The bulk of the journals we review are based in North America, with a smattering in the UK. Although we sometimes seek out and include international journals, the bulk of the journals we’ve reviewed are in these two regions.
All of the journals in this list are not in either of these regions. They span the world, and are a great way to have your work published internationally, or perhaps in your home country.
Not all of them are currently open to submissions, but the majority are. Some of them we’ve reviewed before, most we have not.
Some of the journals have additional areas of focus or demographic limitations. If that is the case, we make it clear in our mini review.
Mediterranean Poetry
A literary journal focusing on publishing poetry/prose inspired by the Mediterranean region in some way. The journal itself is based in Sweden.
New Contrast
New Contrast is focused mainly on publishing original work by South African writers. They are a print journal and have been around for over 60 years. Submissions are accepted in all 11 official South African languages, including English (see their Submittable page for details).
QLRS: Quarterly Literary Review Singapore
An electronic literary journal based in Singapore – “Our mission is to promote the literary arts in Singapore, to stimulate the feedback mechanisms in the literary scene, and to develop Singaporean writers to international standards.” QLRS accepts submissions from Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans alike.
EgoPHobia [εγωφοβια]
A Romanian journal focusing on literature and philosophy, that publishes some work in English. They accept submissions in English and Romanian.
Amsterdam Quarterly
Founded in 2011, this online literary journal publishes poetry and prose and is based in the Netherlands.
Raising Mothers
Based in the Netherlands, Raising Mothers is a literary journal that only publishes work by women of color and non-binary parents of color.
Expanded Field
A biannual English-language journal for creative writing and image/text experimentation, based in the Netherlands.
Kyoto Journal
Kyoto Journal is a print journal that welcomes Asia-related articles, essays, reportage, personal observations, interviews, poetry, reviews, fiction, humor, and translation. They are based in Kyoto.
Sonic Boom
Sonic Boom seeks unsolicited poetry, fiction, and quality art submissions. They are based in India.
Plato’s Caves
Plato’s Caves invites poetry, fiction, reviews and articles on society, culture and politics from prospective contributors of all ages. They are based in India.
Panel Magazine
Their submissions are restricted to people who live and work in Central and Eastern Europe. They are based in Hungary.
BALLOONS Lit. Journal (BLJ)
BALLOONS Lit. Journal (BLJ) is an independent literary journal of poetry, fiction and art primarily for young readers from around 12 years onwards. They are based in Hong Kong.
The Kalahari Review
This weekly African literary magazine is based in Botswana. They are seeking work that explores modern Africa and Africans. They are open to work from the continent and from the Diaspora. They do not consider simultaneous submissions, and all submissions must follow their guidelines.
Ghudsavar
This literary journal based in Norway, publishes work in Hindi and English. They charge for English submissions, but they have free submissions for authors writing in Hindi. They pay all contributors a token amount.
The Shallow Tales Review
An African journal established in 2019 by Nigerian writer, Nzube Nlebedim, they focus on publishing excellent literary work.
Jellyfish Review
A literary journal based in Indonesia that often reads around a theme which changes. Check their submission guidelines for details when they reopen again.
Samjoko
A new literary magazine based in South Korea that is open to a wide variety of work including screenplays. They pay.
Third Lane
Third Lane is an independent bilingual (English and Bengali) digital magazine that was launched in March 2021. They are based in India.
OneBlackBoyLikeThat Review
A review, magazine and blog. They curate books, works of art and literary oeuvres from all over Africa, while being based in Nigeria.
Postscript Magazine
Based in the United Arab Emirates, this journal publishes a wide range of writing, visual art, and digital forms.
Kitaab
They bill themselves as connecting Asian writers with global readers. They are open to submissions from Asian writers as well as writers of any ethnicity that are writing on Asia want to provide a platform to Asian writers as well as to writers of any ethnicity writing on Asian themes (no matter where you live). They are based in Singapore. I could not get their submission guidelines to load in Firefox, but they worked fine in Safari.
KRITIKE: An Online Journal of Philosophy
Run by the Department of Philosophy, University of Santo Tomas, KRITIKE is a biannual literary journal based in the Philippines. They are are interested in publishing articles, review articles, book reviews, and creative works across the whole range of philosophical topics. They accept work in English or Filipino.
WriteNowLit
An online literary journal based in Nigeria. They accept submissions year-round of a wide variety of work.
Poemify Publishers
A Nigeria based online literary journal and blog that publishes a wide variety of work focused on amplifying African voices. There are separate guidelines for submitting to the journal and the blog.
Edited by the world renowned Himalayan poet, Yuyutsu RD Sharma, Pratik is a purely non-profit literary publication and is published by White Lotus Book Shop, Kathmandu. Their submission guidelines are here
.The Bombay Literary Magazine
They publish three times a year. They publish a wide range of writing including graphic fiction, and have an excellent website. They also pay an honorarium for accepted work. They are based in India.
The Woolf
An online literary journal based in Switzerland that publishes new writing and visual art.Lolwe
Lolwe is an online magazine that publishes fiction, literary criticism, personal essays, photography, and poetry. They were founded in January 2020 and they are based out of Kenya. They publish work by Black (African, Caribbean, Diaspora) artists.
The Bureau Dispatch
Based in Hong Kong, The Bureau Dispatch is an “ode to the writer’s bureau; an ongoing collection of stories accompanied by photographs of writers at their places of work”. They pay. Tiny Molocules
Based in France, they publish flash and observations.
White Enso
Based in Japan White Enso pays a small honorarium in yen for work including short fiction and creative nonfiction that “encapsulate the Japan experience”. They are reading submissions on the ‘Again’ theme until 15 October 2022.
An online magazine based out of Croatia, they consider work in Bosnian, Croatian, English, French, German, Italian, Montenegrin, Serbian and Slovenian, or any playful combination of these languages.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2021 Guide to Manuscript Publishers.
She regularly teaches three acclaimed courses on writing and publishing at The Writer’s Workshop at Authors Publish. You can follow her on Facebook here.
