These literary magazines / outlets publish a variety of creative nonfiction – personal essays, memoir, lyric essay, and more. Most of them also accept other genres, like fiction and poetry. Some of these magazines pay writers. Many, but not all, of them are open for submissions now.
Terrain.org
This is a magazine that focuses on place, climate, and justice. “Creative nonfiction, personal essays, photo essays, articles, flash essays, case studies, and other essays need not follow any particular style. Accompanying resource links, graphics, and sidebars are encouraged.” They are open for nonfiction (up to 5,000 words) and fiction, and pay $50. Submissions by marginalized creators are considered for an annual prize of $500. The deadline is 30 April 2026. Details here.
Potomac Review
This journal publishes in print and online. “There are no specific word limits for nonfiction submissions, though like everyone else, we are constrained by page counts, and the longer a piece of work, the more difficult it is to find room for it. …Please note that we do not publish academic essays; we’re interested solely in creative nonfiction.” They also accept poetry and fiction. They accept submissions from January 1 – April 1 and again from July 1 – October 1. The journal is affiliated with Paul Peck Humanities Institute at Montgomery College, Maryland. Details here and here.
The Pig’s Back
This Ireland-based journal publishes fiction and nonfiction of 2,000-5,000 words.” They pay €300. Their next submission period is 1st to 15th April 2026. Details here.
Tangled Wilderness
Their tagline is, ‘Producers of radical culture’. From their About page: “Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness is an independent media publishing collective dedicated to producing and curating inclusive and intersectional culture that is informed by anarchistic ideals.” They have various publishing formats, including their monthly features, which are “usually 2–5k words (or 10–30 pages in the case of poetry). … These are formatted into a small quarter-sized zine which is mailed to our supporters as well as posted on our website and produced into a podcast. … Reprints are fine.” These publish various genres/formats, including recipes “for commonly discarded food, for feeding mass movements, for food that was important to a resistance movement”, as well as “Memoirs of travelerswho come from marginalized positions in society … Neathistorical essays about under-appreciated resistance heroes and anarchists… History of trans and queer identities”, and more. They also accept fiction, poetry, and plays. They pay $200. They also publish zines and books, and payment for those is royalties. Details here.
Gordon Square Review
This is a magazine of Literary Cleaveland, for emerging writers. They accept flash nonfiction (up to 1,000 words), as well as fiction and poetry. “All general submissions from writers in any geographical location are eligible for our competitive editorial mentorships. Each Gordon Square Review editor will independently choose one piece of writing received during the open submission period and work with that writer to revise the piece for publication. Selected writers will be asked to contribute a micro-essay about the process. Writers should indicate in their submission [1] if the they are interested in the editorial mentorship and [2] that the work being submitted is a work-in-progress.” The deadline is 31 March 2026. Details here and here.
Twenty-two twenty-eight
Their tagline is, ‘For people who watch the world’. They accept nonfiction (500-2,000 words), fiction, poetry, visual art, music, and videos. Pay is $30. Details here.
Journal of Expressive Writing
Their website says, “Expressive writing—also called emotional writing—is the process of writing about personal and emotional events without regard to form, structure, spelling, grammar, or punctuation. Essentially, it is free-writing, often inspired by a prompt, poem, or piece of literature.” And, “We publish expressive writing, free writing, personal essay, flash non-fiction, non-fiction, micro-memoir, memoir, reflective essay, poetry, prose narrative, contemplative discourse, and creative non-fiction—all that originate from a writing prompt—by both established and emerging writers. …Word count is flexible, but the length should be no more than what can be generated in a 20-minute free-write.” They do not want fiction. Details here.
Brick Magazine
This prestigious Canadian magazine accepts creative nonfiction only. They will open for submissions via Submittable on 1st April, and close for fee-free submissions when their cap is reached. They tend toward pieces of 1,000-5,000 words, and pay $65-720. Details here.
Matter Press: The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts
They publish fiction and creative nonfiction, as well as fiction and creative nonfiction prose poetry, as long as it is compressed in some way. Pay is $50 for works up to 600 words. They have two reading periods; March 15 to June 15, and September 15 to December 15. Details here and here.
SAPP
This Canadian magazine is open for short form (creative nonfiction, short story, hybrid, experimental forms) of 350-600 words, poetry, and hybrid pieces. “Volume 4’s theme is “Waterways”. As water wends its way across the landscape, its flow lends vibrancy to the places and beings it touches. Tell us about the stuff of life: the connections you treasure and the things that bring vibrancy to your life and your community.” They pay CAD30; please note, they can only pay Canadian writers; international authors could get a contributor copy (see guidelines) and the deadline is 31st March 2026. Details here.
Datura
This literary journal publishes in French and English. They accept creative nonfiction (up to 5 pages), fiction, and art. The theme for their next issue is, ‘It’s ok to punch nazis’. The deadline is 31 March 2026. Details here.
Waxwing
“Waxwing wants to publish fiction and nonfiction that can stand alongside poetry: stories and essays where language is the primary concern. We seek writing that is like the characters and creatures we named the journal after—Daedalus made something that had never before existed, Icarus joyfully dared to do what hadn’t been done, and the eponymous birds seem to be what they’re not. We’re interested in narratives that risk, that come close to failing but land on the other side, not in the sea, and like the red tips of feathers that look like sealing wax, we love flourishes. We’re not interested in virtuosity that pleases the masses, but we do crave intensity, and stories that feel a little dangerous. We seek to showcase the particular and the peculiar, the odd and the revelatory—we want to read stories and essays that make us feel like we are learning something, even if it’s something we can’t quite explain.” They typically accept works up to 5,000 words, but also accept longer. At the time of writing, they were only open to nonfiction, translations, and art. The deadline is end-March, or until filled. Details here.
Cutleaf
They will soon open for nonfiction, fiction, and poetry submissions. For nonfiction, they say, “Cutleaf is interested in essays in both standard and hybrid forms. We welcome new approaches such as speculative nonfiction, essays based in metaphor, essays in verse, and other re-imaginings of the format. We welcome work about literature, travel, music, visual art, and film in multiple formats. We are less interested in journalistic approaches than in work that shows the larger and smaller truths about being human. We are not the place for editorials, polemics, or position statements, or for pitches for work yet to be completed. We do not re-publish previously published work. We expect nonfiction writers to hew to the truth as they see it. We are generally interested in essays of less than 6,000 words.” They pay $100-400 for prose and $50-200 for poetry. They will open on 1st April and will close on 15th April 2026 or when they hit their submission cap, whichever is earlier. Details here and here.
The New York Times: Tiny Love Stories
This is a nonfiction column in the New York Times; they want love stories of up to 100 words. “What kind of love story can you share in two tweets, an Instagram caption or a Facebook post? Tell us a love story from your own life — happy or sad, capturing a moment or a lifetime — in no more than 100 words. Include a picture taken by you that complements your narrative, whether a selfie, screenshot or snapshot. We seek to publish the most funny and heart-wrenching entries we receive. We call them Tiny Love Stories. They are about as long as this paragraph. They must be true and unpublished.
Love may be universal, but individual experiences can differ immensely, informed by factors such as race, socio-economic status, gender, disability status, nationality, sexuality, age, religion and culture. As in the main Modern Love column, we are committed to publishing a range of experiences and perspectives in Tiny Love Stories. We especially encourage Black and Indigenous people and other people of color to submit, as well as writers outside of the United States and those who identify as members of L.G.B.T.Q. communities.” Details here.
(Also see Modern Love, a nonfiction column by The New York Times. “We seek true stories on finding love, losing love and trying to keep love alive. We welcome essays that explore subjects such as adoption, polyamory, technology, race and friendship — anything that could reasonably fit under the heading “Modern Love.” Ideally, essays should spring from some central dilemma you have faced. It is helpful, but not essential, for the situation to reflect what is happening in the world now.” Send essays of 1,500-1,700 words. Modern Love has two submission periods; March through June, and September through December. Writers are paid. Details here.)
In Short
This is a journal of creative nonfiction. They publish short-shorts (up to 100 words), micros (up to 400 words), and flash (up to 1,000 words) of creative nonfiction. They accept submissions twice a year, from January 15 to March 15 and September 15 to November 15. Details here.
Banshee
This Irish magazine wants submissions for issue 22 (autumn/winter 2026) – nonfiction (up to 5,000 words), fiction, and poetry. Send up to 5,000 words for prose, up to 40 lines for poems. They pay €300 for a story/essay; €100 for flash fiction; €75 per poem – see ‘We believe in paying writers’ here; the deadline is 31 March 2026; details here.
phenomena
This is a print journal. “For the second volume of phenomena, we want your prose, poetry, and artwork that emerges from the discoveries and departures from spirituality and belief. Our first issue included work that looked back—on organized religion, disillusionment, and disentanglement. We welcome work concerning these topics, and we are equally interested in what it might mean to look outward and forward. Just as dowsing rods are used to detect unseen materials, such as water, minerals, or energy fields, what do you observe that hints at something bigger and beyond? What are those glimpses? Through what lenses do you look for them?
phenomena is named for observable events that provoke investigation and wonder–like an eclipse or a blood moon. We want your writing and art that sits between dislocation and meaning-making; between unlearning and reenchantment. This work can be serious, or it can be nonsensical. We welcome you to interpret these themes broadly.” Send creative nonfiction (up to 1,000 words), fiction, hybrids, or poetry. The deadline is 6th April 2026. 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 non-fiction (narrative non-fiction, interviews, essays), fiction (including flash and excerpts), poetry, translations, and art. All works will be considered for online and print. They pay $30-50 for prose, $20/poem for print poetry, $30-50 for online poetry. The deadline is 15 April 2026. Details here and here.
Scrawl Place
“Scrawl Place is a literary journal disguised as a visitor’s guide.
The audience for this online publication is the guest, the visitor, the traveler, the day-tripper, the out-of-towner, and the in-towners eager to wander.
I’m looking for submissions about “places in the places” where you live or where you’ve visited. My aspiration is that readers will visit the places you write about and be inspired to write about those places themselves.” They also have a checklist for submissions, including, but not limited to, “the place should be a real, tangible place” and also, “the place should not be your personal home, the bottom of the ocean, the moon, or any other place that is generally impossible for readers to visit.” They accept creative nonfiction, fiction, hybrids, and poetry, and they pay $35. They have a general call for submissions (no deadline), and are also open for Chicago-themed submissions (closing July). Details here and here.
After/Thought Literary
This is a new magazine, their first issue was published in December 2025. They want “work from the edge—the forgotten, the restless, the misfit art that lives in margins and arrives in aftershocks. We want writing that unsettles, opens old wounds, asks unanswerable questions, or refuses to ask anything at all. If your piece makes us feel something real, raw, or un-nameable—we want it.
We’re drawn to work that lingers—writing with a pulse in the sentence, an afterimage in the mind, and a point of view bold enough to risk sincerity.” They accept nonfiction (memoir, personal essay, lyric essay, things-that-defy-classification, up to 3,500 words), hybrids, fiction, and poetry. Details here.
Little Toller Books: The Clearing
“The Clearing is Little Toller’s journal on nature and place for new, emerging and established writers. We’re looking for surprising, meaningful and felt writing on landscape and nature. We accept poetry, prose (essays up to 2,000 words), original art, photography or video work.” 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.
The Healing Muse
The Healing Muse 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. They also have a poetry prize for medical students and physicians. The deadline is 31 March 2026. Details here.
The Threepenny Review
This respected literary magazine accepts nonfiction (up to 4,000 words), fiction, poetry, and submissions for their ‘Table Talk’ column. They pay $400 per story or article, and $200 per poem or Table Talk piece. The deadline is 15th April 2026. Details here and here.
Porkbelly Press
Porkbelly Press has different reading periods for work in different formats (including for micro chapbooks in July). During May, they will accept submissions for Love Me, Love My Belly, a body image zine. This is a print zine “dedicated to the acceptance of self and imperfection as beauty. It’s about the space between us, our differences, our scars, our wobbly bits, and our power as it relates to the bodies we live in. We publish as our issues fill, about every year to year and a half. … All kinds of work will be considered, including essay, lyric essays, letters, lists, profiles, and chunks of memoir. Works should range from 500 to 3,000 words in standard manuscript format. We will consider stand-alone excerpts of longer pieces.” Details here and here.
Fieldstone Review
This is the journal of the University of Saskatchewan. “This year, we invite writers and artists to explore the theme WILD SPACES in imaginative and creative ways. Wild spaces might be jungles, rivers, prairies, or shorelines, but they might also be interior landscapes: kitchens, bars, back stairwells, a football stadium, or a Mardi Gras party on the pool deck of a cruise ship on a hot afternoon.
We welcome original, previously unpublished work across a wide range of genres, including poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, and visual art and photography. A $100 cash prize will be awarded to the best submission.” The deadline is 30 April 2026. Details here.
The Sun
This 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 $200.
And online submissions for themed short nonfiction pieces for the Readers Write section are fee-free – their upcoming themes are Superstition, deadline 1 April, and Too Much, deadline 1 May 2026; payment for Readers Write is magazine subscription. Details here and 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 31 May 2026. Details here and here.
TOLKA Journal
“We publish all forms of non-fiction: personal essay, memoir, reportage, travel writing, auto-fiction, and the writing that falls in between. Our guideline word count for work is 1,000–3,000 words.” They publish work by Irish and international writers, and pay €500. They will reopen in May. Details 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.
Months to Years
“We welcome previously unpublished nonfiction (including essay, memoir, and creative nonfiction) of up to 2,500 words that explore mortality, death, and dying-related topics. (Please note, WE DO NOT PUBLISH FICTION.) We also accept poetry as well as art and photography submissions.” Their reading period for the Fall issue is April 15, 2026 to June 1, 2026. They also host timed grief-related writing prompts; they are hosting a free one in March and a paid one in April (see Submittable). Details here and here.
The Stinging Fly
They will open for creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry from 6th to 20th May 2026 for the Winter 2026 issue; they’ll open in April for cover art submissions. They pay €150 for flash fiction/shorter essays (1-2 pages) and for longer prose, they pay €50/page, with a minimum/maximum payment of €350/€1,250; for poetry, they pay €50/page, with a minimum payment of €75/poem, with €600 for the featured poet. 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, 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. They are currently open for various genres, including creative nonfiction, for their Amuse-Bouche section, as well as for translations. Details here and here.
Wordpeace
This is a journal “of literary response to world events in the spirit of promoting peace, hope and justice for all people. We are looking for previously unpublished essays, interviews, fiction and poetry (or mixed media) to publish which reflect this aim. … We want work that asks for positive change and is forward thinking. We publish writing that takes a stand against corruption and greed, brutality, genocide, homophobia, and oligarchy.” The theme for the next issue is Home/Place/Displacement / Hope and Possibility 2026. They want personal or lyrical essays, reviews or interviews of up to 3,000 words, as well as fiction, poetry, and art. The deadline is 1 April 2026. Details here.
Juice Press Mag
They want writing centred around fruit – creative nonfiction (especially flash), fiction, and poetry. You can read about them here. “Whether it’s an essay about the symbolic significance of an apple in mythology, a short story where oranges play a central role in a family’s reunion, or a poem that finds deeper meaning in a single peach, we are drawn to the many ways fruit can weave itself into our understanding of the world.” Details here.
(Their sister magazine is Crescent Currents, an experimental literary magazine.)
Lowestoft Chronicle
“We consider a variety of genres. Preference will be given to humorous submissions with an emphasis on travel.” And, “Narrative nonfiction, commentary, slice of life and memoirs are welcome. Humorous pieces are especially welcome. Please keep submissions under 3,000 words.” They also accept fiction and poetry. The deadline is 15 May 2026. 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.“ They are also reading work on two themes, What keeps us up at night as parents? and What it means to navigate our identities and life changes as kids get older. Some of the work they publish is paid, and some is unpaid (see guidelines). Details here.
Lake Effect: An International Literary Journal
This magazine is affiliated with Penn State, Behrend. “Lake Effect is looking for well-crafted and lively literary or personal essays. We are not looking for literary criticism, but essays that engage literature in the context of a lived life are certainly welcome. If your essay is longer than fifteen pages or so, please query first. Lake Effect seeks essays from both established and new and emerging voices.” They also accept fiction and poetry. Details here and here.
Cimarron Review
“For nonfiction, we are seeking literary essays of all kinds (memoir, lyric essay, personal essay, nature writing, literary journalism, etc), as long as they have emotional depth, crisp language, an engaging voice, and a strong, coherent structure. Essays should surprise us with their imagery and their insights about life. We have no set page lengths for any genre, but we seldom publish pieces longer than 25 pages.” They also accept fiction and poetry. The magazine is published four times a year out of the English Department at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK. Details here.
The Rumpus
“We welcome essay submissions up to 5,000 words in length. In addition to personal voice-driven essays we are interested in non-traditional forms of nonfiction. Essays should explore issues and ideas with depth and breadth, illuminating a larger cultural context or human struggle. Regardless of topic, we are looking for well-crafted sentences, a distinct narrative voice, compelling scenes, and thoughtful reflection. Surprise us! Intrigue us! Delight us! We want work we cannot put down or soon forget after reading.
Please submit work that is evergreen because, given our publication schedule, we cannot respond, explicitly, to the news cycle. That said, we are very interested in work that engages with the current sociopolitical climate.” They also publish other genres, including fiction, criticism, interviews, poetry, and more. They pay $100 for prose and comics, and $50 for poetry. Details here.
(Submissions are also open for The Audacity, a newsletter by Roxanne Gay. They want essays and memoir by emerging writers –those with fewer than three article/essay/short story publications and no published books or book contracts). Do not send fiction or poetry. They pay $1,500 for essays of 1,500-3,000 words. Details here – see the relevant category.)
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
