Freshwater Literary Journal is print and online journal produced by the students at the Asnuntuck campus of Connecticut State Community College. They publish poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction from around the world, as well as student writing. And they publish both experimental and traditional forms. You can read the journal online to get a sense of what they like.
Freshwater Literary Journal was established in 2000, and they publish one issue each year. Their latest annual issue contains writing from 72 contributors.
They are open to submissions right now through February 15, 2027. Submitting authors can expect a response by the end of March, 2027, though acceptances and rejections will be sent on a rolling basis. The next issue of Freshwater will be published in May, 2027.
Poets may submit up to three poems, 40 lines or fewer each. Authors of fiction and creative nonfiction may submit pieces up to 1,500 words. Multiple submissions are accepted. Authors published in Freshwater will receive one contributor copy of the journal.
Freshwater accepts submissions via email, not online or by post. They accept simultaneous submissions but ask that authors withdraw writing published elsewhere. They do not accept previously published work.
Freshwater only accepts submissions that follow the guidelines they’ve posted online. Please read these guidelines in full before submitting. They do not accept writing assisted or generated by AI.
If you would like to learn more or submit to Freshwater, please visit their website.
Bio: Ella Peary is the pen name of an internationally published author and editor. After earning a Master of Fine Arts degree in poetry from Sarah Lawrence College, she lived as a monastic for five years. She now lives as a lay monastic, and teaches poetry, flash fiction, and literary publishing at the Authors Publish Writers Workshop. Her writing has been published in Room, The Apple Valley Review, Fourteen Hills, and elsewhere. And a number of full-length manuscripts she’s edited have received major international awards, including The Best Graphic Novel of the Year (Comics Finlandia), The Montaigne Medal, and The National Indie Excellence Awards. She’s also a long-time literary journal reviewer and editor at Authors Publish Magazine.
