Six markets and writing contests for your poetry and prose

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Cosmonauts Avenue is an online, monthly literary journal run by women and non-binary folks dedicated to elevating and amplifying underrepresented voices. It  published fiction, poetry, nonfiction, interviews, and more, from writers around the world, in English and in translation.

“We are thrilled to announce that our annual Cosmonauts Avenue Poetry Prize is now open for submissions!

“What are we looking for? We love writing that is personal, necessary, darkly funny, unfunny, candid, unique, upsetting, untold, and writing that is deeply good and deeply you. 

“The winner will receive $500 and publication in Cosmonauts Avenue. All long-listed pieces will also be considered for publication.”

Submission fee: $14 (two poems per submission) 

Deadline for poetry contest: February 27, 2019.

Regular submissions are free and are welcome any time.

Full guidelines for regular submissions and for poetry contest here.

THEMA is a quarterly literary journal that was born in a Chinese restaurant in 1988 as the result of a conversation over how different writers would respond to a single quirky theme – specifically, stories involving the fortune cookies received that day. {So for those of you who have taken my courses – it seems I’m not the only guy in the world who thinks fortune cookies might be good story prompts ~Brian} 

Now THEMA  publishes short stories, flash fiction, poems, art on a specific theme each issue.

It pays $25 for a short story; $10 for a short-short piece (up to 1000 words), $10 for a  poem, $10 for artwork, $25 for a cover, and $10 for interior page display.  Reprints accepted.

Upcoming themes:

Six before Eighty {the meaning of this phrase is unknown, even to the publisher}. Deadline March 1, 2019

The Clumsy Gardener. Deadline July 1, 2019

What a Strange Question! Deadline November 1, 2019

Guidelines here.

Jaggery seeks art, poetry, reviews, and fiction connecting South Asian diasporic writers and homeland writers; "we also welcome non-South Asians with a deep and thoughtful connection to South Asian countries, who bring their own intersecting perspectives to the conversation. (By South Asia we mean Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, The Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.)

Our hope with Jaggery is to create a journal that offers the best writing by and about South Asians and their diaspora."

Pays: $25 for art, poetry, reviews and essays, $100 for fiction. 

Reading period: January – March, 2019. Guidelines here.

Tell-Tale Press seeks short fiction 500–5,000 words and novelettes 7,000–10,000 words fantasy, horror, mystery and science fiction stories about creatures: animals, insects, arachnids, dinosaurs, aliens, monsters, cryptids, legends, mythical, or mythological.  Pays $5–$25 for short stories depending on length and $50 for a novelette

Deadline: March 4, 2019. Guidelines here.

Mslexia bills itself as “the magazine for women who write.” It’s seeking stories, poems and scripts on given themes. Stories up to 2,200 words, poems up to 40 lines, and short scripts up to 1,000 words (including character names and stage instructions). Pays £25. 

For issue 82, the theme is Clothes. Deadline: March 11, 2019.

For issue 83, the theme is Journey. Deadline: June 10, 2019.

Guidelines here.

Agnes and True is a Canadian online literary journal, dedicated to providing a place for the work of Canadian writers, both established and emerging. “As our name suggests, Agnes and True celebrates the achievement of women. In addition, we are particularly interested in discovering and publishing the work of emerging older writers (both female and male).”

Agnes and True seeks short fiction 500–5,000 words that “exhibits a Canadian sensibility (whether or not the writer currently resides in Canada)” and that exhibits insight on the part of the writer.

Pays $75 per story

Deadline: ongoing. Guidelines here.

See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.