Written by Emily Harstone December 22nd, 2016

The Twelve Best Literary Journals: 2016 Edition

Out of all the literary journals we reviewed this year the following 12 are our personal favorites. They run a wide gamut, from highly respected to new and intriguing.

If a literary journal you admire is not on this list it is probably for one of the following reasons:

  1. We didn’t review that literary journal this year.
  2. We have never reviewed that literary journal.
  3. They charge reading fees for submissions. We never review journals that don’t accept free submissions.

This year we reviewed over 50 literary journals, all of which we liked, and from those 50 journals we have picked these 12. Credit is owed to the wonderful Ella Peary who wrote most of these reviews.  Click on the name of the journal to read our review and visit their website.

Not all of the literary journals are currently open to submissions, but most are.

The list is in no particular order.

Banshee
A new Irish print literary journal that is off to a great start.

Escape Pod
An audio science fiction journal that publishes a lot of great work.

LitMag
This brand new literary journal pays very well.

Lady.
This literary magazine only publishes work by female authors. They publish a lot of good, compelling work.

Long Exposure
A literary journal that incorporates and explores visual art.

Poetry Magazine
The most prestigious and established poetry only literary journal.

Clarkesworld Magazine
This science fiction journal is well established and they pay well.

HORSETHIEF
A beautiful electronic journal that dabbles in print.

Door is a Jar
This journal prefers emerging voices.

Guernica
This literary journal has its finger on the present.

Valparaiso Poetry Review
A wonderful journal that publishes both the emerging and the established.

 

We Send You Publishers Seeking Submissions.

Sign up for our free e-magazine and we will send you reviews of publishers seeking short stories, poetry, essays, and books.

Subscribe now and we'll send you a free copy of our book Submit, Publish, Repeat