PFN – Call for The Fourth River’s Spring 26 Print Issue. Theme: Innovation

 INNOVATION

This past June, Chatham University’s MFA in Creative Writing Program held the inaugural run of the Fallingwater Residency in Nature & Place-Based Writing. The Residency is held in partnership with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, a modern architectural masterpiece and UNESCO World Heritage site located just 60 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Frank Lloyd Wright was a pioneer of organic architecture who emphasized harmony between buildings and their natural surroundings. His designs pushed the boundaries of conventions and changed the landscape of architecture for generations to come. Wright’s legacy is one of beauty, harmony, and magnificence, but most especially, it is one of innovation.

In honor of Frank Lloyd Wright and Chatham MFA’s new partnership with Fallingwater, The Fourth River is seeking submissions for our spring 2026 print issue that illustrate the theme of Innovation.

For this issue, we welcome fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that engages innovative ways of relating to nature, place, and identity. We encourage work that utilizes the concept of change, whether prompted by need, natural process, or simple curiosity. Bring a new spin on something old, or a fresh perspective to something outdated. Build a new environment and put us in it. Whether rooted in realism, speculation, or history itself, we want to see work that embodies the spirit of innovation.

Here’s a prompt to get the gears turning:

In what ways does innovation interact with and influence concepts–and realities–of nature, place, space, culture, and identity?

Please send 3-5 poems or up to 4,000 words of prose at a time.

We look forward to reading your work!

Submission fee: $3