Skip to main content

January Calls for Submission


Each month, the Ashland MFA Program receives calls for submissions and contest deadlines, which it publicizes in its monthly newsletter. Listed below are this month's calls for submissions.

Journal Submissions


Barely South Review is now accepting submissions for our Spring 2016 Reading Period. We welcome submissions of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, art, and short essays on craft. Deadline is April 1, 2016. http://barelysouthreview.digitalodu.com/submission-guidelines/

Hippocampus magazine is seeking works of creative nonfiction on “firsts” for their 2016 theme issue, which will be available in July. Submissions should be up to 3,500 words. Deadline April 15.

Barking Sycamores is a literary journal publishing poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, hybrid genre works, and art by neurodivergent (autistic, ADHD, bipolar, dyslexic, etc.) writers and artists. They seek work for an unthemed Issue 9 (Spring/Summer 2016).  The journal also accepts essays on the impact of neurodivergence on the creation of literary works. Submission period opens January 20 and closes March 19, 2016. Due to the unique nature of this journal, interested creatives should consult our submission guidelines before sending work.

Creative Nonfiction is seeking new essays about Learning from Nature for an upcoming issue. The Biomimicry Center at Arizona State University will award $5,000 for the best essay and Creative Nonfiction will award $1,000 to the runner-up. All submissions will be considered for publication in the magazines fall 2016 issues. Deadline is February 1, 2016.
https://creativenonfiction.submittable.com/submit/48472

Black Cat Moon Literary Journal is now open to submissions of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry for their first quarterly issue (slated for spring 2016). Reading fees will be waived for the month of January 2016! The press is also seeking manuscripts for its Nine Lives Collection of poetry books.
http://www.blackcatmoonpress.com/submissions.html

Trigger Warning is now accepting submissions for its first edition. This new literary magazine will focus on works that convey what it is to overcome personal struggles and which accurately illustrate the nature of the human experience. We accept personal essays, memoir, fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry and hybrid works. We read year round and publish our journal three times per year. Reading fee is $5. Accepted writers receive $25.
http://www.triggerwarninglit.com/

Small Po[r]tions is accepting submissions for Issue 6! We aim to curate cross-genre, experimental and multi/intermedia work and hope to offer a shared space for experimental creative fiction and nonfiction, lyrical fiction, poetry, and multimedia pieces. Small Po[r]tions issues have a print component with a focus on book arts and an online component featuring selections from the print issue along with media work. You can view work from our previous issues at smallportionsjournal.com/issues. Please submit up to 1000 words [up to 5 pages] or one multimedia work.
submissions@smallportionsjournal.com

Found Polaroids is looking for flash fiction to accompany their collection of “found polaroids.” While submitted stories are unpaid writing projects, the exposure that students would gain from their stories is widespread. Found Polaroids has been featured on such news outlets as BBC World Radio, The Guardian.com, Dazed Magazine, CBC Radio 'As It Happens’, MutantSpace.com, The Plaid Zebra, and many more.
http://www.foundpolaroids.com/

Temporal Discombobulations calls for original contemporary fiction that pays homage to the Gothic with 'time' as the theme. This anthology is in conjunction with the ‘Temporal Discombobulations: Time and the Experience of the Gothic’ conference at the University of Surrey from 22-24 August 2016, and we are accepting submissions for short fiction from new writers, scholars, and seasoned authors. Deadline is February 15, 2016.
https://temporaldiscombobulations.wordpress.com/

Belmont Story Review invites submissions of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction for its spring issue. Deadline is April 1. To submit, send an email to BSRsubmissions@gmail.com with the genre of your work in the subject line and attach a Word document. In the body, please include a brief bio. Honorariums provided for accepted work. 
www.belmontstoryreview.com.

Fiction International is accepting submissions for its annual print journal during the period October 1, 2015 - February 15, 2016. The theme this year is Taboo. Interested writers are invited to visit our submission guidelines page at: http://fictioninternational.sdsu.edu/wordpress/submit/ Fiction International publishes an award winning annual journal that encourages formal innovation and social activism. We are located on the campus of San Diego State University, and the journal is edited by Harold Jaffe. Each issue revolves around a theme and features a wide variety of fiction, nonfiction, indeterminate prose, and visuals by leading writers and artists from around the world. We generally publish between 25 to 30 texts and visuals with each journal. To get an idea of what we are looking for, please visit our catalog page for sample texts: http://fictioninternational.sdsu.edu/wordpress/catalog/

Glassworks publishes nonfiction, fiction, poetry, hybrid pieces, craft essays, new media, and art both digitally and in print. We also publish flash fiction, prose poetry, and micro essays in our online edition Flash Glass monthly. Submissions for Flash Glass are accepted on a year-round, rolling basis. www.rowanglassworks.org

Lumen is a project for (and by!) cis women, trans-women, and non-binary people. We are interested in poetry, fiction, personal essays, and interviews that examine how we move through the world, both as complex individuals and as members of larger communities. The conversations we are interested in are those that shed light on our stories—on our struggles, our triumphs, and all the in-betweens. New reading period will start later this month. Blogs may be submitted anytime.
https://lumen.submittable.com/submit

Southern Review is open to submissions in poetry through February 1. For mailing address and other guidelines visit their website:
 http://thesouthernreview.org/submissions

Graduate Student Poetry Only. We invite graduate students to submit to Claremont Graduate University's Foothill: a journal of poetry. Foothill is the first and only literary journal that exclusively publishes graduate student poetry. Sign up for an online subscription or learn more: http://www.cgu.edu/pages/9078.asp


Contests


The Turnip Truck(s) is interested in publishing essays, poems, and stories that redefine the image of “The Road.”  Whether the road is metaphorical or physical, we welcome work that addresses anything from a traditional hero’s journey to learning to traverse a foreign land, embrace a new perspective, or navigate the Internet super highway. Two $500 prizes will be awarded for the poem and essay or story that best embody the spirit of this significant image. Enter one essay or story or up to five poems. There is a $12 entry fee, which comes with an electronic subscription to The Turnip Truck(s) journal. Deadline for submission is March 1, 2016. 

Epiphany has opened its annual spring writing contest for submissions in the categories of Fiction, Non Fiction, Poetry, and Best Prose. First prize is $400, publication, and five contributor copies.  Deadline is February 15, 2016. View guidelines at
https://epiphanymagazine.submittable.com/submit

Blue River, Creighton University’s new literary magazine, publishes the best writing from current and recent creative writing graduate students. Their Editor Award offers $500 for the best submission in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. All entries considered for publication. Deadline: March 1, 2016; $15 fee.
https://blueriver.submittable.com/submit

Cosmonauts Avenue is holding their inaugural poetry contest, judged by Claudia Rankine. The winner will receive $500 and publication in an upcoming issue. Cosmonauts Avenue publishes poetry, fiction, non-fiction, interviews, reviews, and correspondence by emerging and established writers in English and in translation.
http://www.cosmonautsavenue.com/

Nazim Hikmet Poetry Competition is accepting submissions through January 31, 2016. Finalists will receive an award of $100 and will be invited to read their poems at the 8th Annual Nazim Hikmet Poetry Festival, which will be held on Sunday, April 10, 2016 at Page-Walker Arts & History Center in Cary, North Carolina. Winners and honorable mentions will be published in the festival book and online.   http://www.nazimhikmetpoetryfestival.org/index.php?id=4.

Glimmer Train is accepting submissions for our New Writer Award. Entry fee is $18 per submission. It is open only to emerging writers whose fiction has not appeared in any print publication with a circulation over 5,000. The 1st-place winner will be published in Glimmer Train, will receive 10 copies of that issue, and win $2,500. Second- and 3rd-place win $500/$300, respectively, or, if accepted for publication, $700. Deadline is February 29, 2016. For guidelines visit http://www.glimmertrain.com/pages/guidelines/short_story_award_for_new_writers_guidelines.php


Conferences, Workshops, and More



The 5th Annual River Teeth Nonfiction Conference is now open for registration! Speakers for this year are Dinty W. Moore, Elena Passarello, Jill Christman, Hope Edelman, Steve Harvey, Sonya Huber, Tom Larson, Patrick Madden, Bob Root, Mike Steinberg, Ana Maria Spagna, and of course River Teeth co-editors Joe Mackall and Dan Lehman.  River Teeth is excited about this group of speakers and we hope you are too! Information about registration discounts, deadlines, and more can be found on our website.

AWP Conference Scholarship. AWP offers three annual scholarships of $500 each to emerging writers who wish to attend a writers’ conference, center, retreat, festival, or residency. They encourage writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction to enter. The scholarships are applied to fees for winners who attend one of the member programs in AWP’s Directory of Conferences & Centers. Winners and six finalists also receive a one-year individual membership in AWP. Submissions accepted through March 30. 
https://www.awpwriter.org/contests/wcc_scholarships_overview

Lambda Literary's 2016 Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices is now accepting applications. The Retreat will be held July 24-31, 2016 on the campus of the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. Faculty include Andrew Holleran (Fiction workshop), Benjamin Alire Sáenz (Young Adult Fiction workshop), Joy Ladin (Poetry workshop), Sarah Schulman (Nonfiction workshop), and Robert O’Hara (Playwriting workshop).
http://www.lambdaliterary.org/writers-retreat/application/

Disquiet International Literacy Program is now accepting entries for the 2016 Literary Prize & the Luso/Lusa-American Fellowships, with winning entries receiving full tuition, airfare and accommodations for our sixth annual program in Lisbon, from July 3 to 15, 2016. Deadline is January 31, 2016. http://www.disquietinternational.org

Something to add? Send it to mfa@ashland.edu. We are especially interested in opportunities that cater to emerging writers.

Popular posts from this blog

Interview with Kyle Winkler

After talking to Lisa Nik, it only seemed right to keep the good juju going and interview one of our newest fiction faculty members, Kyle Winkler. You can learn everything you ever wanted to know about Kyle from this interview and from his website . Thanks to our lovely and talented intern, Angela Manasieva for preparing this interview. 1. Where are you from and how do you use your surroundings to write? I'm from southwest Indiana originally. Rolling hills, farmland, corn, wheat. LOTS of corn and wheat. My landscapes have affected me heavily in my writing. All that tall crop and the sometimes isolating farmland in the autumn during sunset can do a lot to make one feel...creeped out? Hah. I've tried to use my small town upbringing to good effect, as well. I grew up most of life in a working class to middle-class home in the rust belt. So I'm often trying to evoke the experiences and attitudes of the sorts of folks I grew up around and with. And those experiences were, to so

Meet the Team

We're very pleased to introduce our spring 2018 Ashland MFA Faculty. We hope you're as excited about these names as we are. Included are a few links to help you get acquainted with these writers and their work: interviews, book reviews, short publications, excerpts. For a full listing of faculty including their bios and additional information, visit our website's Faculty Page . Poetry Dexter Booth Author of Scratching the Ghost , winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize. Booth’s poems have appeared in Best American Poetry, Blackbird, VQR, and elsewhere. Grist Journal  review of  Scratching the Ghost   “Love in the Time of Revolution” ( Blackbird ) “Queen Elizabeth” ( VQR ) “Insomnia Poem” ( Waxwing ) Gaylord Brewer Author of nine collections of poetry including Country of Ghost and Give Over, Graymalkin.  Brewer has published over nine hundred poems in journals and anthologies including Best American Poetry and The Bedford Introduction to L

2020 Virtual Summer Residency

Get excited! The Ashland University 2020 MFA Summer Residency is going virtual this year. From  July 13 - 31st , we’re hosting workshops, readings, panels, craft classes, open mics, and more--all from the safety and comfort of your home. Stay tuned for schedule updates and registration links! Students and faculty share a laugh at last year's residency Visiting Writers Jericho Brown , Visiting Writer in Poetry Poetry Reading:   Tuesday, July 21, 7:30pm EST Craft Class:  Wednesday, July 22, 5pm EST Jericho Brown is the recipient of a Whiting Writers’ Award and fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Brown’s first book,  Please  (2008), won the American Book Award. His second book,  The New Testament  (2014), won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and was named one of the best of the year by Library Journal, Coldfront, and the Academy of American Poets. He i