It’s that time of the week again—Fri-yay! 🎉
NewPages is back with our weekly roundup of submission opportunities, plus a dose of creative inspiration to help get your ideas flowing. Kick off the long weekend with fresh prompts and venues to help you hit your writing and publishing goals.
Inspiration: Just Like ABC
Abecedarian poems can be tricky—finding the right rhythm and words for those tough letters like Q, X, and Z is no small feat. But what if you turned that challenge into a song?
Back in elementary school, we learned songs that celebrated Michigan’s history—from voyageurs and logging camps to sailing the Great Lakes. One song stood out: it listed reasons why Michigan was a great place to live, from A to Z.
That got me thinking: what if you created your own alphabetical ode to where you live? Try listing reasons—serious or silly—why your state, city, township, or province is wonderful. Or flip the script and list reasons you don’t love it. Maybe even do both for a fun contrast.
You don’t have to stick to song lyrics or poetry. This could become a children’s story, a young adult piece, a lyric essay, or even an adult picture book. Explore how the quirks and flaws of a place might actually be what makes it feel like home.
Stretch those creative muscles. And if you have kids, get them involved! It’s a great long weekend activity that might just spark something worth submitting.
Speaking of the long weekend—NewPages wishes you a wonderful and safe Memorial Day.
Submission Opportunities: 53 Ways to Share Your Work
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Calls for Submissions
Don’t forget to check out our Guide to Submission Opportunities where you can get more information about these calls for submissions. And if you have young writers from elementary to high school age, don’t forget to check out the Young Writers Guide.
Magazine1. Issue 4. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, cross-genre, drama, graphic narratives, screenplays, translations, art, photography, audio, video. No fee ($5 tip jar option available). Payment: $40 Bookstore Gift Card. Deadline: May 24, 2025.
Black Fox Literary Magazine. Summer 2025 Issue. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry. No fee. Deadline: May 31, 2025.
Megacity Review. Volume 2. Fiction, nonfiction, art, photography. $10 fee. Payment: Selected contributors can be awarded up to $1,000. Extended Deadline: May 31, 2025.
Red Shoe Press. 2026 Oregon Poetry Contest: The Water Around Us. Poetry. No Fee. Deadline: May 31, 2025. *Open to residents of Oregon.*
Sheila-Na-Gig Editions. AMPLIFY — An Anthology by Black Poets, Indigenous Poets, and Other Poets of Color. Poetry. No fee. Deadline: May 31, 2025.
Superpresent. Discomfort-themed Issue. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, cross-genre, drama, graphic narratives, translations, art, photography, audio, video. No fee. Deadline: June 1, 2025.
Poets in the Pines. Made from Midnight anthology. Fiction, poetry, cross-genre. No fee. Deadline: June 6, 2025.
Gold Man Review. Issue 15. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry. No fee. Deadline: June 15, 2025. *Must reside in Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, California, and Washington.*
Nobody’s Home: Modern Southern Folklore. Open Submission Period. Nonfiction, interviews, reviews. No fee. Deadline: June 15, 2025.
Philly Poetry Chapbook Review. Poetry. No fee. Deadline: June 15, 2025.
#Ranger. Issue 11. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry cross-genre, art, audio, video. No fee. Deadline: July 15, 2025.
The Main Street Rag. North Coast Voices: A Poetry Anthology. Poetry. $3 fee. Payment: Copies. Deadline: September 1, 2025.
DuFrank Lit. Fiction. No fee. Submissions reopen July 1. Deadline: September 30, 2025.
Kings River Review. Fall 2025 Issue. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, screenplays, translations, art. No fee. Deadline: October 15, 2025. *Must be a 2-year college student.*
Blue Mountain Review. Prose, poetry, music, visual art. $5 fee. Deadline: Year-round.
The Capra Review. Fiction, nonfiction, cross-genre, art, photography, video. No fee. Deadline: Year-round.
Changing Skies. Creative nonfiction, poetry, art. No fee. Deadline: Rolling.
Decolonial Passage. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry. No fee. Deadline: Rolling.
Driftwood Press. Fiction, poetry, comics, visual art, novellas, poetry collections, comic collections, graphic novels. Fees vary. Paying market. Deadline: Year-round.
Fahmidan Journal. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry. No fee. Payment: $15. Deadline: Year-round.
Feels Blind Literary. Fiction, nonfiction, comics, cross-genre, graphic narratives, translations, art, photography. $3 fee (free submissions on Monday). Deadline: Rolling.
Hindsight Journal. Art, photography, creative nonfiction, poetry. No fee. Deadline: Rolling.
Jewish Fiction (formerly Jewish Fiction .net). Fiction, translation. No fee. Deadline: Rolling.
Kaleidoscope. Articles, fiction, poetry, nonfiction, book reviews, visual art. No fee. Payment: $10-$100. Deadline: Year-round.
New Verse News. Current events poetry. No fee. Deadline: Year-round.
Palooka. Chapbook manuscripts, fiction, poetry, nonfiction, art, photography, graphic narratives, comic strips. $3 fee (magazine submissions); $8 fee (chapbook submissions). Payment: Copies. Deadline: Year-round.
Philly Poetry Chapbook Review. Poetry book/chapbook excerpts, interviews, reviews. No fee. Deadline: Year-round.
Pictura Journal. August 2025 Issue. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, visual art. No fee (tip jar option). Payment: $5. Deadline: Rolling.
Stone Circle Review. Poetry. No fee. Deadline: Rolling.
Writing Contests
If you’d like a little more information on several of the contests below, don’t forget to follow our Guide to Submission Opportunities throughout the week. Find even more contests in our vetted Big List of Writing Contests. NewPages also vets and curates a list of contests for elementary through high school aged writers in our Young Writers Guide.
Livingston Press. Changing Light Prize for a Novel-in-Verse. Fiction. No fee. Prize: $500, book publication, and copies. Deadline: May 25, 2025.
Baltimore Review. Summer Contest. Flash fiction, flash nonfiction, prose poetry. $8 fee. Prize/category: $400 and publication. Judge: Pamela Painter. Deadline: May 31, 2025.
Sunspot Lit. Solar Flare Contest. Fiction, poetry, graphic novel, art. $5 fee. Prize: $100 and publication. Deadline: May 31, 2025.
What Book Press. Gronk Nicandro First Book Prize. Fiction, nonfiction. $25 fee. Prize: $500, publication, and 50 copies. Deadline: May 31, 2025.
Black Fox Literary Magazine. Spring Fox Tales Prize: Mixed Messages. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry. $12 fee. Prize: $325 and print publication. Deadline: June 1, 2025.
Salamander. 2025 Fiction Contest. Fiction. $20 fee. Prize: $1,000 and publication. Judge: Helen Phillips. Deadline: June 1, 2025.
L’Esprit Literary Review. 2025 Clarissa Dalloway Prize for Short Prose. Fiction, nonfiction, cross-genre. $10 fee (standard submission); $15 fee (expedited response). Grand Prize: $500 and publication. Deadline: June 8, 2025.
Boudin. 2025 Boudin Flash Fiction Chapbook Contest. Fiction. $15 fee. Prize: $1,000, 25 author copies, author-signing at AWP 2026, inclusion of one or more pieces in The McNeese Review 2026, promotion in monthly issues of Boudin, and 3-year subscription to The McNeese Review. Final Judge: Roxane Gay. Deadline: June 15, 2025.
Catamaran Literary Reader. 2025 Catamaran Poetry Prize for West Coast Poets. Poetry. $45 fee. Prize: $1,000 and book publication. Judge: Mary Szybist. Deadline: June 15, 2025.
The MacGuffin. Poet Hunt 30. Poetry. $15 fee. Grand Prize: $500 and publication. Guest Judge: Darrel Alejandro Holnes. Deadline: June 15, 2025.
The Tusculum Review. 2025 Fiction Chapbook Prize. Fiction. $20 fee. Prize: $1,500 and publication. Judge: Jaime Cortez. Deadline: June 15, 2025.
Burnside Review Press. Burnside Review Chapbook Contest. Poetry. $15 fee. Prize: $200, chapbook publication, 10 author copies. Deadline: June 30, 2025.
Bellevue Literary Review. The Felice Buckvar Prize. Nonfiction. $20 fee. Prize: $1,000 and publication. Judge: Nicole Chung. Deadline: July 1, 2025.
Bellevue Literary Review. The Goldenberg Prize. Fiction. $20 fee. Prize: $1,000 and publication. Judge: Joan Silber. Deadline: July 1, 2025.
Bellevue Literary Review. The John & Eileen Allman Prize. Poetry. $20 fee. Prize: $1,000 and publication. Judge: Joan Silber. Deadline: July 1, 2025.
Orison Books. 2025 Orison Chapbook Prize. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, cross-genre, drama. $15 fee. Prize: $300 and chapbook publication. Deadline: July 1, 2025.
Driftwood Press. Adrift Chapbook Contest. Poetry. $25 fee. First Prize: $750, publication, 20 author copies. Judge: Matthew Olzmann. Deadline: July 15, 2025.
Driftwood Press. Adrift Short Story Contest. Fiction. $30 fee. First Prize: $500, publication, 5 anthology copies. Judge: Kelly Link. Deadline: July 15, 2025.
Swan Scythe Press. 2025 Poetry Chapbook Contest. Poetry. $18 fee. Prize: $200, publication, and 25 author copies. Deadline: June 15, 2025.
Jerboa Lit. 500 Flash Fiction Contest. Fiction. $25 fee. First Prize: $1,000. Deadline: June 27 – 29, 2025.
Western Connecticut State University MFA. 2025 Housatonic Book Awards. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry. $25 fee + processing. Prize: $1,000 honorarium & $500 travel stipend. Deadline: July 18, 2025.
Orison Books. 2025 Best Spiritual Literature Awards. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry. $12 fee. Prize/genre: $500 and publication. Judges: Yehoshua November, Athena Dixon. Deadline: August 1, 2025.
Last Syllable. Book Awards in Poetry & Prose. Published full-length & chapbook-length books of fiction, nonfiction, poetry. $25 fee. Prize: $1,000, travel expenses, and headlining feature in the PLNU MA in Writing program’s Visiting Writer Series. Deadline: September 1, 2025.
Willow Springs Books. Spokane Prize for Short Fiction. Fiction. Entry fee. Prize: $2,000 and publication. Deadline: October 1, 2025.
Where to Submit Roundup: June 13, 2025
Where to Submit Roundup: June 6, 2025
Where to Submit Roundup: May 30, 2025
