These magazines/websites accept creative nonfiction of various types – lyrical essays, memoirs, personal, or narrative essays included. Some of these are themed. They are open for submissions now, and most of these also accept other genres also, like fiction, poetry, scripts, reviews, commentary, and interviews. Several of these pay writers. Here they are, in no particular order.
Catapult
This well-regarded magazine publishes American and International narrative nonfiction and also fiction. They are reading for a few nonfiction themes now, including On Writing and Queer Life. Submissions are 500-6,000 words; a typical piece is around 2,500 words. They are reading fiction submissions through March, and non-fiction until mid-April 2020. They pay. Details here.
Sub-Terrain Magazine
They accept creative nonfiction, fiction, commentary (social or otherwise), and poetry. They are reading work for a Disobedience themed issue. Their guidelines say, “subTerrain has always prided itself on its rejection of the status quo, and in this issue we will feature work that explores disobedience as progress, as chaos, or as morality. Or perhaps the works will be an act of disobedience themselves, in that they flout the so-called rules of genre.” They accept nonfiction of up to 4,000 words and pay CAD0.10 per word, up to CAD500. They are reading for this issue until end-April. Online submissions are charged, but there is no fee for mailed submissions. Details here.
The MacGuffin
This literary magazine is published by Schoolcraft College. They accept creative nonfiction of up to 5,000 words, and portions of longer works are acceptable, if under their word limit. They also publish fiction and poetry, and are reading for a special formal poetry issue now; general submissions in other categories are also open. Payment is contributor copies. Details here.
Bending Genres
This online magazine likes creative nonfiction of up to 1,500 words that is “experimental, gut-wrenching, terrifying, honest, breakneck speed, whooshing out, fabulous and secretive. We like blending genres, mixed and hybrid writing, blurred and creative lines crossed.”They also publish fiction, poetry, and microviews. The deadline is mid-January 2021. Details here.
Yellow Arrow Publishing
They accept creative nonfiction (500-5,000 words), reviews, poetry, and artwork from writers or artists who identify as women, and are reading on the theme of Home. They pay $10 and a contributor issue. Length guidelines are 500-5,000 words for nonfiction. The deadline is 31 March 2020. Details here.
The Gravity of the Thing
This magazine “is dedicated to the publication of defamiliarized writing, and our editors are always excited to discover new ways writers are defamiliarizing traditional forms of written language. Our contributors may be experimenting with genre, with specific elements of craft (characterization, line break, dialogue, time, etc.), or with multimedia forms”, according to their website. They publish creative non-fiction (up to 3,000 words for short, up to 500 words for flash), fiction, poetry, and others (see guidelines). They nominate published works in American national anthologies. Submissions are open till 30 April 2020. Details here.
Chicken Soup for the Soul
They accept true inspirational stories and poetry on set themes. They have a few themes listed currently: Listen to your Dreams (about dreams and omens, premonitions, tapping into inner vision); Christmas is in the Air (work about the entire December holiday season, including Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, and New Year’s festivities. Stories should be “Santa safe”); Age is Just a Number (humorous or serious stories of life after 60); Stories of Divine Intervention (stories about divine intervention and timing, miracles, angels, miraculous healing, messages and signs from heaven – can be religious or non-religious); and Stories About Self-care and Me Time (stories about self care, not just about physical health but emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing). They have various deadlines for these themes. They accept work up to 1,200 words, and pay $200. Details here and here.
Azure: A Journal of Literary Thought
This magazine publishes fiction, creative nonfiction, excerpts, screenplays, stageplays, fragments, meanderings, philosophy and poetry. They want work that is linguistically, intellectually, and emotionally demanding of the reader. Their guidelines say, “We publish lyrical philosophy, experimental fiction/poetry/non-fiction, dark humor, classical forms, and innovations in craft. We do not publish contemporary realist fiction.” They pair each piece of writing they publish with a sketch. Send up to 50 pages. Details here.
Paper Angel Press
They are reading work for an anthology featuring work on the theme of romance gone wrong at sea. Their guidelines say, “Life at sea presents many challenges, and finding (and keeping) love is one of the biggest. Heartwreck: Romantic Disasters at Sea is a collection of true and semi-true stories about love gone wrong on the high seas… Rough weather, small spaces, long days in the boatyard, and an eclectic mix of personalities make personal relationships among the seafaring community challenging and rife with struggles. We’re looking for personal essays and memoir/creative nonfiction pieces about your experiences. … Maybe a relationship fell apart and you got stuck with a boat you didn’t think you wanted. Maybe, after five days at sea with a partner and five months to go, you realized you can’t possibly live with that person on a small boat. Whatever the disaster, if it happened on or around boats, we want to read about it.” Length is 2,000 to 5,000 words, and they pay $0.02/word. The deadline is 30 July 2020. Details here.
Prairie Fire
This Canadian literary magazine publishes creative nonfiction, editorials, essays, memoirs, fiction, interviews, profiles, correspondence, notes, plays, scripts, etc. Length guidelines are up to 10,000 words for prose, and pay is up to CAD250. Submissions have to be mailed. Details here and here.
Bluestockings Magazine
They do not publish pieces that perpetuate racism, colonialism, ableism, transmisogyny, and so on. Submissions should have an intersectional framework and center people with marginalized identities. Apart from creative nonfiction/personal narrative, they publish fiction, poetry, art, pieces on culture, and current events/interviews. Submissions should be 1-3 pages. Details here.
Hippocampus Magazine
This magazine is accepting work for their nonfiction anthology series, The Way Things Were, which reflects on the things we miss. Previously published essays and book excerpts are also accepted, and hybrid and experimental creative nonfiction welcome. The themes they want work on are Road (true stories about road trips, and also solo travel stories with or without a car), and Corner (stories of all kinds that are set in or revolve around a corner bar/dive bar). The essays should be up to 5,000 words, and pay is $50. The deadline is 15 June 2020. Details here.
Grain Magazine
This Canadian literary magazine accepts work from around the world. They publish literary nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. Send up to 3,500 words for prose; they pay CAD50/page, up to CAD250. The deadline is 15 May 2020. Details here.
Liguorian Magazine
This is a Christian publication and they publish personal essays of up to 1,000 words, articles, and fiction. Pay is $0.12-0.15/word. Details here.
West Branch
This literary magazine publishes creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and translations. They will accept up to 30 pages of prose and pay $0.05/word, up to $100. They are reading submissions through 1 April 2020. Details here.
The American Bystander
Newsweek called this “the last great humor magazine”. They accept essays, first-person accounts, memoir, and premise-driven humor pieces (short pieces of up to 1,200 words, long pieces of 1,200+ words), cartoons, comics, illustration, and photographs. Pay varies. Details here.
The Coachella Review
They publish creative nonfiction of up to 6,000 words, fiction, poetry, drama, and a blog (reviews, essays, short fiction, and interviews). They are reading now for their Winter 2020 issue. Details here.
Away
They want nonfiction writing and photo essays about travel. Their guidelines say, “We are especially interested in pieces by writers and artists who are aware of the complicated space that writing about travel occupies. We do not shy away from the memoiristic or experimental.” Essays are up to 6,000 words. Details here.
Bayou Magazine
They publish literary nonfiction, creative personal essays, and lyric essays of up to 7,500 words, and poetry. They also publish fiction but charge a fee for online submissions in that category. Pay is contributor copies for nonfiction. They are reading submissions until 1 May 2020. Details here.
Bennington Review
This literary magazine is published twice a year in print form, in Summer and Winter – they will consider all work for the print magazine, and some work will be additionally featured on their website. They aim to carve out a “distinctive space for innovative, intelligent, and moving fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, film writing and cross-genre work.” They are particularly taken with writing that is simultaneously graceful and reckless. They accept up to 30 pages of prose (including self-contained excerpts from longer works), and pay up to $200. The deadline is 15 May 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.
