Happy Friday!
Welcome to the first submissions roundup of 2026! We hope you enjoyed a fun and relaxing winter holiday season. We’re back to help you keep your writing and submission goals going strong—and to spark your creativity with a weekly dose of inspiration.
Inspiration Prompt: What is a Living Wage?
“There is an apple in the world for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed.”
— Rock My World
Minimum wage and living wage are not the same thing—and rarely even close. In the early 2000s, economists estimated that a true living wage for the average American would hover around $22 an hour. Two decades later, the gap between what people earn and what it costs to live has only widened.
We know the arguments: raise wages, cut jobs, hike prices. It feels like an endless cycle. But what does “enough” really look like?
Using your own experiences or observations, what do you think a true living wage is—and what would it take to achieve it?
- Explore what happens when the concept of “living wage” becomes literal: what if wages determined how long you live?
- Imagine a world where wages are tied to something other than money—time, health, happiness, or even art.
- Visualize the symbols of “need” versus “greed”: apples, scales, empty wallets, overflowing vaults.
- Tell the story of a character who earns their living in an unconventional way—or who fights for fairness in a system stacked against them.
Once you have finished your creation, keep going to find a home for your work.
📬 Want even more writing prompts?
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Submission Opportunities: 117 Ways to Share Your Work
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🌱 New to submitting? Check out our Guide to Submission Opportunities for further details on these calls and contests.
✏️ Have young writers at home? Don’t miss our Young Writers Guide for contests tailored to grades K–12.
🔔 Items marked with a bell are new to the roundup this week.
NewPages works hard to bring you a vetted and regularly updated list of currently open submission opportunities. Always double-check the official websites for the most accurate information—reading periods can shift or close early.
January 2026
Open Calls
- 🔔 34 Orchard | short fiction | Free | Payment: $50 | Deadline: January 10, 2026
- #Ranger | experimental/avant-garde poetry, art, music, film | Free | Opens: October 15 | Deadline: January 15, 2026
- Arkansas International Issue #20: The Labor Issue | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, graphic literature, translation | $4 fee | Payment: $25/500 words (fiction); $25/page (poetry) up to $200, plus free digital subscription | Deadline: January 15, 2026
- Blink-Ink Lost Civilizations: The Silurian Hypothesis | fiction | Free | Deadline: January 15, 2026
- FLARE: The Flagler Review Spring 2026 | fiction, flash fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | Free (Tip Jar available) | Payment: 1 contributor copy | Opens September 30, 2025 | Deadline: January 15, 2026
- Hindsight Vol. VI | nonfiction, poetry, art | Free | Deadline: January 15, 2026
- The Meadow | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | Free | Payment: 2 contributor copies | Deadline: January 15, 2026
- Rattle Tribute to Invented Forms | poetry | Free | Payment: $200 and 1-year subscription | Deadline: January 15, 2026
- Rejoinder Ritual, Healing, and World-making-themed issue | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, cross-genre, drama, comics, interviews, art, photography | Free | Deadline: January 15, 2026
- Santa Clara Review Spring 2026 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, cross-genre, plays, screenplays, translations, art, photography | $2 fee (Free for current students at Santa Clara University) | Deadline: January 15, 2026
- 🔔 Two Lines Press Calico Series: Animal Stories | translated fiction | Free | Payment: $200 for first page, $25 for additional pages (max $500) | Deadline: January 15, 2026
- Poets in the Pines Made from Midnight: Delirium | fiction, poetry, cross-genre, art | Free (paid feedback options available) | Payment: PDF copy of anthology | Opens: October 17 | Deadline: January 16, 2026
- The Lemonwood Quarterly Winter 2026 | fiction, plays | $4 fee | Payment: $200 | Deadline: January 19, 2026
- Barely South Review | art | Free | Open: September 1 | Deadline: January 26, 2026
- The Fiction Desk General Submissions | fiction | £5 fee | Payment: £25/1,000 words | Deadline: January 30, 2026
- 128 LIT (Re)Familiarize Project | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, cross‑genre, art, multimedia | $3.99 fee (fee‑waiver option available) | Payment: small honorarium | Deadline: January 31, 2026
- Anacapa Review 4.2 | poetry | $3 fee | Deadline: January 31, 2026
- The Arkansas International | fiction, poetry, essays, translation, comics | $4 fee | Payment: $25/page | Opens: November 15 | Deadline: January 31, 2026
- Brink Chaos-themed Issue | hybrid and cross-genre works | Free | Payment: one copy and $25-$100 | Opens January 1 | Closes: January 31, 2026
- 🔔 Girls Right the World Issue 10 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | Free | Extended Deadline: January 31, 2026
- The Hopper Spring 2026 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | $3 fee | Deadline: January 31, 2026
- 🔔 Litmosphere Spring 2026 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | $3 fee | Deadline: January 31, 2026 (will close early if reaches 306 submissions)
- RCC MUSE Spring 2026 Edition| Fiction, poetry | Free | Deadline: January 31, 2026
Writing Contests
- Magazine 1 PoetryLife Poetry Contest | poetry | $5 fee | First Prize: $150 Bookstore1 gift card, invite to read at PoetryLife, publication | Judge: Rick Hilles | Deadline: January 10, 2026
- 🔔 Burnside Review Press Chapbook Contest | poetry | $25 fee | Prize: $1,000, chapbook publication, 10 copies | Judge: Rick Barot | Extended Deadline: January 15, 2026
- Driftwood Press In-House Poem Contest 2026 | poetry | $25 fee | Prize: $300, publication, 5 copies of the journal, interview opportunity | Deadline: January 15, 2026
- Driftwood Press In-House Short Story Contest 2026 | fiction | $30 fee | Prize: $400, publication, 5 copies of the journal, interview opportunity | Deadline: January 15, 2026
- The Hemlock Review Fiction Writing Contest: The Call of the Wild | fiction | $5 fee | Prize: $200 and print and digital publication | Deadline: January 15, 2026
- James Dain Indie Gold Awards | mystery, thriller, suspense, crime fiction | $15 fee ($10 early bird rate through December 18) | Grand Prize: $500, badge, newsletter feature, website feature, social promotion | Deadline: January 15, 2026
- StoryBottle Co. 2026 Short Story Contest | fiction | $15 fee | rize: $1,000, publication in print and online, and 10 copies of the issue | Deadline: January 15, 2026
- Martha’s Vineyard Summer Writers’ Conference Fellowships | Parent-Writers, Emerging Writers, Educators, LGBTQIA+ Writers, Writers of Color | $20 fee | $20,000 total in fellowships awarded | Deadline: January 19, 2026
- Stanford University Libraries / William Saroyan Foundation William Saroyan International Prize for Writing | fiction, nonfiction | $50 fee | Prize/genre: $5,000 | Deadline: January 30, 2026
- After Happy Hour Review Contest: Work & Labor | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | $10 fee | Prize: Percentage of fees and publication | Deadline: January 31, 2026
- The Louisville Review Frederick Smock Poetry Prize | poetry | $25 fee | Prize: $1,000, book publication, 25 author copies | Extended Deadline: January 31, 2026 | Open to Kentucky-affiliated poets
- RCC MUSE Spangler Award | Poetry | $5 fee | Prize: $200 and publication | Deadline: January 31, 2026
- 🔔 The Passionfruit Review Being in Bodies | poetry | £4 fee | First Prize: £600 and publication | Deadline: January 31, 2025
- 🔔 Pinch The Page Prize | nonfiction | $15 fee | Prize: $1,000 and publication | Deadline: January 31, 2026
- Roanoke Review Roanoke College High School Fiction and Poetry Contest | fiction, poetry | Free | Prize: $100 (first), $50 (second), $25 (third) | Deadline: January 31, 2026
- swamp pink 2026 swamp pink Prizes | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | $20 fee | Prize/genre: $2,000 and publication | Opens: January 1 | Closes: January 31, 2026
February 2026
Open Calls
- ANMLY | poetry, fiction, nonfiction, comics, translation | $3 fee (waiver available) | Deadline: February 1, 2026
- 🔔 Mad Persona Magazine Issue 5 | fiction, poetry, art | Free | Deadline: February 1, 2026
- Sixteen Rivers Press Open Call | full-length poetry collections | Free | Deadline: February 1, 2026 | Must live in Northern California
- The Twin Bill World Baseball Classic 2026 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | $3 fee | Payment: $10-$25 honorarium | Deadline: February 1, 2026
- Little Somethings Press Motherhood Anthology | flash fiction, flash memoir, poetry, visual art | Free | Deadline: February 7, 2026
- Interim Intertidal: Poetry from Singapore | poetry | $5 fee | Deadline: February 9, 2026
- Belladonna’s Garden Issue 3 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | Free (tip jar available) | Opens: January 15 | Closes: February 15, 2025
- Doubleback Review April 2026 Issue | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | Free | Deadline: February 15, 2026 | Work must have been previously published in a defunct journal.
- Heimat Review Issue 11 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography | Free (paid expedited response and feedback options available) | Deadline: February 15, 2026
- Litro Future Archives-themed Print Issue | fiction, nonfiction | Free | Deadline: February 15, 2026
- 🔔 SmokeLong Quarterly March 2026 | flash narratives | $4.40 | Payment: $100-$150 | Deadline: February 15, 2026
- University of Georgia Press Crux: The Georgia Series in Literary Nonfiction | nonfiction | Free | Deadline: February 15, 2026
- Catalogue Zine Issue 4: Lifestyle | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, graphic novels, interviews, reviews, translation, audio, art, photography | Free | Deadline: February 20, 2026
- 3Elements Review Issue 50: Stowaway, Microphone, Wonderland | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography | Free (expedited submissions available) | Deadline: February 28, 2026
- 🔔 Acorn Haiku | poetry | Free | Deadline: February 28, 2026
- Ninth Letter General Submissions | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | $3 fee (limited waivers available) | Payment: $25/poem, $100 for prose | Deadline: February 28, 2026
- rex inc. lit mag. Inaugural Issue | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography | Free | Payment: two contributor copies, percentage of one-year’s worth of the issue’s sales | Deadline: February 28, 2026
- Sundress Publications | full-length prose manuscripts | $15 fee | Deadline: February 28, 2026
Writing Contests
- Next Generation Short Story Awards | fiction, poetry | $25 fee | Grand Prize: $500, engraved trophy, anthology publication; Category Prize: $75, gold medal, anthology publication | Deadline: February 26, 2026
- I-70 Review Bill Hickok Humor Award | poetry | $15 fee | Prize: $1,000 and publication | Judge: Ted Kooser | Closes: February 28, 2026
March 2026
Open Calls
- Spirit Lake Review 2026 Issue | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | Free | Deadline: March 1, 2026
- Interim intranslatable/untranslatable | poetry | $3 fee | Deadline: March 3, 2026
- Interim Visual Edition | visual poetry | $3 fee | Deadline: March 6, 2026
- About Place Journal Spring 2026: The Ground Beneath Us | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, cross-genre, drama, graphic narratives, screenplays, interviews, reviews, translations, art, photography, audio, video | Free | Deadline: March 10, 2026
- Arkana Micro Issue | fiction, poetry, nonfiction, scripts, illustrated narratives, hybrid words | Free | Deadline: March 15, 2026
- Kings River Review. Spring 2026 Issue | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | Free | Must be a 2-year college student | Deadline: March 15, 2026
- Shō Poetry Journal No. 9 | poetry | $3 fee (Free for US Indigenous poets) | Payment: contributor copy | Deadline: March 15, 2026
- Green Linden Press Chapbook Series | poetry | $15 fee | Deadline: March 21, 2026
- Green Linden Press Under a Warm Green Linden | poetry | $3 fee | Deadline: March 21, 2026
- Barely South Review | lit comics | Free | Open: September 1 | Deadline: March 31, 2026
- 🔔 Chestnut Review Summer 2026 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | Free (poetry & flash); $5 (prose) | Deadline: March 31, 2026
- Colorado Review | fiction, poetry | $3 fee | Payment: $300 for short stories and nonfiction; $100 for poetry and cover art | Deadline: March 31, 2026
Writing Contests
- Glenville State University Little Kanawha Reading Series Chapbook Contest | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, hybrid works | $10 fee | Prize: $200, publication, author copies, reading invitation | Deadline: March 31, 2026
- National Baseball Poetry Festival 2026 Contests | poetry | Free | Winners will receive recognition at Welcome Reception, 2 complimentary tix to Friday’s game, a Certificate, and a National Baseball Poetry Festival t-shirt! | Deadline: March 27, 2026 12PM ET
- National Indie Excellence Awards | fiction, nonfiction, genre fiction, memoir, writing for children, writing for young adults, poetry, graphic novel, comics, photography, cookbooks | $75 fee | Cash Prizes & Sponsorship Awards | Deadline: March 31, 2026 | Open to self-published, independently-published, & university-published books
- Prime Number Magazine Awards | fiction, poetry | $15 fee | Prize/genre: $1,000 and publication | Deadline: March 31, 2026
April 2026
Open Calls
- Blood Orange Review | fiction, nonfiction, art | $3 fee | Deadline: April 1, 2026
- Talking River Review | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, photography, art | $3 fee | Payment: one contributor copy, 1-year subscription, and 1-year gift subscription | Deadline: April 1, 2026
- West Branch | poetry, fiction, nonfiction, translation | $3 fee | Payment: $100 for poetry, $0.10/word for prose up to $200, two contributor copies, and one-year subscription | Deadline: April 1, 2026
- 🔔 Booth | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, lists, audio | $3 fee | Payment: $50 | Deadline: April 15, 2026
- The Healing Muse Vol. 26 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, visual art | Free | Payment: copies | Deadline: April 15, 2026
- Rattle Tribute to the Future | poetry | Free | Payment: $200 and 1-year subscription | Deadline: April 15, 2026
- Abandoned Mine | poetry | Free | Deadline: April 30, 2026
- Pine Hills Review | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, hybrid, cross-genre, art | Free | Deadline: April 30, 2026
Writing Contests
- Orison Books 2026 Orison Prizes | fiction, poetry | $25 fee | Prize/genre: $1,500 and book publication | Judges: Leila Chatti, Margot Livesey | Opens: December 1 | Deadline: April 1, 2026
- Willow Springs Books Emma Howell Rising Poet Prize | poetry | $25 fee | Prize: $1,000 + publication | Opens: October 1 | Deadline: April 1, 2026
- Winning Writers Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest | poetry (can be previously published) | Free | Prize: $2,000, two-year gift certificate to Duotrope, online publication | Final Judge: Jendi Reiter | Deadline: April 1, 2026
- The Healing Muse F. Sean Hodge Prize for Poetry in Medicine | poetry | Free | Prize: $250 and publication | Must be a current med student, resident, or fellow or a physician who has completed post-grad training | Deadline: April 15, 2026
May 2026
Open Calls
- North American Review General Submissions | fiction, poetry, book reviews, art | $3 fee | Deadline: May 1, 2026
- Birmingham Poetry Review | poetry | Free | Payment: one copy | Deadline: May 14, 2026
- The Georgia Review | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, book reviews | Free (postal), $3 (online) | Payment: $50 per printed page for prose and $4 per line for poetry, up to $800, two copies | Deadline: May 15, 2026
- AGNI Proximity: A Portfolio of Writing and Art by Women of Color | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, visual art | Free | Deadline: May 31, 2026
- Willow Springs Spring 2026 | fiction, poetry | Free | Opens: September 1 | Deadline: May 31, 2026
Writing Contests
- Winning Writers Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest | fiction, nonfiction (can be previously published) | $25 fee | Prize/genre: $3,500, two-year gift certificates to Duotrope, online publication | Final Judge: Mina Manchester | Deadline: May 1, 2026
- 🔔 American Poetry Review Stanley Kunitz Memorial Prize | poetry | $15 fee | Prize: $1,000 and publication | Deadline: May 15, 2026
- Livingston Press Changing Light Prize for a Novel-in-Verse | fiction | Free | Prize: $500, book publication, and 20 copies | Deadline: May 25, 2026
Year-Round Open Calls
- Action, Spectacle | fiction, nonfiction, reviews, interviews, plays, comics, visual art, poetry | $3.50 fee | Open Year-round
- Blue Mountain Review | prose, poetry, music, visual art | $5 fee
- Brevity | Nonfiction | $3 fee | Payment: $45
- The Capra Review | All genres + multimedia | Free
- Changing Skies | Creative nonfiction, poetry, art | Free
- The Dolomite Review | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | $3.50 fee
- Driftwood Press | All genres + graphic works | Fees vary
- Fahmidan Journal | All genres | Free | Payment: $15
- Feels Blind Literary | All genres + comics | $3 fee (free on Mondays)
- Flash Fiction Magazine | fiction | Free
- Flash Phantoms | horror fiction | Free
- Gambling the Aisle | Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, cross-genre | Free
- Good River Review | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, scripts, writing for children and young adults | Free
- JackLeg Press Book Manuscript Queries | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | $5 fee | Deadline: Rolling
- Jewish Fiction | Fiction, translation | Free
- Lullaby Machine | lullabies | Free | Deadline: Rolling
- New Verse News | Current-events poetry | Free
- Palooka | Magazine & chapbook submissions | $3 fee (magazine), $8 fee (chapbook) | Payment: copies
- Pictura Journal | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | Free (tip jar) | Payment: $5 (open until quota reached)
- Plant-Human Quarterly | Poetry, essays | Free
- Rattle | poetry, art | Free | Payment: $200 and 1-year subscription (print), $100 (online)
- Stone Circle Review | Poetry | Free
Ready to submit? Bookmark your favorites, mark your calendar, and good luck sharing your work!