These magazines publish literary fiction, and many of them publish other genres also, like nonfiction, and poetry. Some of them pay writers. Most, but not all, are open for submissions now.
Upstreet
They want fiction and creative nonfiction; send up to 5,000 words of prose. They aren’t looking for unsolicited poetry, but do accept queries for these. They accept work from 1 September to 1 March. Pay is $50-250. Details here.
Ripe Fiction
They publish flash fiction (up to 500 words) of all genres inspired by recent events. “Work that directly speaks to, interrogates, complicates, and/or sheds light on a news story, article, essay and/or media “current” at the time of submission.
We’re hungry for the present and prescient. We especially relish stories that challenge the power structures of the world around us.” Pay is $40. Details here.
SAND
This Berlin-based journal publishes fiction (up to 5,000 words – also publishes flash), nonfiction, poetry, and translations. “Send us risk-taking, subversive, experimental fiction with soul. We are especially interested in literary fiction that crosses genres, that takes risks with structure/form/voice, that subverts expectations about tropes and genres, and that includes multi-dimensional characters who represent the full range of identities in the world.” The submission period is from 20 December 2021 to 10 January 2022, but may close earlier if volume demands. Details here.
Brittle Paper
This is a journal of African literature. They publish fiction (up to 2,500 words), as well as “poetry, creative non-fiction, book reviews, essays, literary commentaries, fun listicles, and any writing with a literary bent.” Details here.
Triangle House Review
They publish fiction and poetry. Their guidelines also say, “And, of course, we are ALWAYS looking to consider pieces by writers who have never been published in any capacity before.” Length is unspecified, and they pay $50. Details here (scroll down).
The FictionWeek Literary Review
This magazine publishes fiction, including selections from novels, of up to 5,000 words. They want new innovative and/or postmodern fiction. They also publish poetry and essays/book reviews. Details here.
Aethlon: The Journal of Sport Literature
This is the print journal of the Sport Literature Association, an organization for the study of sport in literature and culture. All submissions – fiction, nonfiction, poetry, scholarly essays – should relate to sport in some way. They do not publish studies of sport that are primarily sociological or historical. Details here.
Ninth Letter
They accept submissions of fiction, poetry, and essays for their print edition from September 1 to February 28; submissions are fee-free via Submittable during the months of November and December. “We are interested in prose and poetry that experiment with form, narrative, and nontraditional subject matter, as well as more traditional literary work.” Send up up to 8,000 words for prose (1 story or essay, or up to 3 flash prose pieces). Pay is $25/page up to $150, and the deadline is 31 December 2021 for fee-free submissions. Details here and here.
Fictive Dream
This is an online magazine of fiction (500-2,500 words). Their website says, “If you write fiction with a contemporary feel that gives an insight into the human condition, then we’d like to hear from you. We have eclectic tastes and we don’t shy away from difficult subject matter. We’re interested in stories with a distinctive voice, clarity of thought and precision of language. They may be on any subject. They may be challenging, unsettling, playful, exhilarating or cryptic.” They read submissions year-round. Details here.
ShortStory
This is a new Substack newsletter, which paying subscribers can get full access to. Each newsletter contains one story (6,000-10,000 words) – the payout for the author whose story is chosen will be $100, and there’s potential additional payment, which is 50% of subscription revenue. Details here.
Green Hills Literary Lantern
This online journal is published by Truman State University. They publish fiction, including flash and novel excerpts (up to 7,000 words), nonfiction, and poetry. “We are interested in stories that demonstrate a strong working knowledge of the craft. Avoid genre fiction or mainstream religious fiction. Otherwise, we are open to short stories of various settings, character conflict, and styles, including experimental.” Details here.
Literally Stories
This magazine is dedicated to the short story – send submissions of 500-3,000 words. Apart from general fiction, they publish work in several genres – Crime/Thriller/Mystery, Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Humour, Romance, and Science Fiction. Details here.
Jaggery
They publish fiction (up to 5,000 words), essays & interviews, poetry, and reviews, as well as art & photography. The magazine “connects South Asian diasporic writers and homeland writers; we also welcome non-South Asians with a deep and thoughtful connection to South Asian countries, who bring their own intersecting perspectives to the conversation. (By South Asia we mean Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, The Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.) Our hope with Jaggery is to create a journal that offers the best writing by and about South Asians and their diaspora”, according to their guidelines. Pay is $100 for fiction, and $25 for other genres. The deadline is 17 January 2021. Details here.
LIT Magazine
This magazine is published by The New School MFA in Creative Writing program. They publish fiction of up to 20 pages (including flash and novel excerpts) – “We’re interested in many types of fiction at Lit, up to and including work that can be called “experimental.” But what we are most excited to publish are simply stories we haven’t read before.” They do not publish hard genre fiction. They also accept nonfiction, hybrid works, poetry, translations, book reviews, art, and the Corona Chronicle (a collage of Corona experiences, which is multi-genre, and includes fiction). Details here.
Bullshit Lit
They publish poetry and prose. “We want to see the work you haven’t sent to other lit mags because you know it’s just not working. Your shitty prose, fucked-up line breaks, abandoned sketches, nonsensical plots, and so on. Everybody else wants your best—we want your worst. We especially like it when shit gets weird.” Also, “A piece of work is bullshit if its author believes it to be so.” They do not reject good work. Details here.
En Bloc
They are accepting fiction, poetry, art, and photography for their fourth issue. They read submissions on an ongoing basis; the deadline is 15 February 2022 for Issue 4 (see ‘Is there a deadline?’ in FAQ). Pay is £35 per side as they appear in the magazine, capped at £150. Details here and here.
Necessary Fiction
They publish fiction, including flash fiction, of up to 3,000 words, as well as translations – see their Submittable page for the list of things they like in stories, including “We’re often fans of the absurd, the off-kilter, and the darkly comic.” They also publish book reviews, interviews, and research notes and translation notes series. Details here (general guidelines) and here (Submittable – fiction guidelines).
Deep Wild: Writing From the Backcountry
This journal publishes fiction (up to 3,000 words), creative nonfiction, and poetry “that conjures the experiences, observations, and insights of backcountry journeys. By “backcountry,” we mean away from paved roads on journeys undertaken by foot, skis, snowshoes, kayak, canoe, horse, or any other non-motorized means of conveyance.” The deadline for written work for their fourth issue is 1 January 2022 and for artwork, which should focus on the natural world, it is 1 March 2022. Writers are allowed one fee-free submission per reading period, and the payment is a copy of the journal. Details here. (They’re also accepting submissions for a graduate student essay contest, with publication and a cash prize for the winner; the deadline for that is 1 March 2022.)
The Kenyon Review
This magazine usually publishes fiction (up to 7,500 words), nonfiction, poetry, and plays. For the current submission call, their guest editors will edit a portfolio of literature in translation, to be published in one of their issues in 2023. Their guidelines say, “If translation is about transcending boundaries, what are the boundaries we can transcend through translation other than that of language and culture? What false binaries can we interrogate through experimental approaches, and what new permutations can we include under the umbrella of “translation”? What if we inverted the adjectives usually allocated to translations in reviews and attempted translations that are not smooth but rough, not seamless but seamful, not bold but timorous, not nimble but ungainly? We are interested in experiments that undermine traditional hierarchies of original and translation, behind-the-scenes accounts of translation, hybrid translations, fiction and poetry about translation and translators, and fungal translations—a breaking-down and reconstituting of the source in an entirely new form, as opposed to the translation-as-reproduction paradigm. We would be particularly delighted by translations from literatures, both in terms of source languages and forms, that are traditionally underrepresented in white Anglophone publishing.” They’re also reading submissions for a non-fiction contest, and that has an entry fee. For the current call, pay for translators is $120 per poem or $300 for a work of prose; and $75 honorarium to the author of the original work. The deadline is 31 December 2021. Details here and here.
Mosaic: Metamorphosis
Mosaic is the University of California, Riverside’s undergraduate literary journal. They publish fiction, including flash, of up to 8,000 words. They also publish nonfiction, poetry, plays, and visual art, including photography and videos. They are reading submissions on the ‘Metamorphosis’ theme. The deadline is 14 January 2022. Details here.
Channel
This Ireland-based journal publishes fiction (up to 6,000 words), nonfiction, and poetry with an environmentalist perspective, from all over the world. They want work that engages with the natural world, and they 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. Pay is €50/page of prose up to €150, and €50/poem. The deadline is 31 December 2021. Details here.
Ethel
This is a twice-yearly publication of writing and art; they also accept reprints. “While Ethel seeks a wide variety of writing and/or art, Ethel is particularly interested in the voices of Womxn, The BIPOC community and the LGBTQA+ community. Overall, our main interest is in work that helps us rethink/reimagine the often worn-out narratives of the past (in form and content).” They also accept mini-book and chapbook submissions, and these will open in January 2022. Details here.
Hermine
This is a print-only annual literary magazine. They publish fiction (up to 4,000 words), and at the time of writing, they were reading submissions for their third issue. There is no deadline; submissions remain open until filled. Pay is CAD50-200. Details here.
Toad Press: International Chapbook Series
Toad Press is an imprint of Veliz Books. They publish works that are “contemporary, exciting, beautiful, odd, and avant-garde chapbook-length translations of poetry and prose” – this includes fiction. Send submissions of 14-26 pages. Payment is in copies. The deadline is 31 December 2021. Details here.
Salamander
This magazine is published by the English department of Suffolk University, Boston. They publish fiction (including flash), nonfiction, poetry, and translations. They pay, though rates are undisclosed. The deadline is 1 April 2022 (will take a short break from late December to early January). Details here (guidelines) and here (submission manager).
Night Coffee Lit
They publish poetry, art, and ephemera, which includes fiction – “submit a reasonable volume of your weirdsiest weirds, including but not limited to: works in translation, reviews of lost and forgotten esoterica, enlightened shitposts, short fictions both magical and real.” Pay is $50. Details here.
Microfiction Monday Magazine
They publish microfiction (up to 100 words), and they accept multiple entries. They have a long list of the kind of work they do not want – see guidelines. Details here.
Paper Lanterns
This literary journal is ‘for all things to do with Teen and Young Adult Literature’. They publish flash and short fiction (up to 2,000 words), and poetry. They accept submissions from writers ages 13+ and writers under 16 will receive book vouchers instead of cash payment. Pay is €50 for flash fiction and poetry, and €75 for fiction. The deadline is 15 January 2022. Details here.
The Maine Review
This magazine is offering fee-free submissions for the last two weeks of December, though submissions may close earlier. They publish fiction, including flash, nonfiction, and poetry. Their fiction guidelines say, “For tone, we’re looking for work that reflects your unique perspective. Show us what you see. We like our truth with a dash of humor. Empathy is essential. We prefer stories that come in under 3,000 words but will occasionally publish longer works”. Pay is $25-50 for prose and $25 for poetry. The deadline for fee-free submissions is 31 December 2021 (may close early of volume demands). Details here.
Derailleur Press: The Rail
The Rail is an online literary magazine. They accept fiction (up to 7,500 words), nonfiction, and poetry. “We love work that ‘doesn’t just get your gears turning— but shifts them entirely.” Details here.
The New Yorker
This top-tier magazine publishes unsolicited fiction, including humorous fiction for their Shouts & Murmurs, and Daily Shouts features. They also accept poetry. Pay is unspecified. Details here.
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.
