Authors Publish was founded in the United States, but has since moved to Canada. Our subscribers are based all over the world, with a majority based in the United States. A lot of the journals and publishers we cover are still based in the United States for two reasons.

1. Most publishers and literary journals are based in the United States.
2. These presses and journals are also more likely to be open to direct submissions from writers regardless of their geographic location. Presses and journals from other countries, in particular Canada and the Australia, are more likely to get funding from the government, which can lead to limits on how many (if any) international writers they can publish.

Some of the journals on this list are not open to international submissions or are only open to international submissions during certain periods of the year. If that is the case, we try to make it clear in this article.

If we missed any of your favourite Canadian journals (that don’t charge submission fees), please send me an email at support@authorspublish.com. I do really like The Walrus, but they are not on this list because I know some authors struggle to receive payment from them. I also really appreciate the /tEmz/ review, but their policy regarding AI doesn’t align with ours, at this time.

Also since 2023 Literary Magazines Canada Collective has done a terrific job listing and monitoring the health of the Canadian literary journal community. You can see their directory here.

The Fiddlehead
Published by the University of New Brunswick, The Fiddlehead is the oldest literary journal in Canada that is still in circulation. It is a print journal with issues published four times a year. Contributors are paid, get a free subscription and two contributor copies. They have two online submission periods per year, one is open to international submissions, the other is not. They are currently also reading for a disability themed special issue.

The Ex-Puritan
This established paying market is open to a wide range of submissions. They have submission caps on fee-free submissions.

ARC Poetry Magazine
This established paying market produces a beautiful print journal and is only open to poetry submissions. They charge US-based authors for submissions but you can request a waiver. Check their guidelines for details.

The Malahat Review
This established and respected journal publishes poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction, as well as translated work in any of these three genres, by new and established writers from Canada and abroad. They are always open to submissions from Canadians, and have limited windows for international writers. Excluding their contests and theme issues they ask that writers submit only once per genre per calendar year.

Prairie Fire
This print journal only allows postal submissions from most authors. They have additional details with exceptions to this on their website. They are a paying market, but generally only respond to submissions if they are interested in publishing the work. They only allow authors one submission per genre every twelve months, outside of special calls.

The Literary Review of Canada
An established and respected publication, they are open to pitches of reviews, essays, and during certain periods, poetry. They rarely accept already completed nonfiction work.
Room
Canada’s oldest feminist print literary journal is a paying market that features fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and art by emerging and established women and genderqueer writers and artists. Submissions are restricted to “folks of marginalized genders, including but not limited to women (cisgender and transgender), transgender men, Two-Spirit and nonbinary people.”

Augur Magazine
This is a wonderful speculative fiction magazine. They primarily publish Canadian authors and Indigenous creators, and have demographic restrictions sometimes. They are a paying market.

Tales & Feathers Magazine
Run by Augur Magazine, Tales & Feathers is a separate publication focused on cozy slice of life fantasy stories. They are a paying market.

Toronto Journal
They publish short stories from around the world, and nonfiction that is set in Toronto or the region or explores local history. They are a paying market. The journal has a print and audio version.

Pulp Literature
This BC based publication focuses on genre work. They are seeking “Any genre or between-genre work of literature, or visual art (black and white for interiors, colour for covers) up to 50 pages in length. Short stories, novellas, poetry, comics, illustrations — bring it on. We do not publish non-fiction, memoir, or young adult and children’s stories. Aside from that, we want anything entertaining and well written.” They are currently not open to short fiction and poetry submissions.

Spadina Literary Review
This wonderful online literary journal is open to submissions on a rolling basis. They publish poetry, short fiction, memoir, essays, and art.

Doric Literary
They publish classically inspired short stories. This is how they define classically inspired — “we mean that the more it reads like something from Flannery O’Connor or Katherine Mansfield, the better. Contemporary settings are fine: think of stories like “Peach Cobler” by Deesha Philyaw or “Sexy Motherfucker’s Mom” by Maureen Langloss”. They also are open to novel excerpts.

DarkWinter Literary Magazine
This small press and literary magazine is based in Ontario. They publish short fiction and poetry. You can get a feel for what they publish here.

The New Quarterly
Their mission is to publish and promote Canadian writers and writing. They use submission caps to control the flow of submissions. They are a paying market and have different reading periods for different genres.