There are 20 literary magazines and websites listed here which are open for submissions of creative nonfiction and nonfiction. They also publish other genres like fiction and poetry, and many of them pay writers. A few have themed submission calls. They’re listed here in no particular order.
Shenandoah
This literary magazine publishes essays, creative nonfiction, short stories, excerpts of novels in progress, poems, comics, and translations of all of the above. Their current submission window is for prose submissions only. They accept comic submissions and translations throughout the year. They can only accept 800 submissions per month, so they recommend submitting early during a reading period. Deadline is 31 August 2020, and they pay $100 per 1,000 words of prose up to $500. Details here.
The Bookends Review
They publish creative nonfiction (up to 3,000 words), fiction, poetry, interviews, essays, book reviews, and visual/musical work from around the world. For this submission cycle, until 31 August 2020, they are asking writers to email work to them – see top right. Details here.
The Massachusetts Review: Working Title
Working Title publishes fiction and nonfiction that is longer than what is published in their print magazine. Work in this digital platform will also incorporate visual and interactive elements. They will accept mailed submissions only for Working Titles between May 1 and 1 October, when regular submissions are closed for The Massachusetts Review. There is no fee for mailed submissions. Length guidelines are 7,000-25,000 words, and pay is $250. Details here.
Bridge
This is a journal for young writers published by Bluffton University, and they take work from writers and artists ages 14-24. In nonfiction, they accept personal essays, journalism and memoir, of up to 5,000 words. They also publish short fiction, poetry, short plays/screenplays, comics, art, graphic literature, and illustrated narratives. Details here.
(For more journals accepting work by young writers, see Emily Harstone’s recent list: 15 Magazines that Publish Writing by Children and Teens).
Voyage
This is a new young adult (YA) magazine. For creative nonfiction, they want personal essays and other creative nonfiction that specifically relates to the teen experience, of up to 6,000 words. They publish fiction and craft essays, as well. Pay is $200 for creative nonfiction and fiction. Details here.
Superstition Review: Social Justice
This is the online literary magazine published by Arizona State University twice yearly. They accept nonfiction (up to 4,000 words), art, fiction, and poetry. They are reading now on the Social Justice theme. Their guidelines say, “We have chosen this theme in order to magnify voices that have been traditionally undermined by our histories, institutions, policies, laws, and habits of daily life. We hear you and are here for you on your journey to inspire change through art.” They are reading on this theme until 31 August 2020. Details here.
Existere
This journal of arts and literature is a publication established and administered by students at York University in Toronto, Canada. They publish nonfiction (up to 3,500 words), poetry, fiction, and art from both local and international contributors. They publish twice yearly, and submissions are accepted all year long. Pay is $50 (Canadian) per submission (up to $250). Details here.
Seaborne Magazine
This is a new online magazine that celebrates the sea and all around it. For their first issue, they want atmospheric nonfiction (800-1,500 words – creative and personal essays, nature writing, historical & travel pieces or evocative accounts of true stories), fiction, poetry and visual artwork about the sea which will captivate their readers’ imagination. Details here.
Channel
This Ireland-based journal takes submissions of nonfiction (up to 6,000 words) on a rolling basis, and of poetry and fiction during reading periods, from all over the world. They publish work that engages with the natural world, and have a particular interest in work which encourages reflection on human interaction with plant and animal life, landscape and the self. They also accept translations. For prose, pay is €15/page, up to €60. Details here.
Ephimiliar Journal
They accept simultaneous submissions as well as previously published works, and they publish work on a rolling basis. They publish memoirs, book reviews, and personal essays of up to 2,000 words. They also accept fiction, poetry, music, art, and photography. Details here.
Salt Hill
This biannual literary journal is produced by writers in the Graduate Creative Writing Program at Syracuse University. They publish creative nonfiction, reviews, essays, poetry, translations, interviews, and artwork. They will read fiction and poetry until early September 2020, and nonfiction (up to 30 pages) is accepted on an ongoing basis. Details here.
The Missouri Review
This literary magazine publishes fiction, essays, and poetry. Excerpts from book-length general interest nonfiction will be considered, but must stand alone; they also accept queries for nonfiction. There is no fee for mailed submissions. Pay is $40 per printed page, and they have ongoing submissions. Details here (submission guidelines) and here (FAQ with payment details).
Vagabond City
Their tagline says, “A digital space feat. poetry, art, nonfiction, interviews, and reviews by marginalized creators.” Apart from creative nonfiction, they publish art, poetry, poetry in translation, and book reviews. Details here.
Colorado Review
This literary magazine accepts submissions of nonfiction (personal essays – no literary criticism) year-round, and submissions have to be mailed. They also accept fiction and poetry during reading periods. For prose, they prefer work of 15-25 pages, and pay $200. Details here.
Capsule Stories: Bare Bones; In Bloom; Your Reading Life
This is a print literary magazine published once every season, and their first issue was in March 2019. They publish essays (up to 3,000 words), short stories, and poems, and are currently reading work on two themes: Bare Bones (Winter 2020, deadline 2 October 2020), and In Bloom (Spring 2021, deadline 15 December 2020). They are also accepting essays about your reading life for their blog. Details here.
American Journal of Nursing: Reflections
This is a journal of nursing and they pay for personal essays. On their guidelines page, click on the ‘Reflections’ link under ‘Author guidelines’ on the right, to download guidelines for that section. Their guidelines say that they want “personal stories exploring any aspect of nursing, health, or health care. While many are accounts of memorable nursing experiences, we also welcome the patient perspective, as well as that of other health care professionals. … Avoid generalizations and clichés in favor of specific details and real immersion in a place, an event, a moment, a character. Anecdotes meant to illustrate cozy lessons usually aren’t what we’re looking for; we prefer the messiness and ambivalence of real life, the nuance and uncertainty of many of our hardest decisions, the ways we change our minds about things.” They want essays of 800 to 850 words, and pay $150 for these. Details here.
Palaver
They are interested in exploring interdisciplinarity, not only in content, but also in form. They accept creative nonfiction, poetry, fiction, visual art, multimedia submissions, and multimedia-text hybrids. Apart from creative work, they also accept research-based submissions. Their reading period is until 14 September 2020. Details here.
Gordon Square Review
They consider short stories, personal essays, and hybrid prose works of up to 5,000 words, and pay $25 for prose. They also publish poetry. Their submissions are open until 1 October 2020. Details here.
Doubleback Review: Conscientiously Withdrawn Work
This magazine usually publishes creative work, including nonfiction (up to 4,000 words) that was published in a magazine/journal that has gone defunct. For this special issue, however, they are accepting work that fits in the category below, even if the journal where it was published has not become defunct.
Their guidelines say, “Doubleback Review unequivocally condemns racism, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, the abuse of power dynamics, and all forms of prejudice, discrimination, and oppression. Unfortunately, the literary community is not immune from these issues, and we support artists who choose to withdraw their published work from journals because of problematic editorial behavior or that journal’s publishing morally objectionable pieces.
Accordingly, we are currently accepting submissions of such conscientiously withdrawn work, even if the journal where it was published has not become defunct.” Details here.
The Southampton Review
They publish creative nonfiction, memoirs, personal essays, and traditional essays of up to 7,500 words. They also publish fiction, poetry, and artwork. All submissions will be considered for the print edition or TSR Online; for the print edition, pay for prose is $100; online contributors get a magazine copy. Deadline is 1 September 2020. Details here.
Author Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She is the author of 182 Short Fiction Publishers. She can be reached here.
