Literary Journals as a whole lean towards serious writing, which means that writers that lean towards comedy are often left out.
All of these journals focus on, or have a strong history of, publishing writing that is humorous.
Please read their submission guidelines carefully and consider fit before submitting.
Lowestoft Chronicle
Lowestoft Chronicle is an online literary magazine that publishes “flash fiction, short stories, poetry, and creative non-fiction. Preference is given to humorous submissions with an emphasis on travel.” The deadline for this reading period is November 15th.
Witcraft
They focus on publishing fiction, nonfiction, and poems that are “brief, humorous and engaging, with the emphasis on wit, word play, absurdity and inspired nonsense.” They respond to submissions within two days.
WestWard Quarterly
This poetry only journal focuses on “presenting material that is reflective, inspiring, uplifting, encouraging and humorous”.
Humour Me
This UK based magazine was “created with the express purpose of being a showcase for humour/comedy writers from across the world”. Their Halloween and Christmas Theme calls close on October 2nd.
McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
The most established humor focused lit journal on the internet, publishes very specific types of articles. Please read a few examples and their guidelines before submitting.
The Belladonna
They bill themselves as “Comedy and satire by women and other marginalized genders, for everyone.” Submissions are restricted to women, non-binary, gender queer, and gender nonconforming authors.
Funny Times
They only publish cartoons and funny stories, and have been for over forty years. You can get a feel for what they publish here.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2024 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.
