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.
The newborn online biannual journal indicia (in-DISHy-yuh) seeks vigorous and vital art, poetry, and fiction for their first issue. we seek unwilted words and images that captivate and pulse with timely insight, sparks of openness, technical know-how, and above all, a sense of play. All work must be previously unpublished and submitted by March 18.
http://indicialit.com/submissions/
riverSedge is accepting sumbissions in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, dramatic scripts, reviews, interviews, graphic literature, and art. Submissions close March 1. Three cash prizes will be awarded in poetry, prose, and art.
https://riversedge.submittable.com/submit
Eternal Remedy is an online journal dedicated to creative writing surrounding the topics of existentialism, love, psychology, philosophy, religion and the human condition in general. In its third year of operation, the journal is looking to expand its writing selections.
http://eternalremedy.com/submissions/
Front Porch Journal, the online literary journal of Texas State University’s MFA program, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The journal publishes three times a year, highlighting emerging and established writers, reviews, and interviews. They are looking for new stories, essays, poems, flash, artwork, and graphic narratives.
http://frontporchjournal.com/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.
https://hippocampusmagazine.submittable.com/submit/51671
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.
https://barkingsycamores.wordpress.com/submission-guidelines/general-submission-guidelines/
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). 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/
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.
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
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
Foothill: a journal of poetry invites graduate students to submit up to six unpublished, English-language-based poems composed in any poetic genre or form. We accept simultaneous submissions, and we read them year round. As compensation for publication, authors receive one free copy of the print journal. Foothill is published by Claremont Graduate University.
http://www.cgu.edu/pages/9078.asp
The First Annual Ex Ophidia Press Poetry Book Contest is open for submissions of poetry manuscripts. The contest is offering a $1,000 cash prize, 50 author copies of the book, and all revenues from the sale of the book. Deadline is June 30, 2016.
https://exophidiapress.submittable.com/submit
Milkweed Editions’ annual Lindquist & Vennum Prize for Poetry is now open to poets currently residing in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota. There is no entry fee. The prize awards $10,000 and a contract for publication to the author of the winning manuscript.Deadline is March 1, 2016.
http://milkweed.org/about-us/editorial/lindquist-vennum-prize-for-poetry/
The Missouri Review, a multi-media literary journal, are excited to announce that our 2016 Miller Audio Competition is underway. Prizes will be awarded for high-quality recordings of poets and writers reading their work for Poetry, Prose, Audio Documentary, and Humor categories. Deadline is March 15. The winner of each of the four categories receives $1,000. Winning entries and runners-up will be featured on their podcast. All entrants receive a one-year, digital subscription to The Missouri Review.
http://www.missourireview.com/audiovisual/submissions/
Postcard from Mars 2016 Field Office Poetry Prize. You are writing from Mars, the blood-red planet once called the “fire star” by Chinese astronomers. It is a place of fierce dust storms and a freezing, rocky terrain of canyons, craters, and volcanoes—and two moons Phobos (fear) and Deimos (panic). What lines do you write in a missive back home to Earth? Prize is a 30-minute consult with 2015 Pulitzer Prize winning poet Gregory Pardlo. April 1 deadline.
http://www.fieldofficeagency.com/office/postcard-prize
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.
http://www.theturnips.net
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
Glimmer Train is accepting submissions for The Short Story Award for New Writers. 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.
http://www.glimmertrain.com/pages/guidelines/short_story_award_for_new_writers_guidelines.php
The Caterpillar is accepting submissions for our Poetry Prize. We are looking for a single unpublished poem written by an adult for children aged 7–11. The deadline is 30 March. Entry fee is €12 per poem. Winner will receive €1000.
http://www.thecaterpillarmagazine.com/a1-page.asp?ID=7253&page=12
Breakwater Review an online literary journal run by University of Massachusetts Boston MFA students, is seeking submissions to the 2016 Peseroff Prize Poetry Contest and the Breakwater Review Fiction Contest. Both contests have a $10 submission fee. The winning poem and story will each receive a $1,000 prize and publication in our journal. The final judges will be poet Jill McDonough and author Askold Melnyczuk. May 15 deadline for both contests.
breakwaterreview.com
The Cleveland State University Poetry Center welcomes submissions for their First Book Poetry Competition and for their Essay Collection Competition. The winners will receive $1,000, publication, and a standard royalty contract. There is a $28 reading fee, and the deadline is March 31.
http://www.csupoetrycenter.com/first-book-poetry/
Quills Edge Press has great news – you have until March 1st to submit your chapbook to Quills Edge Press. This year’s theme centers around “To Inhabit.” Entry fee is $15. Please see our submission guidelines here:
https://quillsedgepress.submittable.com/submit
The Center for Interfaith Relations is delighted to announce the submissions link for the 2016 Poetry of the Sacred Contest is live! Submission form closes at 11:59 pm (EST) on March 31. This year’s final judge, Elizabeth Robinson, will select three honorable mentions to receive $100.00 and award one winning poem the $500.00 Merton Prize in Poetry of the Sacred. The winning poem and all honorable mentions will be published in the 2016 Winter issue of Parabola Magazine, an internationally recognized magazine devoted to the sacred. The winning poem will also be read on stage at the 2016 Festival of Faiths (festivaloffaiths.org).
https://centerforinterfaithrelations.submittable.com/submit
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, Kate Hopper, 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 bunch and we hope you are too! Information about registration discounts, deadlines, and more can be found on our website.
http://www.riverteethjournal.com/conference
The Sundress Academy for the Arts (SAFTA) is accepting applications for short-term artist residencies in creative writing and other arts. The residency is located at the SAFTA farmhouse in Knoxville, Tennessee and can last from one week to two months. Applications are available for our summer residency period, which runs from May 30 to August 28, 2016. Application deadline is March 1, 2016. Application fees are $25 or $15 for current students with a student e-mail address.
http://www.sundresspublications.com/safta/
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
Cambridge Writers’ Workshop is having several upcoming writing retreats for MFA students and professional writers. Our 2016 retreat locations such include Newport, Rhode Island; Barcelona, Spain; the South of France; and Granada, Spain. If interested in applying to any of these retreats, please go to https://cww.submittable.com/submit and apply by March 15, 2016. Due to limited seating, early applications are encouraged. Using the online submission system, submit ten pages of prose or five pages of poetry with a $5 application fee. Visit the website (cww.nyc) for an application and complete guidelines.
Elk River Arts & Lectures is accepting applications for its 2016 summer workshop at Chico Hot Springs in Montana’s Paradise Valley. This second annual event runs August 8-11, bringing prominent writers together with advanced writing students for four days of seminars, workshops, lectures and readings in a small group environment. Deadline to apply is June 1. To learn more or apply for the workshop, visit ElkRiverWriters.org.
Something to add? Send it to mfa@ashland.edu. We're especially interested in opportunities that cater to new and emerging writers.
Journal Submissions
The newborn online biannual journal indicia (in-DISHy-yuh) seeks vigorous and vital art, poetry, and fiction for their first issue. we seek unwilted words and images that captivate and pulse with timely insight, sparks of openness, technical know-how, and above all, a sense of play. All work must be previously unpublished and submitted by March 18.
http://indicialit.com/submissions/
riverSedge is accepting sumbissions in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, dramatic scripts, reviews, interviews, graphic literature, and art. Submissions close March 1. Three cash prizes will be awarded in poetry, prose, and art.
https://riversedge.submittable.com/submit
Eternal Remedy is an online journal dedicated to creative writing surrounding the topics of existentialism, love, psychology, philosophy, religion and the human condition in general. In its third year of operation, the journal is looking to expand its writing selections.
http://eternalremedy.com/submissions/
Front Porch Journal, the online literary journal of Texas State University’s MFA program, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The journal publishes three times a year, highlighting emerging and established writers, reviews, and interviews. They are looking for new stories, essays, poems, flash, artwork, and graphic narratives.
http://frontporchjournal.com/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.
https://hippocampusmagazine.submittable.com/submit/51671
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.
https://barkingsycamores.wordpress.com/submission-guidelines/general-submission-guidelines/
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). 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/
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.
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
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
Foothill: a journal of poetry invites graduate students to submit up to six unpublished, English-language-based poems composed in any poetic genre or form. We accept simultaneous submissions, and we read them year round. As compensation for publication, authors receive one free copy of the print journal. Foothill is published by Claremont Graduate University.
http://www.cgu.edu/pages/9078.asp
Contests
The First Annual Ex Ophidia Press Poetry Book Contest is open for submissions of poetry manuscripts. The contest is offering a $1,000 cash prize, 50 author copies of the book, and all revenues from the sale of the book. Deadline is June 30, 2016.
https://exophidiapress.submittable.com/submit
Milkweed Editions’ annual Lindquist & Vennum Prize for Poetry is now open to poets currently residing in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota. There is no entry fee. The prize awards $10,000 and a contract for publication to the author of the winning manuscript.Deadline is March 1, 2016.
http://milkweed.org/about-us/editorial/lindquist-vennum-prize-for-poetry/
The Missouri Review, a multi-media literary journal, are excited to announce that our 2016 Miller Audio Competition is underway. Prizes will be awarded for high-quality recordings of poets and writers reading their work for Poetry, Prose, Audio Documentary, and Humor categories. Deadline is March 15. The winner of each of the four categories receives $1,000. Winning entries and runners-up will be featured on their podcast. All entrants receive a one-year, digital subscription to The Missouri Review.
http://www.missourireview.com/audiovisual/submissions/
Postcard from Mars 2016 Field Office Poetry Prize. You are writing from Mars, the blood-red planet once called the “fire star” by Chinese astronomers. It is a place of fierce dust storms and a freezing, rocky terrain of canyons, craters, and volcanoes—and two moons Phobos (fear) and Deimos (panic). What lines do you write in a missive back home to Earth? Prize is a 30-minute consult with 2015 Pulitzer Prize winning poet Gregory Pardlo. April 1 deadline.
http://www.fieldofficeagency.com/office/postcard-prize
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.
http://www.theturnips.net
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
Glimmer Train is accepting submissions for The Short Story Award for New Writers. 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.
http://www.glimmertrain.com/pages/guidelines/short_story_award_for_new_writers_guidelines.php
The Caterpillar is accepting submissions for our Poetry Prize. We are looking for a single unpublished poem written by an adult for children aged 7–11. The deadline is 30 March. Entry fee is €12 per poem. Winner will receive €1000.
http://www.thecaterpillarmagazine.com/a1-page.asp?ID=7253&page=12
Breakwater Review an online literary journal run by University of Massachusetts Boston MFA students, is seeking submissions to the 2016 Peseroff Prize Poetry Contest and the Breakwater Review Fiction Contest. Both contests have a $10 submission fee. The winning poem and story will each receive a $1,000 prize and publication in our journal. The final judges will be poet Jill McDonough and author Askold Melnyczuk. May 15 deadline for both contests.
breakwaterreview.com
The Cleveland State University Poetry Center welcomes submissions for their First Book Poetry Competition and for their Essay Collection Competition. The winners will receive $1,000, publication, and a standard royalty contract. There is a $28 reading fee, and the deadline is March 31.
http://www.csupoetrycenter.com/first-book-poetry/
Quills Edge Press has great news – you have until March 1st to submit your chapbook to Quills Edge Press. This year’s theme centers around “To Inhabit.” Entry fee is $15. Please see our submission guidelines here:
https://quillsedgepress.submittable.com/submit
The Center for Interfaith Relations is delighted to announce the submissions link for the 2016 Poetry of the Sacred Contest is live! Submission form closes at 11:59 pm (EST) on March 31. This year’s final judge, Elizabeth Robinson, will select three honorable mentions to receive $100.00 and award one winning poem the $500.00 Merton Prize in Poetry of the Sacred. The winning poem and all honorable mentions will be published in the 2016 Winter issue of Parabola Magazine, an internationally recognized magazine devoted to the sacred. The winning poem will also be read on stage at the 2016 Festival of Faiths (festivaloffaiths.org).
https://centerforinterfaithrelations.submittable.com/submit
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, Kate Hopper, 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 bunch and we hope you are too! Information about registration discounts, deadlines, and more can be found on our website.
http://www.riverteethjournal.com/conference
The Sundress Academy for the Arts (SAFTA) is accepting applications for short-term artist residencies in creative writing and other arts. The residency is located at the SAFTA farmhouse in Knoxville, Tennessee and can last from one week to two months. Applications are available for our summer residency period, which runs from May 30 to August 28, 2016. Application deadline is March 1, 2016. Application fees are $25 or $15 for current students with a student e-mail address.
http://www.sundresspublications.com/safta/
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
Cambridge Writers’ Workshop is having several upcoming writing retreats for MFA students and professional writers. Our 2016 retreat locations such include Newport, Rhode Island; Barcelona, Spain; the South of France; and Granada, Spain. If interested in applying to any of these retreats, please go to https://cww.submittable.com/submit and apply by March 15, 2016. Due to limited seating, early applications are encouraged. Using the online submission system, submit ten pages of prose or five pages of poetry with a $5 application fee. Visit the website (cww.nyc) for an application and complete guidelines.
Elk River Arts & Lectures is accepting applications for its 2016 summer workshop at Chico Hot Springs in Montana’s Paradise Valley. This second annual event runs August 8-11, bringing prominent writers together with advanced writing students for four days of seminars, workshops, lectures and readings in a small group environment. Deadline to apply is June 1. To learn more or apply for the workshop, visit ElkRiverWriters.org.
Something to add? Send it to mfa@ashland.edu. We're especially interested in opportunities that cater to new and emerging writers.