These magazines publish creative nonfiction of various kinds. Most of them also accept other genres, like nonfiction and poetry. Some of them pay writers. Not all are open now, but many are. They are listed in no particular order.
Reckoning
They publish work on environmental justice – creative nonfiction (up to 20,000 words), essays, fiction, poetry, translation, and art. Query for reprints and reviews. They are accepting submissions for issue 8. They have detailed guidelines, including, “For Reckoning 8, we want thinking, writing and art about … this. All of this, right now. We want to hear about active resistance to the patriarchofascist, corporate-captured extractive state. … Help us understand how strategies of repression and control all over the world concentrate agency in the hands of the few at the expense of all other life. We are looking for work in opposition to a broad, insidious fascism that treats water, trees, and bodies as exploitable, expendable resources rather than sacred, essential components of our global, infinitely interconnected and interdependent web of life.” Pay is $0.10/word for prose, $50 for reviews, and $50/page of poetry. The deadline is 22 September 2023. Read the issue-specific guidelines here and general guidelines here. The submission portal is here.
Counterclaim Review
Counterclaim “is a production company… that produces art that counters normative and traditional forms”, according to their Twitter bio. They want up to 10 pages of creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and art. The deadline is 31 August 2023. Details here.
Shooter Literary Magazine
They want work on The Unknown theme. Their website says, “We’re looking for stories, essays, memoir and poetry on anything to do with unfamiliar people, new places, strange experiences or foreign exploration. Work might revolve around culture clashes, romantic encounters, fears about the future, immigration, travel, or otherworldly realms altogether. The theme is open to wide interpretation, but please adhere to the submission guidelines. In addition to thematic relevance, we seek engaging, elegant writing that maintains a high literary standard.” Pay is £25 for prose of 2,000-6,000 words, and £5 for poetry and short prose. Please see their note on contributor copies. The deadline is 24 September 2023. Details here.
Clinch Literary Magazine
They publish fiction, creative nonfiction (including memoir excerpts, up to 5,000 words), and poetry about the martial arts in all its forms. About nonfiction, “”We are looking for nonfiction that encapsulates the intensity and creativity seen in the martial arts. Whether it be experimental tracts or the conventional essay, we are excited about pieces that profoundly speak to us both emotionally and stylistically.” Pay is $15. The deadline is 30 September 2023. Details here.
The Paris Review
They will open for prose submissions on 1st September, and will accept submissions via Submittable until they reach capacity. They also accept postal submissions during their reading period. Pay is unspecified. Details here.
Split Lip Magazine
Split Lip Magazine is a voice-driven literary journal with a pop culture twist. They publish online monthly and in print annually – memoir (up to 2,000 words), flash fiction, short stories, poetry, and art, as well as interviews and reviews (for interviews and reviews, query first via webform – see guidelines). For memoir, they say, “Give us the dirty lowdown. We love memoir that shines a new light on the human condition. There are no limitations on subject matter.” Pay is $75 for web contributions, $5/page for print, $50 for interviews/reviews, and $25 for mini-reviews for their web issues. Fee-free submissions for all writers are open during certain months, including August, September, and November; these sometimes closed earlier, if their Submittable cap is reached. Fee-free submissions for Black writers are open till mid-December. Details here and here.
Brick
This well-regarded Canadian literary journal only accepts literary nonfiction submissions, and they tend toward pieces of 1,000 to 5,000 words. They pay $65-720. They accept submissions during April and October. Details here.
Gordon Square Review
They publish nonfiction (up to 1,000 words), fiction, and poetry. They pay $25 for prose and $10/poem. The deadline is 1 October 2023. Details here and here.
Alternative Milk Magazine
They publish essays, creative nonfiction (up to 4,000 words), fiction, and poetry. They pay a small honorarium. They are reading work for their second issue; the deadline is 1 September 2023. Details here.
The Stinging Fly
They will open for creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry during November 2023 for the Spring 2024 issue. They pay €150 for flash fiction/shorter essays (1-2 pages) and for longer prose, they pay €45/page, with a minimum/maximum payment of €300/€1,200; for poetry, they pay €40/page, with a minimum payment of €60/poem. They also accept art. Details here.
The Masters Review
Submissions for their New Voices section is fee-free, and they pay writers. For this section, they accept narrative nonfiction and fiction by writers who have not published a full-length work (a short story collection is ok – see guidelines). They pay $100, and submissions are ongoing. They have two other fee-free sections: book reviews, interviews, and craft essays (craft essays are paid $50); and fast response for BIPOC and historically underrepresented writers. Details here.
Channel
They have detailed submission guidelines, including, “Although we draw inspiration from local and international traditions of nature writing, as well as from the many dedicated platforms for writing on climate and ecology that exist today, much of what we publish falls outside common definitions of nature writing and eco-writing. We love work that speaks directly of a writer’s bond with and fear for our planet, and work that takes a local landscape, or a local flower, as its subject; equally, though, we love work that draws on an aspect of nature as setting, image or metaphor.” They have specific submission windows for fiction and poetry; nonfiction for the print (up to 6,000 words) and online magazine, as well as the blog, and art are accepted through the year. Pay is €50/poem and €50/page of prose, up to €150. Details here.
Mangoprism
They welcome pitches and submissions for all types of writing. They publish personal essays; cultural criticism; long-form interviews with interesting people; short fiction; album, book, movie and product reviews; original reporting; radical political screeds; and unexpected recipes. “Mangoprism pieces generally span 1,000 to 3,000 words, but we bend in either direction in particular cases. The only true standard of publication is that reading your piece must be at least as enjoyable as eating a morsel of mango, the most succulent of fruits.” Pay is at least $0.10/word. Details here.
The Citron Review
They publish micros in all genres (up to 100 words), as well as flash creative nonfiction (101 to 1,000 words), short poetry, and flash fiction. All types of creative nonfiction (memoir, essays, etc.) are acceptable. The deadline is 6 December 2023. Details here and here.
Qwerty
Qwerty is affiliated with the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. They accept submissions of creative nonfiction (up to 5,000 words), fiction, poetry, and art. Query for reviews and interviews. They pay CAD15. The deadline is 31 August 2023. Details here and here.
Half Mystic
Half Mystic is a publishing house, literary journal, and arts organisation dedicated to the celebration of music in all its forms. Guidelines for the journal say, “The theme for Opus II, Issue I is Presto, a musical direction indicating that an artist play a piece at a rapid tempo, and an English adverb meaning “suddenly, as if by magic.” For our eleventh issue we’re looking for vanishing points, beat drops, bar hops, glow stick raves, impulsive haircuts, disco ball suncatchers, man-made magick, glitter in the shadows, blurred vision, sleight of hand, immaterialism, songs half-lucid and bewitched by the myth of movement. Please only send us work that interprets or embodies this theme, whatever it might mean to you. Submissions close April 2024.” They publish creative nonfiction (up to 3,000 words), poetry, prose, translations, and experimental work. Each piece should pertain in some way to music and the presto theme. Their Submittable is open for various opportunities, including submissions to the journal. Details here and here.
The Cincinnati Review
They accept fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and hybrid works for their online feature, miCRo (up to 500 words), for most of the year, as well as for their print magazine thrice a year – September, December, and May. There is a cap on print submissions; submissions open on the 1st of these months, and close when a cap is reached. Pay is $25/page for prose and $30/page for poetry in the print journal and $25 for miCRo posts or special features. Details here (general guidelines), here (what the editors look for), and here (submission manager).
Aurelia
They publish the work of marginalised genders: women, non-binary people and trans men. They are “dedicated to personal thoughts, feelings and experiences. The things you think and the way you feel must be at the centre of your piece. All article submissions must be written in the first-person (“I think, I feel, I want…”)” They accept only pitches, not completed submissions. Pay is £50. Details here.
West Trade Review
They publish creative nonfiction, poetry, fiction, photography, and artwork. “We are interested in personal essays, memoir, travel essays, and lyric essays of up to 6000 words that blend style with substance and reach beyond the personal to tell us something new about the world. We want creative nonfiction that make the reader think and feel, work that humbles us with its joy, humor, embarrassment, anger, hope, grief, or all of the above, and gravitate toward writing that has something important to teach us–something that readers really need to know, but might not have understood this was a need until the last word of the work.” Work from this journal has been selected for inclusion in Best American Essays, Best Debut Short Stories, and Best Short Fiction. The deadline is 15 December 2023. Details here.
The Kenyon Review
This respected journal anticipates opening for submissions in September 2023. They publish fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Payment is upon publication. They do not accept paper submissions, except from writers (such as those who are incarcerated) who do not have ready access to the internet (see guidelines). Details here.
Black Fox Literary Magazine
They publish personal essays and creative nonfiction (up to 5,000 words). “We tend to resonate more with nonfiction pieces that read more like fiction.” They also publish blog posts, fiction, poetry, and art. The deadline is 30 November 2023. Details here and here.
Nashville Review
This magazine is affiliated with Vanderbilt University. They accept creative nonfiction (up to 8,000 words), “across the spectrum: memoir excerpts, essays, imaginative meditations,” translations, poetry, and fiction during February and August, and close by category when they reach their quota. Comics and art are accepted year-round. They pay $25/poem and $100 for prose and art. The deadline is 31 August 2023, or until filled. Details here and here.
After the Art
This magazine seeks personal review essays (500-1,500 words) that explore the ways reading can enrich the experience of looking at art. Each essay must be about a piece of art as well as a written text. They publish quarterly, in September, December, March, and June. Their deadlines for each issue are 15 August, 15 November, 15 February, and 15 May. Details here.
The Victorian Writer
This Australian magazine is the publication of Writers Victoria. They accept pitches or articles on writing, as well as fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They are reading works on the Rip theme for the print magazine. Pay is AUD70 for poetry, and AUD100-200 for other writing. The deadline is 4 September 2023. Details here and here.
Months to Years
They accept nonfiction (including essay, memoir, and journalism) of up to 2,500 words that explores grief and loss. They also publish poetry and art on these themes. They do not want fiction. The deadline is 1 September 2023. Their reading periods are given on the website. Details here and here.
Consequence Magazine
They publish work “that addresses the human experiences, realities, and consequences of war and geopolitical violence through literature and art.” They accept nonfiction (interviews, essays, and narrative nonfiction, up to 4,000 words), fiction, poetry, translations, and art. All works will be considered for online and print. Pay is $30-50 for print prose, $60 for online prose, and $20-40 for poetry. The deadline is 15 October 2023. Details here.
Smoky Blue Literary and Arts Magazine
They publish writing and art. Their website says, “At Smoky Blue Literary and Arts Magazine, our primary interest is quality. We welcome submissions in any and all forms, genres, styles, and approaches in written word and image. We encourage innovation as well as tradition.” They accept creative non-fiction, memoir, poetry, and short fiction. Send prose of up to 5,000 words. The deadline is 15 December 2023. Details here and here.
Abandon
They publish creative nonfiction (up to 6,000 words), fiction, poetry, hybrid works, craft essays, graphic novels and cartoons, art; query for reviews. “We want to showcase writing and artwork that has been created with abandon. That term is free to be interpreted liberally, but ideally it is the kind of work that takes risks, created in a space wherein the artist doesn’t care what anyone else thinks or what everyone else is doing. This means that we’re open to so-called “genre fiction,” from mystery to sci-fi to romance to fantasy to horror to whatever strikes your fancy. As long as the writing is powerful and abandons the preconceived notions of what is expected, we want to read it.” They’re reading submissions for their Abandon Earth issue. Payment is $15 and the deadline is 30 September 2023. Details here.
Hominum
It is their mission “to publish work that, in its attempt to look outward, looks inward as well.” They publish prose (fiction, nonfiction, hybrid and other work), poetry, screenplays, and art. The deadline is 30 September 2023. They have given their reading periods for the year on the website. Details here.
Lunch Ticket
Lunch Ticket is the literary magazine of the Creative Writing MFA Program at Antioch University Los Angeles. They publish creative nonfiction (up to 3,500 words), poetry, fiction, translated works, writing for young people, and visual art. All works submitted for creative nonfiction will be considered for the Diana Woods Memorial Prize in Creative Nonfiction ($250); and all submissions to the translation category will be considered for the Gabo Prize for Translation & Multilingual Texts. The deadline is 1 September 2023. Details here and here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
