These literary magazines and other outlets publish a variety of nonfiction/essays. A few are looking for themed submissions. Some of them pay writers. Most, but not all, of them are open for submissions now. They’re in no particular order.
TOLKA Journal
Their website says, “Tolka is a biannual literary journal of non-fiction: publishing essays, reportage, travel writing, auto-fiction, individual stories and the writing that flows in between.
We are a journal for writers to express themselves beyond the limits of fixed genres, forms or subjects. … We encourage writers to test the creative boundaries of non-fiction.” They publish work by Irish and international writers, of 2,000-4,000 words. Pay is €500. The deadline is 22 January 2023. Details here.
Vast Chasm
They publish “bold work that explores the expansive human experience, including flash and short fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and other nonconforming work.” Pay is $50 for prose up to 5,000 words. They read submissions on an ongoing basis. Details here.
Porkbelly Press
They read for their chapbook series in January – these can be creative nonfiction such as lyric essays & flash, poetry or prose poems, collections of flash or micro fiction, graphic narratives, sequential artwork, or combinations of the above (tightly linked by theme, image, voice, etc.). Please submit 12 – 26 pages for chapbooks. They are queer friendly and feminist. “Our catalog favors lit & poetry leaning heavily toward fabulism, folklore, & magic—often confessional or intimate poems or personal lyric essay. All work should be tightly linked.” For nonfiction chapbooks, “We particularly enjoy multiple short essays, but will consider a one-essay chap if the essay is just that good. We lean toward braided forms (narratives with 3 or more threads tied together), and also consider things like character sketches, travel narratives, and collections of vignettes.” See guidelines and Submittable pages for further details. Pay is author copies. The deadline for chapbook submissions is 31 January 2023. Also see their reading periods for works in other genres. Details here and here.
The Christian Science Monitor: The Home Forum
This news organization accepts pitches from freelancers and writers, and submissions for The Home Forum, where they want “upbeat personal essays of from 600 to 800 words. … For time-sensitive material (seasonal, news-related, holiday- or event-themed), you must submit at least SIX WEEKS in advance.” Also, “These are first-person, nonfiction explorations of how you responded to a place, a person, a situation, an event, or happenings in everyday life. Tell a story with a point; share a funny true tale. Describe a self-discovery. The humor should be gentle.
We accept essays on a wide variety of subjects and encourage timely, newsy topics. However, we don’t deal with the topics of death, aging, medicine, or disease. We do not publish work that presents people in helpless or hopeless states.” They pay $250 for these essays. Details here.
The Every Animal Project
This is an anthology about courageous animals, and they also will publish work on their website. “Stories must be true (non-fiction). They must relate to non-human animals (of any species) and can be about your personal experiences/growth because of an animal, an issue threatening animals today, or other aspects of the human/non-human animal relationship. For the upcoming anthology, please weave the theme of courage/bravery into your story. We are particularly interested in spotlighting species less familiar to people, like insects, marine animals, and reptiles.” One writer will get an award of $300, another will be awarded $200, and other writers whose work is chosen for the print anthology get $50; writers whose work features online get $20. The deadline is 31 March 2023. Details here.
The Lumiere Review
Their website says, “We are intrigued by the inextinguishable sparks of truth and connection, the effervescent meddling of narrative, and the luminous creations that expand on perceptions of genre, language, and form.” They have a call for BIPOC creatives on the Justice theme (deadline – 15 February 2023). For general submissions, they publish creative nonfiction (up to 3,000 words), fiction, and poetry. They publish quarterly, pay $10, and read submissions on an ongoing basis. Details here.
The Four Faced Liar
This is a new print journal; they published their first issue in January 2023. They publish creative nonfiction (up to 4,000 words), fiction, poetry, and art. Pay is €200 for short creative nonfiction and fiction, €100 for a poem or piece of flash, and €100 for art. Watch for their next submission period on Twitter. Details here.
Gray’s Sporting Journal
This is a magazine about hunting and fishing, and they publish articles on those topics. They also have a feature called Yarns, which is campfire tales – fact or fiction, of 750-1,500 words. They also publish some poetry. Pay is an average of $600 for Yarns, and poems pay $100. Features for the magazine pay more. Details here.
Narrative
This magazine publishes work in various genres – nonfiction (including written, audio, and video), fiction, poetry, and drama. They charge a submission fee through the year but during the first two weeks of April, they offer fee-free submissions made specifically in the Open Reading category. They pay $100-500. Details here.
MudRoom Magazine
Their website says, “our mission is to provide every writer, emerging and established, the opportunity to both see their work published, and engage with a larger literary community.” They publish essays, essays in translation, fiction, and poetry. Send prose of up to 6,000 words. Pay is $15, and the deadline is 25 January 2023 for their Winter issue. Details here.
The Fieldstone Review
This is the literary journal of the University of Saskatchewan. They
accept submissions of creative nonfiction (up to 2,500 words), literature & book reviews (of Canadian literature), fiction and poetry, for its 2023 issue. They are reading submissions on the Reversals theme. “Turning points. Twists. Changing fortunes and shifting gears. We want your clever, surprising and dizzying reversals––be it through character, plot or formal elements!” One contributor will get awarded CAD100. The deadline is 1 March 2023. Details here.
The Meadowlark Review
This journal is associated with the University of Wyoming. “Based in Laramie, Wyoming, we’re inspired by the American West, but we love work that pushes against the traditional Western narrative, as well as new perspectives, unexpected twists, and pieces that have absolutely nothing to do with the West. We are especially interested in hybrid works and works that break the mold and push the boundaries of today’s literature.” They publish nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. Send work of 10-5,000 words. The deadline is 31 January 2023. Details here.
The Forge Literary Magazine
They accept creative nonfiction (up to 3,000 words, but can accept up to 5,000) and fiction. They open on the 1st of most months for fee-free submissions, and close when the cap is reached. They pay $75. Details here.
fron//tera
This is a bilingual print magazine, in Spanish and English. They publish nonfiction (up to 5,000 words), fiction, poetry, art, and submissions can be in Spanish or English; they’ll also publish a couple of short dual-language English and Spanish pieces side by side (see guidelines). They pay $25-50. They’re reading work on the Phantoms theme till 1 February 2023. Details here.
The Healing Muse
This is the annual journal of literary and visual art published by SUNY Upstate Medical University’s Center for Bioethics & Humanities. They publish narratives, memoirs, fiction, poetry, and art, particularly but not exclusively focusing on themes of medicine, illness, disability and healing. They accept prose up to 2,500 words. The deadline is 15 April 2023. They also have a poetry prize for medical students and physicians, of $250. Details here.
The Lascaux Review
They publish creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry of literary quality, as well as essays on the craft and business of writing. “Creative nonfiction may include memoirs, chronicles, personal essays, humorous perspectives, literary journalism—anything the author has witnessed, experienced, learned, or discovered. Creative nonfiction should be written in a nonacademic style.
For the Bistro (our blog), we’re looking for posts about writing, literature, agents, publishing, hangover recipes—anything to do with the craft and business of writing. Topics must be relevant to our audience, which consists of sophisticated journeyman writers and poets.” Submissions are open year-round. Details here.
The Paris Review
They will reopen for prose submissions in March 2023. Currently, they are accepting poetry submissions; the Submittable cap is reached but they will read postal submissions, postmarked till 31 January 2023. They pay. Details here.
Nashville Review
This magazine is associated with Vanderbilt University. They publish creative nonfiction (across the spectrum, including memoir excerpts, essays, imaginative meditations, of up to 8,000 words), fiction (including flash and novel excerpts), poetry, translations, and art. They accept submissions of art and comics year-round, and other genres are accepted in January, May, and September. Submissions may close earlier than scheduled if the cap is reached. Pay is $25 for poetry, and $100 for prose. The deadline is 31 January 2023, or until filled. Details here.
Porridge
They publish a variety of genres, and are open for online and print issues occasionally. They are always open for their Comfort Food section – “The COMFORT FOODS series publishes creative responses to the relationship between food and culture, identity and cuisine, from people in diaspora or those from various marginalised identities. From eating away exile to 2,000 word philosophical treatises on biryani, we’re here for it. … We’ll accept creative non-fiction, food writing, poetry, and artwork on this theme.” Details here.
Electric Lit
They are always open for detailed essay pitches. “Electric Literature’s essays examine books and culture through a personal and critical lens. … Pitches should describe the subject matter of the essay (which must be about books, writing, or narrative media like movies, games, and TV) and give a sense of the argument you plan to make or the story you plan to tell. We welcome thoughtful considerations of new releases, overlooked classics, childhood favorites—anything that can illuminate or be illuminated by the human experience.” They will open for other genres in February (Recommended Reading – longer fiction, pays $300, open 1-12 February; and The Commuter – poetry, flash, graphic, and experimental narratives, pays $100, open 13-19 February 2023). Details here.Sojournal
This is a travel journal, and their tagline is ‘One Image One Story’. “At present we only publish non-fiction travel stories that tell us about the black and white image you have supplied. We have a bias toward clear, concise, understandable work that communicates, surprises or disturbs – writing that bears witness to the world we live in.” Send work of up to 800 words. Details here.
Chicken Soup for the Soul
They publish uplifting, true stories and poems. They regularly post themes they are accepting submissions on (currently, these are: Angels; How stepping outside my comfort zone changed me; Miracles; and The power of positive thinking). They pay $250 for work up to 1,200 words, as well as 10 contributor copies. Details here (also see tabs on the page – Possible book topics, Submissions FAQ, and Submit your story).
Unfortunately, Literary Magazine
For nonfiction, “We’re interested in memoir/personal essays, feature articles, and any mix thereof. Shameless navel-gazing is fine by us.” Also, “Send us your work that’s too quirky, too dark, too queer, not the right kind of queer, too female-driven, too literary, not literary enough. Too much, too little, we want to see it all. Our only requirement is that you get your piece rejected elsewhere at least once before submitting to us.” They also publish fiction, art, and poetry. They read submissions in January, April, July, and October. See this Twitter thread to see the kind of work they’d like to see more of. Details here and here.
Miracle Monocle
This magazine is associated with the University of Louisville. “For creative nonfiction, please submit one piece of 500-10,000 words. We’re looking for essays with aspects of personal narrative, reporting, and the lyric; we’re also interested in flash. Please do not send excerpts of longer works unless the piece can stand alone.” They also publish fiction, hybrid, poetry, art, and have an award for young Black writers, which pays $200 – for this award, writers must be 25 years old or younger and identify as Black. The deadline is 31 January 2023, or until a submission cap is reached. Details here.
Round Table Literary Journal
Their website says, this is “an award-winning, historic print literary journal now in our fifty-sixth year of existence. We publish literary fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art once a year.” They are associated with Hopkinsville Community College. The deadline is 15 February 2023. Payment is contributor copies. Details here and here.
The Sunlight Press
They publish personal essays (750-1,000 words), artists on craft series (up to 1,000 words), fiction, poetry, reviews, and photos. They pay $15-40. Details here.
Terrain.org
This is a magazine that focuses on place, climate, and justice. They publish nonfiction (up to 5,000 words), fiction, poetry, and pay a minimum of $50. Submissions by marginalized creators are considered for an annual prize of $500. The deadline is 30 April 2023. Details here.
Motherwell
This is a parenting magazine, and they take personal essays on parenting, as well as work on other themes and genres. For personal essays, “We are looking for evocative first-person narratives that have a unique focus, or take a novel angle, on a slice of the parenting experience. We are open to a range of styles and tones: the only requirement is that the essay works on its own terms—be it lyrical, humorous, research-oriented, etc—and conveys something fundamental about its writer. Up to 1,200 words.“ Some of the work they publish is paid, and some is unpaid (see guidelines). Details here.
Masque & Spectacle
They publish nonfiction essays, literary analysis pieces, and personal essay/memoirs of up to 7,500 words. They also accept fiction, poetry, drama, reviews, art, audio, and video submissions. The deadline is 31 January 2023. Details here.
The Sun
This venerable magazine charges for online submissions via Submittable, but not for submissions by post, of essays, fiction, and poetry. Online submission of photos is not charged. Payment for regular essays starts at $300.
And online submissions for themed short nonfiction pieces for the Readers Write section are fee-free – their upcoming themes are Idols, due 1 February, and Privacy, due 1 March 2023; payment for Readers Write is magazine subscription. Details here and here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
