Call for Submissions

Submissions for our annual New Voices and Ron Offen Poetry Prize contests are now closed.  

The New Voices Series, sponsored by the College, invites early-career writers to campus to read their work alongside student writers from the University of Chicago.  The Ron Offen Poetry Prize Series, established in memory of poet and editor Ron Offen, invites a Chicago poet to campus to read their work alongside a student writer from the University of Chicago.  

The visiting writers will each select a student from the pool of submissions to introduce and to read before them at their respective events. The selected student writers are invited to a celebratory dinner with the visiting writer and Creative Writing faculty members after their reading. In addition, each of the selected students will receive a prize of $100. 

In February 2026, our visiting writers include Imani Elizabeth Jackson (Ron Offen Poetry Prize Series, Feb. 3, 2026), Carina del Valle Schorske (New Voices in Nonfiction, Feb. 10, 2026), Alex Foster (New Voices in Fiction, Feb. 17, 2026), and Jake Rose (Phoenix Poets New Voices in Poetry, Feb. 24, 2026). 

This year’s New Voices and Ron Offen Poetry Prize Series submission opportunities are listed below. Please note you will need to sign into your UChicago Microsoft 365 account to access the submission forms. 

Ron Offen Poetry Prize Series

• Visiting Poet: Imani Elizabeth Jackson
• Event Date: February 3, 2026
• Eligibility: Any current UChicago undergraduate student. Must be available on February 3 at 5pm for the reading.
• Guidelines:
  • Submit 3-5 pages of poetry in PDF or Doc/Docx format.
  • Title the document file as: [Last Name] - [Submission title] - Offen Prize
  • Do not include your name inside the document. (Submissions will be anonymous when the writer views them.)
  • Please only submit one submission per contest. (You can, however, submit to multiple contests.)
• Submission Deadline: December 5, 2025 at 11:59PM
• Submission Link: https://forms.office.com/r/pXL3N3gD5A

Imani Elizabeth Jackson is a poet from Chicago. Her writings appear in Apogee, BOMB, TriQuarterly, Annulet, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of a 2023 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, Futurepoem’s 2020 Other Futures Award, the Arkansas International’s inaugural C.D. Wright Award (selected by Hanif Abdurraqib), and several awards from Brown University. Under the name mouthfeel, she co-authored the poetry-cookbook Consider the Tongue (2019) with S*an D. Henry-Smith; she also contributed to Francesca Capone’s Weaving Language: Lexicon (Essay Press, 2022). She is the author of the chapbooks saltsitting (reissued by g l o s s, 2020) and Context for arboreal exchanges (Belladonna*, 2023) and the book Flag (Futurepoem, 2024). Imani also collaborates with Madeleine Le Cesne and Isra Rene as donk, an experimental kitchen. 

New Voices in Nonfiction 

• Visiting Writer: Carina del Valle Schorske
• Event Date: February 10, 2026
• Eligibility: Any current UChicago undergraduate student. Must be available on February 10 at 5pm for the reading.
• Guidelines:
  • Submit 3-5 pages of nonfiction in PDF or Doc/Docx format.
  • Title the document file as: [Last Name] - [Submission title] - New Voices NF
  • Do not include your name inside the document. (Submissions will be anonymous when the writer views them.)
  • Please only submit one submission per contest. (You can, however, submit to multiple contests.)
• Submission Deadline: December 5, 2025 at 11:59PM
• Submission Link: https://forms.office.com/r/e3i0mbyRBh

Carina del Valle Schorske is a writer, translator, and wannabe backup dancer. Her debut essay collection, The Other Island, is forthcoming from Riverhead Books. It was recently awarded a Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant. She writes about Caribbean culture, literary politics, diasporic dramas, and the songs she can’t stop singing to herself, and essays have been published many places including The Believer, The Cut, The Point, and the New York Times Magazine, where she is now a contributing writer. Her profile of Bad Bunny was featured on CBS, and her story about grief and belonging on apocalyptic dance floors won a National Magazine Award. As a translator, del Valle Schorske focuses on Puerto Rican poetry, especially the work of Marigloria Palma. Her own poetry has been featured in a variety of small journals and anthologies and has been supported by fellowships from CantoMundo, MacDowell, and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. She has a PhD in English & Comparative Literature from Columbia University. 

New Voices in Fiction

• Visiting Writer: Alex Foster
• Event Date: February 17, 2026
• Eligibility: Any current UChicago undergraduate student. Must be available on February 17 at 5pm for the reading.
• Guidelines:
  • Submit 3-5 pages of fiction in PDF or Doc/Docx format
  • Title the document file as: [Last Name] - [Submission title] - New Voices Fiction
  • Do not include your name inside the document. (Submissions will be anonymous when the writer views them.)
  • Please only submit one submission per contest. (You can, however, submit to multiple contests.)
• Submission Deadline: December 5, 2025 at 11:59PM
• Submission Link: https://forms.office.com/r/rFuRqVrpPF

Alex Foster graduated from the University of Chicago in 2017, majoring in economics with a minor in creative writing, before getting his MFA in creative writing from New York University. His debut novel,  Circular Motion, was published in May 2025 by Grove Atlantic. It was  longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. In addition to writing, he  is a book editor at Macmillan with the Holt and Metropolitan imprints, where he has worked on the publication of  New York Times-bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning literary fiction and political nonfiction.

Phoenix Poets New Voices in Poetry

• Visiting Poet: Jake Rose
• Event Date: February 24, 2026
• Eligibility: Any current UChicago undergraduate or graduate student. Must be available on February 24 at 5pm for the reading.
• Guidelines:
  • Submit 3-5 pages of poetry in PDF or Doc/Docx format.
  • Title the document file as: [Last Name] - [Submission title] - Phoenix
  • Do not include your name inside the document. (Submissions will be anonymous when the writer views them.)
  • Please only submit one submission per contest. (You can, however, submit to multiple contests.)
• Submission Deadline: December 5, 2025 at 11:59PM
• Submission Link: https://forms.office.com/r/s3UbWPHgM6

Jake Rose is a poet, artist, and educator living in California’s Central Valley. Rose teaches at the University of California, Davis, and has published poems in West Branch,  The Seventh Wave, and  Adult Groceries, among other journals.  JOAN, winner of the Phoenix Emerging Poets Book Prize from the University of Chicago Press, is forthcoming in March 2026. Other projects include  The Art of the Death, a book-length erasure poem;  Spectropoetics, a land-based project in interspecies writing; and The Month Books, a series of handmade chapbooks exploring chronic illness and hybrid form. 

Sliced Bread

Deadline: Rolling. Sliced Bread, a student-run literary and arts publication accepting work from UChicago undergraduates only, wants your art, photography, poetry, and short prose! They print one or two books per year, and accept art, prose, poetry, and nonfiction. They are currently accepting submissions for their Spring 2026 edition on a rolling basis through this link. Their editorial team meets at 8pm every Thursday in Bartlett Lounge, for those interested in the production side of a literary magazine. Follow their Instagram, @slicedbreadmag, for more information. 

Euphony

Deadline: Rolling. Euphony is a biannual, student-run literary magazine at UChicago; they publish fiction, poetry, essays, creative nonfiction, and book reviews submitted from new and established writers from around the country. Their submissions are running; print magazines are released in the winter and spring, and online publication is year-round. They meet Mondays from 7-8pm in the Reynolds Club South Lounge. Read more about their submission details here.   

The Chicago Shady Dealer  
Deadline: Rolling. Always open for submissions, The Shady Dealer is UChicago’s oldest and most well-known satirical newspaper. They publish 3 print issues a quarter, and continually online. They also hold open pitch and writing meetings in Harper Memorial 145 every Sunday at 7pm. Check out more submission details here.  

Blacklight Magazine

Deadline: Rolling. Blacklight Magazine is a student magazine dedicated to platforming marginalized voices in the literary and art space: "come exist with us." They welcome any medium of writing and art, including photography.  Blacklight strongly encourages interested people to follow their instagram at @blacklightmag. View their website here. Questions can be directed to blacklightuchicago@gmail.com.

The Seabird Writing Conference

Deadline: Rolling. The Seabirds Writing Conference (SWC) is an intercollegiate organization (with chapters at Brown/RISD, Northwestern, Princeton, UChicago, Dickinson, Hamilton, ASU, and USF) dedicated to helping writers at all levels from across the US improve their writing. The parent organization hosts weekly writer's workshops, special themed events, and help each other find opportunities to publish their work. SWC members also have the opportunity to publish their workshopped pieces in The Bird Blog.

The UChicago Chapter aims to foster a community of student writers across campus, and bring awareness to writing events happening across Chicago. They meet a few times a quarter for write-ins, group writing exercises, and field trips to Chicago-area bookstores, cafés, and book talks. To join their Discord server, which facilitates workshops and communicates scheduling logistics, visit the SWC website here.

UChicago Writers' Workshop

Independently from the workshop courses offered through the Creative Writing department, Writers' Workshop is an RSO that seeks to develop the creative writing ability of its members-- student writers from all across campus-- through weekly fiction and poetry workshops. Their meetings primarily involve group discussions of pieces submitted by members, along with creative writing exercises. They welcome writers of any level. Fiction workshops meet Monday and Wednesday, and poetry meets on Tuesday; all meetings are 7-8:30pm in Harper Memorial Library. Find out more by joining their list-host via this address: uchicagowritersworkshop@lists.uchicago.edu

Memoryhouse Magazine

Deadline: rolling. Memoryhouse Magazine, run by UChicago students, curates a semiannual collection of works that present a personal narrative from across all genres of creative nonfiction and visual art. They give some preference to contributors with a significant connection to the Chicago area. They are looking for writing that uses innovative forms and techniques and writing that teaches the reader something new. To submit and view more guidelines, visit this link; you can visit their Instagram at @memoryhouseuchicago. 

Equinox

Equinox is a journal of contemporary literature at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. For more than 50 years, we have been publishing creative writing from the Arkansas region and beyond. We are now an online journal. We accept work from any undergraduate student in the United States. We are looking for fiction, poetry, hybrid writing, short screenplays, and visual art. Each writer may submit up to 20 pages for fiction or screenplays, or 10 pages for poetry or hybrid writing. Each year, Equinox awards the David Jauss Fiction Prize and the Jo McDougall Poetry Prize to best work. They are currently accepting submissions on a rolling basis. Submit your work as an attachment (.docx, or pdf) to equinox@ualr.edu. For more information on submissions, visit this site.

Copper Nickel

Copper Nickel is the national literary journal housed at the University of Colorado Denver. They publish a broad range of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and writing in translation, with a particular—but not exclusive—interest in work that considers sociohistorical context. Work published in Copper Nickel has been reprinted in the Best American Poetry, Best American Short Stories, Best Small Fictions, Best Literary Translations, and Pushcart Prize anthologies. The deadline for their current submission window is December 15. View the submission guidelines here.

Southeast Review

The Southeast Review is a literary magazine managed by the English department at the University of Florida. It is committed to publishing new writers alongside established ones, and with an editorial staff of nearly 60 individuals from across the world, they embrace an eclectic variety of work. Their general submissions are currently rolling for fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and YA fiction.

Southeast Review is also running four contests, including in short stories, nonfiction, and poetry; the winner in each of these categories will receive $750, and will be published in their Fall 2026 print issue. The deadline for all contests is December 19, at 11:00pm CST. Contestants can expect to hear back in February 2026. More information about the judges for each contest can be found here.

Submission criteria and their portal for both contests and general submissions can be found here. General categories have a submission fee of $3, and the contests have a submission fee of $16. 

Superlative Literary Journal

Superlative is an online and print literary journal geared towards the innovative works of emerging short story writers and poets in any genre, voice, or style. They have rolling submissions open for both categories, paying $50 to contributors, and an early bird submission window open for their 2026 annual competition ($500 prize). The early bird window for Superlative’s 2026 competition, which has the theme “Growth,” closes on December 31. The link to their submission portal can be found here. Superlative requires submission fees: $5 for general submissions and $15 for the 2026 competition. 

The Oakland Review

The Oakland Review, Carnegie Mellon’s premier, undergraduate-run literary arts journal, publishes work from writers and artists of all backgrounds. They accept fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, playwriting, screenwriting, and artwork, and have been recognized by the Association of Writers and Writing Programs. In honor of their recent half-century publication, their 52nd issue has the theme “Gibbous,” representing the concepts still in the works, under construction, or nearly-there, marked by tension and possibility. “How do you—and your work—handle the half-light?” The Oakland Review is accepting submissions until December 31. To read more about their application guidelines, visit this link. 

The Albion Review

The Albion Review is a national literary journal based out of Albion College in Albion, Michigan. Published annually since 2004, The Review features works of short fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and visual art from undergraduate students. If chosen for publication, all contributors will appear in the print and online edition; contributors from the United States will receive two print copies of the journal. Submissions for their 2026 issue are currently open until January 15, 2026 at 11:59pm EST; all submissions will also be considered for the Albion Review Art, Poetry, and/or Prose prize, which awards $100 to each category winner.

Bending Genres

Bending Genres is committed to publishing the best fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, and microreviews from dedicated writers. "We seek thrilling, fanciful, oddball, unusual, stunning fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction pieces." They are open for submissions year-round, though submissions for their 47th issue close in January. Work from Bending Genres has been included in Best Small Fictions, Best Microfictions, Best Poetry, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. The deadline to submit to Bending Genres is January 31, 2026. You can learn more about submission details here.

Enchanted Living 

Described by the New York Times as “as though Martha Steward and Edmund Spenser’s “The Faerie Queene” had a magazine baby,” Enchanted Living is a quarterly print magazine that celebrates "all things enchanted.” Submissions for their Summer 2026 issue, “Gossamer,” will close on March 1. This issue is seeking short fiction, creative nonfiction, and multimedia work, sent to submissions@faeriemag.com, and poetry, sent to mary@faeriemag.com.

Pebble 

Pebble, a new independent press interested in “lyrical, attentive, and devotional” writing, is soliciting submissions for an anthology about Lake Michigan in wintertime. Work should specify geography along the lake rather than referring to it in general terms, and preference is given to works that are accompanied by black-and-white illustrations. They have specifically reached out for submissions from UChicago students and community members. To submit, send work to pebblechicago@gmail.com by March 15, 2026. For the full submission guidelines, view this page. 

Jerboa Lit Contest

Jerboa Lit, a growing organization for flash fiction, offers quarterly, timed contests for flash fiction writing. Over the course of 48 hours, competing writers craft a 500-word story incorporating all elements of a prompt (containing a specific genre, item, and short phrase). Registration is $25, and there's a $1,000 prize for first place, with prize money being paid out through fifth place. In addition to being a fun exercise with the chance to win prize money, each short story will also receive editorial feedback, and authors retain all rights to their work (so they can submit their story elsewhere after the contest if they choose). 

Though their next competition has not been announced, learn more at the Jerboa Lit website.