literary essays magazine

Literary Matters

The Literary Magazine of the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers

From the latest issue

Cloverfield friends, to have and to hold, the white-tailed deer, about the magazine.

Literary Matters is the online literary magazine of the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW) .

We publish three issues per year, containing original works of scholarship and criticism, poetry, fiction, literary translation, and memoir. Recent issues have featured work from U.S. Poets Laureate and winners of the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Bollingen Prize, and many other prestigious awards.

From the archive

“a poet, dangerous and steep” : reintroducing josephine jacobsen, what we’re watching.

• [iframe title=”YouTube video player” allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen=”” src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/PK4CB-zcpDg” width=”560″ height=”315″ frameborder=”0″][/iframe] ALSCW Zoom Series: American Classics, American Crisis (recording)
• [iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/J8EA2tLJCfA” title=”YouTube video player” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen=””][/iframe] Past President John Briggs interviewed on Leisurely Conversations with Rob Jackson
• [iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/dPLt-J2DcAk” title=”YouTube video player” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen=””][/iframe] Bob Dylan and the Nobel Prize: a Keynote Address by Christopher Ricks

Winners of the Meringoff Writing Awards

Meringoff writing awards: march 31, 2023 deadline, straight labyrinth: jános pilinszky in the poetry, music, and thought of three hungarian artists is now available, recent books from alscw members.

New Writing on Granta.com

Fiction | the online edition, miranda july.

‘We decided then to tell each other exactly how a typical fuck played out in our marriages. We couldn’t believe we’d never done this before.’

Fiction by Miranda July.

In Conversation | The Online Edition

In conversation, amelia abraham & jack parlett.

‘It’s true that public sex and cruising can be complicated, but I still believe in the solidarity that a look can forge between people.’ Amelia Abraham and Jack Parlett discuss cruising, nostalgia and the privatisation of public sex.

Podcasts | Issue 166

Podcast | brandon taylor, brandon taylor.

‘How far can one deviate from the accepted pieties before one is kicked out?’ In this episode, Brandon Taylor discusses naturalism and the future of fiction.

Art & Photography | The Online Edition

Teju cole & alice zoo.

‘Each successive image has to have the simultaneous feeling of being unanticipated and of being right.’ Teju Cole speaks to Alice Zoo about sequencing, portraiture, and the interplay between image and text.

The Alternatives

Caoilinn hughes.

‘What does that mean, vegan cheese ? asks a lady who’d had no query about amuse-bouche .’ An extract from The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes.

Granta 166: Generations

Essays & memoir | issue 166, ecce senex: stephen james joyce, james scudamore.

‘He was “a Joyce, not a Joycean”, yet considered himself the supreme arbiter of what constituted valuable Joyce scholarship. At the same time, he admitted that he rarely read anything in full.’ James Scudamore on trying to ghostwrite Stephen James Joyce's memoir.

The Millennial Mind

Anton jäger.

‘Millennials were more than willing to bargain by riot.’ Anton Jäger evaluates the millennial generation.

Fiction | Issue 166

‘Behind the 7/11 after dark, anything is possible.’ Fiction by Sam Sax.

The Life, Old Age and Death of a Woman of the People

Didier eribon.

‘How little one knows, really, about one’s parents.’ Memoir by Didier Eribon translated by Michael Lucey.

The Full Package

‘I wasn’t against fashion; I wasn’t one of those people who need to make it into a whole statement about their intellect .’ Fiction by Zoe Dubno.

Constructing a Nervous System

Margo jefferson.

Winner of the Rathbones Folio Prize Book of the Year

In this intimate and innovative memoir, Pulitzer prize-winning author Margo Jefferson gives us her own personal and intellectual formation.

From Josephine Baker’s radiant transformations, to Willa Cather’s aesthetics of whiteness, Jefferson shows us how we can find space in cultures that will not make room for us, and how, even in times of stricture, we might learn to construct ourselves.

From the Archive

Art & photography | issue 25, means of transport, john berger.

‘Use these photos as means of transport. Ride on them. No passes needed. Go close. Imprudently close. They leave every minute.’

Poetry | Issue 110

Anne carson.

‘hang up your blood cell phone mr white slaver’

Bruce Chatwin | Interview

Bruce chatwin & michael ignatieff.

‘We have everything here, but I always wish I was somewhere else. It's a condition that makes one very difficult to live with.’

Highlights From Granta Books

Sandra newman, £ 18.99, study for obedience, sarah bernstein, £ 9.99, justin torres, £ 14.99, the glutton, a. k. blakemore, the dimensions of a cave, greg jackson, an ordinary youth, walter kempowski, nature's calendar, kiera chapman,rowan jaines,lulah ellender,rebecca warren, every drop is a man's nightmare, megan kamalei kakimoto, £ 12.99, though the bodies fall, noel o'regan, birnam wood, eleanor catton, £ 20.00, sheena patel, £ 8.99, recommended reading, essays & memoir | the online edition, my time machine, arthur asseraf.

‘How do we imagine the past of those we love?’ Arthur Asseraf on family and fractured memories.

Essays & Memoir | Issue 165

Last week at marienbad, lauren oyler.

‘The only thing on the schedule was spa.’ Lauren Oyler on her trip to Marienbad.

Poetry | The Online Edition

Moving nowhere here, kimberly campanello.

‘I am afraid to say we are all / progressing or regressing / down a more or less screwy road / found on a very old map / until / we are going Nowhere.’ A poem by Kimberly Campanello.

The Tupperware Party

Montserrat roig.

‘We’re going to go crazy today, Merche exclaimed and then let out an electric shriek.’ Fiction by Montserrat Roig, translated by Julia Sanches.

Subscribe to the Granta newsletters

News, prizes and events, when i sing, mountains dance and chilean poet shortlisted for oxford-weidenfeld translation prize.

When I Sing, Mountains Dance by Irene Sola (trans. Mara Faye Lethem) and Chilean Poet by Alejandro Zambra (trans. Megan McDowell) are both shortlisted for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize.

Our Share of Night Shortlisted for The Kitschies

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez (trans. Megan McDowell) is shortlisted for The Kitschies Red Tentacle award, awarded to speculative, sci-fi and fantasy novels.

I’m A Fan Wins a British Book Award

I'm A Fan by Sheena Patel wins the Book of the Year: Discover Award at the British Book Awards.

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Best Literary Magazines in 2024

Showing 133 magazines that match your search.

Print magazine for Short Fiction ,

PROMPTED is a celebration of the power of inspiration, and the places our imagination can take us with the slightest nudge. Each story is inspired by a one-sentence prompt, and written in a single week.

Submission guidelines →

🌍 Territory: Worldwide

💰 Submission fee: $5

⏱️ Frequency: 4 times a year

🧑‍💻 Online submissions: Yes

Islandia Journal

Print magazine for Art , Non-Fiction , Poetry , Short Fiction ,

Islandia Journal is a subtropical print periodical of art and writing. We publish work by people from South Florida or by writers and artists whose work deals with our region. All contributors are paid - starting at $50 for poems and visual art and $100 for prose pieces of all kinds, scaling upwards depending on amount work or research involved.

🌍 Territory: United States

💰 Submission fee: $0

Southwest Review

Print & Online magazine for Fiction , Non-Fiction , Poetry ,

Our mission is to publish a magazine of the highest quality for general readers worldwide. As we reflect on our past and look ahead to the future, the goal is to inspire new ways of connecting with the world. Simply put, we think writing should be as comprehensive and far-reaching as twenty-first–century life itself.

🌍 Territory: USA

💰 Submission fee: $3

⏱️ Frequency: 1 times a year

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Print magazine for Fiction , Poetry , Non-Fiction ,

Pleiades is a literary biannual featuring poetry, fiction, essays, and reviews by authors from around the world. Past contributors include winners of the Nobel, Ruth Lilly, Pulitzer, Bollingen, Prix de la Libert̩, and Neustadt Prizes, recipients of Guggenheim, Whiting, National Book Critics Circle and National Book Awards, and many writers seeing their work in print for the first time.

💰 Submission fee: $25

⏱️ Frequency: 2 times a year

Colorado Review

Colorado Review's only commitment is to the publication of serious poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. We do not publish genre fiction nor do we subscribe to a particular literary philosophy or school of poetry or fiction. We are determinedly eclectic and intend to stay that way. Note that we read nonfiction year-round.

⏱️ Frequency: 3 times a year

Five Points

Published three times a year by the Georgia State University Department of English, each issue features poetry, fiction, essays, and interviews with the most compelling writers working today.

Analog Science Fiction and Fact

Print & Online magazine for Fiction , Non-Fiction , Poetry , Short Fiction ,

Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine continues to bring together celebrated authors, new talent, and award-winning stories, poems, and articles, as it has since its launch in 1930. Originally published as Astounding Stories of Science Fiction, Analog remains the unparalleled literary magazine in the genre, and rewards readers with realistic stories that reflect both the highest standards of scientific accuracy and the far reaches of the imagination, as well as lively articles about current research on the cutting edge of science.

⏱️ Frequency: 6 times a year

New Ohio Review

Print magazine for Fiction , Poetry ,

The New Ohio Review publishes work that addresses the purpose and mystery of being, in any shape or form. We appreciate humor, if it's got depth. We appreciate experimental work, if it's not gimmicky. What we look for is a voice that is genuine, speaking with some degree of lucidity and intelligence about something that feels urgently felt.

👀 Average visits: 2,500,000 /month

💰 Submission fee: $15

Redivider is a nationally distributed journal of new art and literature produced by and representing the graduate students in the Writing, Literature, and Publishing program at Emerson College in Boston. Published twice a year, we welcome art, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry submissions from new, emerging, and established artists and writers. And if you're wondering about the name, it's a palindrome!

BOMB Magazine has been publishing conversations between artists of all disciplines since 1981. BOMB's founders decided to publish dialogues that reflected the way practitioners spoke about their work among themselves. Annually, BOMB serves 1.5 million online readers through its free and searchable archive and BOMB Daily, a virtual hub where a diverse cohort of artists and writers explore the creative process within a community of their peers and mentors.

A Public Space

Print & Online magazine for Fiction , Poetry , Non-Fiction ,

A Public Space seeks work that is brave and unexpected. We are interested in writing that uncovers the extraordinary in the everyday, provides a rare glimpse, exposes an unexpected truth, or puts forth a daring hypothesis.

👀 Average visits: 37,600 /month

Grub Street

Print & Online magazine for Art , Fiction , Non-Fiction , Poetry , Scripts , Short Fiction ,

Founded in 1952, Grub Street is Towson University's student-run literary magazine that is published annually. We accept work from anyone and especially look to promote voices from new writers. We feature poetry, fiction, nonfiction, visual art, essays, and plays in our print and online editions.

Print magazine for Fiction ,

As the name implies, we only publish fiction; we are looking for the best new writing available, leaning toward the unconventional. Fiction has traditionally attempted to make accessible the inaccessible, to bring the experimental to a broader audience.

Callaloo was founded in 1976 by its current editor, Charles Henry Rowell, when he was teaching at Southern University (Baton Rouge). He originally described the fledgling periodical as a "Black South Journal," whose function was to serve as a publication outlet for marginalized writers in the racially segregated US American South.

Ginosko Literary Journal

Online magazine for Fiction , Non-Fiction , Poetry , Short Fiction ,

Ginosko: A Greek word meaning the recognition of truth from experience.

Run a literary magazine? Submit it to our directory!

The halls of literary success are paved with authors who got their start appearing in literary magazines — such as Zora Neale Hurston, Truman Capote, William Faulkner, Edith Wharton, Ursula Le Guin, J.D. Salinger, George Saunders, Alice Munro, Flannery O’Connor, and many more. 

For centuries, literary magazines have highlighted works that would otherwise struggle to reach readers. Poetry, short stories, essays are all forms of writing that own very tiny shares in the publishing landscape — except in the world of literary magazines, where they reign supreme.

If you’re an aspiring author, submitting to literary magazines is a great way to get your foot into the door of the publishing industry, as it allows you to build up your credentials and reach readers. That being said, having your work appear in a literary magazine isn’t as easy as hitting “submit.” While they can act as a stepping stone for writers who wish to go on to have a career in publishing, you shouldn’t view literary magazines as simply a means to an end — if only because doing so will very likely reduce your chances of ever actually being featured in one of them.

And on that note, let’s get started with our first tip for getting your work featured in some of the best literary magazines out there.

Tips for submitting to literary magazines 

Ensure you’re submitting to the right places.

When you think of literary magazines, your mind might automatically go to The New Yorker . Or it might go to independent webzines that specialize in very niche genres. Maybe you think of university-funded quarterlies like The New England Review . All this is to say that the range of lit mags out there is broad and the kinds of things they publish also ranges — from short lit fic to flash space operas, and everything in between. 

So before you decide to submit your short stories or poetry to a magazine, make sure you do your due diligence and research what kinds of things they publish, and where your work is really a match.

Don’t submit to tons of publications all at one

“Cast a wide net” shouldn’t be your mantra when it comes to submitting to lit mags. As mentioned, all magazines have their own styles. So spending your time ensuring your submissions are targeted at the right places is much more valuable than sending your writing to as many different publications as possible. Editors can usually scout fairly quickly the pieces that have been submitted en masse, without any regard for their specific publication.

Instead, make a list of the magazines you want to submit to and group them into tiers. Tier One can be your top five magazines, Tier Two your next five favorite, and so on. This is not only a good way to make sure you’re giving each submission care and attention, it’s also a good way to make sure you don’t get the same piece of writing accepted by two different magazines, forcing you to pull your submission from one of them.

When it comes to making your list, don’t only consider what magazines have prestige, huge audiences, or hefty cash payouts. The best magazines to submit to are the ones that you actually enjoy reading. Because chances are those are the magazines that are going to be most interested in the kind of things you’re writing.

Keep your cover letter short and to-the-point

Editors are not won over by cover letters. If you’ve written a great story and have publishing credentials to boot, sure, your cover letter might help win them over. But if your submission isn’t strong, your cover letter is going to mean nil. So let your cover letter mention the important bits, make sure it provides any specific information that’s requested in the submission guidelines, and let your entry do the heavy lifting. 

Typically, a cover letter will mention a couple of the previous places you’ve been published as well as any other relevant experience you might have. You can also add a personal touch by mentioning a previous story or issue you particularly enjoyed.

What your letter shouldn’t mention is every place you’ve been published (up to 5 will suffice). It shouldn’t summarize your entry, your life story, or your “writing journey,” and any previous experience you mention should be related in some way to writing, publishing, or your entry.

Thoroughly edit your story — and follow submission guidelines!

An editor is probably not going to banish an otherwise very strong entry to the slush pile because of a misplaced typo. That being said, they have lots of reading to do, and while most editors won’t consciously read an entry looking for reasons not to like it, at the end of the day they can only accept so many pieces. So if you make their jobs easier by giving them a reason to pass on your piece, they’re going to take it. If it’s not adequately proofread, there’s only so long someone can continue reading even the strongest writing before the spelling errors convince them to stop.

Another quick way to convince an editor to pass on your entry is to not follow the submission guidelines. If the guidelines ask you to include specific information or to format your story in a certain way, follow those instructions to a tee. If the guide doesn’t tell you how to format your story, go classic: Arial or Times New Roman 12-point font, double-spaced. To ensure your submissions look professional, you can always copy and paste them into our free formatting tool, the Reedsy Book Editor !

Editors do want to like your submission

The publishing world is competitive, so it’s natural for authors to stress about all the little details of submitting to a literary magazine — whether to add page numbers to their document, who to address in their cover letter, whether they’ll stand a chance as a brand new author, etc. And while we did just mention that editors generally won’t put up a fight if you give them a reason to pass on your entry, they also won’t toss aside a submission they love just because the full package isn’t 100% perfect.

Remember, editors are looking for quality art they feel is going to resonate with their readers. If you can provide them with that, they’re going to be on your side.

Don’t just do it for the money or prestige

If you’re submitting to lit mags with the hopes of raking in the cash, you are more than likely going to be disappointed. Sure, there are some big-time magazines out there that offer larger paycheques to their writers and widespread readership, but many of them don’t accept unsolicited submissions — or come with extremely steep competition.

Most literary magazines are run on very tiny budgets that can’t afford to pay the writers they feature. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t submit to them. The exposure and credibility an emerging writer can gain from having their work featured across a number of smaller, indie publications are still very valuable and shouldn’t be overlooked.

Have fun — and be proud of what you publish!

Yes, having your work appear in literary magazines can help build up your publishing resume. But if you’re not writing and publishing work you feel really proud of, what’s the point? Readers don’t need more stories that make it into magazines because they follow the right trends or say the right things, we want literature that the author clearly loved writing. 

So, as we mentioned earlier, don’t just submit a piece because you think it’s going to get you somewhere. Submit something because you think it’s strong, unique, and worthwhile. Write and submit work you can proudly stand by! 

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What Christiane Amanpour—and the Rest of Us—Can Learn From Palestinian Journalists in Gaza

Steven w. thrasher on the myth of the “independent journalist”, contemporary literary novels are haunted by the absence of money, naomi kanakia wonders why nobody talks about the thing we all need, premonition in the west bank: ben ehrenreich on life in the village of burin, “sometimes you hear an echo of a sound that has not yet been voiced, of a shot that has not yet been fired.”, 50 ways to end a poem, emily skaja has some recommendations for making a strong exit, a woman out of time: rebecca solnit on mary shelley’s dystopian sci-fi novel the last man, in praise of a truly innovative writer, dispatches from the land of erasure during a genocide, “poetry’s belatedness hauntingly echoes international law’s belatedness when it comes to defining genocide.”, lost in translation: unpacking the shohei ohtani scandal, emily nemens on the all-but-invisible role of interpreters, in literature and in baseball, death and the maiden: what rewatching the oc can teach us now, kelly marie coyne on society’s lethal obsession with the white starlet, how do we celebrate arab american heritage month during a genocide, “palestinian lives are simply not valued, and, by inheritance, neither are palestinian americans.”, 10 great new children’s books out in april, caroline carlsonrecommends maple lam, felicita sala, laurie morrison and more, 100 tips that may (or may not) improve your next novel, ryan chapman on the craft and practice of writing fiction (and drinking gin), vampires, selkies, familiars, and more april’s best sci-fi and fantasy books, career retrospectives and historical fantasies from cixin liu, ann leckie, leigh bardugo, and others, a brief literary history of the murder ballad, in honor of beyoncé’s cowboy carter, brittany allen on the long, rich tradition of extremely violent popular song, march’s best reviewed nonfiction, featuring new titles by marilynne robinson, tessa hulls, kristine s. ervin, and more, the literary film & tv you need to stream in april, april showers bring opportunities to binge watch, for book recommendations, people are always better than algorithms, maris kreizman reveals some tricks of the trade for the semi-professional book recommender, the sickness of life: on the problems with anti-natalism, ben ware considers the emptiness of opting out, the writer next door: my life as joyce carol oates’ neighbor, “i wanted to believe that oates knew we existed. while her cat clearly knew who we were, she never did.”, rebecca solnit: how to comment on social media, “the entire measure of someone's commitment is how much they post about their commitment.”, here’s your 2024 literary film & tv preview, 53 shows and movies to stream and see this year, lit hub’s most anticipated books of 2024, 230 books we’re looking forward to reading this year, 24 sci-fi and fantasy books to look forward to in 2024, exciting new series’ and standalones from kelly link, lev grossman, sofia samatar, james s.a. corey, and more, we need your help: support lit hub, become a member, you get editors’ personalized book recs, an ad-free reading experience, and the joan didion tote bag, 40 books to understand palestine, from ghassan kanafani's "men in the sun" to adania shibli's "minor detail", earth really on why aliens would probably skip visiting our planet.

Lisa Kaltenegger Considers Carl Sagan, Alien Equations, and How Sci-Fi Can Help Us Imagine Extraterrestrial Life

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Current Issue

With a cover illustration by Edel Rodriguez, “Writing the Polycrisis” headlines the March/April 2024 issue of World Literature Today, showcasing contributions by nine writers, mainly from the Global South. Additional highlights include interviews, creative nonfiction, booklists, essays, and more! Plus a book review section brimming with the latest must-reads also enliven the issue, making it your latest passport to the best new reading from around the world.

WLT  Weekly

5 Questions for Ethel Rohan

Invitation to Participate in WLT’ s 2024 Readership Survey

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Ananda Devi Wins the 2024 Neustadt Prize

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First US Anthology Celebrates Literary Translators’ Work from Nineteen Languages

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Feature Section

The Poetry of Polycrisis

Sir Philip Sidney pointed out that the ancient Romans called poets vates (diviner, foreseer, or prophet). The following poets, hailing from Australia, Spain, the United States, Paraguay, and Argentina, continue the tradition in a way informed by our unique moment in time.

Dancing at the Foot of a Volcano: Bad Governance, Corruption, and Ecological Disaster in Lebanon

“Through a sort of grating irony,” writes Charif Majdalani, Lebanon “remains a sort of model but in the negative sense of the term, because it concentrates in itself all the problems of the contemporary world.” Will it someday regain its role as a positive model?

The Air Has Changed

“Grief sits in the bottom of my lungs —  / maybe I cradle it there so I can breathe / every spore, every whiff of a slivering / land and an unfurling chest — / so I can say I have lived through the worst / of the fires,” from “The Air Has Changed,” by Rina Garcia Chua

Featured Book Reviews

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3 Ecopoems from the Southern Cone

“River, sea, blood, / heart-mind to take care of. / Wind, oxygen, sustenance. / Come on brother, wake up,” from “Archaic,” by Ana Gayoso (trans. by Whitney DeVos)

Dead Horse Bay

“n the free circulation of commodities, there is no center or edge. We are all part of the same untraceable sludge,” from “Dead Horse Bay,” by Santiago Acosta (trans. by Tiffany Troy & The Women in Translation Project)

Three Poems from Israel

“A person should fold up his world / put his head between his legs / and so observe his existence / say things of worth things that foresee the future / by becoming round / by lowering his head uniting the edges,” from a poem by Susan Afterman (trans. by Linda Stern Zisquit)

Fiction & Creative Nonfiction

It’s 2050, and five African nations have surrendered their sovereignty to form a new nation. Alande Mukumbi, the new president of Embo, is determined to prove the naysayers wrong. 

The Wayward Children of Asase Yaa

The offspring’s appetites know no end. What’s a mother, any mother—even that mother who nurtures us all—to do?

If Willarena Were an Artist

A writer remembers her mother who, had she been an artist, would have been Sharon Jones, and asks: Am I an artist? Which may be asking, Are all Black women artists?

Queen of Justice: A Portrait of Sandra Day O’Connor

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Digital Escapes for Readers & Writers: 20 Must-Read Online Literary Journals

Lyndsie Manusos

Lyndsie Manusos’s fiction has appeared in PANK, SmokeLong Quarterly, and other publications. She holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has worked in web production and content management. When she’s not nesting among her books and rough drafts, she’s chasing the baby while the dog watches in confused amusement. She lives with her family in a suburb of Indianapolis.

View All posts by Lyndsie Manusos

We are in a renaissance for online literary journals. Especially in regards to the pandemic, reading online is the easiest and fastest way to digest the most current literature. It’s also becoming easier for writers and readers to find their niche journals, from dark literary fiction to genre fiction, varying in length from novelettes to drabbles (a short work of fiction precisely 100 words in length). If you have a domain, you can start a journal. If you have access to the internet, you can read it. And in a world of isolation and burnout, the online literary journal, especially for me, has been an essential source of community among editors, writers, and readers.

List Criteria

In compiling a list of online literary journals, I leaned heavily on those that are only online. Some may do a print anthology over a volume of issues. Yet for the most part, these journals publish exclusively via their website or through digital issues (PDFs, ebook, etc.).

I also wanted to showcase an array of genres and lengths, from flash fiction publications to those specializing in science fiction and fantasy. Some literary journals below feature multiple mediums, including art and photography. I was tempted to split the list into categories (speculative, flash, etc.) but so many online journals belong in more than category; they are chameleons of literature, pushing against restrictions and labels.

Finally, I wanted to highlight some online journals that debuted within the past year or two. These new online literary journals are making great impacts on the literary scene, featuring voices from the around the world, sometimes in more than one language, and giving voice to marginalized communities. Especially having debuted during a pandemic and featuring such astounding work, these particular journals deserve much gratitude and celebration.

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Online Literary Journals Are For Both Readers and Writers

The below roundup is by no means an exhaustive list of what’s all out there. If you’re a reader looking for new outlets to discover the latest in fiction, this will act as a jumping-off point. The same goes for writers. As you dive into creating worlds and characters, perhaps you’ll find a journal seeking precisely the work you write.

So, without further ado, I give present the below list in alphabetical order by name.

20 Must-Read Online Literary Journals

Apparition Literary Magazine

Apparition Literary Magazine is an online speculative journal that publishes fiction, poetry, and nonfiction essays. Each issue is compiled around a theme, from Transfiguration, Contamination, Chance, to its latest issue: Wonder. Recently, Apparition has brought on talented guest editors, such as Premee Mohamed, Aigner Loren Wilson, and Maria Dong.

I had the honor of having a short story published in the Transfiguration issue in 2020. There is so much amazing work coming out of this magazine, with a staff that deeply cares for its writers and growing readership. I highly recommend Zebib K.A.’s story “ Commodities ” in the Justice issue, published in January 2021.

Baffling Magazine

Let’s start off strong and bow down to that cover art. Baffling Magazine is a project of Neon Hemlock Press. It publishes quarterly, and features speculative flash work with a queer bent. Its first issue published in October 2020 featuring work by renown writers of speculative fiction, such as Nino Cipri and Izzy Wasserstein. Its first year of issues is forthcoming as a print volume with Neon Hemlock Press.

There are SO many brilliant stories just in the first four issues. I especially fell in love with Hailey Piper’s robot western “ The Heart is a Spare Part ” from Issue 4 and M.L. Krishnan’s “ A Lamentation, While Full ” from Issue 3.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies

Those in an escapist mood with a taste for secondary world fantasy, BCS is the online journal for you. Even more specific, BCS is a nonprofit, SFWA pro-qualifying online literary journal that publishes “literary adventure fantasy: fantasy set in secondary-world or historical paranormal settings, written with a literary focus on the characters.”

For writers who enjoyed Alix E. Harrow’s brilliant novels The Once and Future Witches and The Ten Thousand Doors of January , she also published a brilliant story in BCS titled, “ Do Not Look Back, My Lion .”

Catapult is an independent online literary journal publishing essays, fiction, poetry, and art. In 2020 it won the National Magazine Award for columns and commentary.

Since its inception, Catapult as grown and now publishes books and offers online classes. I can personally attest to how awesome the Catapult classes are, having taken a flash fiction online workshop with Lindsay Hunter.

Clarkesworld Magazine

Clarkesworld magazine first published in 2006 and has been presenting monthly online issues ever since. In almost 15 years of publishing, Clarkesworld has accumulated many awards, including nominations and/or winning the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, BSFA, Sturgeon, Locus, Shirley Jackson, Ditmar, Aurora, Aurealis, WSFA Small Press and Stoker Awards.

It is a solid magazine for dipping into the very latest science fiction and fantasy, and it’s a pro-paying publication for writers looking to break into SFWA-qualifying markets.

The Deadlands

For those of the gothic heart, I give you The Deadlands , a new online literary magazine publishing speculative fiction, non-fiction, and poetry surrounding the subject of death.

Issue 4 published in August , and I had the honor of having one of my own short stories included (a Bluebeard retelling where his ghost brides get revenge!). From ghostly stories, to stories of the afterlife, to an essay on being a mortician, The Deadlands will provide all the spooky, ethereal, haunting vibes readers crave.

Electric Literature

Electric Literature is a well-known headquarters for those seeking quality online literature. It offers two online journals under its umbrella, from Recommended Reading , which publishes short fiction and novel excerpts with personal recommendations, to The Commuter , which caters to flash fiction, poetry, and graphic narratives.

Electric Lit began as a quarterly in 2009 and then became a nonprofit in 2014. All of Electric Lit’s content is free, and it has received numerous accolades, including selection in the Best American Short Stories, Essays, Poetry, and Comics, the Pushcart Prize, Best Canadian Short Stories, and The Best of the Small Presses.

Flash Fiction Online

When one thinks flash fiction online literary magazine, FFO is often a favorite. First published in 2006, FFO publishes fiction from 500 to 1,000 words in length in just about every literary and speculative genre. In 2020, FFO had three stories listed in Best Small Fictions, and much of its work is widely shared on social media.

My most recent favorite flash story is a heart-wrenching piece by Aimee Ogden titled “ The Songs Her Mother Used to Sing .”

khōréō is a quarterly magazine of speculative fiction and migration and seeks to feature voices of immigrant and diaspora authors. its focus is on stories, essays, and art as long as there is a speculative element.

The first issue published in February 2021 with much acclaim. From its most recent issue, I recommend the brilliant (and awesomely-titled) story, “ Evelina, My Tentacles! ” by Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas.

khōréō recently closed submissions for its next themed issue but will open again in October.

Troy Onyango started the online literary journal Lolwe in 2020, with the mission to publish more Black writers, poets, and photographers in Africa and around the world.

In a profile in The New York Times , he explained that the name Lolwe comes from “Luo name for Lake Victoria, whose waters hug this city in western Kenya, and means ‘endless lake or water body’.” Lolwe recently opened for submissions for the month of August for its fourth issue, which will be guest-edited by Nsah Mala, Harriet Anena and Loic Ekinga.

Mermaids Monthly

Do you like mermaids? Do you like anything and everything related to mermaids? Look no further, because you can find your mermaid lore fix with the recently-established Mermaids Monthly . Its tagline is “a magazine about mermaids. that’s it. that’s the shell.”

It recently published Issue 7 in July 2021, which revolves around the ever-popular selkie, with beautiful fiction, art, and poetry. Jennifer Mace’s brief but gorgeous poem “ Seal Bride ” is fantastic.

Milk Candy Review

Milk Candy Review is a lovely online literary journal run by the talented flash writer Cathy Ulrich. MCR publishes fiction under 750 words and caters to “beautifully weird flash fiction.” I had the pleasure of having my own weird flash published here, though my favorite story in MCR is by another fellow Book Riot writer, Annika Barranti Klein titled, “ Anaphora (Ten Ways to Greet a Time Traveler) .”

I highly recommend Milk Candy Review , both as an outlet for readers seeking to dive into flash fiction and for writers seeking a place to send work that may not quire fit at other venues.

The Offing is an online literary magazine that publishes a wide spectrum of literature and art, from micro fiction (“10 to 560-character works — or one to five tweets — in any genre”) to poetry, fiction, and essays/memoir. It actively seeks to feature underrepresented voices as well as challenge writers to use their fiction to experiment and provoke.

The recently-published micro “ I feel like an adult when I worry about money ,” by Raina Greifer is particularly stunning.

SmokeLong Quarterly

Created in 2003, SmokeLong is one of the longest-running online literary journals, and recently published Issue 72. According to its website “The term “smoke-long” comes anecdotally from the Chinese, who noted that reading a piece of flash takes about the same length of time as smoking a cigarette.”

SmokeLong recently established two competitions in the past year, one for comedic flash fiction and one for micro fiction. They also publish global flash fiction, as well as flash in Spanish. One of my all-time favorite flash stories, which still resonates today, is the 2019 flash by Amber Sparks titled “ Everything is Terrible but You Should Read This Story .”

Strange Horizons

Strange Horizons is an online literary journal publishing weekly issues of and about speculative fiction. Founded in September 2000, Strange Horizons has since published critically-acclaimed speculative fiction, having been nominated or won Hugo, Nebula, Rhysling, Theodore Sturgeon, James Tiptree Jr., and World Fantasy Awards.

In addition to fiction, they also publish poetry, art, interviews, and reviews. In the August 23, 2021 issue, for the Writing While Disabled column, Kristy Ann Cox interviewed the great Nisi Shawl on upcoming projects, how disability informs and impacts her work, and how women and nonbinary folk often come to milestones one expects of a writer later in life because of all the marginalization. A necessary, important read.

Sukoon: Arab-Themed Art & Literature

Sukoon ‘s last-known issue was in Winter 2020 , but it’s an important literary journal to feature nonetheless. It is an independent, online literary journal publishing Arab-themed art and literature in English, with an aim to show the diversity of Arab identity.

It was founded by the poet and writer Rewa Zeinati. According to its website, the name Sukoon is an Arabic word meaning stillness. “What we mean by Sukoon is the stillness found within as the artist follows his/her inner calling to express and create; a calling that compels the artist to continue on his/her creative path for the sole reason that he/she doesn’t know how not to.”

Uncanny Magazine

One can’t do a list of online literary journals without mentioning Uncanny . A staple in the science fiction and fantasy community, Uncanny has racked up the nominations and awards year-to-year , publishing the most established and up-and-coming names in SFF.

One of my favorite stories in Uncanny (and it’s hard to choose because there are so many excellent stories) is the award-nominated “ My Country is a Ghost ” by Eugenia Triantafyllou from Issue 32.

Uncharted launched in August 2021and has already published a collection of talented writers and stories, including “ Evolution ” by Paul Crenshaw. Additionally, its first judge for the inaugural Science Fiction & Fantasy contest is the award-winning author Ken Liu.

Uncharted is under the same umbrella company as other well-known online literary magazines, such as The Masters Review , Craft , and Fractured Lit . They, too, are all excellent online literary journals, but I wanted to highlight Uncharted for debuting this year. Uncharted publishes science fiction, fantasy, horror, crime, and thriller fiction.

Words Without Border : The Online Magazine for International Literature

WWB was founded in 2003 and has published more than 2,700 writers from 140 countries, translated from 126 languages. It has a monthly online magazine showcasing contemporary fiction, with the aim to introduce writers from around the world to the general public. Some major writers it’s published include Elena Ferrante, Mariana Enríquez, Svetlana Alexievich, and more.

In the latest monthly issue for July/August 2021, WWB featured Afro-Italian Women Writers .

Wrongdoing Magazine

Last but certainly not least is the achingly beautiful Wrongdoing Magazine . Another debut on the list, Wrongdoing published its first issue in Spring 2021 and makes the offer to writers that if they’ve ever written work “so blatantly  wrong  for most markets, then pretty please, do try us out.”

As an examples, Lindz McLeod’s fiction story “Heavenly Bodies” is about a woman who keeps the sun in a spare room. A haunting and sensual story.

Other Resources

If you’re looking to find more online literary magazines, or really any literary magazine, here are a couple resources to utilize:

The Submission Grinder

The Submission Grinder is run by Diabolical Plots (another fantastic online literary journal of speculative fiction) for writers to search for markets and track their submissions. It is completely free to use, and has a database of more than 11,000 markets.

Duotrope is another resource for searching and tracking submissions for writers, though it does require a monthly or yearly subscription. It lists more than 7,000 active markets (including literary agents, for those querying their longer projects) and features a new market every day for writers to discover.

Lit Mag News Roundup

Becky Tuck started The Review Review in 2008, providing information on literary magazines, interviews with editors, and calls for submissions. In 2019, she sold the site to Gonzaga University, which still continues its mission. Becky continues her good work and now offers a bi-weekly newsletter via Substack with news on all things literary magazine. You can read free content or sign up for a subscription to pay for premium content.

Finally, Book Riot continues to provide great content about varying genres, structures, and forms. You can read a couple of my own articles, such as a small roundup of flash fiction journals , definitions of speculative fiction and slipstream , and a roundup of 2021 speculative short story collections .

Support Your Favorite Online Literary Journals

One of the best ways to support online literary magazines — in addition to subscribing and donating — is sharing the work of their writers. Tweet, post, TikTok, etc. As I mentioned; this list is by no means exhaustive. If your favorite online literary journal was not listed, highlight that journal on social media. Share your favorite stories, essays, poetry, and art. Celebrate and applaud the work of these brilliant journals and give thanks to their hard-working staff.

Many literary journals are discovering and publishing the next great writers. By reading these, you may just discover the future of the literature.

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The 9 best literary magazines in the world right now

This post was published in May 2019. To stay up to date with the latest independent magazine news and reviews, sign up for our monthly email newsletter

Much as we love magazines, a pitfall of many is that the writing inside doesn’t *quite* live up to the art. To redress the balance, we decided to round up our favourite independent literary publications — magazines where the writing is beautiful, and compulsive, and where sometimes, there are no pictures at all.

We are being deliberately vague about the term “literary” here: there are traditional fiction and lit. crit magazines listed, but we’ve also included a sci-fi publication, and a psychogeography title. The only thing that really unites the magazines on this list is that every one is an exceptionally good read.

The White Review

Published in the month the UK was meant to leave the EU, the 24th issue of The White Review invokes the power of black magic. The spell-infused opening essay takes seriously the idea of the sacred, and the supernatural, defining a witch as “one who uses language to cause change in the material world”. You can read that as a statement of editorial intent, as the interviews, poetry and stories in the issue return to this idea of finding language powerful enough to save us, or to somehow cut through. One of the nicest things about The White Review is that it’s academic, and earnest, but at the same time it’s playful. There’s a wicked, witchy element to the art in this issue, too: one of our favourite spreads features a series of latex teats.

The Stinging Fly

An Irish literary magazine of new writing, the latest edition of The Stinging Fly (their 40th) received 982 submissions of short stories alone. The 14 that made the cut are tight and unusually spare. Sally Rooney is a contributing editor, and on these pages there’s an echo of her attention to the minute detail of how we see ourselves and are seen by others. In the very first story in the collection, Harpies, our narrator describes herself: “I am small, brunette, and round. I crouch next to beauties like a full stop. I accentuate.” Usually you can smell the weakness in a story — its bagginess or self-indulgence. Reading The Stinging Fly you get that delicious feeling of surrender; of being in safe hands.

Flaneur presents one street per issue, spending months living in their chosen location — most recently they moved to Taipei – before heading back to Berlin to piece the whole magazine together. They define their approach as “literary” in the sense that it is self-consciously subjective. The picture they build of a street is woven together out of scraps of private correspondence, polaroids, and half-memories. One of our favourite pieces in the last issue, which zeroes in on a street in São Paulo, tells the story of racial segregation in Brazil via a conversation overheard in a lift.

Freeman’s looks like a book but it self-defines as a magazine. “I think a magazine is tracking and engaging with culture,” explains editor John Freeman, who used to head up Granta. “It has an ongoingness, whereas an anthology freezes a moment, perhaps, and puts it in two covers.” The fifth issue is about power: it’s topical, but in a pleasurably sideways way. One of the most beautiful things here is a poem by Julia Alvarez that reimagines Penelope, happy alone, disappointed when Odysseus finally comes home: “He’s back, disguised as an old man/ to test my virtue … I would be rid of him.”

Oxford American

Self-described as ‘a magazine of the South’, the rich, difficult essays in Oxford American come as a surprise. One painful piece in the Spring ‘19 issue is about the propagandic power of plantation houses, and the architecture of white supremacy: “beauty is often a con — a lure … Think of Stalin’s symmetrical Seven Sisters. Think of Vivien Leigh’s face, that dress made of drapes.”

A science fiction magazine funded by the sale of its own delightfully 80s type-face, the first issue of Visions is all about ‘Home’. Interspersed with bright yellow pages of flash-fiction written in collaboration with a computer bot, stories are bizarre, but they also have a quiet, poetic quality. One of our favourite pieces in the issue imagines a future where the whole human race will be homeless, because we will have induced ourselves into “ultra-high frequency radiation, and shone ourselves into the depths of interstellar space”. Another highlight is a dinner-date with a hologram of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Somesuch Stories

The fourth issue of this UK literary journal is themed ‘redemption’, a word editor Suze Olbrich defines as borderline archaic. But the idea of absolution still sticks its pins into us. In a largely secular world, we share what Olbrich calls a “gnarly yearning for liberation from guilt; for forgiveness — for salvation”. It’s a great theme, and while the stories on these pages are uneven, when they’re good, they’re very very good. Like Luke Turner’s beautiful, ambivalent essay on cruising, looking back on encounters he is now old enough to recognise as abusive. And Kieran Yates’ fan fiction about women of colour in popular culture; from Padma Patil, to Ursula from The Little Mermaid.

American Chordata

One of the defining characteristics of New York-based American Chordata is that it looks really good. Mixing short stories and poetry with photography, the pictures aren’t specially commissioned. Instead, art director Bobby Doherty mines the internet for art all year long, and then sets his favourites next to the text in a strange, non-illustrative way, almost like collage. In the most recent issue — AC’s eighth — a short story about a murderess with a twig growing out of her stomach is bookended, sensuously, by a black-and-white image of two teenagers snogging.

Zoetrope: All-Story

Founded by Francis Ford Coppola in 1997, Zoetrope was originally conceived as a way to inspire independent movie-making, by providing a space for writers to publish their short fiction and plays. The magazine’s role-call of contributors is ludicrously star-spangled — the rotating guest-designer spot has been filled by Bowie and Lynch, to name only Davids. But what makes this magazine remarkable is how lightly it wears its famous names. Virtually unknown outside literary circles, and boasting just around a thousand Instagram followers, you get the feeling the only thing its editors really care about is the quality of the fiction. Which, of course, is consistently excellent: the latest issue opens with a horrible, wonderful short story about a woman who can only get to sleep when pinned down by the weight of somebody else’s flesh.

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• The 19 Best Literary Magazines You Should Be Reading in 2023

In the world of literature, storytelling is king. Whether it’s a gripping novel, a haunting poem, or a thought-provoking essay, what ultimately draws us in and keeps us hooked is the power of a well-told story. And what better way to explore the vast and diverse landscape of storytelling than through the pages of a literary magazine?

Literary magazines provide a platform for both established and emerging writers to share their stories, their experiences, and their unique perspectives on the world. From the experimental to the traditional, the humorous to the thought-provoking, the stories found in these magazines push boundaries and challenge us to see the world in new ways.

But with so many literary magazines out there, how do you know which ones are worth your time? In this article, we’ll explore some of the best literary magazines available today, each one offering its own unique brand of storytelling magic. Whether you’re a seasoned reader or just starting to dip your toes into the world of literature, these magazines are sure to provide a rich and rewarding reading experience. So settle in, grab a cup of tea, and let’s dive into the world of literary storytelling.

The Paris Review

The Paris Review is a leading literary magazine that has been publishing since 1953. It features interviews with prominent writers, as well as stories, poetry, and essays. It is known for publishing the first works of many now-famous writers, including Jack Kerouac, Philip Roth, and V. S. Naipaul.

Granta is a British literary magazine that has been publishing for over 130 years. It features fiction, non-fiction, and poetry from established and emerging writers from around the world. Granta is known for its themed issues, which explore various topics from a literary perspective.

McSweeney’s

McSweeney’s is an independent publishing house that produces a literary magazine, as well as books and other projects. The magazine features humor, fiction, and non-fiction, and is known for its unique design and typography.

The Los Angeles Review

The Los Angeles Review is a quarterly literary magazine that publishes poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and book reviews. It is known for its commitment to publishing diverse voices, with an emphasis on writers from the West Coast.

BOMB Magazine

BOMB Magazine is a quarterly publication that features interviews with artists, writers, and filmmakers, as well as works of fiction and poetry. It is known for its in-depth interviews with prominent writers and artists.

VQR Online is the online version of the Virginia Quarterly Review, a literary magazine that has been publishing since 1925. The online version features original works of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, as well as multimedia content, including videos and podcasts.

n+1 is a literary magazine that focuses on contemporary culture and politics. It features fiction, essays, and reviews, as well as translations of works from other languages. n+1 has been praised for its fresh and critical voice.

The White Review

The White Review is a quarterly literary magazine that features fiction, poetry, and essays, as well as interviews with writers and artists. It is known for its commitment to publishing new and experimental works.

Electric Lit

Electric Lit is an online literary magazine that features fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, as well as critical essays and reviews. It is known for its commitment to publishing diverse voices and promoting emerging writers.

Music & Literature

Music & Literature is a biannual literary magazine that features works of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, as well as interviews with writers, musicians, and artists. It is known for its innovative approach to publishing, which combines literature with music and other art forms.

The Stinging Fly

The Stinging Fly is an Irish literary magazine that features poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, as well as interviews with writers and artists. It is known for its commitment to promoting emerging Irish writers.

Flaneur Magazine

Flaneur Magazine is a biannual publication that explores different neighborhoods around the world through literature and photography. Each issue focuses on a specific neighborhood, providing a unique perspective on the area.

Freeman’s

Freeman’s is a biannual literary magazine that features works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, as well as interviews with writers and artists. It is known for its themed issues, which explore different topics from a literary perspective.

Guernica Mag

Guernica Mag is an online literary magazine that features fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, as well as interviews with writers and artists. It is known for its commitment to promoting social justice issues through literature.

Visions is an online literary magazine that features original works of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, as well as artwork and photography. It is known for its commitment to publishing new and experimental works.

ThreePenny Review

ThreePenny Review is a quarterly literary magazine that features fiction, poetry, and essays, as well as book reviews. It is known for its commitment to publishing works from emerging writers, as well as established ones.

American Chordata

American Chordata is a biannual literary magazine that features works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, as well as artwork and photography. It is known for its commitment to publishing diverse voices and promoting emerging writers.

Zoetrope: All-Story

Zoetrope: All-Story is a quarterly literary magazine that features fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, as well as artwork and photography. It is known for its commitment to publishing works from emerging writers, as well as established ones.

New Criterion

New Criterion is a monthly literary magazine that features literary and cultural criticism, as well as essays and reviews. It is known for its conservative perspective and its commitment to high literary standards.

And that, my dear reader, is the magic of literary magazines. They are portals to other worlds, other stories, other lives. They are the doorways that lead us to new perspectives, and the keys that unlock our imaginations. As a writer and reader, I can attest to the immense value of these magazines in shaping and expanding our literary horizons. So go forth, dear reader, and seek out these literary gems. The world of storytelling is waiting for you, and the possibilities are endless.

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11 Indie Literary Magazines You Should Be Reading

Reading Lists

Steven watson, founder of stack, recommends print lit mags.

Independent magazines are notorious outsiders. Generally made with lots of passion and not much cash, they’re gloriously uncommercial artefacts of our current age of creative independence, in which virtually anyone with an internet connection and an Adobe Creative Cloud license can publish their own professional quality print magazine. Of course the fact that pretty much anyone can now be their own editor-in-chief and creative director means that lots of the work committed to print isn’t all that good, but there are some extraordinary gems out there waiting to be found, and that’s what we spend our days doing.

Stack searches out the best independent magazines and delivers them to thousands of readers around the world every month—you never know what you’re going to get next, but you do know it will be a beautiful, intelligent print magazine you probably wouldn’t otherwise have come across. We pride ourselves on delivering a wide range of magazines covering all sorts of subjects, but for the following list we’ve focused on the literary magazines we’re currently enjoying the most.

The White Review

One of London’s most revered independent literary magazines, The White Review mixes outstanding fiction, essays and poetry with beautiful art and photography all wrapped up in a lovely, thick print edition. Launched in 2011, its founding aim was to provide “a space for a new generation to express itself unconstrained by form, subject or genre”, and today it publishes in monthly online editions, but it’s the roughly triannual print version that we love. The current issue looks at first glance like a sort of bookish fashion magazine, with its cover featuring a photograph by artist Elad Lassry, but the content inside ranges far and wide, covering subjects including migration and asylum, LGBTQ+ spaces, race and disability. Essential and important, but with a fantastic lightness of touch, a new issue of The White Review is always eagerly anticipated in the Stack office.  

Freeman’s looks like a book but it self-defines as a magazine. “I think a magazine is tracking and engaging with culture,” explains editor John Freeman, who used to head up Granta . “It has an ongoingness, whereas an anthology freezes a moment, perhaps, and puts it in two covers.” The fifth issue is about power: it’s topical, but in a pleasurably sideways way. One of the most beautiful things here is a poem by Julia Alvarez that reimagines Penelope, happy alone, disappointed when Odysseus finally comes home: “He’s back, disguised as an old man/ to test my virtue… I would be rid of him.”

The plaything of one extraordinary tinkerer, science-fiction magazine Visions is a testament to the power of passion. Creative technologist and sci-fi fan Mathieu Triay began the project by making Marvin Visions, the typeface that he uses for titles throughout the magazine and its website. Licensing the typeface online generated enough money to pay for printing the first issue, and he uses the magazine as a platform for both new and established science-fiction writers. In the latest issue, for example, multi-award winning author Robert Silverberg’s story “Caliban” is set in an alarmingly lithe, glistening future, as seen through the eyes of a man who has become the only relic of our messy, hairy times. Silverberg locates his smooth sexualization a hundred-odd years into the future, but in “Hyperbeauty,” the non-fiction essay that follows it, master’s student Raquel Hollman seems to respond to Silverberg by showing how our world is already uncomfortably sexualized and dominated by ideals of “perfect beauty.”

American Chordata

One of the defining characteristics of New York-based American Chordata is that it looks really good. Mixing short stories and poetry with photography, the pictures aren’t specially commissioned. Instead, art director Bobby Doherty mines the internet for art all year long, and then sets his favorites next to the text in a strange, non-illustrative way, almost like collage. In the most recent issue—AC’s ninth—Tatu Gustafsson’s grainy CCTV images of a lonely figure standing by the sides of roads are dropped throughout Angela Woodward’s disturbing short story “Decoy Animals,” the writing and images each intensifying the other. [Editor’s note: Erin Bartnett, associate editor at Recommended Reading, is also the fiction editor at American Chordata.]

The Stinging Fly

An Irish literary magazine of new writing, The Stinging Fly has excellent pedigree—Sally Rooney is a contributing editor, and on these pages there’s an echo of her attention to the minute detail of how we see ourselves and are seen by others. The current issue is fronted by a brilliantly fleshy artwork by Irish Japanese painter Shane Berkery, which sets the tone for the intimate and personal reflections that run through the fiction and poetry inside.

Founded by Francis Ford Coppola in 1997, Zoetrope was originally conceived as a way to inspire independent movie-making, by providing a space for writers to publish their short fiction and plays. The magazine’s role-call of contributors is ludicrously star-spangled—the rotating guest-designer spot has been filled by Bowie and Lynch, to name only Davids. But what makes this magazine remarkable is how lightly it wears its famous names. Virtually unknown here in the U.K., and boasting just a thousand or so Instagram followers, you get the feeling the only thing its editors really care about is the quality of the fiction. 

This London-based journal of sexuality and erotics was started in 2018 by the Feeld dating app, and it’s run today by editor Maria Dimitrova, who works with editorial independence to assemble an inventive series of poems and short stories that explore the frontiers of sexual life. Of course any literary magazine stands or falls on the strength of its writing, and Mal brings together some exceptional talent: the latest issue includes an original piece by cult author Chris Kraus and a short story by Luke Brown that was commended in the Best Original Fiction category at this year’s Stack Awards. 

Worms is a literary magazine about style: writing style, but also sartorial. We are all worms, Clem Macleod explains in her editor’s letter, and “in the end, we’re going to be eaten by them. As a Worm, you will fertilise your mind with glorious words.” Using clothes as a way of worming your way into a writer’s work is a contentious business. Traditionally understood to be something frivolous women like, clothes are depicted here to be so much more interesting. Author Natasha Stagg is interviewed, and the first question she is asked is whether everyday dressing is a sort of curation of self. This idea—that dressing up can be a way of slipping out of your identity and trying on another—is most fully realized in a feature towards the middle, where Clem goes to visit a box of the late punk writer Kathy Acker’s clothes, and tries some on. Acker is the cover star, and the whole issue is a homage to her. The clothes are “unwashed, crumpled” and “musky”; a mass of Vivienne Westwood, Commes Des Garcons and Betsey Johnson. Trying on your dead hero’s outfits is thrillingly intimate. As readers, we feel that we should like to do this intimate thing, too.

The Lifted Brow

“A quarterly attack journal from Australia and the world,” The Lifted Brow is based in Melbourne and sets out to showcase the most inventive and accomplished experimental storytelling. The result includes fiction and non-fiction, poetry and comics, and frequently gives a voice to groups that aren’t commonly heard. Last year’s 40th edition, for example, was re-branded Blak Brow , and was created entirely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, born out of the conviction that “blak” women’s writing can “transcend off the pages and topple the patriarchy.”

Somesuch Stories

The fourth issue of this U.K. literary journal is themed “redemption,” a word editor Suze Olbrich defines as borderline archaic. But the idea of absolution still sticks its pins into us. In a largely secular world, we share what Olbrich calls a “gnarly yearning for liberation from guilt; for forgiveness—for salvation.” It’s a great theme, and while the stories on these pages are uneven, when they’re good, they’re very very good. Like Luke Turner’s beautiful, ambivalent essay on cruising, looking back on encounters he is now old enough to recognize as abusive. And Kieran Yates’ fan fiction about women of color in popular culture; from Padma Patil, to Ursula from The Little Mermaid .

Mekong Review

Launched in 2015 at the Kampot Writers and Readers Festival in Cambodia, the Mekong Review was created as a platform for the literary scene in Southeast Asia. Over the years its influence has spread, and today it publishes essays, interviews, poetry and fiction drawn from across Asia and Australasia. It’s proud to claim no political allegiance, and the current issue includes thoughtful and critical reviews and essays inspired by the protests in Hong Kong, as well as politically-inflected commentary from Thailand, Malaysia, China, Myanmar and beyond.

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Written by S. Kalekar January 16th, 2023

30 Magazines Accepting Creative Nonfiction and Essays

These literary magazines and other outlets publish a variety of nonfiction/essays. A few are looking for themed submissions. Some of them pay writers. Most, but not all, of them are open for submissions now. They’re in no particular order.

TOLKA Journal Their website says, “Tolka is a biannual literary journal of non-fiction: publishing essays, reportage, travel writing, auto-fiction, individual stories and the writing that flows in between. We are a journal for writers to express themselves beyond the limits of fixed genres, forms or subjects. … We encourage writers to test the creative boundaries of non-fiction.” They publish work by Irish and international writers, of 2,000-4,000 words. Pay is €500. The deadline is 22 January 2023. Details here .

Vast Chasm They publish “bold work that explores the expansive human experience, including flash and short fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and other nonconforming work.” Pay is $50 for prose up to 5,000 words. They read submissions on an ongoing basis. Details here .

Porkbelly Press They read for their chapbook series in January – these can be creative nonfiction such as lyric essays & flash, poetry or prose poems, collections of flash or micro fiction, graphic narratives, sequential artwork, or combinations of the above (tightly linked by theme, image, voice, etc.). Please submit 12 – 26 pages for chapbooks. They are queer friendly and feminist. “Our catalog favors lit & poetry leaning heavily toward fabulism, folklore, & magic—often confessional or intimate poems or personal lyric essay. All work should be tightly linked.” For nonfiction chapbooks, “We particularly enjoy multiple short essays, but will consider a one-essay chap if the essay is just that good. We lean toward braided forms (narratives with 3 or more threads tied together), and also consider things like character sketches, travel narratives, and collections of vignettes.” See guidelines and Submittable pages for further details. Pay is author copies. The deadline for chapbook submissions is 31 January 2023. Also see their reading periods for works in other genres. Details here and here .

The Christian Science Monitor: The Home Forum This news organization accepts pitches from freelancers and writers, and submissions for The Home Forum , where they want “upbeat personal essays of from 600 to 800 words. … For time-sensitive material (seasonal, news-related, holiday- or event-themed), you must submit at least SIX WEEKS in advance.” Also, “These are first-person, nonfiction explorations of how you responded to a place, a person, a situation, an event, or happenings in everyday life. Tell a story with a point; share a funny true tale. Describe a self-discovery. The humor should be gentle. We accept essays on a wide variety of subjects and encourage timely, newsy topics. However, we don’t deal with the topics of death, aging, medicine, or disease. We do not publish work that presents people in helpless or hopeless states.” They pay $250 for these essays. Details here .

The Every Animal Project This is an anthology about courageous animals, and they also will publish work on their website. “Stories must be true (non-fiction). They must relate to non-human animals (of any species) and can be about your personal experiences/growth because of an animal, an issue threatening animals today, or other aspects of the human/non-human animal relationship. For the upcoming anthology, please weave the theme of courage/bravery into your story. We are particularly interested in spotlighting species less familiar to people, like insects, marine animals, and reptiles.” One writer will get an award of $300, another will be awarded $200, and other writers whose work is chosen for the print anthology get $50; writers whose work features online get $20. The deadline is 31 March 2023. Details here .

The Lumiere Review Their website says, “We are intrigued by the inextinguishable sparks of truth and connection, the effervescent meddling of narrative, and the luminous creations that expand on perceptions of genre, language, and form.” They have a call for BIPOC creatives on the Justice theme (deadline – 15 February 2023). For general submissions, they publish creative nonfiction (up to 3,000 words), fiction, and poetry. They publish quarterly, pay $10, and read submissions on an ongoing basis. Details here .

The Four Faced Liar This is a new print journal; they published their first issue in January 2023. They publish creative nonfiction (up to 4,000 words), fiction, poetry, and art. Pay is €200 for short creative nonfiction and fiction, €100 for a poem or piece of flash, and €100 for art. Watch for their next submission period on Twitter . Details here .

Gray’s Sporting Journal This is a magazine about hunting and fishing, and they publish articles on those topics. They also have a feature called Yarns, which is campfire tales – fact or fiction, of 750-1,500 words. They also publish some poetry. Pay is an average of $600 for Yarns, and poems pay $100. Features for the magazine pay more. Details here .

Narrative This magazine publishes work in various genres – nonfiction (including written, audio, and video), fiction, poetry, and drama. They charge a submission fee through the year but during the first two weeks of April, they offer fee-free submissions made specifically in the Open Reading category. They pay $100-500. Details here .

MudRoom Magazine Their website says, “our mission is to provide every writer, emerging and established, the opportunity to both see their work published, and engage with a larger literary community.” They publish essays, essays in translation, fiction, and poetry. Send prose of up to 6,000 words. Pay is $15, and the deadline is 25 January 2023 for their Winter issue. Details here .

The Fieldstone Review This is the literary journal of the University of Saskatchewan. They accept submissions of creative nonfiction (up to 2,500 words), literature & book reviews (of Canadian literature), fiction and poetry, for its 2023 issue. They are reading submissions on the Reversals theme. “Turning points. Twists. Changing fortunes and shifting gears. We want your clever, surprising and dizzying reversals––be it through character, plot or formal elements!” One contributor will get awarded CAD100. The deadline is 1 March 2023. Details here .

The Meadowlark Review This journal is associated with the University of Wyoming. “Based in Laramie, Wyoming, we’re inspired by the American West, but we love work that pushes against the traditional Western narrative, as well as new perspectives, unexpected twists, and pieces that have absolutely nothing to do with the West. We are especially interested in hybrid works and works that break the mold and push the boundaries of today’s literature.” They publish nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. Send work of 10-5,000 words. The deadline is 31 January 2023. Details here .

The Forge Literary Magazine They accept creative nonfiction (up to 3,000 words, but can accept up to 5,000) and fiction. They open on the 1 st of most months for fee-free submissions, and close when the cap is reached. They pay $75. Details here .

fron//tera This is a bilingual print magazine, in Spanish and English. They publish nonfiction (up to 5,000 words), fiction, poetry, art, and submissions can be in Spanish or English; they’ll also publish a couple of short dual-language English and Spanish pieces side by side (see guidelines). They pay $25-50. They’re reading work on the Phantoms theme till 1 February 2023. Details here .

The Healing Muse This is the annual journal of literary and visual art published by SUNY Upstate Medical University’s Center for Bioethics & Humanities. They publish narratives, memoirs, fiction, poetry, and art, particularly but not exclusively focusing on themes of medicine, illness, disability and healing. They accept prose up to 2,500 words. The deadline is 15 April 2023. They also have a poetry prize for medical students and physicians , of $250. Details here .

The Lascaux Review They publish creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry of literary quality, as well as essays on the craft and business of writing. “Creative nonfiction may include memoirs, chronicles, personal essays, humorous perspectives, literary journalism—anything the author has witnessed, experienced, learned, or discovered. Creative nonfiction should be written in a nonacademic style. For the Bistro (our blog), we’re looking for posts about writing, literature, agents, publishing, hangover recipes—anything to do with the craft and business of writing. Topics must be relevant to our audience, which consists of sophisticated journeyman writers and poets.” Submissions are open year-round. Details here .

The Paris Review They will reopen for prose submissions in March 2023. Currently, they are accepting poetry submissions; the Submittable cap is reached but they will read postal submissions, postmarked till 31 January 2023. They pay. Details here .

Nashville Review This magazine is associated with Vanderbilt University. They publish creative nonfiction (across the spectrum, including memoir excerpts, essays, imaginative meditations, of up to 8,000 words), fiction (including flash and novel excerpts), poetry, translations, and art. They accept submissions of art and comics year-round, and other genres are accepted in January, May, and September. Submissions may close earlier than scheduled if the cap is reached. Pay is $25 for poetry, and $100 for prose. The deadline is 31 January 2023, or until filled. Details here .

Porridge They publish a variety of genres, and are open for online and print issues occasionally. They are always open for their Comfort Food section – “The COMFORT FOODS series publishes creative responses to the relationship between food and culture, identity and cuisine, from people in diaspora or those from various marginalised identities. From eating away exile to 2,000 word philosophical treatises on biryani, we’re here for it. … We’ll accept creative non-fiction, food writing, poetry, and artwork on this theme.” Details here .

Electric Lit They are always open for detailed essay pitches. “Electric Literature’s essays examine books and culture through a personal and critical lens. … Pitches should describe the subject matter of the essay (which must be about books, writing, or narrative media like movies, games, and TV) and give a sense of the argument you plan to make or the story you plan to tell. We welcome thoughtful considerations of new releases, overlooked classics, childhood favorites—anything that can illuminate or be illuminated by the human experience.” They will open for other genres in February ( Recommended Reading – longer fiction, pays $300, open 1-12 February; and The Commuter – poetry, flash, graphic, and experimental narratives, pays $100, open 13-19 February 2023). Details here . Sojournal This is a travel journal, and their tagline is ‘One Image One Story’. “At present we only publish non-fiction travel stories that tell us about the black and white image you have supplied. We have a bias toward clear, concise, understandable work that communicates, surprises or disturbs – writing that bears witness to the world we live in.” Send work of up to 800 words. Details here .

Chicken Soup for the Soul They publish uplifting, true stories and poems. They regularly post themes they are accepting submissions on (currently, these are: Angels ; How stepping outside my comfort zone changed me ; Miracles ; and The power of positive thinking ). They pay $250 for work up to 1,200 words, as well as 10 contributor copies. Details here (also see tabs on the page – Possible book topics, Submissions FAQ, and Submit your story).

Unfortunately, Literary Magazine For nonfiction, “We’re interested in memoir/personal essays, feature articles, and any mix thereof. Shameless navel-gazing is fine by us.” Also, “Send us your work that’s too quirky, too dark, too queer, not the right kind of queer, too female-driven, too literary, not literary enough. Too much, too little, we want to see it all. Our only requirement is that you get your piece rejected elsewhere at least once before submitting to us.” They also publish fiction, art, and poetry. They read submissions in January, April, July, and October. See this Twitter thread to see the kind of work they’d like to see more of. Details here and here .

Miracle Monocle This magazine is associated with the University of Louisville. “For creative nonfiction, please submit one piece of 500-10,000 words. We’re looking for essays with aspects of personal narrative, reporting, and the lyric; we’re also interested in flash. Please do not send excerpts of longer works unless the piece can stand alone.” They also publish fiction, hybrid, poetry, art, and have an award for young Black writers , which pays $200 – for this award, writers must be 25 years old or younger and identify as Black. The deadline is 31 January 2023, or until a submission cap is reached. Details here .

Round Table Literary Journal Their website says, this is “an award-winning, historic print literary journal now in our fifty-sixth year of existence. We publish literary fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art once a year.” They are associated with Hopkinsville Community College. The deadline is 15 February 2023. Payment is contributor copies. Details here and here .

The Sunlight Press They publish personal essays (750-1,000 words), artists on craft series (up to 1,000 words), fiction, poetry, reviews, and photos. They pay $15-40. Details here .

Terrain.org This is a magazine that focuses on place, climate, and justice. They publish nonfiction (up to 5,000 words), fiction, poetry, and pay a minimum of $50. Submissions by marginalized creators are considered for an annual prize of $500. The deadline is 30 April 2023. Details here .

Motherwell This is a parenting magazine, and they take personal essays on parenting, as well as work on other themes and genres. For personal essays, “We are looking for evocative first-person narratives that have a unique focus, or take a novel angle, on a slice of the parenting experience. We are open to a range of styles and tones: the only requirement is that the essay works on its own terms—be it lyrical, humorous, research-oriented, etc—and conveys something fundamental about its writer. Up to 1,200 words.“ Some of the work they publish is paid, and some is unpaid (see guidelines). Details here . Masque & Spectacle They publish nonfiction essays, literary analysis pieces, and personal essay/memoirs of up to 7,500 words. They also accept fiction, poetry, drama, reviews, art, audio, and video submissions. The deadline is 31 January 2023. Details here .

The Sun This venerable magazine charges for online submissions via Submittable, but not for submissions by post, of essays, fiction, and poetry. Online submission of photos is not charged. Payment for regular essays starts at $300. And online submissions for themed short nonfiction pieces for the Readers Write section are fee-free – their upcoming themes are Idols , due 1 February, and Privacy , due 1 March 2023; payment for Readers Write is magazine subscription. Details here and here .

Bio:  S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached  here .

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IN CONVERSATION

Lauren oyler wishes you’d fact-check your reviews, by steven phillips-horst, april 9, 2024.

Lauren Oyler, photographed by Carleen Coulter.

I first discovered Lauren Oyler , as many did, when I read her scathing review of Jia Tolentino’s essay collection Trick Mirror in LRB. Tolentino was a writer I felt got too much credit for making facile observations, and I whispered as much to other writers I knew. That Oyler had the temerity to slaughter a sacred cow was a sign she was in the trenches with the rest of us. The people’s critic now has her own essay collection, No Judgment , a flirtatious meditation on criticism itself. Covering material relevant to tri-coastal freelancers (Gawker, autofiction, speaking English in Berlin), it reads like a vape-smoke filled teacher’s lounge for writers, with its meta-references to being a book (the final chapter is titled “TK KICKER”—editor parlance for “poignant little ending pending.”) If you, as I do, endeavor for others to read your occasional essays and come away thinking “wow, what a hilarious genius!” then you will appreciate the intimacy on hand. To mark the occasion, Oyler spoke with me from her parents’ home in West Virginia, where we discussed forbidden words, bad reviews, and trolling your audience. 

LAUREN OYLER: Hi, nice to meet you.

STEVEN PHILLIPS-HORST: Very nice to meet you.

OYLER: I’m in West Virginia, so this is the trash room. That’s why there’s trash behind me.

PHILLIPS-HORST: I was imagining something really authentically West Virginia, with squirrels running in the background and dad on the porch with the shotgun.

OYLER: No. I find people ask me about West Virginia very rarely, and when they do I’m like, “Oh, it sucks and it’s been ruined by corporate greed and politicians.” It’s not particularly beautiful where I live. You say that and people from West Virginia and rural America get mad at you because they’re like, “You don’t know what it’s like.” And I’m like, “I do know what it’s like, and that’s why I don’t live there.” They’ll never vote for better healthcare because they don’t want to admit that the healthcare they have is destroying their lives and terrible or anything like that. 

PHILLIPS-HORST: They don’t see the exurban, sad, dissociative wasteland around them, the 12-lane highway they have to cross to get to the Starbucks.

OYLER: Yeah. And I mean, they haven’t been anywhere else, and that’s also the failure of the American government.

PHILLIPS-HORST: Well, now that we’ve been sufficiently coastal elitist and established our point of view, we can get into discussing this book. First of all, congratulations on your book.

OYLER: Thank you.

PHILLIPS-HORST: It’s really impressive. As Heidi Montag once said, “Congratulations to anyone who has ever written a book.” Now, you’ve written two.

OYLER: If I can do it, anybody can do it. I’m from West Virginia.

PHILLIPS-HORST: When you first announced it, I remember you were like, “All the essays haven’t been published anywhere else first.” Often, when you come out with a book of essays, some of these works have previously been published in The New Yorker , et cetera.

OYLER: That was always my intention. Basically, I had three or four essays that I wanted to do for magazines, but then I got tired of writing for magazines. I especially didn’t want to write these essays for magazines because of those constraints that magazines often put on you.

PHILLIPS-HORST: They’re like, “It’s not newsy enough.” 

OYLER: Or they cut all the jokes, first things first.

PHILLIPS-HORST: Editors love to make a piece worse. No offense.

OYLER: I wanted to write these long, digressive pieces, and some of them are quite theoretical. With the anxiety essay, I was like, “No magazine is going to let me do a 4,000-word list of symptoms before I get to the point.” Right? I didn’t want my second book to be mostly pieces about other people’s writing, particularly because I am, for better or worse, so well-known for those negative book reviews. And personally, I sympathize with the consumer, and I am not going to buy a book that contains mostly material that I can read online for free. So that’s the rationale.

PHILLIPS-HORST: So, this is a book of criticism but it’s also about criticism. I assume that you’re reading the reviews.

OYLER: Mm-hmm.

PHILLIPS-HORST: There’s been some raves, there’s been some not raves. You’re sparking conversation. This is an aggressive question…

OYLER: I’m an aggressive person.

PHILLIPS-HORST: Do the not-raves make you question your entire previous career of writing not-raves?

PHILLIPS-HORST: You didn’t have a Seth Rogen moment like, “Wait a minute, I am vulnerable, I’m just a human. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken this person down”?

OYLER: No. When I write book reviews, I try to read the book as generously as I can and really engage with it. I also have a background in journalism, so I’m somewhat neurotic about getting things right. Some critics do not care so much about that, and that’s perfectly fine. But I fact-check my book reviews.

PHILLIPS-HORST: I do think criticism can be right or wrong. 

OYLER: Yeah, of course.

PHILLIPS-HORST: I mean, most elements of it can be. You can say, “This point they made feels wrong because they didn’t marshal sufficient evidence to support it” or “This particular turn of phrase is cliche.” Those can be true things that are somewhat unassailable.

OYLER: Also, if you cannot engage with my book in the actual arguments and substance of it in order to say something bad about it, why would I question what I’ve done? I think in general, I want to anticipate the flaws in my writing, and that’s what any serious writer should do if you want to try and get better.

PHILLIPS-HORST: I have a dream of writing a book of essays where one of the essays is a review of the book and one of the essays is a pan of the book and really emulate the style of a bitchy critic and a fawning critic. You have to own the story, you know?

OYLER: Yeah, you’ve got to own it. There’s so much in the book that’s about what we expect of public figures, what is a public figure, what are the ethics of gossip, what are the ethics of criticism, and in the context of social media? And I do try to walk the walk, which is to say, “If I want people to pay attention to me, then I have to accept the unfortunate drawbacks of that situation.”

PHILLIPS-HORST: You have to put on your gloves and get in the ring.

OYLER: There’s one paragraph in the book, it’s the only intentionally provocative paragraph I’ve ever written. 

PHILLIPS-HORST: I think I know what paragraph you’re talking about.

OYLER: Literally the headline is “Elitism.” And that’s why I’m going like, “Listen to all this elitist stuff that I do.” And it’s really interesting to see who falls for that, because I thought we knew what trolling was and had sort of moved past this irony vs. sincerity conversation.

PHILLIPS-HORST: I’m so into that, because I actually wrote, “I thought the Goodreads chapter felt like bait.” You basically paint this picture of a community of plebe reviewers drunk with power, ready to cancel anything that has a whiff of politics they disagree with. And then after you’ve set up this horde of unwashed masses, these keyboard warriors who are complete idiots, you have a whole section where you’re like, “Oh, and I’m a total elitist.” It’s so funny to see the real pans of your book all glob onto that paragraph. “She admitted it! She said it!”

OYLER: It’s also just funny to trick people into embarrassing themselves. Maybe some of them watch more TV than others, but we all more or less went to Ivy League schools, so it’s not exactly a scandal. But I do think it has something to do with my tone, which I have thought a lot about and will not be changing. There’s this ironic voice that I use sometimes that allows me to say, “Isn’t it funny I went to an Ivy League school?” And I think that’s disarming, because you’re not actually supposed to say that, right?

PHILLIPS-HORST: You’re supposed to be ashamed or embarrassed.

OYLER: Yeah, you’re supposed to be ashamed. In general, writers are supposed to be ashamed of themselves. I can’t think of another medium or art form where the practitioner is supposed to pretend like they didn’t mean it. Like, “Oh, I just accidentally wrote this book. I had to write it, it was in my soul. It just poured out of me.” Can you imagine a director or a painter being like, “Oh, I hate painting actually, I’m so sorry. I pale in comparison to Helen Frankenthaler.”

PHILLIPS-HORST: Maybe athletes do that sometimes. Female athletes will be like, “Oh, I don’t know… I just do this really well because that’s how I learned it.”

OYLER: Not to bang on about David Foster Wallace over and over, but his great essay on Tracy Austin, the tennis player, and the Dumb Athlete Memoir is pretty useful here.

PHILLIPS-HORST: Okay, wait, I need to read that.

OYLER: It’s good. It’s really short too.

PHILLIPS-HORST: I’ve read all the Dumb Athlete Memoirs. The postgame interview is one of the most inane humiliations in American life.

OYLER: You should definitely read it. It’s called “How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart.”

PHILLIPS-HORST: I remember getting so much pushback from this piece I wrote about all these dumb self-help books. And one of them was Brené Brown, so I loved your essay that includes her, because she’s so fucking annoying, and she’s such a scam artist and an idiot, and her books are insufferable.

OYLER: What’s amazing to me about that is the trickle-down effect. I kept noticing people talk about vulnerability all the time. And then you go to the source and you’re like, “Oh, all of these New Yorker writers are basically citing this self-help scammer.” They’re writing these book reviews about Magic Mike’s like, “vulnerable working-class body.” You know what I mean?

PHILLIPS-HORST: The insistence on collapsing language at every turn. I love the line when you were like, “As the queer spaces like to say, radical softness is a boundless form in the distance.” I saw a sign at a coffee shop recently that was, “Tattoos as communal care.”

OYLER: Or it’s like, “Going to the rave and doing a bunch of drugs is actually a radical political act.” I think that’s just residue from our previous political era where everything had to be political or you had to do it in secret. It just seemed like we’re getting out of that.

PHILLIPS-HORST: I don’t know. I think the 2008 election was permanent.

OYLER: It’s a good argument. I think you should write that.

PHILLIPS-HORST: I just think that Hillary versus Obama calcified everyone into these camps where everything could be either new or old or right or wrong. It was also the beginning of obsessively turning politics into Marvel lore. There basically hasn’t been a week off since the Hillary-Obama fight.

OYLER: Yeah, but I do feel like the rapidly changing and deteriorating digital media ecosystem is producing something like a local media culture, which is not to say there are local papers, because there aren’t. I only noticed this because I’m doing publicity, and now so much of it, as opposed to when I published my novel three years ago, is newsletters. And there are lots of problems with that, but I certainly am less concerned with someone trying to ruin my life on Twitter if there’s a bunch of anonymous Reddit guys trying to attack me. Actually, a lot of anonymous guys from Reddit read that Washington Post review, based on the people who wrote about me on Twitter afterwards. It doesn’t really matter, but it doesn’t feel like your life is ruined anymore, which is nice.

PHILLIPS-HORST: I no longer have the fear. When I wrote this column regularly for Interview and The New Yorker , I was always brushing up against the radically online queer community and sometimes was on the verge of cancellation. It really did stress me out to just suddenly be getting a million quote tweets from people. But that era does seem to be over, and Twitter is basically dead.

OYLER: I always liked your writing, because you are unrepentant about making the kind of jokes that you’re going to make and you’re quite confident that it’s not harming anybody.

PHILLIPS-HORST: Thank you.

OYLER: In dark times, I was like, “At least they’re still doing Talk Hole .”

PHILLIPS-HORST: Hopefully we’re no longer the salve that society needs.

OYLER: No, I hope not.

PHILLIPS-HORST: This brings me to the question of plausible deniability. Is that a theme in your book at all? I certainly feel like it’s a theme in my writing, where I’m often carefully trying to make a joke that could appeal to a broader audience and could potentially be read by someone over here, but also by someone over there, as funny. It’s often on a woke-versus-anti-woke spectrum of someone being like, “Oh, you could be making fun of progressive politics, or you could be making fun of the limitations of language and how it prevents politics from being progressive.”

OYLER: Yeah, of course. That’s why the idea that we shouldn’t be using irony is ridiculous, because it allows you to express this ambiguity. Everyone wants there to be a judgment, everyone wants you to be like, “Is it bad or good? Are you pro or against?” And it’s very limiting if you’re any kind of writer, but particularly if you are a funny writer.

PHILLIPS-HORST: This came up when I was thinking about you in Berlin. When people ask you what you do, what do you say?

OYLER: I flip my hair and I say, “I’m the preeminent and most widely read critic of my generation.” And they’re like, “Really?” And I’m like, “Yeah, according to The Sunday Times UK .”

PHILLIPS-HORST: Would you say that to an Uber driver?

OYLER: No, I say I’m a writer. I mean, I can read the room. It depends on the context. If an Uber driver’s like, “What do you do?” I say, “Oh, I’m a writer.”

PHILLIPS-HORST: Then they say, “Oh, what do you write?” And you say?

OYLER: It depends. I say, “I wrote a novel,” and people know what that is. It’s just so much easier to say than, “I write cultural criticism.” What do you say?

PHILLIPS-HORST: Well, I really switch it up. I often will just say “copywriter” because I feel like that’s the most noble and normal job. And then they might be impressed if I’m like, “Oh, I do advertising for brands, I don’t know, Botox, Hilton.” They’re like, “Oh my goodness.” But it’s humiliating to say, “I’m a writer-comedian and I have a podcast.”

OYLER: They don’t care. But that’s why I have my little bit, you know what I mean? Also, I can do it because I’m a woman.

PHILLIPS-HORST: Well, I’m a gay guy, which is the same thing.

OYLER: You can also do it.

PHILLIPS-HORST: Do you use a thesaurus regularly?

OYLER: Regularly, when I’m writing, I’ll star a word when I want to use a different word and I’ll go back to it. And then sometimes I’m like, “I actually don’t need to find another word.” The best thesaurus is Roget’s International Thesaurus. And the concept of this thesaurus is wonderful. They have an online version that sucks, so you have to have the actual thesaurus. And it’s humongous. Basically, you look up a word, and it has a number, and then you go to the number and the words are grouped. The system is that the words are grouped by senses and meanings. So if you’re looking up a synonym for “windy,” you go there and you see all the synonyms for windy, and then it’s in the weather section, and then it’s in the atmosphere section. So you can do all sorts of fun stuff.

PHILLIPS-HORST: So it helps you go sideways a little bit?

OYLER: Yeah. Obviously, the classic writing class thing is don’t use the thesaurus too much, but—

PHILLIPS-HORST: Well, it’s obvious if it’s a pile of Disney adjectives.

OYLER: Yeah, I obviously don’t do that, but I think if I’m using a weird vocabulary, it comes naturally to me because I have a weird relationship to the English language because I’m from West Virginia and I didn’t read a real book until I was 18. Then I went to Yale and then I moved to Europe, where I was around all these people speaking either British English or English as a second language.

PHILLIPS-HORST: Do you think of certain words as being your words?

OYLER: You have a word of the moment, and then you’re like, “Oh, I’m saying that word all the time, I’ve got to stop using that.” Actually, when I was copying the book, I did keep a list to make sure there’s not too many instances of certain words in the book, “annoying” being one. Let’s see if I can find this.

PHILLIPS-HORST: I’ll wait.

OYLER: Okay, here’s the list: “actually, really, desperate, vaguely, fairly, pretty, pretty much, more or less, in part, relatively, proliferation, or proliferate, broadly, interesting, tedious, general, generally, elusive, demonstrate, elaborate, regardless, nevertheless, horrible, terrible, indeed, necessarily, elaborate, not elaborate, but elaborate, volatile, ostensibly, weird, stupid, perhaps, it’s tempting, in fact, doesn’t matter, vast majority, under threat, perceive, toward or towards, afterwards, afterward, onwards, initiate, unique, still, simply, straightforward, transform, fervour/fervor, operate, situation, incredibly, sense, shocking, righteous, ameliorate, of course, this is why, mostly, deal with, suggests, torturous, deep down, concomitant, same, agitate, suffering, and ruthless.”

PHILLIPS-HORST: Honestly, you did a great job not overusing those words.

OYLER: Thanks.

PHILLIPS-HORST: They’re words that people use a lot, and often all in the same way, way too much.

OYLER: Yeah, exactly.

PHILLIPS-HORST: I love this part where you’re talking about the Ben Lerner novel [ Leaving the Atocha Station ] and there’s the American guy who’s involved with the Spaniard and, because of the language barrier, they end up projecting all this meaning onto each other.There’s something so beautiful, and I think it especially happens with a lover who doesn’t speak your language, or where you’re fumbling in a foreign country, where you end up in a world of understanding that’s post-language. You create some sort of extra-linguistic experience that’s out here in the ether.

OYLER: Yeah, you have to come up with different ways to communicate. Part of the question is, “Can I be in love with Berlin if I am not fluent in German?” And I obviously feel very strongly about Berlin. I love living in Berlin, even though it has this tedious—if I may use one of my words—reputation for expats not authentically engaging with it or whatever. But my argument is that it is authentically what Berlin is and always has been, which is not German. I don’t want to live in Germany, I want to live in Berlin. It’s not diverse like New York, but Berlin is a very cosmopolitan city. I’m friends with lots of Americans and British people and Australians, but also friends with Italians, friends with people from all over who are operating in English. I would say the great love that is represented for me in this book is Berlin in English. It’s a great joy to be able to hear your language used by non-native speakers, but in an incredibly fluent, competent way, because they use the language in ways that you could just never dream of.

PHILLIPS-HORST: It’s very endearing. It helps you see the world through the eyes of a child again, and you realize how beautiful words can be. I think about this all the time with French songwriters. Songwriting can be so embarrassing and so literal, and they find a way to make something just a little bit to the side of literal.

OYLER: Yeah. Or remember that Eurotrash TikTok thing that was really popular like, last summer or whatever? And that joke, those lyrics—that’s also sublime.

PHILLIPS-HORST: Okay, this isn’t even really a question, but I will say that as I was reading the autofiction essay, I was disagreeing with you for a lot of it. I was like, “No, autofiction is the coward’s way out. You’re not brave enough to write non-fiction and be fact-checked and stand by your own opinions and put your own beliefs out there and expose your true thoughts to the world, but you’re also not imaginative enough to write actual fiction. So you’re just going to take these ideas and pass them off as fiction and absolve yourself of responsibility.” And then at the end, you so cleverly, slyly… I mean, revealing the title of an essay later on in the essay is always a great trick to give people this aha-moment… but I was just like, “Oh my God, she’s right.”

OYLER: Thank you. I think autofiction gets this bad rap that you’re talking about because the lives that the writers are reflecting are often not that interesting. I mean, some of the books are great. I love the Spindler books, I love Sheila Heti’s books as well. And the bad rap comes from people saying that Sheila Heti is self-obsessed, and all these lesser autofiction figures, their lives aren’t very exciting. But let’s say I have a very exciting life and I need to write about something that happened to me, but it involves some other people.

PHILLIPS-HORST: You need to write about something that happened to you.

OYLER: But I am very afraid of getting sued. We were talking about fact-checking earlier. When I do my journalism for Harper’s , I am incredibly facetious about getting notes and fact-checking. And they contacted those two boyfriends to fact-check with them. But let’s say I’m writing a social novel about a certain scene involving lots of inspiration from real people. You don’t live in a vacuum. It’s not just your life, there are other people involved, and they might disagree with you and they might not cooperate, or they might even sue you. For all of these reasons, I think it’s good to do autofiction. But from a more artistic perspective, you don’t. 

PHILLIPS-HORST: Not just a cover-your-own-ass perspective…

OYLER: It’s not just a cover-your-own-ass perspective, but you want to be able to be a little flexible. I like writing that kind of weird reportage stuff. But if you want to get into other people’s motivations, which I do, it’s quite hard to project onto people in non-fiction while still being ethical, whereas that’s the whole job of a novelist. I’m sorry, I’m getting all riled up about autofiction.

PHILLIPS-HORST: Well, maybe that’s the next book. Vacation’s over.

OYLER: Yeah. I have two weeks, then I’ll buy my Helen Frankenthaler.

PHILLIPS-HORST: Well, I guess we have to go. This was an absolute joy.

OYLER: This was great.

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