Write Habit - Literary Journals

Literary Journals

The following literary journals regularly publish emerging writers and sometimes publish new writers (emerging meaning writers who have not yet published a book, and new meaning writers who have not yet published in journals). Always read a journal's submission guidelines carefully! Go to the FAQs page for more info on submitting. Visit Duotrope's Digest for more markets or to track submissions.

AGNI: Print journal that "regularly features emerging writers."
Air in the Paragraph Line: Print journal focusing on outsider, experimental, and absurdist fiction with an emphasis on writers outside the academic-industrial complex.
Ballyhoo Stories: Print journal that "focuses on craft and imagination. Each issue explores a theme."
Baltimore Review: Print journal open to traditional and experimental forms.
Beloit Poetry Journal: Print journal that "prefer[s] no particular forms or lengths or subjects…always watching for new poets, fresh insights, quickened language."
Bellingham Review: Print journal open to a range of form and subject matter.
Bird Dog: Print journal that publishes "innovative writing and art: collaborations, interviews, collages, poetry, poetics, long poems, reviews, graphs, charts, short fiction, non-fiction, cross genre…"
The Bitter Oleander: Print journal that publishes "deep-image driven poetry [and] short, imaginative fiction."
Black Warrior Review: Print journal "open to all styles; most important…is quality of work."
Blackbird: Electronic journal whose "sole principle is excellence."
Born Magazine: Electronic journal that marries literary works and interactive media.
Boulevard: Print journal that "strives to publish only the finest in fiction, poetry, and non-fiction…While we frequently publish writers with previous credits, we are very interested in publishing less experienced or unpublished writers with exceptional promise."
Brain Harvest: An Almanac of Bad-Ass Speculative Fiction: Electronic journal "looking for short [speculative] fiction, 100–750 words. We want well-crafted, interesting stories that do not fall back on old, well-worn tropes—unless they have an interesting, bad-ass take on an old, well-worn trope."
Cafe Irreal: Electronic journal that publishes "a kind of fantastic fiction infrequently published in English."
Clackamas Literary Review: Print journal open to a range of work.
Colorado Review: Print journal that is "determinedly eclectic and…concerned by the shrinking markets for new writers…reserve a percentage of our pages for writers who have not previously published in our magazine."
Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art: Print journal "that takes pride in publishing both established literary figures alongside new and emerging talents."
Confrontation: Print journal that "is eclectic; indeed that is its main specialization. It is open to all forms and genres except proslytizing monographs and propagandistic discourse."
Crab Creek Review: Print journal that publishes "an eclectic mix of energetic poems and remains more interested in powerful imagery than obscure literary allusion…with an admitted predilection for dynamic prose of distinct voice and strong images."
Diagram: Electronic journal of art and text "interested in representations. In naming. In indicating. In schematics. In the labelling and taxonomy of things. In poems that masquerade as stories; in stories that disguise themselves as indices or obituaries."
Do Not Look at the Sun: Paris-based online and print journal that "prefer(s) submissions from new and emerging writers rather than those already established."
Double Room: Electronic journal "founded in 2002 to explore the intersection of prose poetry and flash fiction."
elimae: Electronic journal that "takes every opportunity to post work of quality and delight: length and format, as well as publishing history of the author, being irrelevant."
failbetter.com: Electronic journal that "seek[s work] which is at once original and personal."
Faultline: Print journal open to a range of work.
Fiction: Print journal that "is always open to new writers and prides itself on publishing unsolicited manuscripts alongside the work of some of the best writers of the international world of fiction."
Fugue: Print journal that publishes "different voices, written in a variety of modes."
Glimmer Train Stories: Print journal that "especially appreciates work that is both well written and emotionally engaging."
Hayden's Ferry Review: Print journal that publishes "voices of emerging and established talents in creative writing and visual art in a format that is not tied down to particular styles, schools of thought, aesthetics, or ideologies."
Hobart: Print and electronic journal that publishes "stories that we will love, as readers ourselves. We've said in the past that we tend to like quirky stories…but not really stories that rely too heavily on their quirkiness."
Irish Pages: "Biannual print journal, edited in Belfast and publishing, in equal measure, writing from Ireland and overseas. Each issue has a slot reserved for a new writer."
jubilat: Print journal that publishes "poetry and art, as well as other forms of writing on poetry, poetics or subjects that have nothing to do with poetry."
Kestrel: Print journal "open to all forms/genres of poetry and prose that are believable and thought-provoking, that make new the expected conventions. We have published work from the U.S., Canada, Ireland, France, Haiti, etc. and are especially happy to publish work by West Virginian and Appalachian writers."
Literal Latté: Print journal that publishes "mind stimulating prose, poetry, and art…styles range from classical to experimental…98% of what we publish comes from the so-called slush pile."
Margin: Exploring Modern Magical Realism: Electronic journal "devoted to answering the question What is literary magical realism?" Also publishes small annual zine, Periphery.
Mid-American Review: Print journal "featuring the work of established artists…new and up-and-coming writers…[and] dedicated to introducing non-English speaking voices to our audience through our translation chapbook series."
Monkeybicycle: Print and electronic journal that "appreciate[s] diversity and will consider anything, really, whether it's the story of a talking bear with a penchant for Toaster Strudel or the story of how Dr. James Naismith invented basketball."
Mourning Silence: Print journal "looking for submissions of highly original and experimental fiction under 900 words."
New Orleans Review: Print journal interested in "well-crafted, dynamic writing that demonstrates attention to the language, and a sense of the medium, writing that engages, surprises, moves us."
Night Train: Print journal that "strongly prefer[s] [stories] with an edge: fiction that leaves us gasping for breath, stories with characters who are actors in their own lives, who experience consequences for what they do."
Ninth Letter: Print journal that is "interested in prose and poetry that experiment with form, narrative, and nontraditional subject matter…[and] work that doesn't experiment with the aforementioned, as long as it's really good."
Oak Bend Review: Print and electronic "innovative literary journal that seeks to merge the academic and underground communities."
Opium: Electronic and print journal with the tagline "literary humor for the deliriously captivated."
Other Voices: Print journal "dedicated to publishing diverse, original fiction by authors ranging from literary bestsellers to leaders of the independent presses to cutting-edge experimentalists."
Phoebe: Print journal that "prides itself on supporting up-and-coming writers, whose style, form, voice, and subject matter demonstrate a vigorous appeal to the senses, intellect, and emotions of our readers."
Portland Review: Print journal that publishes a range of work.
Post Road: Print journal with "no restrictions as to style or subject matter."
Prairie Margins: Print journal that "publishes the work of currently enrolled undergraduate students from any university."
Quarter After Eight: Print journal "devoted to the exploration of prose in all its permutations."
Quarterly West: Print journal open to a range of work.
Quick Fiction: Print journal "featuring stories and narrative prose poems under 500 words."
Red Mountain Review: Print journal that publishes "academics and 'real people'; sonneteers and the so-called 'Grrl-esque' poets; writers of very short nonfiction; those who write long, leisurely, expansive fiction. The list goes on…Every issue will [also] feature the winning collection from our chapbook contest."
Redivider: Print journal that publishes "a fresh and eclectic selection…by both emerging and established writers."
Sentence: a journal of prose poetics: Print journal that publishes prose poems and reviews and essays about the prose poem, prose poets, and the poetics of the prose poem.
SmokeLong Quarterly: Electronic journal that "publishes flash fiction up to 1000 words…We are looking to be captured in the first few sentences of your work. Tell a story or paint a scene…Quality writing is key."
Straylight Literary Magazine: Print and electronic journal interested in "innovative works of fiction, poetry, art, and we also accept book reviews. Straylight prides itself for being an avant-garde literary production and we greatly value new and upcoming writers, poets, and artists."
Sunspinner: Electronic journal that "welcomes submissions of fiction and poetry from writers everywhere."
Syntax: Electronic journal that "enjoy[s] wit, and clever pieces that play on words, while keeping focus on the storyline."
Tarpaulin Sky: Electronic journal that publishes innovative work.
Think Journal: Quarterly print journal of poetry, short stories, novel excerpts, and essays.
Two Hawks Quarterly: Electronic journal "dedicated to sparking debate and discussion by exposing the world to the most daring, lyrical, and edgy poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and experimental writing available."
Vallum: contemporary poetry: Print journal that publishes "poetry that's fresh and edgy, something that reflects contemporary experience and is also well-crafted."
VerbSap: Electronic journal that publishes "an eclectic selection of concise, Spartan prose with a strong narrative bent."
Vestal Review: Electronic and print journal that publishes flash fiction: "In our definition, a flash story is no longer than 500 words and it has a plot."
Zero Ducats: Print and online literary journal of poetry and flash fiction comprised entirely of recycled materials and dispersed for free.
Zyzzyva: Print journal that publishes West Coast writers only: AK, HI, WA, OR, or CA.