Call for Submissions

New Voices Series

Deadline: Deadlines are announced via our listservs. Click here to subscribe to the Creative Writing listserv.

Eligibility: Any UChicago undergraduate student.

The New Voices series brings in three emerging writers—in the genres of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction respectively—each year. We administer a call for submissions from students in the College, who must submit 3–5 pages of their original work in an anonymous document. The visiting writer selects a winner and that student reads alongside them, and joins the faculty and writer for a celebratory dinner following the event. The New Voices Series fosters excitement and support among the students and provides a moment for our faculty to celebrate their students' work.

Ron Offen Poetry Prize

Deadline: Deadlines are announced via our listservs. Click here to subscribe to the Creative Writing listserv.

Eligibility: Any UChicago undergraduate or graduate student.

Established in memory of poet and editor Ron Offen, the Offen Poetry Prize brings one Chicago poet to campus annually for a public reading. Like the New Voices series, we administer a call for submissions from students, who must submit 3–5 pages of their original work in an anonymous document. The visiting writer selects a winner and that student reads alongside them, and joins the faculty and writer for a celebratory dinner following the event. The winning student will be awarded a prize of $300. 

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: October 24. 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. Their yearly submission cycle will open later in the year. Blacklight is also currently looking for board applications, due Friday, October 24th, at 11:59pm. They encourage interested people to follow their instagram at @blacklightmag, learn more about the board application on this form, and visit their website through 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

Barrelhouse 

Deadline: ASAP/November 12, 11:00pm. Barrelhouse is an independent nonprofit literary organization publishing new writing “with an edge and a sense of humor.” They are running a special online issue for Fall 2025, titled “The Dirty Issue,” which will feature fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art along the theme of “dirtiness,” whatever that means to the submitter. Accepted contributors will receive $50 for their work. Barrelhouse will continue to accept submissions until November 12, 2025 at 11:00pm, or whenever they reach their submission cap of 500. For information on their general and specific submission guidelines, visit these pages. 

Midwest Weird

Deadline: Rolling. Want to Get Weird? Midwest Weird is an audio literary magazine featuring weird fiction and nonfiction by Midwestern writers.

What is Weird? It could be the style. The content. The genre. It could be you. Check out our past episodes to get a sense of the weird we like. And read our "New Lit on the Block" profile on New Pages. If you think it’s weird, your work may fit with us.

​Who are we looking for? We’re looking for weird work from writers based in the Midwest. We’re especially looking for work from writers who are women or nonbinary, part of the LGBTQ, BIPOC, and disabled communities, and/or other underrepresented writers.

We’re also looking for writers who are excited about creating audio versions of their work. Midwest Weird is expanding the notion of a literary magazine, and what creators of today can do.

​How will this work? If your work becomes part of Midwest Weird, your story can be read and produced by our team, or you can take the lead. We may also interview you for a special bonus episode.

Your work can be original, or it can be previously published. Work should be between 1,000 to 4,000 words. A little more or less is fine. You will retain all rights to your story. In the future, we'll also offer honorariums for accepted work.

​Long story short If you think we might like your work, send it our way. And stay weird. Submit now! Send us a word or pdf doc with your fiction or nonfiction. Include a short bio, including your membership in any underrepresented groups. Don't sweat if you haven't published much in the past; we're eager for new voices! Have any audio or podcast experience? Let us know!

Equinox

Deadline: Rolling. 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. We are currently accepting submissions! Submit your work as an attachment (.docx, or pdf) to equinox@ualr.edu. For more information on submissions, visit this site.

Memoryhouse Magazine

Deadline: Rolling. Memoryhouse Magazine is a semi-annual publication that seeks to curate personal narratives through creative nonfiction and visual art, with special emphasis on stories and art from Chicagoland-based writers and artists. The editorial board is a diverse collection of students at the University of Chicago who share a love of the written word and the city of Chicago.

Tethered Literary 

Deadline: October 31. Tethered Literary is a writer-run digital journal seeking writing in all genres, and art in any medium that can be displayed in a static digital layout. Because they are dedicated to promoting both writing that fits into conventional literary categories, and “misfit, genre-defying work,” they accept any work under 10,000 words. They encourage submissions from emerging writers and artists, as well as those who see their identities, communities, or experiences as under or improperly represented in the world. Tethered Literary was founded in 2025, and has since published two issues. To read more about their submission guidelines, visit this page. Follow them on Instagram at @tethered_literary. 

The Forge Literary Magazine 

Deadline: Rolling. The Forge publishes new short prose, selected by a rotating cast of editors. (previously unpublished) short prose, selected by a rotating cast of editors. They prefer literary fiction and nonfiction, but genre elements are fine. Forge opens their submission window on the 1st of every month (November 1) until they’ve reached 200 submissions; they offer $100 per piece accepted. To learn more about their submission criteria, visit this page.  

Brio Literary Journal 

Deadline: November 7. Brio, a student-run literary journal publishing thought-provoking undergraduate work from across the nation, is seeking an exceptionally broad variety of student work for their Fall 2025 issue, Decomposition. In line with their connections to NYU’s Comparative Literature department, Brio especially seeks to showcase work with an interdisciplinary focus; the work they are accepting this issue includes short stories, poems, articles, academic writing, translations, visual images, screenplays, stage plays, sheet music, and lyrics. For more information on Brio and their Fall 2025 submission guidelines, visit this page. 

The Albion Review

Deadline: December 1. 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. The Albion Review strives to showcase the work of emerging undergraduate talents. 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; all submissions will also be considered for the Albion Review Art, Poetry, and/or Prose prize, which awards $200 to each category winner.

Copper Nickel

Deadline: December 15. Copper Nickel is the national literary journal housed at the University of Colorado Denver. We publish a broad range of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and writing in translation, with a particular—but by no means 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. Please consider submitting your original, unpublished work for our next issue between August 15–December 15.

Bending Genres

Deadline: January 31, 2026. 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. You can learn more about submission details here.

Blue Marble Review

Blue Marble Review welcomes submissions from students ages 13-22. It is published four times a year and accepts submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, essays, opinion pieces, travel writing, photography, and art on a rolling basis. They are looking for new work that hasn’t been published anywhere else either online or in print. Contributors published online in Blue Marble Review will receive $30 per published piece and $75 for cover art. Submissions for their next publication will open November 1. Read more about their submission guidelines here. 

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.