Deadline: April 15, 2021
South 85 Journal accepts general submissions from January 15 to April 15 for its Summer issue through Submittable. Manuscripts should be sent as an attachment. Fiction submissions should be between 2,000 and 5,000 words. Please include the word count in an upper corner of the first page. For fiction that is under 850 words, please consider submitting during our yearly flash fiction contest. Nonfiction submissions should be no longer than 6,000 words. Please include the word count in your email. Poetry submissions should contain no more than 4 poems up to 8 total pages, one poem per page. See full details on our website or Submittable page.
Calls & Contests
Contest :: Two Weeks Left to Enter 15th Annual National Indie Excellence Book Awards
Deadline: March 31, 2021
The National Indie Excellence® Awards (NIEA) are open to all English language printed books available for sale, including small presses, mid-size independent publishers, university presses, and self-published authors. NIEA is proud to be a champion of self-publishing and small independent presses going the extra mile to produce books of excellence in every aspect. All entries for the 15th Annual NIEA contest must be postmarked by March 31st, 2021. www.indieexcellence.com
Weekly Round-up of Calls & Contests :: February 26, 2021
Monday March begins. Hopefully winter is almost over and we can enjoy a nice warm up. Grab a good book, a notebook, and enjoy fresh air and sunshine. If you missed out on the submissions opportunity featured on NewPages this week, I have you covered.
Don’t forget you can get early access to new ads by subscribing to our weekly newsletter (it’s free). Plus, with your newsletter subscription you also get the monthly eLitPak with fliers from mags, presses, events, and writing programs announcing calls, contests, application deadlines, and more.
Call for Submissions Round-up
You can view all active calls for submissions by visiting our website. Plus, if you have a young writer in your house, don’t forget you can find publications for them to submit to in our Young Writers Guide.
Into the Void Wants Your Work in Issue #19
Deadline: March 7, 2021
Print & online Into the Void is open to submissions of fiction, flash, creative nonfiction, poetry, & visual art to Issue #19 through March 7. Payment is $10 per poem/flash/art or $20 per long-from prose piece, a contributor copy, & a one-year online subscription. No theme & no reading fees until Submittable monthly limits reached (free submissions become available again from 12 a.m. PT March 1). Send us something that makes us feel alive. Details at our website.
The Experiment Will Not Be Bound: Experimental Anthology, Peter Campion, ed.
Deadline: March 14, 2021
This project reflects current times: it is a political act, and bold voices in new forms will ignite it. We are most interested in: What does America mean now — and what forms can our voices take today? Show us experimental writing that confronts the hard truths of America across identities, generations, communities, cultures, borders. Literary experiments from BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other underrepresented communities hold particular power in making this anthology relevant. We will challenge the traditional anthology form too, experimenting with how the book can be (un)bound, (re)ordered, (re)read, and (co)shared. Authors selected will be paid for their work. www.unboundedition.com [Read more…] about Weekly Round-up of Calls & Contests :: February 26, 2021
Call :: We Want the Best Stories in All Genres
Submissions accepted year-round.
The Blue Mountain Review launched from Athens, Georgia in 2015 with the mantra, “We’re all south of somewhere.” As a journal of culture the BMR strives to represent life through its stories. Stories are vital to our survival. Songs save the soul. Our goal is to preserve and promote lives told well through prose, poetry, music, and the visual arts. Our editors read year-round with an eye out for work with homespun and international appeal. We’ve published work by and interviews with Jericho Brown, Kelli Russell Agodon, Robert Pinsky, Rising Appalachia, Nahko, Michel Stone, Genesis Greykid, Cassandra King, Melissa Studdard, and A.E. Stallings.
February 2021 eLitPak :: Iron City Magazine Call for Submissions

Iron City Magazine is an online and print magazine devoted to writing and art from the prison world. It is our hope that through this creative platform, incarcerated writers and artists find value in their stories, fuel for personal growth, and pride in their accomplishments. Submit to Issue 6 of Iron City Magazine! Submission Deadline: June 06, 2021.
View the entire February eLitPak here. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get first access to future eLitPaks.
February 2021 eLitPak :: Prospectus

A Literary Offering
Discovering, bringing new poets from obscurity, is why Prospectus exists. We seek the work of emerging poets. Our magazine is published twice a year, in June and December. If you are unpublished or little-published, we invite you to submit your best poems for consideration. We also publish short prose pieces as well as fine-art images and reviews. Deadline: February 28, 2021.
They will be exhibiting during the virtual 2021 AWP Bookfair & Conference.
View the entire February eLitPak here. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get first access to future eLitPaks.
February 2021 eLitPak :: Gival Press 2021 Contests

Gival Press has the following contests for authors and poets which carry a cash prize and for which a reading fee is required: Oscar Wilde Award (deadline June 27); Short Story Award (deadline August 8); Poetry Award (deadline December 15). Visit our website for full details.
Gival Press is participating in the virtual AWP 2021 Bookfair & Conference. Don’t forget to stop by their exhibitor booth.
View the entire February eLitPak here. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get first access to future eLitPaks.
February 2021 eLitPak :: Catamaran Poetry Prize for West Coast Poets

Submit your book length manuscript to the Catamaran Poetry Prize for West Coast poets. This year’s judge is Pulitzer Prize finalist Dorianne Laux! The prize winner will receive $1,000 and book publication. Submission deadline is April 20th, 2021. This contest is only open to poets living in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii.
View the entire February eLitPak here. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get first access to future eLitPaks.
February 2021 eLitPak :: Tartt First Fiction Award

Deadline: March 15, 2021
Winning short story collection will be published by Livingston Press at the University of West Alabama, in simultaneous hardcover and trade paper editions, also in e-book and Kindle formats. Winner will receive $1000, plus our standard royalty contract, which includes 50 copies of the book. Author must not have had
a book of short fiction published at time of entry, though novels or poetry are okay.
View the entire February eLitPak here. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get first access to future eLitPaks.
Weekly Round-up of Calls & Contests :: February 19, 2021
The February 2021 eLitPak was sent out to our newsletter subscribers this past Wednesday. Stay tuned for those fliers which will be posted to the blog throughout the day today. Hard to believe February is almost over…didn’t it just start? We hope you are keeping warm and safe in all of the craziness that has been going on.
Don’t forget you can get early access to new ads by subscribing to our weekly newsletter (it’s free). Plus, with your newsletter subscription you also get the monthly eLitPak with fliers from mags, presses, events, and writing programs announcing calls, contests, application deadlines, and more. Our next eLitPak is slated for next Wednesday!
Call for Submissions Round-up
You can view all active calls for submissions by visiting our website. Plus, if you have a young writer in your house, don’t forget you can find publications for them to submit to in our Young Writers Guide.
Into the Void Wants Your Work in Issue #19
Deadline: March 7, 2021
Print & online Into the Void is open to submissions of fiction, flash, creative nonfiction, poetry, & visual art to Issue #19 through March 7. Payment is $10 per poem/flash/art or $20 per long-from prose piece, a contributor copy, & a one-year online subscription. No theme & no reading fees until Submittable monthly limits reached (free submissions become available again from 12 a.m. PT March 1). Send us something that makes us feel alive. Details at our website.
Sand Hills Literary Magazine. 45th Annual Issue. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry. $3 fee. Deadline: March 8, 2021.
The Experiment Will Not Be Bound: Experimental Anthology, Peter Campion, ed.
Deadline: March 14, 2021
This project reflects current times: it is a political act, and bold voices in new forms will ignite it. We are most interested in: What does America mean now — and what forms can our voices take today? Show us experimental writing that confronts the hard truths of America across identities, generations, communities, cultures, borders. Literary experiments from BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other underrepresented communities hold particular power in making this anthology relevant. We will challenge the traditional anthology form too, experimenting with how the book can be (un)bound, (re)ordered, (re)read, and (co)shared. Authors selected will be paid for their work. www.unboundedition.com
Mistake House: a space between ordinary and odd
Deadline: March 15, 2021
Mistake House Magazine seeks work that speaks to the heart in a complex global context. Submissions, including work in translation, accepted through March 15, 2021 from students currently enrolled in graduate or undergraduate programs worldwide. See guidelines at www.mistakehouse.org/submit/. Mistake House: a space between ordinary and odd. [Read more…] about Weekly Round-up of Calls & Contests :: February 19, 2021
Call :: Mistake Seeks Grad & Undergrad Writers Around the World
Mistake House Magazine seeks work that speaks to the heart in a complex global context. Submissions, including work in translation, accepted through March 15, 2021 from students currently enrolled in graduate or undergraduate programs worldwide. See guidelines at www.mistakehouse.org/submit/. Mistake House: a space between ordinary and odd.