These magazines publish hybrid/cross-genre/nonconforming work of many kinds. They also publish other genres, like fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Some magazines pay writers. Many, but not all, of them are open for submissions now. They’re listed in no particular order.
Signal Mountain Review
This magazine is affiliated with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Their website says, “We have a special interest in that which helps to illuminate who we are, how we got here, and who we could be. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and hybrid forms are welcome.” They also publish genre fiction. Details here.
Always Crashing
They have print and online issues. “Always Crashing is looking for submissions of fiction, poetry, collage text, visual collage, video, labyrinths, manifestos, the generically transgressive, and nonfiction (though we prefer not to be told if it’s nonfiction).
We are interested in surfaces and form. We are interested in discontinuity and want to watch you break things. We want to read works that seek something via untruth, fantasy, artificiality, the plastic, deep superficiality, and attention to their own construction. We are interested in work that strikes curious poses; in the “experimental,” not as an avant-garde, but as a furthering of a subterranean literary tradition.” The deadline is 15 September 2023. Details here.
Figwort Literary Journal
Their website says, “Fiction, photography, short stories, long stories, paintings, articles, interviews, arguments, letters, texts… you name it, we probably want it.
Just because we haven’t published a particular style before, doesn’t mean it’s not on our radar.” Send prose up to 2,500 words. They read year-round, and have published two issues so far. Details here.
The Ex-Puritan
This Canadian magazine used to be called The Puritan. They publish fiction, nonfiction, experimental/hybrid work, interviews, reviews, and poetry. You can read more about their new hybrid submissions section as well as their name change here. They accept a limited number of fee-free submissions every month. They pay CAD35-150. The deadline is 25 June 2023, or until filled, for the Summer issue; they read submissions year-round, and have a monthly submission cap. The deadline is 10 July 2023 for a special Indigenous issue. Details here and here.
Sad Goose Cooperative
This is “an experimental multimedia website dedicated to creating works that push the limits of digital authorship. We accept pieces of all forms–audio, video, written, visual, interactive, and anything else you can think of–and aim to publish those pieces that make us smile.” They publish online and in print. “We are currently open to submissions for Issue #4: Cufflinks and Carburetors. This theme focuses on LGBT work–poetry, fiction, hybrid, etc… Any work that does not in some way conform to this theme (i.e. any work that is not written by a queer person or about queer issues) will be automatically rejected.” Details here.
Chestnut Review
This is a print and online magazine. “We are drawn to beautiful language, resonant images, and we crave narrative.” They have fee-free submissions of poetry, flash, and art; also, “If you have work that doesn’t fit neatly into the below categories, that doesn’t mean we won’t want to see it. Choose the most appropriate and include a note—we’ll figure it out.” They also have fee-free submissions for Black and Indigenous authors. Contributors are paid $120. They read throughout the year, with cut-off dates for issues; deadline for the Autumn issue is 30 June 2023. Details here.
Backwards Trajectory
Their website says, “Send us a drawing, a photograph, a piece of flash, a poem, a receipt, a list, a matchbook, an outline for a five paragraph essay on photosynthesis, whatever you have lying around, send us your dusty masterpieces you’ve been neglecting for donkeys years.” They publish prose, poetry, visual arts, and found objects. Length guidelines for most text is up to 200 words. Details here.
Foglifter
This is a journal for LGBTQ+ contributors. They want fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and hybrid works; for hybrid submissions, send work up to 20 pages. They are especially interested in cross-genre, intersectional, marginal, and transgressive work. They also have a Writers In Need fund to support sliding scale payments for their contributors who opt into the fund. They are scheduled to reopen for submissions on 1st September 2023. Details here.
Black Lipstick
Black Lipstick is a new Substack-based magazine. Their website says, “Black Lipstick is the internet boudoir of off-center beauty, literature and culture. Featuring art and writing on makeup, mental health, mortality, queerness, sex, gender, nostalgia, pop culture, parenthood, weird dreams, dark thoughts, and everything else.” They publish “Affecting personal essays/hybrid nonfictions on almost any topic. Creative, deep-divey reviews of books, beauty products, films, experiences. Interviews with artists, writers and self-made icons. Glamour-forward with a punk ethos. Edgy but not edgelord. If your piece is too literary for Allure but too frivolous for Guernica, it’s probably Black Lipstick material. … At this time, I’m not looking for fiction, poetry, or extremely journalistic nonfiction.” Pay for essays/hybrid creative nonfiction (1,500-3,500 words), it is $150; for creative reviews and interviews (1,000-2,000 words), it is $100. Details here.
The Crackling Kettle
Their website says, “The Cackling Kettle is a hand-bound literary magazine produced by Lady Book Witch Press. Although we are not a themed magazine, we are interested in pieces that explore nature, witchcraft, feminism, farming, community, LGBTQIA+ love, & all things Wild. We value work that is daring & different & adore genre-bending works. Currently, we accept poetry, short stories, and works of visual art (black/white or color!).” Details here.
Grimoire
Their website says, “WE ARE GRIMOIRE, an online literary publication of the dark arts. We publish one themed issue annually that includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, and work that moves beyond genre.” They are reading submissions on ‘Medusa: The Stone Cold Bitches’ issue until 1 August 2023; also see their submission guidelines for the Dreams section. They pay $20. Details here.
BarBar
This is a genre fluid platform. Their website says, “We publish everything from the standards to the experimental, and every genre bending type in between. Just write it, tag it, and submit it. The only thing important to us is your voice. We want the ideas from left-field, the flash of inspiration at 3am, the flicker of inspiration on the highway you had to pull over onto the shoulder to scribble down, a slice-of-life, the story you’ve passed around to friends, neighbors, and strangers you’ve passed on the street (regardless of if they liked the story or not), and those chapter excerpts from that epic fantasy masterpiece you’ve been working on for years.
We accept many types of submissions, including: poetry, fiction, flash fiction, plays, musicals, lyrics, essays, nonfiction, novel excerpts, photography, and art.” Details here and here.
Hammock
Their website says, “Hammock is a platform for contemporary writing from the Indian subcontinent and beyond. We focus on new, unique and exploratory writing that goes beyond the obvious.
Whether it’s fiction, narrative non-fiction, interviews, recommendations, personal essays, culture or something that doesn’t quite fit any of those, our goal is to bring you what’s fresh and pushes the envelope, while employing an author-first approach.” Please also see guidelines for the genres/kind of work they do not want. Details here.
Brink
Their website says, “we accept a variety of creative work from Nonfiction to Fiction, from Poetry to Translation. But our hearts beat strongest for hybrid work that falls into the cross-genre category we call Evocations. We are interested in work that presses boundaries, uses more than one medium to tell a story, and both looks and feels different on the page. Additionally, we look for submissions that engage the theme of each issue as well as the idea of being on the brink.” They pay $25-100. Their reading period is 1st to 31st July 2023; the theme is ‘Relief’. Details here.
Mslexia
They publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry, articles, and fun stuff by women. They ask for some mixed-genre submissions too, including Eyeverse in poetry – “A short poem (no more than four lines) on any subject, plus an original illustration – related to the poem – which may be a drawing, painting or photograph, but must be created by the poet herself or by someone who has given permission for the illustration to be used with the poem.” Some sections are only open to subscribers, but not all; a few calls are themed; and deadlines vary. Fees start at £30 for most pieces, while some pieces are unpaid (see here). Details here.
Storm Cellar
This is “a nationally distributed, independent literary arts magazine rooted in the Midwest, appearing in print and ebook editions. This is a journal of safety and danger. We want your prose, poems, chimeras, and ideas penned on envelopes in buses and train cars.” They publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and hybrid works. Send “hybrid works up to 15 pp.; pick a “home” genre & include some kind of explanation in the cover letter”. They pay $10, and accept a limited number of fee-free submissions each month. Details here and here.
Vast Chasm
Their website says, “Vast Chasm Magazine publishes bold work that explores the expansive human experience, including flash and short fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and other nonconforming work.” They publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry, photography, and for nonconfirming works, they say, “use this submission category if you feel your work does not conform to the other genres listed. For example, you might submit a hybrid piece, a hermit crab essay, or anything we haven’t seen before.” They pay $50. Details here and here.
*82 Review
They publish fiction, nonfiction, word + image, erasure text (writing + art/altered text), collage poems, and hidden gems (experimental, free, hybrid, invented, narrative, prose). Details here.
Afternoon Visitor
For hybrid works, they say, “lyric essay, cross-genre—just keep it under 3,000 words, in one document. You may send up to three short pieces as long as the total word count does not exceed 5,000.” They also publish poetry, visual poetry, and art. Details here.
Bindweed Magazine
“We’re looking for poetry, fiction or other unpublished literary hybrids that are experimental, offbeat and one of a kind.” They are now open for submissions for Wonderland 2023: Bindweed Anthology. They are open for submissions all year, but any work received after 30th October 2023 will be considered towards the next anthology. Details here.
Club Plum
They publish hybrid works, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, prose poetry, and art. “Send genre-bending and language-bending works. We like strange things.” Details here.
HOAX
Their website says, “We present work online, in print, and through events and exhibitions. This also forms a wider, ongoing collection or survey of work existing at the intersection of art and creative writing. New work is presented online once a week, hosted on our front page and added to our digital archive, and submissions for our online platform are permanently open. Submissions for our annual print issues open once a year, and we also hold sporadic call-outs for exhibitions and events.” Works must incorporate text in some way in their final form. They do not want reviews or articles. They pay £50. Details here.
Common Measure
This is a new print magazine. “Common Measure will be an amalgam of various visual and written works, exploring the core theme of presence and print and what they mean against today’s hypercharged digital content netscape.” Please see the guidelines for suggested themes. Send “An article, short story, poem, creative nonfiction, or other form of writing”, or art. The deadline is 1st July 2023 for submissions to their inaugural issue. Details here.
Dark Onus Lit
They want dark-themed work – fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, recording/video, and hybrid submissions. For hybrids, send “5 pieces. We are highly interested in experimental work. The hybrid category should not be used to send 7 poems or a 10 page short story.” The magazine was established in 2022. Details here.
Broken Antler
This is a new magazine. They publish online and in print, and they are reading for their first issue. They want “ALL genres of horror, as well as sci-fi and dark fantasy. The editors are partial to a wide range of subgenres—body, cosmic, folk, gore, etc.… For poetry, creative nonfiction, and hybrid submissions, we’re looking for work that is haunting and monstrous, weird and bizarre. Extra points if your work is experimental or doing something unusual with form.” Send up to two hybrid submissions. Pay is $10-20. The deadline is 31 August 2023. Details here.
The Dawn Review
The Dawn Review is an international literary magazine founded in the summer of 2022. They publish hybrid (up to 3,000 words), poetry, prose, and art from emerging and established writers and artists. The deadline to submit to their third issue is 30 June 2023. They will reopen for submissions in mod-August; you can view their reading periods here. Details here.
Lammergeier
They publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and hybrid works. “Have a piece you think doesn’t quite fit into the previous three categories (or is a combination of said genres)? Feel free to send it in as hybrid. Submit either one piece of up to 5,000 words or less or up to three flash pieces of 1,000 words or less or equivalent audio/visual material. (Hybrids will be considered with nonfiction submissions for featured writer submissions until further notice).” Regarding payment, they will select one work of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction/hybrid each issue to receive $25. The deadline is 31 July 2023. Details here.
Black Sun Lit
They have an online version called digital vestiges, which publishes series of fragments and ephemera – send hybrid works, prose, poetry, translations, interviews, or drama. They read 100 submissions a month. And Vestiges is Black Sun’s irregularly printed journal of prose, poetry, essay, works in translation, and art. Details here and here.
Frighten the Horses
This is a journal of experimental writing and word-based art. It is an offshoot of Exist Otherwise Literary & Art Journal; you can read about that, and access the submission form, here. Work must contain mostly words or text and it must have an intention, or mean something, even if only to you. Details here.
Cc:Zine
This is a Dublin-based literary magazine. “We publish new, previously unpublished work via email newsletter to, so far, hundreds of recipients. Hence, our name. Our first issue included a mixture of fiction, poetry and visual art but we are open to work that is formally innovative.” Submissions can be in English and Gaeilge. Submission is via a form. Details here.
ergot.
This is “a literary website interested in furthering the innovative and experimental tradition in horror.” They want fiction and hybrid work, including flash, excerpts, and work in translation, “that push out the boundary of what literary horror is and what it might become. Work where close attention has been paid to the prose style. Work that values atmosphere and mood over plot. Work that fails in new and unusual ways over work that succeeds in the tried and true.” They accept work up to 10,000 words (or up to 3 flash pieces), and pay $25. Details here.
Pamenar Online Magazine
Their website says, “We invite poetry and hybrid/critical writing which is cross-cultural, multilingual, and working in those provisional and radical areas of interconnected and parallel traditions sometimes and inadequately called ‘experimental’.” Send up to 3 pages of writing. They also want audio/video recordings of poems, and translations. Details 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. Pay is $25/page for prose and $30/page for poetry in the print journal and $25 for miCRo posts or special features. “We are closed for print-magazine submissions until September 1st and for miCRo submissions until July 16th.” Details here (general guidelines), here (what the editors look for), and here (submission manager).
Ruby
Their website says, “RUBY is a bi-annual literary magazine and press that publishes short-form food narratives that strive for voice, artistry, and character. We want work that grabs us and doesn’t let us go—fierce prose we wish we had written. Send us your literary, genre-nonconforming, experimental, hybrid, surprising, tender, joy-filled, and painful words. Food narratives are vulnerable narratives, stories of belonging, identity, justice, disparities, and community. Food is biography. Our experiences with food almost immediately become storied.” Send hybrid works, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and translations, up to 1,000 words. They will reopen for submissions on 1st October. Details here.
Two Hawks Quarterly
Two Hawks Quarterly is affiliated with Antioch University Los Angeles. They publish nonfiction (including hybrid forms), fiction, poetry, art, and cross-genre (Genre X) work. Details here and here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
