personal or political (or both), we are looking for writing that helps us see and reflect on this moment we are living in. More information at www.washingtonwriters.org. Submit at wwph.submittable.com/submit. Deadline: June 1.

Call :: Adanna Literary Journal Seeks Work on Mothering in Times of Crisis

Deadline: Friday, May 15
Adanna Literary Journal is a women focused print publication. We are seeking essay, poetry, and creative nonfiction that speaks towards the experience of mothering in a time of crisis—caring for children, especially those with children in college returning from affected areas, those with younger children exposed to media and the anxiety of school shut-downs, as well as women who are caring for elderly relatives or those in the medical profession. To submit, please go to adannajournal.blogspot.com/p/submission-guidelines.html. The subject line should read “Special Issue” to distinguish this from our annual issue.

Call :: The Compassion Anthology Seeks Work on Hope & the Human Spirit

Deadline: April 15, 2020
What is this thing, hope, the tenacious part of us that makes us rise not only to the occasion, but out of bed? Dickinson acknowledges its perseverance (“never stops at all”), but sees it as a separate entity (“Yet, never, in extremity/ it asked a crumb of me”) exempt from the human element, perhaps divine. For the spring edition of The Compassion Anthology, we are looking for work that inspires this universal and at the same time intensely personal attribute without being sentimental or cliché. Hope and the Human Spirit Deadline: April 15. Details at www.compassionanthology.com/submission-guidelines.html.

Call :: Brush Talks Summer 2020 Issue

Deadline: Rolling
Brush Talks is a journal of creative nonfiction, photography, and poetry related to China. We are currently seeking submissions for our next issue, to be published in the summer of 2020. This can take many forms: general essays, travel essays, profiles, memoir, and narrative nonfiction. We seek submissions about places, people, history, culture, the arts, science and technology—anything related to China that is well written, creative, and true (we do not publish fiction). No submission fee. Please visit our website for more information and read the guidelines before submitting. brushtalks.com

Call :: Hamilton Arts & Letters Issue 14.2

Deadline: November 15, 2020
Science is among the most creative of human endeavors. From ancient depictions of scientists and scientific phenomena to contemporary graphic novel formats, from Frankenstein to recent best-selling novels dealing with such themes as pharmacology and climate change, and from memoirs on scientific discovery to essays on “life in the lab,” the people and ideas of science continue to capture our imaginations. We seek work that incorporates ideas, language, characters, main or sub-themes, images, and artwork related to STEM expansively imagined and rendered. Full call: halmagazine.wordpress.com/submit/submit-to-hal-magazine. Send submissions or queries to [email protected].

Call :: The Absurdist Fiction Magazine Relaunch

Deadline: Tuesday, March 31st
The Absurdist Fiction Magazine is an online publication of strange and surreal fiction, featuring a new story every week. We are looking for short fiction (750-1,250 words) that is as engaging as it is bizarre. It can be farcical, unsettling, or just a little off-center—check out previously published work to get a sense of what fits. If you are interested in submitting, please review the guidelines at absurdistmag.com/submissions and show us what goes on in there.

Contest :: Sandeen Prize in Poetry 2020

Deadline: April 30, 2020
The Sandeen Prize in Poetry is open to any author, with the exception of ND graduates, who has published at least one collection of poetry. We pay special attention to second volumes. A $15 administrative fee should accompany submissions. Make checks payable to University of Notre Dame. The volumes of the Sandeen Prize will be published in trade paperback format. The author will be offered a standard contract with the University of Notre Dame Press. There will be a $1,000 prize, a $500 award, and a $500 advance against royalties from the Notre Dame Press. Submission information on program website: english.nd.edu/creative-writing/.

Call :: The Voices Project

Submissions accepted year-round.
The Voices Project (www.thevoicesproject.org), a literary journal, mainly for women and girls, is taking submissions of poetry or prose. We are currently looking to publish the work of poets who
have not yet been published on this site. Prose, no longer than 250 words. Include a short thoughtful bio (160 words or less) with your submission. Multiple submissions welcome, no more than 2. We no longer take anonymous submissions. Check our site and see what we may be missing and submit something to that accord, if inclined. Submit through our website: 
www.thevoicesproject.org/submit.html.

THEMA’s 2020-21 Upcoming Themes

THEMA Spring 2020 issue coverSince 1990, literary magazine THEMA has been publishing issues focusing on unique themes. Their latest issue is themed “Six Before Eighty” and features work by Matthew J. Spireng, J. J. Steinfeld, Cherie Bowers, H.B. Salzer, James “Jack” Penha, Margo Peterson, Alison Arntz, Lisa Timpf, Lynda Fox, Yuan Changming, Georgia A. Hubley, Annie Percik, Robert Wooten, and Larry Lefkowitz.

Interested in trying your hand at writing short stories, short-shorts, and poems on a theme? Check out the upcoming themes and deadlines.

  • The Tiny Red Suitcase (July 1, 2020)
  • The Other Virginia (November 1, 2020)
  • A Postcard from the Past (March 1, 2021)

Call :: Blink-Ink Road Trip Issue

Those same old four walls getting you down? Nothing going on, and not likely to? A road trip is the only cure. Time to get out of Dodge! So where to go, or does it matter? The time to pack up and go is now. Tell us your tails of the trails, your songs of the highway, be they real, imagined, or seemingly impossible in stories approximately 50 words in length. Send your submissions in the body of an email to: [email protected]. No poetry, attachments, or bios please. Submissions are open now through April 15th, 2020. www.blink-ink.org

Contest :: december 2020 Curt Johnson Prose Awards

december Winter 2020 LitPak flier

december magazine seeks submissions for our 2020 Curt Johnson Prose Awards in fiction and creative nonfiction. Judges: Dorothy Allison (fiction) & Brittney Cooper (nonfiction). Prizes each genre: $1,500 & publication (winner); $500 & publication (honorable mention). All finalists will be listed in the 2020 Fall/Winter awards issue. $20 entry fee includes a copy of the awards issue. Submit 1 story or essay up to 8,000 words from March 1 to May 1. For complete guidelines visit our website decembermag.org/2020-curt-johnson-prose-awards/.

Contest :: Blue Lynx Prize for Poetry 2020

Lynx House Press 2020 Poetry Prize flier

Deadline: June 1, 2020
Lynx House Press seeks submissions of full-length poetry manuscripts for the annual Blue Lynx Prize for Poetry. The winner will receive $2,000 and publication. Entries must be at least 48 pages in length. The fee for submitting is $28, and includes a copy of a book from our catalog. Previous judges include James Tate, Yusef Komunyakaa, Dorianne Laux, Dara Wier, Melissa Kwasny, and Robert Wrigley. lynxhousepress.submittable.com/submit

Contest :: Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest 2020

Deadline: April 30, 2020
28th year, sponsored by Winning Writers and Duotrope. $8,000 in cash prizes, including two top awards of $3,000 each. Seeks short stories and essays up to 6,000 words each. Both published and unpublished work accepted. Fee per entry is $20. Final judge: Dennis Norris II, assisted by Lauren Singer Ledoux. Winning Writers is one of the “101 Best Websites for Writers” (Writer’s Digest). See guidelines, past winners, and enter online at winningwriters.com/tomstory.

Call :: The Red Wheelbarrow Review Summer 2020 Issue

The Red Wheelbarrow Review, formerly Red Savina Review (est. 2013), is open for submissions. The editors have a fresh focus in line with poet Rich Murphy’s concern that literature is in need of “prophetic voices now.” We seek poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction where word meets spirit in a commingling of the sacred and mundane. We have published writers such as Sharman Apt Russell, winner of the John Burroughs Medal; Rich Murphy, winner of the Gival Press Poetry Prize; Khanh Ha, winner of the Robert Watson Literary Prize; bestselling memoirist Gleah Powers; and many others. Submission guidelines at theredwheelbarrowreview.com/submissions/.

Contest :: Gemini Magazine Short Story Contest 2020

Deadline: March 31, 2020
First prize: $1,000. Second: $100. Three honorable mentions: $25 each. Entry fee: $8. We are open to any subject, style, genre, or length. What do we want? We don’t know until we see it! Simply send your best, most powerful, unpublished work by email or snail mail. All five finalists will be published online in the June/July 2020 issue of Gemini. Both new and experienced writers have won our contests. Over four dozen winners/finalists may be read online. All entries are read blind so everyone gets an equal chance. We look forward to reading your work! Enter at www.gemini-magazine.com/shortstorycomp.html.

Contest :: Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest 2020

Deadline: April 1, 2020
19th year. Free contest sponsored by Winning Writers and Duotrope. $2,250 in cash prizes, including a top prize of $1,000. Both published and unpublished work welcome. All entries that win cash prizes will be published on WinningWriters.com. Final judge: Jendi Reiter, assisted by Lauren Singer Ledoux. Winning Writers is one of “101 Best Websites for Writers” (Writer’s Digest). See guidelines, past winners, and submit one humor poem online at winningwriters.com/wergle.

Call :: Nzuri Spring 2020 Issue

Nzuri logo

The objective of Nzuri (meaning Beautiful/Fine in Swahili) is to promote the artistic, aesthetic, creative, and scholarly work consistent with the values and ideals of Umoja community. Additionally, we accept work responsive to the experience of the African and African-American diaspora. African American and other writers, digital media content creators, photographers, and artists are urged to submit their best work for consideration. Check out our current call for submissions for Nzuri‘s Spring 2020 issue at nzuriumojacommunity.submittable.com. See our current issue online at Nzurijournal.com.

Call :: Transference 2020 Reading Period

Transference is now accepting submissions of poems translated from—or inspired by—poetry originally written in Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Latin and Classical Greek, with accompanying commentary. Submissions relating to the theme of vision/seeing are especially welcome. For this issue we also welcome essays on the translation of poetry. Deadline: April 30. Read current and past issues online and submit at scholarworks.wmich.edu/transference/. Transference is peer-edited in a blind submission process. Published by the Department of World Languages and Literatures at Western Michigan University. Write to the editors at [email protected].

Contest :: The Masters Review Anthology IX

The Masters Review Anthology IX Contest flier

Deadline: March 29, 2020
The Masters Review opens submissions to produce our annual anthology, a collection of ten stories and essays written by the best emerging authors. Our aim is to showcase ten writers who we believe will continue to produce great work. The ten winners are nationally distributed in a printed book with their stories and essays exposed to top agents, editors, and authors across the country. This year, the anthology contest will be judged by Rick Bass. We’re looking for your best work up to 7000 words. Please note you must not have published a novel-length work at the time of submission. mastersreview.com/anthology/

Contest :: Flying South 2020

$2,000 in prizes. From March 1 to May 31, Flying South 2020, a publication of Winston Salem Writers, will be accepting entries for prizes in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry. Best in Category winners will be published and receive $500 each. One of the three winners will receive The WSW President’s Favorite award and win an additional $500. All entries will be considered for publication. For full details, please visit our website: www.wswriters.org.

Prime Number Magazine February/March 53-Word Story Contests

Prime Number Mag logo

Every month, Prime Number Magazine (published by Press 53) offers a free contest, inviting writers to respond to a prompt in 53 words.

February’s prompt was: This month, the Kansas City Chiefs return to the Super Bowl after a fifty-year run of coming up short. Vegas will run the numbers and the 49ers will run the ball. Many expect the Chiefs to run the table. In this spirit, let’s run with the word that has the most dictionary definitions.

The winning story by Elizabeth Barton will appear in the next issue of Prime Number Magazine, releasing April 1.

You still have a couple weeks if you’d like to submit to the March 53-Word Contest (deadline March 21). This month’s prompt: On March 17, people everywhere, regardless of ancestry, will wear green on St. Patrick’s Day. Green can also mean someone is envious, sick, or inexperienced. Green fruit is not ripe. The Green Party protects our environment. And putting well on a green can lead to a pro golfer winning a lot of green.

Find full submission details, check out past winners, and see what’s up with the Prime Number Magazine Awards for Poetry & Short Fiction at the journal’s website.

Call :: Fleas on the Dog Issue 6

We’re the site your teacher warned you about! The no frills brown bag in your face thumb your nose online psychotropolis for the literarily insane. Get committed today! The infamous dude sextet is bustlin’, hustlin’, itchin’, and twitchin’ for QUALITY short fiction, nonfiction, poetry, plays, and screenplays that smell ripe and kick ass for our hopefully offensive upcoming Issue 6. If we like what you submit we’ll be all over you; if we don’t we promise to be gentle, especially if it’s your first time. See our Guidelines for details: fleasonthedog.com. Submissions open March 1-April 30.

Call :: Flexible Press 22 Under 22 Anthology

Deadline: April 30, 2020
This anthology seeks to offer a channel for people under 22 to talk to older people about their experiences and concerns. We are looking for short stories, poetry, essay, memoir, from people under 22 discussing what worries you? What angers you, or delights you? In other words: what’s on your mind? Submit up to three poems, or one short story, essay, or memoir up to 5000-words. Art and graphic stories are more than welcome, but the book will in black and white. Everyone under 22 is welcome. We are especially interested in voices from undeserved communities too often left out of the discussion. www.flexiblepub.com/22_under_22

Contest :: Jacar Press Book & Chapbook Contests 2020

Jacar Press Winter LitPak flier

Jacar Press, A Community Active Press, publishes poetry chapbooks, full-length collections, anthologies, and an award-winning online magazine, One which features Pulitzer Prize winners and new poets from 6 continents. Book sales support progressive organizations, including groups that address racism, gender discrimination, immigration issues, women’s initiatives, violence and abuse, prisoner reintegration programs, and others. Jacar Press offers low-cost workshops featuring writers like Lynn Emanuel, Patricia Spears Jones, Dorianne Laux, Li-Young Lee, Marilyn Nelson, Ilya Kaminsky, etc. Chapbook and full-length contests open through April 30. Past judges have included Chana Bloch, Toi Derricotte, Hélène Cardona, Lola Haskins, Rickey Laurentiis, Dorianne Laux, Jamaal May, and others. jacarpress.com/submissions/#contests

Call :: Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop Anthology

The Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop is accepting essays taking a “contemporary look at silences around class and caste systems that divide us.” The anthology will be co-edited by a collective of award-winning incarcerated writers.

Submissions for the anthology are open through April 3, 2020. There is no fee to submit. The anthology will be published by Coffee House Press. Learn more…

Call :: Tolsun Books 2020 Open Reading Period

Independent publisher Tolsun Books is open to unsolicited manuscripts made from parts through May 31. These can be either full-length or chapbook-length. Poetry, short stories, essays, hybrids, translations, and more. $15 fee. Free submissions accepted on the 15th of every month. Learn more…

Contest :: Gival Press 2020 Contests

Gival Press Winter 2020 LitPak FlierGival Press is hosting three contests in 2020: the Gival Press Novel Award, the Gival Press Oscar Wilde Award, and the Gival Press Short Story Award. The Novel Award deadlines is May 30. The prize is $3k and book publication in 2021. The Oscar Wilde Award for the best LGBTQ poem deadline is June 27. The prize is $500 and online publication. The Short Story Award deadline is August 8. The Prize is $1,000 and online publication. For complete details on each contest, visit: www.Givalpress.Submittable.com.

Contest :: EVENT Non-Fiction Contest 2020

EVENT Winter 2020 LitPak FlierDeadline: October 15, 2020
EVENT: A home for writers. A destination for readers. Now in its 49th year of publication, EVENT is an award-winning, internationally recognized literary magazine that inspires and nurtures writers, showcasing the best contemporary fiction, poetry, nonfiction, notes on writing, and book reviews three times a year, with stunning cover art and illustration. We are now accepting submissions of 5,000 words or less to the annual EVENT Non-Fiction Contest. $3,000 in prizes, plus publication. Entries must be postmarked or submitted online by October 15, 2020. Visit www.eventmagazine.ca for exclusive online content, and to learn more about our unique Reading Service for Writers.

Call :: Fictional Cafe

The Fictional Cafe logoFictional Café is a highly regarded online ‘zine, seven years old with 800 Coffee Club members in 47 countries. Fiction only, please, that titillates the readers’ senses and provokes their minds. Your short story or novel excerpt should be extremely well written with engaging characters and a unique, avant-garde, or unconventional plot. Visit our site and read some recent works on the pictorial slider. Join our Coffee Club, then review our submissions guidelines. If you’re exploring fiction’s boundaries, we’re interested in reading your work. www.fictionalcafe.com

Contest :: Agha Shahid Ali Prize in Poetry 2020

2020 Agha Shahid Ali Prize in PoetryDeadline: April 15, 2020
Agha Shahid Ali Prize in Poetry: A poetry manuscript contest sponsored by The University of Utah Press and the University of Utah Department of English. $1000 cash prize plus publication for your poetry manuscript. Prize includes an additional $500 payment for travel and a reading in the University of Utah’s Guest Writers Series. See www.UofUpress.com/ali-poetry-prize for more details.