Deadline: November 15, 2020
New online publication based at Center for Spirituality, Dialogue, and Service (CSDS) at Northeastern University in Boston. Seeking work that deepens the inward life; expresses range of religious/spiritual/humanist experiences and perspectives; envisions a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world; advances dialogue across difference; and challenges structural oppression in all its forms. Seeking work for feature section on Black Lives Matter to be published in the Spring 2021 issue. Send unpublished poetry, prose, visual art, and translations. Especially interested in work from international and historically unrepresented communities. No fee; currently non-paying. Submit 3-5 pieces via Submittable or pensivejournal@gmail.com. Questions? Contact Alexander Levering Kern, co-editor or visit pensivejournal.com. The first issue will have a special online launch event on Wednesday, October 21, 2020. Mark your calendars to learn more.
Calls & Contests
October eLitPak :: december Magazine 2021 Poetry Contest
2021 Jeff Marks Memorial Poetry Prize
Carl Phillips will judge. $1,500 & publication (winner); $500 & publication (honorable mention); all finalists published in the 2021 Spring/Summer awards issue. Submit up to 3 poems per entry. $20 entry fee includes copy of the awards issue. Submit October 1 to December 1. For complete guidelines please visit our website.
Call :: Utopia Science Fiction Underrepresented Protagonists
We’re looking for enthralling, upbeat stories set in futures we might want to live in. In contrast to growing dystopian stories and darker themes that seem so abundant in today’s literature. We invite you instead to share in our vision of a better tomorrow. Of a future filled with wonder and hope. We publish stories that transport us to another world, a bright future, one we want to believe in, one we’ll fight to see realized. The theme of our next issue is ‘underrepresented protagonists.’ www.utopiasciencefiction.com
October eLitPak :: Last Call! Missouri Review 30th Annual Editors’ Prize
There’s still time to enter the 30th Annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize from the Missouri Review. Winners in each category receive $5000, publication, promotion, and a virtual event to be determined. Submit one piece of fiction or nonfiction up to 8,500 words or up to 10 pages of poems. Enter online or by mail. All entries considered for publication. Deadline: October 15.
Call :: great weather for MEDIA 2021 Anthology
great weather for MEDIA seeks poetry, flash fiction, short stories, dramatic monologues, and creative nonfiction for our annual print anthology. Our focus is on the fearless, the unpredictable, and the experimental. Please visit our website for guidelines. Deadline: January 15, 2021.
Call :: Essential Voices: A COVID-19 Anthology
While the pandemic has ravaged our world, certain populations have been impacted more deeply than others. Essential Voices strives to give voice to those who have been silenced. Send us your poems, stories, recipes, or works of art that reflect upon the experience of COVID and COVID related issues in your life. This anthology will be published by West Virginia University Press. Visit us at our website for guidelines before submitting to essentialanthology@gmail.com. Deadline: December 31.
Call :: Pinch Journal Seeks Poetry Written in or Regarding Variety Englishes for Spring 2021 Issue
The Pinch Literary Journal seeks poetry written in or regarding Variety Englishes for a featured highlight in its Spring 2021 Issue (41.1). Poems in Singlish, Konglish, Spanglish, AAVE, and other English-derived emerging linguistic forms will be considered for publication. No submission fee, accepted pieces will be awarded $150 for publication. Deadline November 15th, 2020. For inquiries, visit www.pinchjournal.com/glish or contact editor@pinchjournal.com.
Call :: Awakenings Review Seeks Submissions Year-round
Established in 2000, The Awakenings Review is an annual lit mag committed to publishing poetry, short story, nonfiction, photography, and art by writers, poets and artists who have a relationship with mental illness: either self, family member, or friend. Our striking hardcopy publication is one of the nation’s leading journals of this genre. Creative endeavors and mental illness have long had a close association. The Awakenings Review publishes works derived from artists’, writers’, and poets’ experiences with mental illness, though mental illness need not be the subject of your work. Visit www.AwakeningsProject.org for submission guidelines.
Contest :: Reading Works Short Short Story Contest
Deadline: January 15, 2021
Take the challenge and write a short short story using 100 words. Topics: ants, bowling, 1940s, water. 7 cash prizes: Best of Contest ($100), Best of Category ($50), Best Youth Story (authors 14 and younger, $50), People’s Choice ($50). Submission fee: $10. Reading Works is a 501(c)(3) community based literacy program that provides free reading, writing and English acquisition tutoring to teens and adults. Proceeds from the contest support literacy programs. To learn more go to www.reading-works.org.
Call :: Light and Dark Seeking New Short Stories for Issue 18
Deadline: November 15, 2020
Light and Dark is an online literary magazine seeking works of short fiction by both new and established authors. We are looking for stories that grapple boldly with the dichotomous nature of existence: the light and the dark; the pain, pleasure; the joy and sorrow. We pay $15 per story. For our complete submission guidelines, head over to either our website or our Submission Manager at Submittable. We look forward to reading your work!
Contest :: 2021 Vern Rutsala Book Prize
The Vern Rutsala Book Prize is an annual contest sponsored by Cloudbank Books. The winner receives a $1,000 cash award, plus publication. This year’s judge is Christopher Buckley. Most recent prize winners are Jane Craven for My Bright Last Country and Timothy Geiger for Weatherbox. Due date for the 2021 prize is Nov. 10, 2020. Entrants receive a copy of Cloudbank. For details visit Contest Guidelines. Cloudbank also awards a $200 prize for one poem or flash fiction published in each magazine. Due date for this contest is February 28, 2021. Regular submissions are accepted year round. For more about Cloudbank Books visit our website. Revive us with your fire.