A Novel Approach

PFN - Puerto del Sol Seeking Submissions on: Doublethink
2026-01-02 08:00 - 17:00 (America/Toronto) | Puerto del Sol
Puerto del Sol is seeking work which engages with the theme of Doublethink
Doublethink: a paradox of the mind. Yes, doublethink as in: Orwellian. As in: TikTok propaganda. Fact and opinion fused in contradiction. Reality v.s. Reality. The two wolves within. Self induced hypnosis, self denial. Patriotism. The state as victim but powerful. The oppressed as weak but dangerous. The performance of a lie. The proletariat. The politique. Doublespeak. Doubling back. Words obscured and disguised.
Send us work that navigates this dystopia, this manipulation; these reversals. Work that traverses the wastelands of distortion. What is at odds with your own sense of reality? With the Party? Have we fallen down a Reddit rabbit hole of indoctrination? Will we make it out the other side? Give us the feeling of contradiction. To know and not to know, and the choices between.
This themed feature will appear as part of our Spring 2026 print issue. We look forward to reading your work.
Poetry Submissions: Please send up to 5 poems in one file (.docx or .doc files are preferred).
Prose Submissions: Please submit just one story, preferably no longer than 5,000 words. Please include the total word count in your cover letter and indicate if your submission is fiction, nonfiction, or autofiction.
All submitted work should be previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please add a note on Submittable right away if your work is accepted elsewhere.
Please do not submit more than once per year. While we do accept simultaneous submissions, please notify us promptly should your work be accepted elsewhere. We do not consider previously published work or excerpts.

PFN - Asymptote Journal Seeking Submissions on the Theme of Attention
2026-01-02 08:00 - 17:00 | Asymptote Journal
SUBMIT TO THE SECOND INSTALLMENT OF OUR SPECIAL FEATURE: ON ATTENTION
In an age of fractured focus, how do we attend—to each other, to the world, to the overlooked?
In response to the overwhelming number of submissions we received (100 submissions in six weeks) to our original call, we have decided to organize at least one more installment of this Special Feature.
Simone Weil once called attention “the rarest and purest form of generosity.” Mary Oliver claimed it was our “endless and proper work.” We are seeking works of fiction, literary nonfiction, and poetry—written originally in English or translated into English—that engage with the politics and poetics of attention: its scarcity and its cultivation. We welcome responses that cross borders—of genre, of geography, of language—and expand our understanding of what it means to look closely, to listen fully, to dwell in the present. Submissions must be sent through Submittable.

You may submit creative work of no more than 5,000 words by one author in total. For this Special Feature, we will consider works originally written in English as well as works translated into English. Here, again, is our call:
In an age of fractured focus, how do we attend—to each other, to the world, to the overlooked?
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Asymptote welcomes submissions of hitherto unpublished translated poetry, fiction, nonfiction and drama; certain types of original English-language nonfiction, including literary and critical writing. Please note the following genre-specific and general guidelines.
Poetry
Please send up to 10 pages of poetry translated into English. If the originals are included in the submission, the length of the entire document may reach 20 pages (that is, a maximum of 10 pages of translated work accompanied by 10 pages of original material). Please start each poem or section of a long poem on a new page unless the work absolutely demands to be read without page breaks.
Fiction
The submission might include one or more works of short fiction or excerpts of a longer work translated into English. Please send no more than 5,000 words in total.
Literary Nonfiction
This includes genres such as memoir, despatch (reportage), travelogue and the occasional essay. Nonfiction submissions must be work translated into English, except for essays about translation, which may be written in English. To get a stronger sense of what we are looking for, go through the past articles that we have published. Send no more than 5,000 words in total.

GENERAL GUIDELINES
All submissions should be sent as one Microsoft Word attachment (as a .doc file, please) via Submittable.
Submissions must not have been previously published.
Simultaneous submissions are permitted, but we ask in return that you notify us by email as soon as you learn of an acceptance elsewhere.

Submission Fee: $10

P - Arcana Poetry Press Anthology Series Theme: Smitten with the Written: A Poet’s Guide to Poetry Made Poetic
2026-01-02 08:00 - 17:00 | Arcana Poetry Press Anthology Series
Anthology Submission Guidelines

Important: Please review all Submission Guidelines carefully. Submissions that do not follow these guidelines may be ineligible for consideration. We will not send individual notifications for submissions declined due to guideline issues.
General:
· Submission Period: October 1, 2025 — January 2, 2026
· All submissions will be reviewed following the close of the submission period
· We estimate all submissions will receive a response by March 31, 2026
· Open to poets worldwide of all backgrounds and experience level
· We are committed to uplifting diversity and strongly encourage submissions from marginalized voices
· Poetry must be original and unpublished, with the exception of social media
· Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us promptly if your work is accepted elsewhere
Submission Attachment Requirements:
· Submissions must be a single Microsoft Word file attachment (.doc or .docx file). If you are using another program, please export your file to word before submitting
· 12pt, Times New Roman font
· 1.5 spacing
· Maximum of 3 poems per submission
· Each poem must be on its own page
· Each poem must fit a single column on an 8.5x11in page
· Each poem must have a title
· Any poetic form is welcome
· Please do not include your name or any other personally identifiable information in your submission file attachment. Submissions should be anonymized to ensure a fair review process.
Submission Email Requirements:
· Subject Line: Please include your name followed by “Anthology Submission” (e.g. Jane Doe – Anthology Submission)
· Please use author name exactly as you would like it to appear in the anthology
· In the body of the email, please include author name, the title(s) of your poem(s), and a third-person author’s bio.
Author Bio Guidelines:
· Length: 150-200 words
· Style: Third person
· Include your pronouns after your name [e.g. Jane Doe (she/they)]
· Content: Include relevant writing experience, publications, awards, or other notable achievements. You may also include a brief personal detail or insight that gives readers a sense of who you are.
· Online presence: Please end the bio with one place readers can find you online (Instagram, Substack, personal website, etc.)
Style & Theme:
We’re curating an anthology for poets who are head over heels for language itself. This collection celebrates poems that explore the endlessly recursive act of writing poetry. We love poetry that is emotionally charged, fearless, and speaks truth. We value powerful poetic storytelling with evocative metaphors, vivid imagery, and unique wordplay. We desire poetry that feels intimate, as if the author is sharing secrets with their audience.
Theme: Smitten with the Written: A Poet’s Guide to Poetry Made Poetic
· Poems should engage with the craft, joy, or obsession of writing poetry
· Work can be meta, self-reflective, or whimsical, highlighting the relationship between poet, poem, and (if applicable) reader.
· We welcome experimental forms, wordplay, and unconventional structures.
Topics can include:
o The Process: drafting, revising, scribbling on whatever is within reach, lines that arrive at inconvenient times, etc.
o The Why: why we write, what compels us, what poetry gives or takes away
o The Who: portraits of the poet-self, mentors, muses, or audiences (real or imagined)
o The Where: places poetry lives, like classrooms, kitchen tables, open mics, subway rides, in nature, etc.
o The Meta-Moments: poems about the blank page, the stubborn lines, or the thrill of a stanza falling into place
o The Struggle: when you have the undeniable urge to write, but the words just won’t land.
o The Obsession: poems about being consumed by a single idea, image, or line that won’t leave you alone
o The Inspiration: The sparks that ignite your poetry
o The Risk: writing that pushes boundaries or exposes vulnerability
o The Silence: when the words aren’t there yet, but you sit with the emptiness, listening and waiting
o The Aftermath: the feelings after finishing a poem, like relief, exhilaration, or doubt
What We’re Not Looking For:
· Work that is purely instructional or academic
· Work that is overly didactic, like step-by-step “how to write” instructions
· Poems unrelated to the love of words, reading, writing, or the poetic experience
· Hateful or discriminatory content
· Poems that are incomprehensible without context (obscure references, inside jokes, or experimental forms that don’t communicate meaning)
· Extremely short, single word poems or poetry fragments unless they carry a clear, purposeful resonance.
Submission Fees & Optional Feedback:
· Anthology submissions are free — everyone is welcome to submit without any cost
· Optional editorial feedback:
o $5 for feedback on one poem of your choice
o $10 for feedback on all three submitted poems
· Payment Instructions:
o Include your author name and email address in the payment notes
o In the body of your submission email, include a short note confirming you paid for feedback
o If you are requesting feedback on only one poem, please specify the title of that poem
· To ensure we can provide feedback, please follow all submission guidelines. Submissions that don’t may not be eligible for editorial feedback.
Important Information To Consider:
· Trim Size: Our book size is 5.5×8.5 inches. Long lines may need to be wrapped to fit within our trim specs.
· We aim to use white space thoughtfully: We keep your structure intact, but spacing between lines and stanzas may be adjusted to curate a collection that feels balanced and full
· Please use your author name consistently: Use it exactly as you’d like it to appear in the book — on your submission, contract, author bio, email signatures, and any other correspondence. Consistency helps us avoid errors and ensures your name is represented correctly in the anthology
· Please note: minor edits for formatting, clarity, or consistency may be made during the production process, but substantial changes will be discussed with you beforehand. Necessary line-wrapping and line spacing do not qualify as substantial changes.
Accepted Poets Will Receive:
· Publication of their poem(s) with Arcana Poetry Press
· A complimentary copy of the anthology
· Promotion on our website, social media, and other marketing channels
· Authors retain copyright ownership of their work
How To Submit:
· Use https://pay.arcanapoetrypress.com/onepoemfeedback to pay for editorial feedback on one poem
· Use https://pay.arcanapoetrypress.com/threepoemfeedback to pay for editorial feedback on three poems
· Include your author name, email address and selected poem title (if applicable) in the payment notes
· Email submissions@arcanapoetrypress.com
· Subject Line: Your Name – Anthology Submission
· In the body of the email, please include author name, the title(s) of your poem(s), and a third-person author’s bio.
· Attach poems as a .doc or .docx file
Thank you for sharing your work with us! We cannot wait to read your poems and celebrate the joy of language together.

F - On the Premises Short Story Contest #46 Theme: The return of...
2026-01-02 08:00 - 17:00 | On the Premises
The Current Contest
THE RETURN OF…
Admit it! You saw this premise coming.
For this contest, write a creative, compelling, well-crafted story between 1,000 and 5,000 words long in which someone or something has returned after a significant absence. Does this return make people happy, unhappy, or somewhere in-between? That’s up to you. Also: Was this return a surprise, or was it expected? That’s also up to you.
GENRE RULES: No fiction aimed at readers younger than 12, no exploitative sex, no over-the-top grossout horror. Also, no stories that are obvious parodies of existing fictional worlds/characters created by other authors. (For the same reason, we do not accept “fan fiction”.) Follow those rules and we’ll take anything from the most super-realistic literary drama to crazy farces (real-world or otherwise) to any variant of science fiction or fantasy you can imagine. Read our past issues and you’ll see.
Deadline: 11:59 PM Eastern US time, Friday, January 2, 2026.
One entry per author. There is no fee for entering this contest.
Remember to take all author information out of your story! Tell us who you are in the space provided in the web form cover letter you get when you click on the “submit” button, NOT in your story! No headers, no bylines… just the story.

PFN - ROPES Literary Journal Seeking Submissions for Issue 34. The Theme: Punk
2026-01-05 08:00 - 17:00 | ROPES Literary Journal
What does Punk mean to you?
The theme for 2026 is Punk.
Punk is many things to many people.
Punk is rebellion. Punk is anti-establishment. Punk is love. Punk is loud. Punk is colour. Punk is community. Punk is dystopia. Punk is utopia. Punk is past. Punk is present. Punk is future.
Punk is not dead.
We encourage writers to explore and develop their own unique interpretations of this theme.

What kind of material does ROPES accept?
ROPES welcomes submissions from Irish and international writers of all origins and backgrounds. We encourage work from first-time writers and members of minority groups or underrepresented communities. We accept a variety of written work, including, but not limited to, fiction, flash fiction, poetry, memoirs, and essays.
All submissions should be original, previously unpublished work.
If you are eager to share a piece of work (within the designated word count: see below) but are unsure about its category or content, feel free to send a query to ropeslitmag.submissions@gmail.com.

What is the word count?
The word counts are as follows:

Fiction: Max 3,000 words (ONE piece per submission)
Non-fiction (memoirs, essays, other): Max 3000 words (ONE piece per submission)
Flash fiction: Max 500 words (up to THREE pieces per submission)
Poetry: Max 40 lines per poem (up to TWO poems per submission)

If you are submitting prose or any type of long-form content, please note the word count of the piece in the document. Please ensure that multiple pieces (poetry, flashes, etc) are compiled within a single document.

How should I format my submission?
Please do not include your name or any other identifying information anywhere on your submitted files.
All writing should be formatted in a clear font such as Times New Roman, in an easy-to-read size such as 12pt, with easy-to-read spacing, no less than 1.15. All submissions should be in PDF, .doc or .docx format.

Can I submit more than once?
We allow one submission per category (this may comprise a singular piece or multiple, depending on the categories listed above).
Should you choose to submit in multiple categories, we ask that you treat these as separate submissions and complete a new Google Form each time. Please note that your submission will not be considered unless submitted through our Google Form.

Can I submit to ROPES if I’ve already submitted my work somewhere else?
We are happy to take simultaneous submissions (provided the work is original), but we ask that you notify us should your work be accepted elsewhere, as we will then be unable to publish it.

Thank you for choosing ROPES as a potential home for your work. We can’t wait to read your work!

P - Cordite Poetry Review Seeking Submissions on the Theme: Fit
2026-01-10 08:00 - 17:00 | Cordite Poetry Review
Are you fit? For the job? For a run? A gender? For life? Are you fit for purpose? Not fitting is maybe part and parcel of being a POET. But we still want to fit into the culture in which we live. Do we? Or be extremely unfitting. I read articles about middle aged people who want to still be able to fit into their old jeans / bathers / wedding dress. I don’t know where I fit anymore, they seem to be saying. Let me return to an (imagined) past where things fitted me and I was fit. I saw my father fit once and was frightened. We must stay fit to fend off illness, aging, death. We must! Mustn’t we?
What fits inside a poem? What is unfit for poetry? My questions stem from my own uncertainty. I procrastinated going for a run while I wrote this and now the weather is inclement. You might share such messiness. Equally, you might have beautifully crafted paeons that match your resting heart rate. Odes to your Strava goals. Sonnets of hatred about the fitness industrial complex. The awkward, terrible feelings of being a person. Forever not quite fitting. Can we provide succour for ourselves, for others, in whatever outfit, unfit, fitful ways we bring words to the page?

Submissions

Submission to Cordite 119: FIT, with poetry guest-edited by Emilie Collyer, closes 11.59pm Melbourne time on 10 January 2026.
We celebrate 29 years of publishing in 2025. Please consider making a DGR tax-free donation.
*Submissions for Cordite Scholarly are always accepted.
Submissions of poetry in translation can be sent to our Translations Editor at any time: alice [@] cordite.org.au.
The following conditions apply to all other poetry submissions:

Please do NOT print your name or contact details on your submission document.
Cordite only accepts unpublished work.
Cordite maintains a hybrid submissions policy. This means that the guest editor may invite five (5) Australian and five (5) overseas authors directly to submit to the issue. In addition, the guest-editor will anonymously select an additional 30-35 works from Australian authors and use their discretion to select further overseas works. For each issue, the guest editor does not know the identities of the online contributors (via Submittable) until after the final selections have been made.
Simultaneous submissions? Sure. Just inform us or withdraw if the work is accepted elsewhere.
Please send a maximum of three (3) poems in one (1) Word or RTF document.
We are not able to offer feedback on individual poems.
Submissions will only be accepted via Submittable …
Submissions may need to be developed to adhere to our Guide for Indigenous Editing and Writing.
