Portland Review is an established online publication of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and translations, produced by the graduate students at Portland State University’s English Department. Founded in 1956, Portland Review has published many well-known authors like Tess Gallagher, Richard Hugo, Carol Muske-Dukes, and Yusef Komunyakkaa. They also feature emerging and unpublished writers alongside these established voices.
Portland Review aims to showcase a wide range of forms and styles of writing, and to foster experimentation. Writing published in Portland Review has been selected for awards and anthologies like Best of the Net and the Best American series. You can read the journal online to get a sense of what they like.
Since 2020 Portland Review has been published online (previously it was published in print), and they publish new content frequently. Submitting authors can expect a response within six months.
Poets may submit up to three poems, totaling ten pages or fewer. Authors of fiction and nonfiction may submit one piece, up to 5,000 words. For fiction, they accept traditional, experimental, and genre-bending work, as well as flash. For nonfiction, they accept narrative nonfiction, personal essays, memoirs, and interviews, as well as flash.
Portland Review also accepts book reviews from September through April. Review should be 1,200 to 2,500 words, and should address forthcoming or recently published works of poetry, fiction, or nonfiction (including anthologies, graphic novels, and hybrid works). They are especially interested in reviews of books published by small presses.
Portland Review accepts submissions online using Submittable, not via email or by post. They accept simultaneous submissions but ask that authors withdraw writing published elsewhere. They do not accept previously published work.
Portland Review 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 Portland Review, 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.
