Submissions

Quarterly West will open for regular submissions of poetry and prose starting March 15th. To ensure that every submission receives the time and attention it deserves, prose submissions will remain open until we hit a cap of 500 submissions; poetry submissions will remain open until we hit a cap of 600 submissions.

Because we will be capping submissions, please do not submit more than one entry per genre at a time—additional submissions will be declined unread.

Our contests in poetry and prose open on October 1st. Our prose contest will remain open until we hit a cap of 500 submissions; our poetry contest will remain open for submission through November 1st. We are open to submissions of new media, translations, and book reviews year round.

We open regularly for Special Features. Keep us in mind for upcoming features on Extreme Environments and Time Machines.

We will open to chapbook submissions in summer and poetry and prose contest submissions in the fall.

QW is looking for writing that is: Exciting. Challenging. Risky. Unpredictable. And Different.

We could say what different means, but then we might receive a slew of submissions that are all different in the same way. Different will be victim to form—to the “fragment sentence,” “non-linear plot,” and “hybrid genre.” Different will be beholden to space, time, story, and moment. This does not seem the way to open the door for Different.

We think Different doesn’t open a door, actually. Different doesn’t know doors or windows. Different stomps in. Maybe it seeps in. Sometimes, and in our favorite works, different is always already there and it strikes flint and blazes. This is what we look for.

Send us your work. Seep in. Stomp in. Strike us. Set the familiar voice on fire.

Submission Guidelines

We are happy to accept simultaneous submissions. If your work is accepted elsewhere, we request that you withdraw your manuscripts promptly through Submittable. To withdraw individual poems, please use the message system through Submittable.  

As with many endeavors in the literary arts, Quarterly West hopes to move toward a more economically sustainable model. We have implemented a modest fee for our chapbook and genre contests to help cover the costs of operation, but all other submissions (including book reviews, new media, translations, and prose and poetry general submissions) are currently fee-free.
 
Unfortunately, we are unable to return any print manuscripts sent for online publication. Any manuscripts that are sent to us, even with a SASE, will be recycled.

 
Please do not submit more than one entry per genre at a time—additional submissions will be declined unread. No previously published work will be considered.

Quarterly West acquires First North American Serial Rights for the work we publish. All rights revert back to the author upon publication. If your work is later republished, we request you note its initial publication in Quarterly West.

We ask that former contributors wait at least one year after publication before submitting new work.

Poetry and Prose Contests

This fall, Quarterly West will open for its poetry and prose contests on October 1st. The winners will each receive $500 and publication in a forthcoming issue of Quarterly West. Runners-up in poetry and prose will each receive $200, and all entries will be considered for publication.

To enter, please submit up to three poems or a prose piece (i.e., fiction, non-fiction, or any hybridization therein) through our Submittable. The first weekend of the contest (October 1st and 2nd), there will be no fee to submit. After that point, submissions for BIPOC writers will remain free, and there will be a $5 submission fee for all other writers.

Poetry Contest submissions will remain open October 1st - November 1st.

Prose Contest submissions will open October 1st until we reach a cap of 500.

Please submit no more than one entry per genre. Multiple entries will go unread.

This year, the poetry judge is Eduardo C Corral and the prose judge is Thalia Field.

Transparency Statement

We believe in transparency, and feel strongly that submitters should know how our contests work. Because of this, we have outlined our contest process below: 

First, your submission is read and voted upon—without identifying submitter information—by at least two of our trusted readers. 

After our initial reading process, senior and associate genre editors (who will have access to identifying submitter information) review every submission, paying closest attention to submissions that have received at least one preliminary upvote. 

From there, our genre editors select finalists from the submission pool; all finalists receive an offer of publication. Submissions selected by editors as finalists then get passed along to the respective genre's contest judge: Thalia Field (Prose) or Eduardo C Corral (Poetry). Then, each judge will decide—without identifying submitter information—the winner and runner-up of each respective contest.

Chapbook Contest

Every summer, Quarterly West runs an open-genre chapbook contest. Send us poetry, short-fiction, non-fiction, or any combination or hybridization therein, in an 18 - 52 pp. manuscript.

The winning writer receives $1000, publication, and 20 copies. In addition, Quarterly West usually publishes the runner-up and at least one editors’ pick. All published authors receive 20 copies of their chapbook.

The 2023 chapbook contest judge is Jess Arndt. Submissions are open from July 1 to August 15 (Deadline Extended!).

NOTE: Running behind on our normal timeline! Announcements coming this May.

We look forward to reading your manuscripts.