UPDATED June 30th, 2023: Great Ape has unexpectedly closed permanently to submissions as of late yesterday/early today, after this review was sent out. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Great Ape is a literary journal of absurdist humor. They publish humorous fiction (including flash), nonfiction, and poetry, and they’ve been around since 2019. Each edition is published in print and as a downloadable e-book.
Great Ape accepts a wide range of absurdist humor—dark and light, concrete and surreal, serious and just plain fun—but they especially like writing that “takes the ridiculousness of human existence as its central theme.” You can read more about what they like, and what they don’t like, on their submission page.
So far, Great ape has published five editions. Each is thoughtfully designed with original artwork on the cover. Right now, Great Ape is seeking submissions for their sixth issue.
Authors of fiction and creative nonfiction may submit one piece, 4,000 words or fewer. Great Ape also accepts flash fiction. Poets may submit humorous poems of any length. They accept all forms and styles of poetry. Great Ape also accepts illustrated writing and artwork such as comics.
Great Ape welcomes submissions from all authors, and they’re especially interested in submissions from authors who identify with groups historically underrepresented in humor.
Great Ape accepts submissions via email, not using an online submissions manager or by post. They do not accept previously published work.
Great Ape only accepts submissions that follow the guidelines they’ve posted online. Please read these guidelines in full before submitting.
If you would like to learn more or submit to Great Ape, please visit their website here.
Bio: Ella Peary is the pen name for an author, editor, creative writing mentor, and submission consultant. Over the past five years, she’s written hundreds of articles for Authors Publish, and she’s also served as a copywriter and copy editor for a wide range of organizations and individuals. She is the author of The Quick Start Guide to Flash Fiction. She occasionally teaches a course on flash fiction. You can contact her at ellapeary@gmail.com.
