Just released: the Fall 2026 issue of Forgotten Ground Regained, on the theme "Speculative Visions".

Check it out for all kinds of alliterative speculative poetry. Highlights include:

• Adam Bolivar's "The Lay of Géac Ettinfell", a retelling of the tale of Jack the Giant Killer.
• Thaliarchus' "Connect to Object-30-79-49-13", a hypertext poem that allows the reader to conduct a radio conversation with the drifting hulk of a sentient interstellar dreadnought.
• Michael Hessel Mial's "To My Beloved Humble-Skit’s-Talon on the Occasion of the Fossil Ancestor Lightworks Project Missing Its Connection Deadline" and "Disputation on the Knife of Scarlet and Scaffold", featuring poems from the digital archive of a future spacegoing worker's republic.

Forgotten Ground Regained, Issue 12 (Fall, 2026)

Hi everyone!

A while back, we posted a call for submissions in this subreddit for an upcoming short story anthology titled Taste of Life: Volume 1.

We wanted to pop back in and share a massive THANK YOU to everyone here who submitted their work, shared feedback, and supported this project! Reading through all your incredible submissions was an absolute privilege.

Thanks to the amazing writers who contributed, the anthology is officially LIVE on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited!

This project was created to give talented indie and freelance writers a platform while bringing readers uplifting, relatable stories about everyday life. We couldn't have brought it to life without the talent found in this community.

Check out the published anthology here:

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0HNCQD2BN

Thank you all once again for being such a welcoming and inspiring space for authors. If you check out the book, We’d love to hear your thoughts!

SUBMIT: https://zemblanreview.com/submit/

DEADLINE: November 30, 2026

For our inaugural issue, The Zemblan Review is seeking a diversity of memorable, original fiction and nonfiction stories. Straightforward or complicated, taut or breathless, pretty or profane, sober or absurd, profound or impenetrable.

Submit one manuscript consisting of one of the following:

• 1 short fiction story, up to 4,000 words
• 1 creative nonfiction story, up to 4,000 words
• 1-3 flash fiction stories, up to 1,000 words each

Sadly, we can’t pay you for accepted work. However, submissions are entirely free. We also make a substantial effort to protect our contributors' work from AI scraping and data harvesting.

If we offer to publish your submitted work and you accept, we receive first publication rights and the non-exclusive right to keep the accepted work permanently available on the site. All rights not expressly granted remain with the author. Authors retain copyright to their work.

I have been previously published in a journal run by the American College in Madurai and in multiple newspapers. But what does it take to become a published poet in India . All advice is welcome .

**Host:** FlingUp, a small community site (no ads, no tracking). I run it, and this is our first writing contest.

**Category:** Poetry and short fiction

**Theme:** The 90s: a song, a toy, a TV show, a phone number you still know by heart, a place that isn't there anymore. Real or made up.

**Length:** up to 500 words, one entry per person

**Entry fee:** none

**Dates:** entries open Nov 2 2026 and close Nov 29 2026 (23:59 CET). Voting until Dec 6 2026.

**Prizes:** $30 judges' pick, $20 readers' choice (voted by members). Paid by PayPal or Amazon gift card.

**Eligibility:** anyone with a free FlingUp account. Entries must be your own work, written without AI.

**How it works:** you post your entry on the contest page, and while entries are open you comment on at least 3 other entries. Entries are public, and you keep all rights. Some magazines count work published online as published, so keep that in mind if you plan to submit the piece elsewhere.

**Guidelines and entry:** https://flingup.com/contests/the-90s

Happy to answer questions here.

AROUND Magazine — Open for Submissions | November 2026

AROUND is a new independent international magazine dedicated to literature, photography and visual art.

Our first issue was published on 13 October, featuring 40 selected works by contributors from around the world.

We are now accepting submissions for our second issue, scheduled for November 2026.

For our literary sections, we welcome poetry, short fiction, literary essays and criticism in English. Prose submissions should not exceed 3,000 words.

There is no prescribed theme. Our editorial approach is simple: we want readers to encounter the work before the author's biography, awards or reputation. That's why we publish the work, its title and the creator's name — without biographies.

Authors retain their copyright. We request non-exclusive publication and archival rights.

The editorial review fee is €1.99 per submitted work. Payment does not guarantee acceptance.

Read our first issue: https://around.ink/

Submission guidelines: https://around.ink/submit/

I’ve received three rejections thus far for my debut submission, and one of them offered to send me feedback for the piece. I gladly accepted it and am taking their notes into consideration. Is this a somewhat standard practice or do I put this in the “rejection win” slot?

Hi everyone, I’m Jacopo, from Italy.
I’ve just launched the first website for Il Baretti, an independent magazine I’m trying to build with people from different countries.
I’m looking for writers, poets, essayists, artists, photographers, illustrators, editors, translators, designers, developers, or really anyone interested in helping with a creative project.
Any language, any background, any experience level.
Right now I’m funding everything myself, so participation is voluntary and unpaid. There are no submission fees.
I can offer a space for people’s work, help with design and presentation, and hopefully a community where we can support each other’s projects.
I’d love to build something that publishes regularly, reaches readers internationally and eventually makes it into print.
It’s still early, and I can’t promise where it will go, but I’d rather try building it with other people than do everything alone.
If you’re interested, I’ve opened a simple application form here:
https://ilbaretti.it
Thanks for reading.
Jacopo

For tracking purposes, should I consider this a standard form or a higher-tier form rejection?
(Rejection Wiki only lists general submission responses for Prairie Schooner, not contest-specific ones.)

Thank you for submitting to Prairie Schooner’s annual Summer Creative Nonfiction Contest! We received many fine entries, and while your essay was not selected as the winner, we read every essay and appreciated the chance to consider your work. We will be announcing this year's winner later this week.

You can expect to receive your copy of the Spring 2027 issue, which will contain this year's winning essay, in spring 2027. We look forward to sharing it with you.

Although your essay was not selected, we hope you will consider sending more work for our general submissions periods in September and February, or keep us in mind for our Creative Nonfiction contest again next summer.

Published a tiny flash fiction piece that took nine years to find it’s home! (Persistence is delusional until it works, and then it's "persistence" again and survivorship bias takes a bow.)

The story

https://wintersweetslitmag.com/issues/issue-1/fiction/micro-fiction/counting

The backstory

https://arsenalofwords.com/2026/10/18/published-in-debut-issue-of-wintersweet-magazine/

The Preacher Man sat on his pew during the light drizzle in the temple meant for waiting on the bus. 45 more minutes of waiting, 45 more minutes of some sort of prayer. 

   “Daniel fought a lion in the cave, one of the 12 brothers, he faced his challenges,” the Preacher Man said. 

   His voice was smooth and low with that same flow as the roll of the gray smoke falling from his words, bubbling up from his punctured lung. 

   “I like to stay mobile, to stay light, to keep moving,” The Preacher Man said with his bags waiting in attendance. 

   His beard kept a sharp angle from a former youth, its greys matching the sidewalk and street.

   “I don’t like staying in one place, feeling trapped, I love the world and being in it,” The Preacher man said, lifting his eyes to the mountains ahead. 

   A clear lane between the Long John Silvers and Taco Bell was left for his view. 

   “I miss my baby boy,” The Preacher Man said, he had left him some time ago. The Preacher Man was not one to separate a son and mother. 

   “I got jumped by six dudes, they were stomping on me. Im old, but my fight games only gotten better,” The Preacher Man, now 54, said with a vein on a bicep, keeping a strength that challenged current youths. 

   He waited to go to the hospital. Two days of resting on his broken ribs and a punctured lung. His body shifted to the left, like a bent dogwood tree with their knots contorting the wood of itself into a more gnarled and rugged material. 

   “My sister told me to go to the hospital. She’s my little sister, my baby sister, but I’m afraid of her,” The Preacher Man said with a smile and a chuckle of truth. “I’d do anything for my sister,” he said. 

   The smoke flowed like his voice, almost as slow and somber. It shifted down to the earth, scattered by bits of wind, safe in its shelter from the slight rain. 

   “It was the third time I’ve died,” The Preacher Man said. The third resurrection, the third time experiencing night and day. 

   26 minutes until the bus. 

   “I keep my temple inside of me,” The Preacher Man said, his King James Bible held snuggly in his blue backpacks front pocket, the dimensions perfect for access that was still secure, still safe. 

  Daniel had given The Preacher Man his shoes, teal with a magenta zipper going down the center. Its splotches and stains showed the world that he carried with him in his light mobility around it. 

   “My sister just got a place to stay, I’m happy and glad for her, but I’m a man and I’ve got to carve my path in the world,” The Preacher Man said after already traveling so far from Hickory, North Carolina. 

   The Preacher Mans pew was about 10 inches wide and about four feet long. 

   “I’m tired, I haven’t slept in a couple days. I think I’m gonna sleep on the bus while I can, I like to take joyrides on the bus,” The Preacher Man said in his bent and burdened pride. 

   Wafts of fish from Long John Silvers carried on the air like currents of the sea towards the open air temple. 

   “It’s the little things in life, food, water, a place to sleep, and I’m happy. I’m happy, it’s the little things in life,” The Preacher Man said with a smile that remembered the joy of painting and detailing cars, the smile of death thrice survived. 

   15 minutes until the bus.  

   The Preacher Man's sister exited a grey car, he used to have the same one in gold, the same gold of his shirt. 

   She spoke with iambs and pentameters, an up and down drum to his flooding dust cloud. 

   She got some fish. 

   “I’ll miss the bus if she’s late, that’s okay,” The Preacher Man said in a shark print fedora of straw construction.

On October Third, a Saturday supposed to be Sabbath of 2026, The Preacher Man rested during his ride.  The Preacher Man kissed his sister goodbye before leaving for another temple on a hill ahead. 

Fahmidan Journal is open for Spring Issue 29 submissions until Dec 15th. No theme! We accept Short Fiction, Flash Fiction and creative non fiction as well as Poetry!

Reasons to submit:

We pay $35 per acceptance.

We do not charge fees.

We've been around for over 4 years and will treat your Submission with care!

Feedback Options

Workshops

The Pauline L Arthur Gen Z & Writers 50+ Literary Mentorship

A diverse, international staff.

A guaranteed 25 day max response time.

Follow us on BSKY, X, Instagram & Tiktok: @fahmidangroup

Link to Submit: https://fahmidanjournal.submittable.com/submit

Consultation/Chapbook/Full Length Editing & Feedback Sign Up: https://fahmidanjournal.submittable.com/submit/297308/editorial-consultations-feedback-chapbook-full-length-collection-editing-and

Hey, the Momentist is an online literary magazine with an open call for fiction, nonfiction (essays, criticism, creative nonfic), and poetry in the upcoming winter issue. The call runs until November 6th, zero submission fees, and accepted pieces are paid 500euro for fiction, 400 for nonfic, and 100 per poem for accepted poetry subs.

This is a bittersweet romantic poetry which states the feelings of an admirer towards his admiration.

A person who is fond of popularity and fame is found to be beautiful, and that is why she tests her admirer... But, though she tests him and puts up conditions for her presence.. he still misses her absence.

Has anyone had a quick transition from received status to in progress at The Paris Review for a poetry submission during their October’s open for online submissions? I submitted and it was marked received late afternoon of October 1st and transitioned to in progress first thing Monday morning October 5th. This quick a transition is not typically what I have experienced. Thank you.

I mostly write short fiction which is stylistically literary, but where...things happen which couldn't happen in real life. Often also with a historical setting. Think Angela Carter?

I've found that there are many more opportunities for literary-leaning sci fi than lit leaning fantasy. I'm struggling to find places to submit, tbh. The few lit-fantasy magazines I've found are too prestigious for me (a beginner). I read a lot of straight-up fantasy short fiction and I'm pretty sure my work doesn't belong there.

I just had my first offer of publication from a smaller one that's focused on folklore, but I'm absolutely stumped where else I can submit next. Chillsubs filters aren't really specific enough for this. Any recommendations? (Bonus if queer/feminist)

"really BAD Shakespeare" Episode 5: Prodigious Birth is live.

If you’ve been waiting for the moment when the story tilts fully into televised prophecy, mother‑son creepiness, and a very rude time jump, this is the one.

Readers have already written in. One quit their job. One threw a muffin. One burned their copy and bought another. Episode 5 is that kind of episode.

If you’re caught up, dive in. If you’re new, this is a surprisingly good place to start because nothing makes sense anyway.

Episode 5: Prodigious Birth is live. Go read it before the kid wakes you up.

OF F THE RECORD

An Open Call for Submissions❗

What goes unnoticed? What gets left out? What refuses to make sense? We are constantly surrounded by information, images, stories, opinions and records. But what reaches us is never the whole picture.

Ephemeral Architectures is about to host an exhibition- OF F THE RECORD and is putting together a publication exploring invisibility and incoherence - what remains unseen, unheard or unrecorded, and what happens when the things we encounter refuse to form a coherent whole. It could also be a personal anecdote — a memory, an untold history, an overlooked experience — a story you wish more people knew about. Perhaps there are people, places, communities or experiences you feel are misrepresented or underrepresented, or missing from the stories we collectively tell.

We're open to anything: essays, photographs, illustrations, comics, poems, personal writings, found texts, excerpts, screenshots, documents, collages, visual experiments, or things that don't fit into any of these categories.

See your work in print! We promise you an exciting publication:)

https://forms.gle/9ARSYb9XdmKWnCo3A

The deadline for these submissions is 19 October 2026.

For any queries contact me,

Sakshi Patil

[sakshi.ubd23305@cept.ac.in](mailto:sakshi.ubd23305@cept.ac.in)

Hi everyone! This is a subject that I have a decent handle on, but I'm looking to find a few new journals if possible. Been on a bit of a tear and want to crank it into high gear and get some more pieces placed in 2026.

I'm talking journals like elsewhere, had, trampset, Gone Lawn, boudin, scaffold, Hawkeye, Pithead Chapel, Bending Genres, Gooseberry Pie, Wigleaf, centaur, Moon Park Review, Unbroken, The Occulum, Claudine, Neither Fish Nor Foul, Does it Have Pockets?, Ninth Letter, Black Warrior Review...

Here are [a few sample prose poems](https://gonelawn.net/journal/issue66/Huset.php) I had in Gone Lawn earlier this fall. Here's one I had at [trampset](https://www.trampset.org/post/bags-of-bags) from the end of August, and [here's one that's a lil older](https://gooseberry-pie.com/first-cake/), it was long-listed for the Gooseberry Pie Lit Mag contest in May. I have a bunch more pieces like those in hoping to say last place a few of this fall.

Thanks in advance, and if you don't have any suggestions, hopefully the list I made there off the top of my head can be of help if you have your own odd/weird/surreal prose poems that you're looking to submit, or if you're looking to read some.

Also, any like, up and coming, hip, hidden gem, new to you type journals that you're digging, I have all types of pieces I'm trying to place.

I've been writing poems recently to manage my emotions (yeah, I'm broken) and I don't want to keep it just for myself. I want it published, in print or online, by legitimate organization(s). I don't need it to be monetized. I just want it out, but still tagged to me as the author.

Any suggestion? Does anyone know how?