This list focuses on a wide variety of journals that are seeking specific kinds of writers, including older writers, working class writers, the incarcerated, Italian Americans, veterans and their families, women writers, and Southern writers. Some of these limitations are geographic, some are not. Some publications have stricter guidelines than others.

Not all are currently open to submissions but most are. If you know of another journal that belongs on this list send us a link, at support@authorspublish.com

If you are a younger writer, we have a list of specialized publications here. If you are a member of an underrepresented community, our most recent monthly round-up of those opportunities is here; this list is updated and released on the third Thursday of every month.

Thin-Skin
A new literary journal  that is focused on publishing work of writers that are 50 or older.

The Perch 
Published by Yale University, this literary journal focuses on mental health, and their upcoming issue is focused on substance use. They hope to capture a range of vantage points, including those who use/have used substances, community witnesses such as family members, friends, care practitioners, and also strangers whose accounts hold power and insight. The specific details involved are on the website and the deadline for submissions is August 1st.

Iron City Magazine
This journal only publishes work by incarcerated writers.

The Awakenings Review
They are committed to publishing the works of artists, writers, and poets with mental illness. They also accept submissions from those with a family member or friend with mental illness. They publish two issues a year.

Immigration Diaries
This new publication focuses on sharing the work of writers who are also immigrants.

The Banshee 
They bill themselves as. “the leading journal for women who scream”. They publish a wide variety of work by women and non-binary writers (as long as non-binary writers are comfortable with their work appearing in a women’s magazine). They are currently closed to submissions.

Italian Americana
They only accept submissions of creative writing from individuals who are Italian on one or both sides.

Passager Journal
This journal was founded in 1990 to focus on publishing writing by authors who are 50 and older. Since 2005 they’ve also published books (although they are only interested in working with authors who were previously published in the journal). There is a fee to submit electronically, but postal submissions are free.

Text Power Telling Magazine
They publish a wide range of work by sexual trauma survivors, those who love survivors, as well as those who support survivors.

Boomer Lit
Technically open to submissions from writers of all ages, they describe themselves as having a “home base in the Boomer generation.”

Grand Dame Literary
Publishing women writers of every age, particularly memoir, and work that could be categorized as women’s fiction/genre. They reopened to submissions on July 1st. There is a charge to submit to some categories.

Bloom
A literary site devoted to highlighting, profiling, reviewing, and interviewing authors whose first major work was published when they were age 40 or older, and they recently started accepting poetry and fiction submissions from authors who first publish or publish in a new genre at 40 or later.

VIA: Voices in an Italian Amaricana
A semiannual print journal that publishes creative and scholarly work pertaining to Italy and its diasporas.

Susurrus
An online literary arts magazine for artists from the American South.

Nawr
A magazine supporting Welsh and Wales-based writers and artists. They specialize in art, literature, and philosophy.

Gyroscope Review
This literary journal publishes an annual “Crone Power” issue in the fall. This year they are open to submissions for it from July 1st through September 1st, or until the issue is filled.

Military Experience and the Arts
MEA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose primary mission is to work with veterans and their families to publish short stories, essays, poems, and artwork in their bi-annual publication, As You Were: The Military Review, periodic editions of Blue Nostalgia: The Journal of Post-Traumatic Growth, and others. They will be reading submissions during 15th July to 30th July, or until filled.

The Wrath-Bearing Tree
Established by combat veterans and maintained by a diverse board of veterans, military spouses, and writers compelled by themes of social justice and human resilience, The Wrath-Bearing Tree accepts submissions of essays, reviews, fiction, and poetry on military, economic, and social violence written by those who have experienced military, economic, and social violence or their consequences.

Consequence Forum
A paying journal that publishes work addressing the human consequences and reality of war and geopolitical violence. They will reopen for submissions on 15th July. They pay.

Quartet Journal
A journal that publishes poetry by women over the age of 50.

The Other Side of Hope
This UK based literary journal publishes creative work by  of refugees and immigrants only. They are currently open to submissions for their “mother tongue / other tongue” issue till the 5th of August.

Blue Collar Review
Their mission is to “expand and promote progressive working class vision of culture”. Submissions have to be mailed.

Workers Write
This long-running themed journal focuses on working class writers. They are putting a themed collection called Further Tales from the Cubicle, which will contain fiction and poems from the office workers’ point of view – including how that changed because of COVID. Their deadline for submissions is Dec 32st, 2023. They are a paying market.

Persimmon Tree
An online magazine of the arts by women over 60. Submissions are scheduled to open in October. You do have to sign up to be a subscriber in order to submit but it is free.

Divinely Inspired Lit
Their intention is to be a safe space for anyone who has experience with religious trauma.

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Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2022 Guide to Manuscript Publishers.