A Novel Approach

F - Blink-Ink Seeking Stories with the Theme: UFO
2024-10-15 08:00 - 17:00 (America/Toronto) | Blink-Ink
Blink-Ink
Issue #58
UFO
Jimmy Carter saw one. So did Ronald Reagan. Harry Truman never saw one but worried about them. Bill Clinton never saw one but always wanted to. Gerald Ford wasn’t sure if he’d seen one or not. Former Israeli security chief, Haim Eshed, says they are here and world leaders know it. How about you?
What do you know that we don’t?
Send us your best UFO stories of approximately 50 words.
Submissions are open September 1st, 2024 through October 15th, 2024. Please send submissions in the body of an email to: blinkinkinfo@gmail.com .
No attachments, poetry, bios, or AI generated content please. Send submissions in the body of an email to blinkinkinfo@gmail.com
Prompt response to all submissions and inquiries.

P - Rattle Seeking "Tribute to Food" Poems
2024-10-15 08:00 - 17:00 | Rattle
Our Summer 2025 issue will be dedicated to poems about food. The poems may be any style or length, but must be written about food in some way. We no longer publish essays, but always include a contributor notes section, where poets briefly discuss the relationship between food and poetry, if there is one, allowing for a wide array of perspectives to be shared.
You may submit up to four previously uncurated poems (or pages of short poems) at the same time, either in a single file or up to four files. Do not include your name or contact info within the file content. Only make one submission (of up to four poems) to this category. We’ll reply a month or two after the deadline.
VERY IMPORTANT:

Submissions cannot be revised after submission. Note that typos and minor changes never affect our decisions—proofreading is what editors are for. If you’ve made a significant mistake, use the internal messaging system to send a new file as an attachment.
To withdraw a single poem from a submission of multiple poems, just log in, click on the submission, and send a message to let us know which you’d like removed. Do not withdraw the entire submission—if you do, the submission will no longer be active and we won’t see it.
Don’t include any contact information in the file(s) that you submit. Your name and contact info will be included in the Submittable fields, and this will make it easier for us to read fairly.

P - Call for Poetry for Enchanted Garden Haiku Journal. Theme: Lights
2024-10-15 08:00 - 17:00 | Enchanted Garden Haiku Journal
Issue 10: Luminaria
Theme: Light
Submit between: 1 – 15 October
Publishing date: mid December
Submission rules
In English:

You may submit: 1 haiku or 1 tanka. In addition, you may submit 1 haiga. Only unpublished works.
Send your works in Englishof the different categoriestogether in one single e-mail (haiku/tanka only in the body of the e-mail, as attachments will not be open. Send haiga as attachment .jpg please, but if you can`t attach it, paste it into the body of the e-mail). Images should be your own work or in collaboration with an artist. No images from internet or AI images please! The names of the authors (poet and photographer/artist) must be included in the haiga photograph/artwork.
Includeyour name and country.
Subject line:submission.

The e-mail for submissions and questions is haikuenchanted@gmail.com .

When to submit? Please see below the submission calendar (works received before or after will not be considered)

Response time: 5 weeks

FN - Root Quarterly Seeking Submissions on the Theme of: Kith & Kin
2024-10-15 08:00 - 17:00 | Root Quarterly
SPRING 2025 // Kith & Kin
The phrase kith and kin—which means friends and relatives—is decidedly folksy, and definitely brings to mind more rural sensibilities. Long ago, “kith” could also refer to knowledge, or to a homeland—how are they all related? Do Americans think of themselves as one people anymore? What should we make now of the adage “Out of many, one”? What makes a friend or neighbor, and why are they important? “Kin,” of course, is still in use as a stand-in for “family.” Who do we consider family? Do non-human animals count? Do plants and insects? Will AI chatbots really replace human interaction?
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

Fiction, including experimental fiction and erotica, is welcome. Please send pieces of 500 to 2,000 words.

Personal essays or articles for our “Switchbacks” section that relate points of inflection in a person’s life that have taken them to an unexpected and new place. Please send full pieces for consideration.

Essays, book reviews, provocations, cultural criticism and think pieces of 500 to 3,500 words (We’re themed, so make sure you tell us when you submit why it fits the theme). You can write about big issues, movies, TV, books, art exhibitions or anything else that has sparked a good idea. We’re particularly interested here in exploring the media and meaning crises, and nuanced ways to understand the current culture war. Please send full pieces for consideration.

We are not accepting unsolicited poetry at this time, though we do have an ongoing poetry series in the magazine.
TONE & STYLE
It’s okay to have a distinctive voice! But we’re also looking for writers who will largely forgo snark, condescension, bullying, point-scoring, self-serving virtue signaling, etc., and will instead try on for size some finesse, awe, grace, wit, and humility. It’s okay to have questions and not answers. Ideas and issues are complicated, and they take time to unwind.
We’re also looking for people who aren’t afraid to write a piece even if people within their bubble might disagree with it. Two great examples are here in The Atlantic and here in Seattle’s Weekly, The Stranger. Both are written by hardcore liberals who are willing to call on other liberals to be more rigorous with their arguments.
Be wild, be funny, be weird, be contrarian. The worst we can say is ‘no.’
COMPENSATION
This is a volunteer-run project, and it’s a barn-raising in every way. Printing bills are expensive. But we know your time is valuable and that art isn’t free. That’s why we’ve got a subscription-based model and we don’t give our content away online.
We typically give honorariums of $50 to $150 depending on the piece and its length, as well as for artwork contributions that illustrate articles. Longer, solicited profiles or articles will be compensated at 10 cents per word, to be determined at the time we agree on a proposal and consult our current funds. If there’s a piece that absolutely needs to be written but would require more time and research, we’re willing to look into grants that may fund the work; we are a fiscally-sponsored project of Cultureworks in Philadelphia, and can accept tax-deductible contributions.
*If you are suffering from financial hardship and can’t afford a single issue at $15, you may send an email to editor@rootquarterly.com and we’ll work something out.
HOW TO SUBMIT
Take in all of the above, do a little reading, cozy up with an issue.
Then you can send us an email keeping all those guidelines and principles in mind. If you’re sending a personal essay or cultural criticism and we haven’t worked with you before, please send your full piece as a submission and a 75- to 100-word contributor bio.
We thank you in advance for considering joining our community.

PFN - Cosmic Daffodil Journal Seeking Submissions on the Theme of: Horoscopes
2024-10-15 08:00 - 17:00 | Cosmic Daffodil Journal
“The magical thing about astrology is you are completely unique — no chart will ever be replicated again.”
Susan Miller
Important Disclaimer: Expand on the Horoscopes: have evidence to support your ideas. Don’t include just one or two facts/tropes/etc without evidence. Define a clear narrative. Create a strong, balanced personality. Notable individuality. Show us a voice we don’t expect to hear. Below are some prompts to get you started. Happy writing!
Writing Prompts:
“The Star-Crossed Pact”: Two people, each from different Zodiac signs, have been fated to meet and form an alliance as indicated by their horoscopes. However, their signs are known for conflicting traits. As they work together on a common goal, they must reconcile their differences and discover how their astrological paths intertwine.
“Horoscope Heist”: A notorious thief is rumored to be using astrology to choose their targets. An ambitious detective, who is a skeptic of horoscopes, is assigned to catch the thief. They must delve into the world of astrology to solve the case, all while grappling with their own beliefs about fate and fortune.
“Horoscope for the Future”: In a world where horoscopes are not just predictions but detailed blueprints of one’s future, a young professional receives a horoscope that hints at a catastrophic event. As they struggle to change their fate, they must confront whether their actions are predetermined or if they can alter their destiny.
“The Horoscope Mystery”: A small-town astrologer predicts a series of unexpected and seemingly unrelated events based on the stars. When a local resident starts experiencing these predictions with eerie accuracy, they embark on a journey to uncover the true connection between their destiny and the astrologer’s forecasts.
“Horoscopes in Your Own Words”: Write about your interpretation of the Zodiacs.
Submissions Guidelines
poetry
Poetry in any form or style. Your poetry submission may contain up to three (3) poems, may be submitted as one file, run fewer than 10 pages in length, and must be unpublished. Please start each poem on a new page on your document. Title your poems OR specify ‘Untitled’ at the top of the document. Simultaneous submissions are welcomed so long as you withdraw them when accepted elsewhere.
Flash Fiction
Flash fiction (a.k.a. microfiction, short-short story, sudden fiction, etc.) submissions should aim for a word count of 300-600 words or less per piece. You may submit up to two (2) pieces per issue, may be submitted as one file, should run fewer than 5 pages in length, and must be unpublished. Add page numbers to your document. Simultaneous submissions are welcomed so long as you withdraw them when accepted elsewhere.
flash Non-fiction
Flash nonfiction submissions should aim for a word count of 300-600 words or less per piece. You may submit up to two (2) pieces per issue, may be submitted as one file, should run fewer than 5 pages in length, and must be unpublished. Add page numbers to your document. Simultaneous submissions are welcomed so long as you withdraw them when accepted elsewhere.
General guidelines
Cosmic Daffodil Journal is currently focusing on submissions that follow a theme titled HOROSCOPES. Submissions that do not follow the theme will NOT be considered.
Please submit your written content as a Microsoft Word attachment (.doc or .docx). 12-point Times New Roman is preferred. If submitting several pieces (e.g. poems), include them all in one document.
Cover Letter Guidelines

Include a cover letter with the following information:

Name (as you would like printed)

Email address

Third-person bio (100 words max)

Author website and any social media links – optional

Author photo – optional

PFN - Call for Submissions to Instant Noodles Holiday Issue: "Holiday Noods"
2024-10-15 08:00 - 17:00 | Instant Noodles
Holiday Issue (V4 I3): Holiday Noods
HOLIDAY NOODS is our 2024 winter holiday theme. Give us your best holiday fails (any December holiday, from Hannukah, to Solstice, to NYE, etc.) or your best funny work about noodles that happens to ALSO be holiday-themed in some way. The point of the end-of-year issue is always to be light-hearted to downright silly.
Submissions close OCTOBER 15, 2024 and the issue publishes DECEMBER 1, 2024.
PLEASE NOTE LENGTH REQUIREMENT:
All submissions must be between 1 and 500 words. So, if you submit two poems, each poem must be 500 words or less. One piece of fiction, 500 words or less, and so on.
There is no submission fee for authors, and no cost for readers. All content will be publicly available within the INSTANT NOODLES website .https://instantnoodleslitmag.com/
We promise a tasty collection of works you’re guaranteed to enjoy!
Please note:
Profanity should appear in the piece only when it adds to the impact or authenticity of the piece.
No hate: nothing that disparages people for things they cannot help like weight, gender, sexual orientation, pronouns, etc. This is not the place to complain that you don’t like something.
If your piece is off-topic it will not be accepted no matter how wonderful it is. Please be mindful of the themes. Same goes for length. Please be mindful of word counts/length for videos, etc. as they are indicated in the call.
We do not discuss why pieces are, or are not, accepted. If your piece is not chosen we simply state: this is not the piece we are looking for at this time.
Know your publication: you will do better submitting to Instant Noodles if you have read a recent issue.
Instant Noodles is always FREE to read and to submit. Many people volunteer their time to put it together, and those chosen are not paid for their submissions, but we do submit to Pushcart and Best of the Net awards annually.

PFN - Call for Submissions to Catamaran Literary Reader. Theme: Gardens
2024-10-15 08:00 - 17:00 | Catamaran Literary Reader
Submissions.
This issue will explore our connections to the natural world through gardens. Topics can include the magic of the place, its profusion of colors, scents, sounds, healthy vegetables, enthusiastic gardeners, and similar topics. Settings may include organic farms, horticulture gardens, flower gardens or farms, cultivated landscapes, backyard gardens, centers for agronomy, the agrochemical industry, places of ecologically sustainable agriculture, Zen gardens, moon gardens, memorial public gardens, and other similar settings. From the geometric shapes of gardens in European castles, to the gardens of the Victorians on the wilder side, gardens could be seen as an expression of individuality and culture. Gardens can serve as settings we venture into to work out our imaginations. This issue will explore the beauty and truth related to gardens through essays, short stories, and poetry.
Please submit your original, previously unpublished short fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry. Select one genre per submission to this category. For fiction or nonfiction, it can be any page length. For poetry a selection of 3-5 poems. In your cover letter please include a brief bio of one paragraph and a mailing address for contributor copies.
The submissions will close when the submission cap of 200 is reached.

By submitting your work to Catamaran, you grant us first North American serial rights, and the nonexclusive right to archive your work online for an indefinite period of time. We may also choose to nominate published work for awards for recognition in the Best American anthologies, the Pushcart Prize, and others. The author retains all other rights.
Catamaran is distributed to bookstores and subscribers quarterly. Catamaran seeks to provide a channel for you to share your creative work with the general public. We offer two complimentary contributor copies upon publication. We would like to consider your submission for two consecutive quarterly issues of Catamaran after you have sent us your work, so please allow up to six months for a decision.
Note: We do charge a small submission fee equal to the cost of mailing a flat rate USPS envelope as we don’t accept submissions by mail, only online. The fee covers our costs associated with maintaining the online submission site and supports our work.

P - tiny wren anthology series Seeking Submissions on the Theme of: Earth
2024-10-15 08:00 - 17:00 | tiny wren lit
Print Anthology Theme: Earth

Call for submissions! With special guest editor and wrenster Dana Graef!
How do you know earth? Time stuck in squelching mud; digging your hands into soil; planting seeds or pulling up roots. A landslide. A drought. Gravity, keeping you. What does earth evoke? What does it make possible?
Send us your poems of mud and soil, gardens and groundedness, land and landscapes. In tiny form, we welcome your experiences, ways of knowing, and creative interpretations on the theme.

We gravitate toward tiny poems with deep imagery + original, striking figurative language. Read previous issues or buy a tiny chapbook to get a sense of what we like.
​
​Submit up to six (6) tiny poems in a single Word document (.doc or .docx or .pdf). Each poem should be on its own separate page, single-spaced, + in 12-point font, nothing fancy. Work should be your own + unpublished. Before you submit, please read our FAQ page.
Each featured poet will receive a free contributor’s copy + 50% off for additional copies.

Submissions: September 16 thru October 15

PFN - Synkroniciti Magazine Seeking Submissions on the Theme of: Haunting
2024-10-15 00:00 | Synkroniciti Magazine
Submissions

Synkroniciti is a quarterly online arts journal. We accept work in a variety of media across the visual, literary and performing arts spectrum.
Submissions for our December 15th issue are open. The theme is “Haunting.” Contests will be in poetry ($75) and short story ($75).

Submissions should be emailed to magazine@synkroniciti.com. Please place your name and the category of submission in the subject field of your e-mail.
You may submit more than one entry in one or more categories. We currently pay only artists winning the top prizes in our contests. We are working toward being able to pay sustainable honorariums to everyone.
Pending payment, all submissions will receive a response shortly after our submission deadline. If your work is selected you will be asked for biographical information and we will work with you to make sure that your work is displayed in a way that makes you happy. If you are not already a subscriber, you will receive the issue of Synkroniciti Magazine that features it for free.
Don’t want to pay submission fees? Become a subscriber ($10 every six months/2 issues) and you will have unlimited free entries (as long as you are subscribed).
If your work is selected we request the right to publish it in both the e-book and the website archive of Synkroniciti Magazine. We accept simultaneous submissions and pre-published work (contingent upon the other parties involved allowing publication).

Poetry Submission

Send up to 5 poems in Word or pdf format. We prefer free verse and are more fond of visual poetry than formal rhyme schemes, although rhyming does not disqualify your work. We will also consider poems in other languages with an English translation (poem and translation counts as one poem and both parts will be printed). The winner of our poetry contest will receive a $75 award and four free issues of the Magazine.

Short Story Submission

Send a short story in Word or pdf format. 4,000 word maximum. Note that Flash Fiction now has a separate category below. The winner of our short story contest will receive a $75 award and four free issues of the Magazine.

Flash Fiction Submission

Please submit a flash fiction piece of 350 words or less in pdf or Word format.

Essay

Send a single non-fiction work in Word or pdf format. 4,000 word maximum. We are partial to narrative and descriptive essays and memoir, but will consider expository, definitive and argumentative essays as well.

P - The 2024 Waltham Forest Poetry Competition. Theme: Friendship
2024-10-14 08:00 - 17:00 | Waltham Forest Poetry Competition
FRIENDS! We declare the 2024 Waltham Forest Poetry Competition is now OPEN! Send your poems on the theme of ‘Friendship’ and who knows? Our judge Jacqueline Saphra could be picking your work of art out as the winner. Main prize £400, and lots of other lovely prizes too.
Send us up to 6 poems of 40 lines maximum per poem (not including title) on the theme of FRIENDSHIP – we hope the theme allows for a variety of interpretations but you can interpret it any way you want. PLEASE read the rules before you enter. We’re offering over a thousand pounds in prizes in total. Entry fee for adults is from £3 and it’s FREE entry for young poets under the age of 18. CLOSING DATE IS MONDAY 14 OCTOBER 2024.
The competition is open to everyone (UK and international). There are Adult and Young Poet prizes, plus separate Waltham Forest local prizes for people who live, work or study in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. There’s also a prize for the funniest poem overall.
The top three poems in each category, plus the funniest poem, plus a number of Commended poets, will be published on our website. Our awards ceremony will be held at the Trades Hall, Walthamstow, London on Tuesday 10 December 2024 where all winners and Commended poets will be invited to read their winning poem/s and our judge will also perform.
Adult prizes (18 or over)
Entry fee: 1st poem £3, subsequent poems in the same submission £1 – up to 6 poems in total, 40 lines maximum per poem (not including title). Poets who live, work or study in Waltham Forest will also be automatically included in the Waltham Forest local prize for no additional fee.

Main prize: 1st £400, 2nd £200, 3rd £100.
Waltham Forest prize (sponsored by The Stow Brothers): 1st £50, 2nd £30, and 3rd £20

Young poet prizes (under 18)
No entry fee. Send up to 6 poems in total, 40 lines maximum per poem (not including title). Poets who live or study in Waltham Forest will also be automatically included in the Waltham Forest local prize.

Main Prize: 1st £50, 2nd £30, 3rd £20.
Waltham Forest prize (sponsored by The Stow Brothers) for poets living or studying in Waltham Forest: 1st £50, 2nd £30, and 3rd £20.

There will be a separate prize for the funniest poem, which should also be on the main theme, whether from an adult or a young person, and the winner will receive £100. The judges are Paul McGrane and Barry Coidan.
Rules
Poems must be 40 lines maximum, not including the title.
Send no more than 6 poems in total.
Adults should pay for entry (either by Eventbrite, cheque or directly into our bank account), then email or post their poems. Young poets don’t need to pay so please email or post your poems without payment.
Poems should be on the theme of FRIENDSHIP – though we’ll leave it to you how you interpret the theme.
The judge will read all poems entered into the competition. The judge’s decision is final and neither the judge nor anyone associated with the running of the competition will enter into any correspondence.
Poems are judged anonymously, so please don’t put your name or any identifying information on your poems.
At the time of entering the competition, you must be 18 or over to enter the Adult prize and under 18 to enter the Young Poets prize.
Under no circumstances can alterations be made to poems once entered.
No one associated with the running of the competition is eligible to enter.
Poems must be typed, in English, and the original work of the entrant. Poems generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) will not be be accepted.
Poems must not be previously published or self-published (including online), broadcast, accepted for publication elsewhere, or the translated work of another poet. If your poem is currently appearing on your social media pages, please delete it before submitting it to our competition.
Simultaneous submissions are NOT accepted. Please don’t send us your poems if you have already sent them to another competition or publication and you’re waiting for the result.
Due to the sheer volume of entries, only successful entrants will be notified. Details of the full winners list will be announced publicly on our website after the awards ceremony in December 2024.
How to enter

The easiest way for Adults to pay is via our EVENTBRITE page (Young Poets can ignore this step as entries for under 18s are free – simply email or post your poems as directed below).
Then put all your poems in one document, making sure your name is nowhere on the document and email your entry to poetrycompetition@yahoo.com with COMPETITION in the subject line. (We accept Word, odt, or pdf documents).
Include in the body of the email:

your name
your address
title/s of your poem/s
add ‘LOCAL’ if you live, work or study in the borough of Waltham Forest
add ‘YOUNG POET’ if you’re under 18
If paying by cheque, address your envelope to Waltham Forest Poetry Competition, 82 Somers Road, London E17 6RS. Entries to the Adult competition should be accompanied by a cheque payable to ‘Forest Poets’. We can’t accept debit/credit card payment. Please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you would like confirmation that we have received your poems. On a separate piece of paper from the poem/s, enter your name, address, daytime contact number and email (if you have one), and the poem title/s. This will ensure that poems are judged anonymously. Please don’t use staples on your manuscripts and don’t put any identifying details on the poems.
You can also pay directly into our bank account – please state that your payment is for the Waltham Forest Poetry Competition.
Account Name: Forest Poets
Account Number: 51602934
Sort Code: 40-02-02
Any questions? Email poetrycompetition@yahoo.com

FN - Call for Submissions to Griffith Review. Theme: No Place Like Home
2024-10-13 08:00 - 17:00 | Griffith Review
GriffithReview87
No Place Like Home
Non-fiction and fiction
There’s no place like home – although home isn’t always a place. It could be a feeling, an instinct, a language, a person, a memory; it could be where we long to return or can’t wait to escape. But for all its symbolic resonance, home also has myriad material consequences: from the picket fence to the political arena, it raises questions of sovereignty, identity, economics, class and domestic labour. What’s the future of home ownership? What does it mean to protect endangered languages? How do our conceptions of home shift when we start new lives in different countries?
This edition of Griffith Review heads out in search of home – what it means to us, why it matters and how it shapes our sense of self.
Things for you to note:
* We’re looking for non-fiction and fiction that responds to the theme.
* We want pieces that are no longer than 4,000 words (they can be shorter than this).
* We’ll let you know the outcome of your submission within eight weeks of the call-out closing date.
Full submissions only – no pitches please.
Publication date: February 2025

PFN - Penumbra Online Seeking Submissions on the Theme of: Dirt
2024-10-11 08:00 - 17:00 | Penumbra Online
“Although the surface of our planet is two-thirds water, we call it the Earth. We say we are earthlings, not waterlings. Our blood is closer to seawater than our bones to soil, but that’s no matter. The sea is the cradle we all rocked out of, but it’s to dust that we go. From the time that water invented us, we began to seek out dirt. The further we separate ourselves from the dirt, the further we separate ourselves from ourselves. Alienation is a disease of the unsoiled.” ― Tom Robbins, Another Roadside Attraction
“Trillions of microorganisms, even in my own smallish backyard, like a great dark sea swarming with tiny creatures—it almost makes me feel a little seasick standing here, knowing how much business is being conducted right under my feet.” ― Kristin Ohlson, The Soil Will Save Us: How Scientists,
Farmers, and Foodies Are Healing the Soil to Save the Planet
As the above quotes indicate, soil—the, epidermal layer of the body of fertile Mother Earth—is life itself; however, it is also death: it’s where we return, usually with dirt thrown in our faces as the human body experiences open air for the last time and gives itself to the billion-blooded earth. Soil implicates itself in most every aspect of experience; it is in fact key to life in the Great Central Valley of California, an agricultural center and the breadbasket of the United States. Agricultural soil is an increasingly fraught political issue worldwide, as the number of small farms dwindles across the earth in an era of widespread farmland consolidation, a change threatening biodiversity and crop diversity, ultimately putting the world’s food supply at risk. Monsanto is turning India’s small-holding farmers into cogs in its Great Reset wheel of global agriculture, resulting in mass protests and suicides among farmers. The widespread use of GMOs has led to contamination that has affected seed purity and damaged the livelihood of non-GMO farmers. Beyond the economics and politics of soil, dirt has theological import: Adam was the “dust of the earth” inspired with divine breath; the Jewish golem is shaped out of clay and brought to life with a secret word; in Greek mythology, Prometheus shaped humanoid figures of clay and Athena provided them with the breath of life. Soil is also a crucial aspect of our everyday lives, even though we experience the world largely through screens, simulations, memes, and digital images without substance or texture—the common condition of humanity in the grip of modern life. But to plunge one’s hands into the moist, friable earth is to connect, once again, with our primal, childlike selves. We at Penumbra are anxious to gather a body of art and literature, locally sourced and from around the world, that focuses on earthy, dirt-related themes.
​
Topics may include, but are certainly not limited to…

Dirt in all of its forms—silt, chalk, sand, peat, loam, mud, diatomaceous earth…

Rocks and dirt

The aesthetics of dirt; the various physical sensations arising from contact with the soil—the smell, visual stimuli, sounds—and the memories accompanying such contact; the experience of gardening, landscaping, or working the soil

Landscapes: crop fields, deserts, plains, gardens, steppes, wetlands, the sandy sea floor (and perhaps the opposite—the hard, dirtless cityscape)

Cultural practices involving dirt, such as the long history of geophagy or the daily replenishing of the sacred dirt at El Santuario de Chimayó in New Mexico

Dirt in theological contexts

Dirt and monstrous or mythological beings: consider Hercules’ defeat of Antaeus, or the creation of the Jewish golem, or the Slavic bolotnik, the Murphysboro mud monster, the swamp thing, the gargoyle…

The politics of dirt, including farming, territoriality and moving borders, “lines in the sand,” drilling, fracking

The creatures who live and thrive in the dirt: the trillions of infinitesimal underground creatures, the worms who churn the soil, the ants, the mud-loving pig…

Dirt as life, dirt as death; dirt and the human body​

Reflect deeply upon any of these topics or other related ones which may emerge for you, and then create and submit your poem or story to Penumbra for consideration. Each contributor may submit up to three poems, short stories, pieces of creative non-fiction, or hybrid pieces in any combination (e.g. three poems, one poem and two short stories, one short story, one hybrid piece, etc.).
The deadline for submissions for the online fall edition is October 11th at midnight. We look forward to hearing from you!
Submission Guidelines
Submissions are limited to a maximum of three items of poetry or prose in any combination. Each individual item must be submitted in a separate document. All submitted material must be original and not previously published. Works submitted simultaneously to Penumbra and to other journals are acceptable, providing they are identified as such and Penumbra receives notification immediately upon their acceptance elsewhere.
*Email submissions are not accepted; please use submittable.com. We do not accept paper submissions, except from writers (such as those who are incarcerated) who do not have access to the internet. Paper submissions must be postmarked by the July 4th, 2024, deadline. Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Send hard copies to:
Penumbra Literary Journal One University Circle DBH 264 Turlock, CA 95382​
*At this time we are unable to ship copies of Penumbra outside of the United States of America. *

PFN - Call for Submissions to Skink Beat Review. October's Theme: Fall/Horror
2024-10-10 08:00 - 17:00 | Skink Beat Review
Guidelines
BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent people(s), and all other Others are encouraged to submit.
Send your Prose (Fiction/CNF/Essay) to: Nikki.skinkbeatreview@gmail.com.
Send your Poetry to: Krystal.skinkbeatreview@gmail.com.
Please do not include a bio. Say hi and tell us something cool. We like to evaluate work with no biases of “status.”
Attach your work as a Word or Google doc. Times new roman, 12-pt font, please.
Poetry: one page max; 3 poems max
Fiction: flash to 1,000 words; 2 pieces max
CNF: flash to 1,000 words; 1 piece max
Academic Essay or Article: 1,000 words or less; 1 piece max
We promote youth voices. If you have a youth artist in mind, or are a youth artist who wants to publish, please email us (if under 18, please ask your parent/guardian)!
Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Let us know if your work finds a home elsewhere and congratulations!
Want to submit in multiple genres? No problem, just be sure to email genres to the designated editor listed above.
LEGAL STUFF:
Artist/Writer retains all rights to work. It’s yours. Please give us a mention as first publishers. We ask permission to use your work in any future anthologies. We will provide notice/ask for consent prior to publishing.
Submission responses can take up to 120 days (or more, but it may only take a day, depends on life).

PF- The 2024 Hedge Apple Halloween Contest. Theme: Fate Comes Knocking
2024-10-09 08:00 - 17:00 | Hedge Apple
We are currently open for submissions to the annual Halloween contest.

We love to see work from Hagerstown Community College students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community members, but we also love showcasing work from authors and artists around the world.
In other words, if you are reading this, we are interested in seeing your work!
Email your work to hedgeapple@hagerstowncc.edu. Scroll down for details!
General Submission Guidelines:

No cover letter is necessary, although you are welcome to send us a few sentences of author bio if you want to.
By sending us your work, you grant us permission to publish it both online and in print, but you retain the rights to publish or show it anywhere else that you wish.
FICTION/POETRY SUBMISSIONS: Please stay under 2000 words. Most pieces we publish are under 1000 words.

GENERAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
At the Hedge Apple, we believe that literature and artwork are essential parts of humanity. These powerful channels can offer us hope and healing, bring us together, and give voice to the marginalized. They aren’t highbrow pursuits reserved only for intellectuals—literature and art are for everyone. Fresh voices are essential, and we love fledgling artists. We are passionate about helping you find your niche, whether it’s through our feedback or the resources provided on our website, and yes, we want to hear from you veteran crafters too, so please send us your stuff as well. We want to hear what you have to say.
We are looking for mixed media submissions of all genres. We are especially drawn to pieces that showcase vulnerability and draw from real life experiences. That does not mean we don’t enjoy comedic takes on life, fantasy epics, and unconventional pieces. We like to uphold the unique, showcase the weird, and embrace the uncomfortable.
Payment:
Contributors will receive a complimentary copy of their work if it is published in print. With deep apologies to our international contributors, we are unable to mail copies outside of the United States at this time.
Submission Guidelines:
Please send fiction, poetry and nonfiction to hedgeapple@hagerstowncc.edu with the subject “Fiction/Poetry Submission.” Please feel free to include a brief bio written in the third person, pasted into the body of your email, if you’d like. If you choose not to include an author bio in your email, please understand that it be understood that you are choosing not to have one published with your work.
We do accept simultaneous submissions; however, please be courteous and withdraw your story/poem from consideration upon acceptance at another venue.
By submitting, you are agreeing to light editing that does not change the meaning or style. If your work is accepted for publication, you will receive a galley of your submission. We encourage you to review this email and respond with either corrections or approval. However, nonresponse will be considered approval of minor editing changes.
By sending your work to be considered for publication in our magazine, you are granting us North American serial rights, which means that we will publish the work online and in print, and then the copyright will return to you. If the work is republished, we ask that the Hedge Apple be credited.

PFN - Call for Submissions to Science Write Now. This Month's Theme: Synergy
2024-10-08 08:00 - 17:00 | Science Write Now
Submissions for Issue #11 ‘Synergy’ are now open!
In our next edition, to be published in November, we’re looking for creative explorations of the science of Synergy — interactions, collaborations, things that together become more than the sum of their parts. Show us the positives, the negatives, the interdependencies, the amplifications. What happens when cultures collide? As always, we pay writers for new and reprint stories, narrative essays, and poems, and we love experiments! Just no AI, please. We want to hear from you.
We look forward to reading your work!
Submit via Submittable.
Submissions close October 8, 2024
We welcome submissions from anywhere in the world. We publish new and reprinted original work. We pay $0.30AUD/word up to $390AUD for new writing, $70AUD for a single poem or $180AUD for three poems, $40AUD for reprint stories or essays, and $20AUD for reprint poems. We rely on funding and donations and have introduced a $3.00 AUD submission fee to ensure our content remains accessible and open access. Please note that we offer a fee waiver for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and anyone undergoing financial hardship—please email your work directly to hello@sciencewritenow.com.

PF - Call for Submissions to Mystic Owl Magazine. Theme: Halloween
2024-10-04 08:00 - 17:00 | Mystic Owl Magazine
Submission Guidelines

Mystic Owl is a poetry and fiction magazine. Speculative work is the focus, but we also want pieces that weave strange and weird language through real human emotions. We aim to publish three online issues yearly: spring, summer, and fall.
We are currently accepting submissions for our micro Halloween-themed issue to be published in October 2024. Our submission period will be open from September 6, 2024-October 4, 2024.

In this issue, we want to highlight fiction and poetry inspired by Halloween. Send us your work about monsters, talking pumpkins, becoming best friends with a sleep paralysis demon, your childhood nightmares, or whatever your tell-tale heart desires.

General Guidelines

Complete the submission form(s) below to submit your work. We encourage multiple submissions, but if you submit work in both genres, please ensure you submit separately through the appropriate form below.
We will try our best to review submissions received via email, but we highly encourage you to submit through our form(s) to guarantee your work is considered for publication.
When completing our form, submit with a bio of 150 words or less written in 3rd-person.
Simultaneous submissions are allowed but inform us if the piece has been taken elsewhere.
No pre-published work in other magazines or social media.
AI work is not allowed and will be rejected.

Fiction

100-3000 words
If under 1000 words, you can submit two pieces

Poetry

1-3 poems
Three-page limit for each poem

F - Stone's Throw Seeking Submissions about: The Little Guy
2024-10-04 08:00 - 17:00 | Stone’s Throw
Get in on our November prompt early…something tells me government run amok is going to be fertile grounds for imagination this year for some reason…
It’s election season, so this month we want to see stories about the government, its power, and how it can put its thumb on the scale. Whether it’s a cop with a chip on their shoulder, a zoning board that cannot be reasoned with, or a congressman saying one thing then doing the other, we want to see your stories about the little guy, and what happens when they come face to face with unaccountable power.
Stone’s Throw opens for submissions the first three days of every month, from 12AM on the first through 12AM on the fourth (with some wiggle room here and there to account for the editors being human). We’re looking for all the same dark fiction, crime, and noir as our usual submissions, but with a target length between 1,000 and 2,000 words, and aligned with the monthly submissions prompt (see below). We’ll read through each story, choose the one story that shines brightest, and publish it online the following month, paying $25 per accepted story.
After a year, we’ll collect all twelve stories into a Stone’s Throw Annual Anthology, to be published alongside our other print issues.
PLEASE NOTE — If you have been accepted within the calendar year for Stone’s Throw, you are ineligible to submit again during that same calendar year. However, we look forward to reading your submissions during our regular RHP Magazine open calls!
And from the Department of Things We Never Thought We’d Have to Say Department: Anyone found to be submitting a story that uses AI or language modeling software will have their story instantly rejected; they will be banned for life from submitting to any other RHP open calls; and they will be the object of open public ridicule and scorn. Come on, people — let’s not contribute to the eventual subjugation of humankind by the machines, okay?

N - Call for Submissions to Exchanges: Journal of Literary Translation. Theme: Spirit
2024-10-04 08:00 - 17:00 | Exchanges: Journal of Literary Translation
Submissions

Upcoming Issue:
We are currently accepting submissions for our Fall ‘24 issue. The theme is spirit.
Spirit: soul, essence. Breath, life. Liveliness, with a shadow of afterlife, of death, of the close unknown.
We eagerly await your submissions. The deadline is October 4th, 2024, 11:59pm CT.

Submission Guidelines
We accept translations of poetry, short or excerpted fiction, plays, and literary nonfiction into English.
A critical component of your submission is the Translator’s Note. Please use this opportunity to speak to the source and receiving contexts of the work and any unique challenges faced in the act of translation itself. Take care here—the Translator’s Note is often a deciding factor in our review process.
We happily accept simultaneous submissions, but ask that you please notify us if your work is accepted elsewhere.
To be considered for publication, submissions must include:

Both the original text and the translation in a copy-pastable text file format. Please, no .pdfs. If you absolutely must submit a .pdf in order to make the submission deadline, please notify us of this in your submission, and be prepared to supply a copy-pastable text file in advance of publication.
Brief biographies (100-150 words each) of both author and translator.
A Translator’s Note (150-500 words, approximately) in which you reflect on the translation process or another important aspect of your work that will help readers to contextualize, appreciate, and understand your piece.
Proof of permission from the original’s rightsholder(s) for publication of the original text on the internet.

To submit, please collate all of the above in a single .doc or .docx attachment with the file name format translator’s surname_author’s surname_original language_genre.doc (e.g. Schmidt_Do_Arabic_fiction.doc) and email to studorg-exchanges@uiowa.edu. Submissions lacking any or multiple of the above components will not be accepted for publication.
When you send your submission, the subject of your email must be: TRASUB-Translator’s name, Author’s name (e.g. TRASUB-Juan Schmidt, Jane Doe). Emails with alternate subject lines are likely to be filtered or lost.
If your work has appeared previously in Exchanges, we encourage you to wait at least one submission cycle before submitting again.
Submission Length

POETRY: no more than 7 poems.
FICTION: no more than 4,000 words.
DRAMA: no more than 15 pages.
LITERARY NONFICTION: no more than 4,000 words, or 2,500 words of translated criticism.
REVIEWS OF A SINGLE WORK: no more than 1,000 words.
REVIEWS OF MULTIPLE WORKS: no more than 2,000 words.
INTERVIEWS: no more than 2,500 words.
ESSAYS ON TRANSLATION: no more than 2,500 words.

Compensation and Rights
Unfortunately, Exchanges has no funds with which to compensate translators, authors or artists. We ask for first serial rights, after which the rights for all work revert to the author and translator.
Translating from an Ancient Language?
Please consider submitting to our sister publication, Ancient Exchanges. Submission dates and guidelines can be found at https://exchanges.uiowa.edu/ancient/submissions/
Reviews, essays, and interviews
Exchanges considers English-language interviews, essays and other writing on translation and translation studies for publication in our features column. Writers should query the features editor at studorg-exchanges@uiowa.edu, subject line “Feature pitch.” Please note there is currently a 3-6 month response time for feature and review pitches.
Exchanges is excited to start publishing more regular reviews of literature in translation. We are currently looking for reviewers for books translated into English, published during the calendar year 2023. To pitch a review, query the reviews editor at studorg-exchanges@uiowa.edu, subject line “Review pitch.”
Features and reviews are considered and published on a rolling basis, so please contact us any time.

P - After the End Poetry Competition 2024. Theme: Time and Temporality
2024-10-03 08:00 - 17:00 | After the End Poetry Competition
The competition will recognise previously unpublished newcomers, established names, and emerging talents.
Poems can be on any issue related to themes of time, temporality and endings and in any style. Individual poems should be no longer than forty lines and can include previously published poems as long as they fit the brief.
The After the End Poetry Competition offers to winners a first prize of £750, second and third place winners will be offered £125 each. All three winners will be published on the After the End website, and poems may be shared on media channels connected to the After the End project.

Rules

All entries must be formatted as a single-spaced word document or PDF.

Entries should be up to 5 pieces of poetry or a spoken word video performance

Each poetry piece should be no longer than 40 lines.

Spoken word video performance must be under 4 minutes total

Spoken Word submissions should be submitted in mp4 format via wetransfer.com to admin@ethox.ox.ac.uk. Please also send the poem in word or pdf in an email attachment to admin@ethox.ox.ac.uk.

All entries are judged anonymously, therefore, please do not include your name or any identifying information in the documents you upload. You should include this information only in the body of the email.

This is an international competition, and all entries must be in English.

All entries must be the entrant’s own original work, and must not have been generated, in whole or part, by a chatbot or other artificial intelligence.

The author must have the right to publish the poem on aftertheend.squarespace.com. The copyright remains with the author.

No corrections post-entry can be accepted.

The results of the competition will be published online and the decision of the judge(s) will be final.

No correspondence will be entered into regarding the judging process.

The closing date for entries is midnight (UK time) on 3rd October 2024. Winners will be notified by email four-six weeks after the closing dates.

Entries will not be eligible where the writer is part of the judging process, or anyone involved in the management/administration of the Prize, or a close family relative of any such person.

P - Peonies & Prose Poetry Contest. Theme: Threads of Connection
2024-10-02 08:00 - 17:00 | Peonies & Prose Poetry Contest
Theme: Threads of Connection
Deadline: October 2, 2024​
Submission Guidelines:

Threads of Connection: You are invited to explore and reflect on the power of connection, empathy, and support in the healing process. Connection is open to interpretation in the broad sense (e.g.,human relationships, animals, and nature).

Poems can be free verse, narrative, lyrical, or experimental

Maximum 2 submissions per poet

Open to poets worldwide

Poems should be unpublished and original work, in English

Maximum 40 lines per poem, font size 12 point, sans serif.

File types: PDF or .docx.

AI-assisted submissions not permitted

Include a brief bio (50 words or less) with your submission

Start with your name in bold and write the biography in the 3rd person (e.g. She, he, they, not ‘I’)

Names of books in italics, names of poems in single quotation marks.

Single spacing

Poets retain all rights to their work. Participants grant Peonies & Prose the right to publish their poem in our anthology, in print and/or on our website, and on social media with attribution.

Entry fee: $20 USD

Judging/Prizes:

Judging Criteria: Originality, creativity, and emotional impact

Publication in the inaugural edition of our online literary space, Peonies & Prose.

Special recognition for outstanding poems: 1st place: $500 USD; 2nd place: $250 USD; 3rd place: $100 USD.

Tips & Inspiration:

Explore the emotions and experiences of healing through the threads of connection

We’re looking for creative, authentic poems that share a story

Draw from personal experiences, observations, or imaginative scenarios

Use language that is authentic, evocative, and meaningful.

PFN - Moss Piglet Zine Seeking Submissions on the Theme of Patterns
2024-10-02 08:00 - 17:00 | Moss Piglet Zine
Submissions of Stories, Essays & Poems
Please send text submissions in .doc, .docx or PDF formats to info@krazines.com.
As our publication is digest-sized, we prefer short poems and prose pieces. Your stories and essays may go up to 1,000 words, but anything beyond that total won’t be considered.
You may provide multiple submissions, but don’t go crazy. Someone has to read all of the stuff that comes across our desk.
We’re OK with simultaneous submissions and previously published work. Just cite the place where your writing has previously appeared.
If you have a fancy title like Poet Laureate, Writer-In-Residence, or you have been knighted by a King or Queen, we’d be happy to include that information in our publication.
You retain all rights to your work.
When in doubt or you just want to say hello, contact us. info@krazines.com.

F - Call for Submissions to Humour Me Magazine. Theme: Halloween
2024-10-02 08:00 - 17:00 | Humour Me Magazine
Beyond the seasonal theme there are no rules (other than those outlined in our general guidelines below). All you have to do is tell us a funny spooky story!
Our seasonal issues have been huge hits in previous years and we look forward to seeing what you all come up with. Happy writing!
SHORT STORIES: Minimum 500 words, maximum 3000.
FEES: Flat fee of £20.00 per accepted submission for stories.

GENERAL SUBMISSION RULES
Please send all submissions attached to an email as a word/image document, as well as a short bio. Bio can be sent as an attachment or in the email body.
We are happy to accept all types of humour, from sharp satire to slapstick. While humour is subjective, we will not tolerate any form of bigotry or discrimination toward any ethnicity, gender identity, sexuality or disability.
We will not accept multiple submissions.
We will allow simultaneous subs, please do just let us know if you have been accepted somewhere else in the meantime.
We will not accept submissions that have been previously published or displayed in any format, anywhere.
We will not respond to any submissions that do not meet the submission criteria. We also will not respond to rejection follow-up emails.
We reserve the right to edit submissions for publication.
All payments to be made via paypal at least 48hrs before magazine publication.
Please send all submissions to: humourmemag@outlook.com

P - Call for Submissions to Contemporary Verse 2 (CV2): The Birthday Issue
2024-10-01 08:00 - 17:00 | Contemporary Verse 2 (CV2)
We’re excited to announce a call for submissions to our next themed issue:
THE BIRTHDAY ISSUE!
In 2025 CV2 Magazine will turn 50 (!!) years old, and we’ll be celebrating with a whole year of special events and issues. We’re kicking things off with the Birthday Issue (coming out in January 2025), and we want your poems!
Do you have lingering thoughts about the MTV show My Super Sweet Sixteen? Do you feel like the person who chose the birthstones for each month was probably born in April (whose stone is DIAMONDS)? Do you find it mildly offensive that Wikipedia refers to astrology as a pseudoscience? We want your poems about it!
We want to know if you were born in the Year of the Dragon or the Ox, the Rooster or the Dog. We want poems that explore aging, milestones, parties, presents. Astrology, celebrations, birth order, cake. About giving or witnessing birth. About loving or hating being the centre of attention.
Find out what the Hubble telescope saw the day you were born and turn it into a poem. Revisit the time you told someone it was your birthday, but it wasn’t. Tell us about a time you felt reborn.
Sing us a song. Cry if you want to. Make it happy or sad, funny or bittersweet. Blow out your candles and, just this once, tell us what you wished for.

General Submission Guidelines:
Any submissions that do not follow correct guidelines or do not include full contact information will not be considered for publication and will not receive a reply. Please read the submission guidelines before sending us your work.
Length of Submissions

Poetry submissions: no more than 6 pages.

We strongly prefer that work be submitted in a Word doc, not a pdf.
We prefer that you do not send us work for this themed issue that has also been submitted elsewhere.

N - Open Call to HerStry. Theme: Traveling Women
2024-10-01 08:00 - 17:00 | HerStry
Traveling Women
Pack up your suitcases, we’re going on vacation! Tell us your travel stories, whether across the ocean or in your own city. A woman out in the world is still something revolutionary.
** HerStry is always happy to share stories anonymously—if your story is selected for publication, simply let your editor know you would not like your name shared **
THE RULES:

All stories must be true and about you.

Stories must follow the theme in some way, interpretations can be wide.

Stories must stay between 500–3,000 words.

Documents should be double spaced, 12Pt font with 1 inch margins.

Submissions must be in .doc or .docx form—we do not accept PDFs.

Stories are read blind. Please DO NOT put any identifying material on your manuscript. Manuscripts that don’t follow this rule will be automatically disqualified without being read. We realize personal essays may contain your name; a first name is fine.

Please include a third person bio. Cover letters are fine, but not necessary (we don’t read them, we’re more interested in what you’ve written).

Please submit only once per theme.

We do not accept previously published stories.

HerStry centers the experiences of women identifying persons. We’re looking for work from bigender/polygender persons, cisgender women, intergender persons/intersex persons, nonbinary persons/gender non-conforming persons, transgender women/transfeminine persons, two spirit. In other words, if you are a cis man, please refrain from submitting.

A few things we don’t want to see:

Tear down pieces

Racist material or hate speech

Explicitly sexual material (In other words, please don’t send us porn)

Overly violent material

HerStry does not accept previously published pieces.

PFN - Still Point Arts Quarterly Seeking Submissions on: The Self-Portrait
2024-10-01 08:00 - 17:00 | Still Points Arts Quarterly
The focus of our winter 2024 journal will be:
THE SELF-PORTRAIT
In its grandest sense, a self-portrait may be presented as a painting,
a collage, a poem, an essay, a story . . . Who is the you that you know?
How do you express it?
Call for Writers
Submission Deadline: October 1, 2024
Selected writers will have their work published in the
winter 2024 issue of Still Point Arts Quarterly
INFORMATION AND SUBMISSION FORM

The Self-Portrait | Journal Submission | Winter 2024
In its grandest sense, a self-portrait may be presented as a painting, a collage, a poem, an essay, a story . . . Who is the you that you know? How do you express it?

Still Point Arts Quarterly is accepting writing submissions (fiction, creative non-fiction, essays, poetry; 5000 words maximum) on the theme The Self-Portrait.
DATES AND DEADLINES
October 1, 2024 – Submissions Close (Deadline)
November 15, 2024 (or earlier) – Notification of Writers
December 1, 2024 – Still Point Arts Quarterly Winter Issue Released
GENERAL GUIDELINES AND POLICIES

Please do not email or call us to ask about the review process or results. We will email you when we have made a decision regarding your submission.
If we decide to publish your work, we will send a writing agreement for your review and signature. Typically we ask for one-time print and digital rights. You may republish your work at any time.
Please know that we typically receive well over 100 poetry submissions, and we accept between 5 and 8. To keep things somewhat orderly, we limit all writing submissions to one piece per person.
We do accept reprints.
If we have published your work previously, we have no waiting period for submitting work again. We’ll gladly accept good writing whenever we receive it.

Categories: Fiction/Nonfiction/Poetry
File types: .doc, .docx
Number of Pieces: 1 piece

PFN - Call for Submisions to Potomac Review. Theme: The Other
2024-10-01 08:00 - 17:00 | Potomac Review
We welcome poetry, short fiction, essays, and meditations the topic. Writers may interpret these themes in a myriad of ways. For inspiration, we offer excerpts from our recent editor’s note “A Reconciliatory Approach”
“The initial seed of inspiration brings with it restraint and empathy, humility, and gratitude for whomever is abroad, and the decision to share does not include the decision to disqualify, for the decision to share is by definition reconciliatory; the poet will never meet but even a small percentage of their readers. Like othering, not seeing is also a choice. We are not the only ones who observe and perhaps even engage in forms of mimesis. Just as self implies other, the seen implicates the unseen. Much can be seen and understood, but there is an ever-vanishing horizon, and the other, and the unseen, call into this future. Seeing and failure to see are literary matters, and while our themed issues will be capacious enough to allow for each writer’s vision—transgressive, disruptive, queer, representative of the animal turn in the Anthropocene—they will be defining enough to proscribe that vision into the form of a task, an aesthetic task, where literature is itself seen as a form of reconciliation that does not recognize otherness, difference, disfiguration, or boundaries except as an also-I where the unseen is that aspect of artistic creation that is ahead of its time, that reveals itself as what has not yet been seen. ”

General Submission Guidelines:
Please send us only one submission at a time per reading period. Send your work via Submittable at PotomacReview.Submittable.com.
We try to respond within four to six months.
We happily read simultaneous submissions, but ask that you let us know as soon as a work has found a new home. Please see guidelines below for withdrawing your work if another publication has accepted it.
We do not accept multiple submissions. We cannot accept submissions from individuals currently associated with Montgomery College.
Contributors will be compensated with two complimentary copies and a 40% discount for additional copies.
Thank you! We look forward to reading your work.
Poetry
Please send us up to five poems per poetry submission.
If any of your poems have been accepted elsewhere, please leave a note in your submission specifying which were selected for publication, and we’ll consider the remaining poems.
Fiction
While we don’t have specific word limits for fiction submissions, we are, like everyone else, constrained by final page counts. The longer the work, the more difficult it is to find room for it; we typically find it difficult to make room for works that run much longer than 7,500 words. On the other hand, we’ve never turned down something we loved.
We only ask that you withdraw your submission if it has been accepted elsewhere. And please, only send us one submission at a time. Thank you.
Nonfiction
There are no specific word limits for nonfiction submissions, though like everyone else, we are constrained by page counts, and the longer a piece of work, the more difficult it is to find room for it. We typically find it difficult to make room for works that run much longer than 7,500 words. However, we’ve never not been able to publish something we love.
Please note that we do not publish academic essays; we’re interested solely in creative nonfiction.
We only ask that you send one submission at a time (no multiple submissions), and that you withdraw your submission if it has been accepted elsewhere.

N - Dorothy Parker's Ashes Seeking Submissions on the Theme of: The Cops
2024-10-01 08:00 - 17:00 | Dorothy Parker’s Ashes
Submissions are restricted to women and gender non-conforming people.
Submit.
Please submit first-person essays* anytime before the deadline prior to publication date. Please be advised that we reserve the right to edit, though all edits will be sent to writer before publication for approval. Please feel free to include a suggested title and art but we reserve the right to change the title and choose the art. We do consider previously published essays, taking into consideration venue, date, etc.
Although the essay holds the central role at DPA, we are open to other genres, including experimental, poetry and flash non-fiction, as long as there is a first-person point of view.
All rights are non-exclusive. We do not currently offer payment. We accept no responsibility for anything from libel to hurt feelings. As Anne Lamott says, “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should’ve behaved better.”
Preferred length. 500 to 2000 words.
Please send submissions along with a short bio pasted directly into your email to: info@dorothyparkersashes.com We ask for this to avoid potentially malware-laden attachments. Unless your formatting is a specific design element of your piece, format should be single space with no paragraph indentation and one extra space between paragraphs.

PFN - Call for Submissions to Issue 7 of Moss Puppy Magazine. Theme: The Boneyard
2024-10-01 08:00 - 17:00 | Moss Puppy Magazine
Call For Submissions: The Boneyard

For our seventh issue, we are diving into the haunting and evocative theme of “The Boneyard.” We are seeking prose and poetry that evoke feelings of abandonment, emptiness, loneliness, and the eerie ambiance of graveyards. We invite you to explore both literal and abstract takes on this theme, drawing on images of skeletal structures, the haunting silence of a graveyard, or the decaying remnants of a junkyard filled with old cars. Consider the symbolism of dog bones or the raw essence of bones themselves.

Issue 7: What We’re Looking For

We are particularly interested in pieces that delve into spooky, ghostly, and haunting elements, including personal experiences with death. Explore the underground, dirt, vines, and the creepy aspects of “the creaky bones of the house.” Themes can also include the decaying remains of an old house or the bones of a relationship, depending on your unique execution.
We seek emotionally resonant pieces that linger with us long after we’ve experienced them, much like a visit to a boneyard. Whether you choose stark, skeletal imagery or more metaphorical explorations of decay and emptiness, we encourage you to interpret the theme in your unique way.
Let your creativity roam through the eerie silence of the boneyard. We can’t wait to see how you bring this theme to life through your words and art.
Simultaneous Submissions: Encouraged – just withdraw via email if it’s accepted elsewhere!
​

Poetry

Preferred Formatting:​
12 point font
Times New Roman
double-spaced
Submit up to three poems separately using the appropriate Google Form.
Poems can appear within one document, but should be submitted separately for organizational purposes.

Prose

Preferred Formatting:​
12 point font
Times New Roman
double-spaced
indented
Submit up to 3,000 words of prose using the appropriate Google Form.
Prose can appear within one document, but should be submitted separately for organizational purposes.

P - Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest 2024
2024-10-01 08:00 - 17:00 | Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest
Submit poems on any theme, up to 250 lines each.
Prizes:

TOM HOWARD PRIZE: $3,500 for a poem in any style or genre
MARGARET REID PRIZE: $3,500 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style
The top two winners will also receive two-year gift certificates from our co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value)
Honorable Mentions: 10 awards of $300 each (any style)
Top 12 entries published online
Enter via Submittable

Length limit: 250 lines maximum per poem. No restriction on age of author. Authors from all countries eligible except Syria, Iran, North Korea, Crimea, Russia, and Belarus (due to US government restrictions). Final judge: Michal ‘MJ’ Jones, assisted by Briana Grogan and Dare Williams.
First time entering? We prepared this brief video to guide you. See also our short entry checklist, then click the button below to submit. Read the winning entries from the 21st contest. The results of the 22nd contest will be announced on April 15, 2025. Fee: $22 per submission (one submission may contain up to 3 poems). Enter as many submissions as you wish.
You may submit published or unpublished work. Each submission may contain up to three poems. You may make multiple submissions. Please omit your name from your entries. We prefer 12-point type or larger. Please avoid fancy, hard-to-read fonts. No restriction on age of author. All countries eligible except Syria, Iran, North Korea, Crimea, Russia, and Belarus (due to US government restrictions).
For the purpose of the Margaret Reid Prize, a poem in a traditional style employs regular meter and/or rhyme, or is written in a recognized poetic form. This includes traditional Western forms such as ballads, sonnets, and blank verse, Asian forms such as tanka and haiku, and other traditional forms.
First time entering? We prepared this brief video to guide you. See also our short entry checklist.
Entry fee: $22 for each submission of 1-3 poems.

F - The Last Line Literary Journal Seeking Submissions Ending with the Line: "I didn't want to admit it, but Lee was usually right."
2024-10-01 08:00 - 17:00 | The Last Line Literary Journal
Submission Guideline

Fiction: All stories must end with the last line provided. The line cannot be altered in any way, unless otherwise noted by the editors. The story should be between 300 and 5,000 words (this is more like a guideline and not a hard-and-fast rule; going over or under the word count won’t get your story tossed from the slush pile).

Also, we understand that writers may add our last line to a story that they are currently working on or have already completed, and that’s cool. But please do not add our last line to a previously published story and submit it to us. We do not accept previously published stories, even if they have been repurposed for our last lines. Also, we do not accept simultaneous submissions.
All Stories: Writers should include a two- to three-sentence biography of themselves that we can use in the journal should your story be accepted.
Multiple Submissions: We don’t mind if you want to submit multiple stories for the same issue. However, it is unlikely we will use more than one of your stories in the same issue.
Submissions: We prefer you send manuscripts via email to submission (@) thelastlinejournal (dot) com. We accept stories in MS Word or Word Perfect format (we prefer attachments). Please do not send .pdf versions of your story. Make sure your name and contact information, as well as your bio, are part of the attachment. Stories also can be sent to The Last Line‘s post office box (PO Box 250382, Plano, TX, 75025-0382). No manuscripts will be returned without an accompanying SASE with sufficient return postage.
The 2024 last line is:
I didn’t want to admit it, but Lee was usually right.
Due date: October 1, 2024
Notification: We don’t make decisions about submissions until after each issue closes. We typically send notices to everyone who submitted within three to four weeks after the issue’s deadline. You can also check the website’s home page for each issue’s production status.

Payment: We pay on publication: $20.00 – $40.00 for fiction (all U.S. dollars). We also send you a copy of the issue in which your piece appears. You’ll receive your money and issue at the same time.
(Note to our international writers: Postage cost for sending author copies overseas is becoming outrageous, so we are reducing international author payment by the amount it would cost to send one author copy overseas. However, if you would like to receive an electronic version of the issue [PDF] instead of a hard copy, author payment will not be changed.)
