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.

Call :: Mental Snapback seeks Recovery Stories

Don’t forget to dive into the latest episodes of podcast series Mental Snapback for an idea of what they like. Then consider submitting your own mental health recovery stories to be featured in upcoming episodes. The podcast is for everyone and anyone who has experienced mental illness, whether it be that you have experienced acute or chronic illnesses yourself or someone you love has experienced them. They know the struggle, and don’t want to invalidate that. However, they want to hear about the other side—the recovery of your struggles—to build a foundation of hope for whoever may need it. Currently, they only accept creative nonfiction in the form of essays. Acceptance of manuscripts occurs on a rolling basis, and they will be read aloud on weekly podcast episodes. mentalsnapback.com/submission-guidelines/

Call :: COVID LIT Seeks Work for Monthly Issues

COVID LIT logoCOVID LIT is a monthly online lit mag that gives the middle finger to COVID-19 by publishing, promoting, and spreading art, poetry, and prose using the disease’s name. What sets us apart from other magazines? Simple: instead of paying us a submission fee, writers must donate at least $3 to a nonprofit of their choice. Since we launched in late April 2020, our writers have donated over $3000 directly to regional, national, and international nonprofits, so send your best work and use your creative superpowers for good! Visit www.covidlit.org today!

Call :: the Vitni Review Seeks Creative Writing for Fall 2020 Issue

Deadline: Rolling
the Vitni Review seeks creative writing submissions on an ongoing basis for its Fall 2020 issue. Our intention is to publish writing that pushes against convention, which challenges, subverts, or skillfully manipulates tradition, and which serves to advance the understanding of human culture and experience via interesting metaphors, exciting diction, and engaging content. We are especially dedicated to publishing work by writers from historically under- or misrepresented demographics. See our guidelines at www.vitnireview.org/submit.

Call :: Palooka Seeks Chapbooks, Prose, Poetry, Art & Photography

Palooka is an international literary magazine. For a decade we’ve featured up-and-coming, established, and brand-new writers, artists, and photographers from all around the world. We’re open to diverse forms and styles and are always seeking unique chapbooks, fiction, poetry, nonfiction, artwork, photography, graphic narratives, and comic strips. Free digital copies of back issues now available for a short time. Give us your best shot! Submissions open year-round. palookamag.com

Contest :: $5,000 Miller Williams Poetry Prize

Every year, the University of Arkansas Press accepts submissions for the Miller Williams Poetry Series and from the books selected awards the $5,000 Miller Williams Poetry Prize in the following summer. For almost a quarter century the press has made this series the cornerstone of its work as a publisher of some of the country’s best poetry. The series is edited by Patricia Smith. The deadline for the 2022 Prize is September 30, 2020. Jayson Iwen’s Roze & Blud, published in March 2020, was the winner of the 2020 Miller Williams Poetry Prize. For more information visit uapress.com.

Call :: Blue Mountain Review Wants the Best Stories in All Genres

The Blue Mountain Review flierNow in it’s 5 year, The Blue Mountain Review was launched from Athens, Georgia in 2015 with the mantra, “We’re all south of somewhere.” As a journal of culture the BMR strives to represent life through its stories. Stories are vital to our survival. Songs save the soul. Our goal is to preserve and promote lives told well through prose, poetry, music, and the visual arts. Our editors read year-round with an eye out for work with homespun and international appeal. We’ve published work with Jericho Brown, Kelli Russell Agodon, Robert Pinsky, Rising Appalachia, Nahko, Michel Stone, Genesis Greykid, Cassandra King, Melissa Studdard, and A.E. Stallings. www.southerncollectiveexperience.com/submission-guidelines/

Call :: Club Plum Wants Powerful yet Subtle Pieces

Deadline: Rolling
Submissions open for flash fiction of no more than 800 words and prose poems. Send powerful yet subtle pieces. Send strong voices. Send dreamy words that don’t gush. Skate on the edge of realities. Club Plum also seeks art: Please send one image only of pen-and-ink line art, watercolor, bold colors, experimental work, collage, impressionistic or abstract pieces. Tell the editor about your piece. The editor will pass on photography. See clubplumliteraryjournal.com for details.

Call :: Red Planet Magazine Wants Speculative Work

Deadline: Rolling
Red Planet Magazine is an independent literary magazine emphasizing a theme of speculative fiction, and is open for submissions year-round on a rolling basis. Contributors receive a digital copy of the issue in which their work has been featured. Please visit www.redplanetmagazine.com for additional information.

Call :: borrowed solace seeks mystical work

Deadline: July 31, 2020
borrowed solace is looking for “Mystical” works for the fall themed 2020 literary journal. We accept nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and art. Submissions close July 31, 2020; and you can review our guidelines, what the editors are looking for, and submit here at www.borrowedsolace.com. We want to read what mystifies you!

Contest :: Laux/Millar RR Prize Closes June 1

This is just a reminder that literary magazine Raleigh Review is open to submissions for its 2020 Laux/Millar RR Prize until 5 AM EST on June 1.

Initial judges for the prize are the poetry team of the literary magazine, stacked with award winners. Joseph Millar and Dorianne Laux will then judge the finalists. All entrants will receive a copy of the prize issue (a $20 value) to be released in Fall 2020.

Entry fee for the contest is $15 to submit up to 5 poems. First prize is $500 and publication. Finalists will receive $15 and publication. All poems submitted will be considered for normal publication along with Raleigh Review‘s standard pay rate.

Submissions are accepted via Submittable only.

Call :: About Place Journal Works of Resistance, Resilience

Deadline: August 1, 2020
Each issue of About Place Journal, the arts publication of the Black Earth Institute, focuses on a specific theme. From 6/1 to 8/1 we’ll be accepting submissions for our Fall 2020 issue Works of Resistance, Resilience. Our mission: to have art address the causes of spirit, earth, and society; to protect the earth; and to build a more just and interconnected world. We publish prose, poetry, visual art, photography, video, and music which fit the current theme. More about this issue’s theme and our submission guidelines: aboutplacejournal.org/submissions/.

Call :: Xi Draconis Books Seeks Socially Engaged Manuscripts

Don’t forget that Xi Draconis Books is open to socially engaged, book-length works for publication in 2020 and 2021. They accept novels, short story and poetry collections, memoirs, essay collections, and cross-genre works. Their mission is to publish works examining social justice issues of all kinds. Head to xidraconis.org/submission-guidelines/ to submit. Check out a recent title from their catalog—it’s free. There is no fee to submit. Deadline: July 31.

Call :: This Is What America Looks Like Anthology Closes to Submissions on June 1

If you are a poet or writer living in or with ties to Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia, don’t forget that you have until June 1 to submit fiction or poetry to Washington Writers’ Publishing House for their first anthology in 25 years!

They are a 47-year-old nonprofit, cooperative, all-volunteer press and 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). They want 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. There is a $5 fee.

Call :: ode to Queer

Deadline: September 1, 2020
ode to Queer is an unabashedly queer literary and artistic journal looking for art from LGBTQIA+ artists that is experimental, fringe, and vulnerable. Our journal exists to create a queer cannon that centers and celebrates marginalized and rural voices without hiding behind diluted language or imagery to appease cis-hetero-centered viewership. We don’t wish to bottleneck the creativity of our artists, which is why we welcome all forms of visual and written art that are conscious of our guidelines. Visit odetoqueer.com/submissions for more details and to see what we’re about!

Call :: Writings on Domestic Verbal, Emotional, and Physical Abuse

Deadline: October 15, 2020
We are seeking work by survivors of domestic abuse. Creative nonfiction, memoir, flash nonfiction. Please note that at this time we are not accepting poetry. Deadline: October 15, 2020. The book will be published by McFarland & Company; contributors will receive a complimentary copy. Please send your submission in Word, with a brief cover letter and 50 word bio to Judith Skillman, [email protected] and Linera Lucas, [email protected]. This text is dedicated to all those who dared to break the silence.

Contest :: Poet Hunt 25 from The MacGuffin

The MacGuffin 2020 Poet Hunt flierDeadline: June 15, 2020
The MacGuffin’s 25th Poet Hunt Contest runs April 1 through June 15! One first place winner will receive $500 and publication; up to two Honorable Mentions also selected. We’re happy to have Matthew Olzmann as guest judge! Send up to five poems per $15 entry fee. On a cover page, list your contact info and poem titles. On the following page(s), include your poems, beginning each poem on a new page devoid of personally identifiable information to preserve the blind review process. Enter via Submittable (themacguffin.submittable.com/submit), or to enter by email or post, see full rules at our website (schoolcraft.edu/macguffin/contest-rules).

2020 Marguerite McGlinn Prize for Fiction

Philadelphia Stories eLitPak flierThis annual national short fiction contest features a first place $2,000 cash award and invitation to an awards dinner on Friday, October 9, on the campus of Rosemont College; a second place cash prize of $500; and third place cash prize of $250. Requirements: unpublished works of fiction up to 8,000 words; $15 reading fee. Deadline: June 15. philadelphiastories.org

View the full May eLitPak newsletter here.

Gival Press Sponsored Contests: Novel Award Deadline Approaching

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.

View the full May eLitPak newsletter here.

Contest :: 2020 Red Wheelbarrow Prize 2020

Red WheelbarrowDeadline: August 15, 2020
Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize 2020: Judged by Dorianne Laux and Joseph Millar. $1,000 for first place and a letterpress broadside, $500 for second, $250 for third. Top five published in Red Wheelbarrow Literary Magazine. Submit up to 3 original unpublished poems. $15 entry fee. Deadline: August 15. For complete guidelines, see redwheelbarrow.submittable.com.

Call :: Four Quartets: Poetry in the Pandemic

Tupelo Press Call Four Quartets: Poetry in the PandemicTupelo Press has announced they are moving their Tupelo Broadside Contest submission period to the month of September. This is so they can accept folios for Four Quartets: Poetry in the Pandemic to be published in late fall. They seek four 12-page folios of poetry. Submissions are open now through midnight on June 30. Judges for selection will be Publisher Jeffrey Levine, Editor In Chief Kristina Marie Darling, and Poetry Editor Cassandra Cleghorn. Selected writers will receive a $250 honorarium.

There is a $22 reading fee.

Contest :: 1 Month Left to Submit to Swan Scythe Press Chapbook Contest

Swan Scythe Press logoSwan Scythe Press is accepting manuscripts for its 2020 Poetry Chapbook Contest through June 15. Submit a manuscript of 20-32 pages of poems that includes a title page with author’s name, address, phone number, and email address and a second title page without personal identifiers, book title only. Manuscripts can be mailed to 1468 Mallard Way, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 or submitted online, visit swanscythepress.submittable.com/submit. Entry fee is $18.00 payable to Swan Scythe Press. Winner receives $200 and 25 perfect-bound chapbooks. For full guidelines and details, please visit www.swanscythepress.com.

Call :: Awakenings Review Seeks Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, Photography, and Art

Established in 2000, The Awakenings Review is an annual lit mag committed to publishing poetry, short story, nonfiction, photography, and art by writers, poets and artists who have a relationship with mental illness: either self, family member, or friend. Our striking hardcopy publication is one of the nation’s leading journals of this genre. Creative endeavors and mental illness have long had a close association. The Awakenings Review publishes works derived from artists’, writers’, and poets’ experiences with mental illness, though mental illness need not be the subject of your work. Visit www.AwakeningsProject.org for submission guidelines.

Contest :: 2020 Rattle Poetry Prize

2020 RATTLE Poetry Prize flierDeadline: July 15, 2020
The 15th annual Rattle Poetry Prize has grown to $15,000 for a single poem. Ten finalists also receive $200 and publication, and are eligible for the $5,000 Readers’ Choice Award. With an entry fee that is simply a one-year subscription to the magazine—and a runner-up Readers’ Choice Award to be chosen by the writers themselves—the Rattle Poetry Prize aims to be one of the most writer-friendly and popular poetry contests around. Visit www.rattle.com/prize for the complete guidelines and to read all of the past winners.

Call :: Jay Lit Review Seeks Submissions on a Rolling Basis

Remember Jay Lit Review, the companion journal to the Journal of African Youth Literature, seeks critiques, commentary, research, essays, and translations on a rolling basis. Fields of interest: African (youth) literature and literacy; African (youth) culture and language studies; African language education; feminist/gender, post/decolonial, reader-response, linguistic, comparative, etc. analysis; translation into/from African languages; related areas of study. Topics: African youths, youth culture and literature; reflections on teaching African languages; multilingualism in Africa, linguistics, related subjects.

Educators, academics, and translators are invited to showcase knowledge and skills in their professional field. Postgrad essays on a variety of African youth concerns will be considered. Double-blind peer review. Visit africanyouthliterature.art.blog/the-jay-lit-review for more info. Email [email protected].

Call :: Mizmor Poetry Anthology – Spirituality

Deadline: August 15, 2020

“Spirituality is a broad concept with room for many perspectives. In general, it includes a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, and it typically involves a search for meaning in life. As such, it is a universal human experience—something that touches us all…”

No reading fee. Contributors will receive one free copy mailed to U.S. address, only. Please visit the website for the complete guidelines: www.poeticapublishing.com.

Call :: Chestnut Review (for stubborn artists) Invites Submissions

Chestnut Review (“for stubborn artists”) invites submissions year round of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, art, and photography. We offer free submissions for poetry (3 poems), flash fiction (<1000 words each & up to 4 pieces), and art/photography (20 images); $5 submissions for fiction/nonfiction (<5k words), or 4-6 poems. Published artists receive $100 and a copy of the annual anthology of four issues (released each summer). Notification in <30 days or submission fee refunded. We appreciate stories in every genre we publish. All issues free online which illustrates what we have liked, but we are always ready to be surprised by the new! chestnutreview.com

Contest :: Fiction Southeast Story of the Month Contest

Online literary magazine Fiction Southeast has launched the Story of the Month Contest to honor the best short fiction under 1,000 words. Each month the winning story will grace the front page of the website for the entire month and will be listed on the Stories of the Month Page, as well as the Fiction Page. The reading fee is $10, and the winner will receive $50. Submit here: fictionsoutheast.submittable.com/submit/163713/story-of-the-month. Entries are accepted year-round.

Contest :: KAKALAK 2020 Poetry & Art Contest Closes May 18

KAKALAK 2019 coverDon’t forget that the deadline to submit poetry and art that evokes the spirit of the Carolinas from the Outer Banks and Low Country to the Piedmont and Appalachia is May 18. Anyone can enter. Entry fee: $12 for 1-3 poems or 1-3 images. All entries considered for publication. All contributors will receive one copy for each item selected for publication. Prize money ranges from $300 to $20. Details can be found on the Kakalak contest page of the www.MainStreetRag.com website.

Call :: Adanna Closes to Submissions for Special Issue on May 15

Don’t forget Adanna Literary Journal, a women focused print publication, is open to submissions for a special issue through May 15. They are seeking essays, 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 their annual issue.

Call :: little somethings press issue three

little somethings press flierlittle somethings press is open for submissions for issue three. We want work that breathes in the space of a page, even as the world falters. Send your flash memoir and fiction of up to 300 words, your poetry of up to 12 lines, and your visual art to [email protected] by June 15th.  Up to three pieces per submission are welcome. Contributors will receive compensation through a contributor copy. All rights revert back to the author/contributor upon publication. littlesomethingspress.com

Contest :: Conduit Books & Ephemera’s 2020 Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize Accepting Submissions

Conduit Books & Ephemera logoDeadline: June 30, 2020
Now in its third year, the Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize awards $1,000 and publication to a poet writing in English who has not yet published a full-length book of poetry. If you have a smoking hot manuscript or know someone who does, please give us a shot. The Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize champions poets who dance to their own tune not to be different but to be true. Previously unpublished manuscripts of 48-90 pages should be submitted through our Submittable page or via the USPS. Please visit www.conduit.org/book-prizes for details.

Deadline Extension :: 2020 Sandeen Prize in Poetry

Deadline has been extended to June 1 due to COVID-19.
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 :: Gold Man Review Open to Submissions from OR, AK, HI, CA, & WA

Deadline: June 1, 2020
Literary magazine Gold Man Review is a West Coast journal. They are currently looking for submissions of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for Issue 10. They are open to all topics and themes and love work that pushes boundaries. Have work on the unusual side? They are probably the journal for you. Please note they only accept submissions from writers living in Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, California, and Washington. See their website for full submissions guidelines: www.goldmanpublishing.com.

Contest :: Flying South Accepting Submissions through May 31

Winston Salem Writers is offering $2,000 in prizes for its annual Flying South writing contests. Best in each category (fiction, nonfiction, and poetry) receives $500. One of the three winners will receive an additional $500 as the WSW President’s Favorite award. All entries will be considered for publication in the next issue of literary magazine Flying South. For full details, please visit our website: www.wswriters.org.

Contest :: Raymond Carver Short Story Contest Deadline is May 15

Don’t forget that May 15 is the deadline to submit short fiction of no more than 10,000 words to Carve Magazine‘s 2020 Raymond Carver Short Story Contest. Submissions welcome from writers world-wide as long as they are written in English. Prizes: $2,000, $500, $250, + 2 Editor’s Choice $125 each. All 5 winners published in Fall 2020 issue and reviewed by lit agencies. Entry fee $17 online/$15 mailed. Guest judge Pam Houston. www.carvezine.com/raymond-carver-contest/

Driftwood Press Extends Application Deadline for Online Seminars

Good news! If you missed the April 30 deadline for Driftwood Press’s 2020 Online Seminar Series, you’re in luck! They have extended the deadline to apply to May 30. These seminars will run for five weeks starting on June 1 and ending on July 3.

The Erasure Poetry Seminar instructor is Jerrod Schwarz who teaches creative writing at the University of Tampa. This seminar features an in-depth look at the history, practices, and importance of erasure poetry. Every week students receive a video lesson, tailor-made writing prompts, and detailed feedback. The course will culminate in a Showcase Booklet of students’ work which will be made available for free download on Driftwood’s website.

The Editors & Writers Seminar is targeted towards three types of writers: writers submitting to magazines and wanting to fight through the slushpile, writers who wish to be editors of short fiction or run a magazine, and writers who wish to become better editors of their own and others’ work. The instructor will be Driftwood Press Fiction Editor James McNulty. Students receive weekly video lessons, a writing or revision assignment, a reading assignment, and detailed feedback on writing assignments.

Don’t forget that the biannual journal is open to submissions year-round and the publishing arm is currently open to submissions of novellas, graphic novels, and comic collections. They do charge a reading fee. Expedited response options available for journal submissions.

Call :: Bending Genres Seeks Zany Work

Deadline: Rolling
Send us your zany, innovative best fiction, poetry, and CNF. We publish bimonthly, and year round. Bending Genres also host monthly weekend workshops and retreats. The next online class is Artifact Lit: Exploring New Forms with Tyler Barton from May 22 to May 24. The next retreats are scheduled for August 16-22 in West Bend, Wisconsin, and September 1-7 in New Mexico. www.bendinggenres.com

Call :: The Conium Review Themed Submissions: “(Re)new”

Deadline: June 1, 2020
The Conium Review seeks flash fiction in response to the “(Re)new” theme from May 15th through June 1st, 2020. This theme will be edited by James R. Gapinski, author of the Edge of the Known Bus Line, Messiah Tortoise, and the forthcoming Fruit Rot. If your piece is accepted, it will be published on our website. Published authors also receive $20, a copy of our latest print issue, and a signed copy of the editor’s latest book. Send a single unpublished piece up to 1,000 words. No reading fee. Full guidelines here: coniumreview.com/themes/renew/.

Contest :: 2020 Cathy Smith Bowers Chapbook Contest

Open: May 1–June 15
Prize: $1000, publication, 50 author copies. Reading Fee: $15 (electronic submission $17). Length: 28-40 pages of poetry. First round judging done blindly by Main Street Rag editors. Final Judge: Cathy Smith Bowers, former Poet Laureate of North Carolina. 2019 Contest winner, Doralee Brooks of Bridgeville, PA for her book, When I Hold You Up to the Light. All entries considered for publication. Details: www.mainstreetrag.com.

Call :: Wordrunner eChapbooks Seeks Mini-Fiction Collections

Deadline: June 30, 2020
Two fiction collections will be selected for our fall 2020 e-chapbook series, to be published in August and December, online and as epubs. Stories may be flash or longer, from 500 up to 5,000 words each. We’d like at least five stories, but no more than 15 (if flash fiction). We will also consider novel excerpts. No genre fiction, please. Stories by authors who receive Honorable Mentions will be considered for our 2021 themed anthology. See www.echapbook.com/submissions.html for detailed guidelines and Submittable link. Payment: $100 plus royalties. Submission fee: $6.

Contest :: 2020 Orison Anthology Awards

Deadline: August 1, 2020
The 2020 Orison Anthology Awards in Fiction, Nonfiction, & Poetry offer $500 and publication by Orison Books in The Orison Anthology for a single work in each genre. Judges: Blair Hurley (fiction), E. J. Koh (nonfiction), and Joy Ladin (poetry). Entry fee: $15. Submission Period: May 1-August 1. Find complete details at www.orisonbooks.submittable.com.

Call :: trampset Now Paying for Quality Work

Deadline: Rolling
trampset, an online literary journal of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, is seeking new submissions on a rolling basis. We want your best brain, your beating heart. Send that good human stuff our way. We pay $25 per accepted piece. We have 50 free submissions a month through Submittable as well as Tip Jar and Quick Response options. Visit our submissions page: trampset.org/submissions-6e83932b0985.

Contest :: Killer Nashville Accepting Entries for 2020 Silver Falchion Award

Killer Nashville 2020 ContestsThe Silver Falchion Award is an open competition for works published in 2019. These books must be in the mystery, crime, true crime, and thriller genres. Conference attendees can submit for free. If you aren’t attending the 2020 conference taking place August 20-23 in Nashville, Tennessee, then the fee is $79. Submission deadline is June 1. Finalists will be announced in July. Finalists and winners will be honored during an awards dinner on August 22. For complete details including prize information, visit www.KillerNashville.com.

Contest :: River Styx Poetry Contest – $1000 Prize plus Publication

Deadline: May 31, 2020
The 2020 River Styx International Poetry Contest awards $1,000 and publication for the best poem. Lee Ann Roripaugh is this year’s final judge. $20 entry fee includes one-year subscription to River Styx, beginning with the prize-winner issue; $15 fee includes prize-winner issue only. Up to three poems per entry. Multiple entries permitted with multiple entry fees. Submit online at riverstyx.submittable.com/submit or via postal mail to River Styx Poetry Contest, 3301 Washington Ave, Suite 2C, St. Louis, MO, 63103. Deadline is May 31, 2020 (postmarked). Complete guidelines at www.riverstyx.org/submit/poetry-contest/.

Call :: An Anthology of Mental Health Recovery

Main Street Rag seeks poetry and prose (fiction/nonfiction) for an anthology with a mental health recovery theme; uplifting stories of overcoming mental health challenges and trauma from writers who have experienced a mental illness or love someone who has. Length: up to 6,000 words (prose) or 5 poems. Reading Period: May 1-August 1. Simultaneous submissions and previously published considered, however, authors must own the rights (no third-party permissions). Questions may be directed to editor Erika Nichols-Frazer at [email protected]. Submissions should be sent to: mentalhealth.submittable.com/submit.

Hate Waiting? ALR’s Flash Flood Contest Is for You

ALR Flash Flood ContestMy least favorite aspect of submitting work is waiting for a reply. I’m so eager to hear back that checking my email inbox almost becomes a hobby.

For writers who feel similarly, consider submitting to American Literary Review‘s Flash Flood Contest which consists of two week submission windows for stories up to 1000 words. Winners will be decided upon by the following Friday and will be published at the ALR website shortly after.

You have a few more days to send in your stories for this submission period. Learn more about the Flash Flood guidelines at their website.