Boston University

A literary magazine named after the Vedic fire-god. Transformative. The writer in witness, the imagination in combustion.

AGNI is a literary magazine housed at Boston University and known “among readers around the world,” as the writers group PEN put it, “for publishing important new writers early in their careers, many of them translated into English for the first time.”


Prestigious publications that strengthen your literary credentials, signaling serious accomplishment and catching attention from editors and agents.

Impressive Bylines for Your Literary Bio

We asked literary agents which magazines they actually read. They answered with this list of publications—not comprehensive, but damn close.

Lit Mags Agents Love (We Asked)

Navel-gazing highly encouraged. These mags are actively seeking personal essays & narrative nonfiction.

Lit Mags That Love Personal Essays

Publications with stories in this respected annual flash fiction showcase. Perhaps the most prestigious flash-specific recognition.

Lit Mags in Wigleaf's Top 50

These lit mags are some of the titans and mainstays of the lit mag landscape. They've won tons of awards, published tons of people who have gone on to win tons of awards, etc.

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Are there agents that rep poets? Of course there are! While your writing matters most, certain publications are shinier than others and help widen that toe-in-the-door space—like the ones below.

Poetry Magazines That Will Make Agents Notice You

These magazines are well-established, very reputable, and they want you to hit 'em with your best shot.

Prestige Mags That Want Your Beautifully Unhinged Life Story

The mags in this list are competitive and publish physical print editions, so you get the satisfaction of seeing your work in print: pocket-sized, book-like, tangible. Way cooler than you'd expect.

Reputable Lit Mags with Print Issues

Ultra-competitive magazines with one to two percent acceptance rates. They are competitive. They are choosy. But who doesn't love a challenge?

The 1% Club (Good Fuckin' Luck)

The top nonfiction lit mags in our database, ranked by how many users have bookmarked them.

The Ultimate List of Places to Submit Your Nonfiction

Digital publications chosen for Best of the Net. These journals demonstrate consistent excellence in identifying digital fiction that deserves wider recognition and readership.

Fiction Magazines Featured in Best of the Net Anthologies

Story-focused publications with works chosen for Pushcart Prize anthologies. Less than 5% of nominated fiction typically makes the anthology.

Fiction Magazines Featured in Pushcart Prize Anthologies

Online publications putting forward exceptional short stories for Best of the Net.

Fiction Magazines That Nominate for Best of the Net

Digital publications advancing very short fiction for Best of the Net consideration.

Flash Fiction Magazines That Nominate for Best of the Net

Publications with nonfiction in BAE, the premier American essay anthology. These journals consistently publish thought-provoking, beautifully crafted nonfiction defining contemporary essay excellence.

Lit Mags Featured in Best American Essay Anthologies

Publications with verse selected for America's foremost poetry anthology. These journals consistently publish poetry representing the most significant contemporary verse across styles and approaches.

Lit Mags Featured in Best American Poetry Anthologies

Publications with stories in America's most visible short fiction. These journals consistently publish fiction that represents the highest levels of contemporary American short storytelling.

Lit Mags Featured in Best American Short Story Anthologies

Digital publications with work selected for inclusion across genres. These journals consistently publish online work of exceptional quality that stands out in the digital literary landscape.

Lit Mags Featured in Best of the Net Anthologies

Publications with stories selected for America's oldest prestigious short fiction award, established in 1919. Editorial committee selections only.

Lit Mags Featured in O'Henry Award Anthologies

Publications with pieces chosen for Pushcart Prize anthologies. Recognition of exceptional quality across poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.

Lit Mags Featured in Pushcart Prize Anthologies

Journals that forward outstanding nonfiction to this respected anthology series founded in 1986. These publications identify exceptional essays that might reach the broader readership BAE provides.

Literary Magazines That Nominate for Best American Essays

Identifies publications that put forward outstanding online work for this respected digital anthology established in 2006.

Literary Magazines That Nominate for Best of the Net

BASS represents the most mainstream recognition for short fiction in America. These journals serve as the initial screening layer for potential inclusion in this widely-read collection.

Literary Mags That Nominate for Best American Short Stories

All-time most competitive literary magazines. Getting published in these is a significant achievement for any writer.

Most Competitive Literary Magazines of All Time

Uncover the most competitive literary magazines this year. These are the publications where getting published is a significant achievement for any writer.

Most Competitive Literary Magazines This Year

Explore the most popular literary magazines of all time. These long-established publications are a staple in the literary world for writers of all genres.

Most Popular Literary Magazines of All Time

Digital publications chosen for Best of the Net. These journals consistently publish digital essays and memoirs that exemplify the best of what's possible in online creative nonfiction.

Nonfiction Magazines Featured in Best of the Net Anthologies

Essay-focused publications with works selected for Pushcart Prize anthologies. These journals have repeatedly identified nonfiction that resonates with Pushcart editors and readers.

Nonfiction Magazines Featured in Pushcart Prize Anthologies

Digital publications nominating outstanding essays and creative nonfiction for Best of the Net.

Nonfiction Magazines That Nominate for Best of the Net

Verse-centered publications with poems chosen for Pushcart Prize anthologies. These journals have consistently identified poems that stand out in this intensely competitive field.

Poetry Magazines Featured in Pushcart Prize Anthologies

Online journals that specifically champion poetry for Best of the Net consideration.

Poetry Magazines That Nominate for Best of the Net

Digital publications with poems chosen for Best of the Net. These journals consistently identify exceptional verse that represents the highest quality of poetry published online.

Poetry Mags Featured in Best of the Net Anthologies

AGNI

Please limit your submission to no more than five poems, and please submit only once during our September-to-May reading period.
Poetry submissions must be uploaded in a single document.
Please do not submit revisions of work we’ve already considered.
We're interested in free verse, blank verse, visual poetry, prose poems, shaped or concrete poems, and formal or structured poetry.
We have no word-count limits, though space is at a premium and length sometimes affects our decisions.
Formatting notes: Please add page numbers.

Poetry Submissions

Please limit your submission to one nonfiction piece, and please submit only once during our September-to-May reading period. (If you are sending flash nonfiction pieces of less than 1,000 words each, we welcome up to three in a single file.)
Please do not submit revisions of work we’ve already considered.
We do not publish academic essays or purely journalistic writing. We are interested in essays, think-pieces, and memoir.
We will consider excerpts if they read as if they were meant to stand alone.
We have no word-count limits, though space is at a premium and length sometimes affects our decisions.
Formatting notes: Please double-space, use 12-point font, and add page numbers.

Essay / Nonfiction

Please send only one review or review pitch.  You are welcome to submit a review even if you have work under consideration in another genre.
Please do not submit revisions of work we’ve already considered
We do not publish academic essays or purely journalistic writing.
Formatting notes: Please double-space, use 12-point font, and add page numbers.

Review

Please send only one conversation or interview.  You are welcome to submit an interview even if you have work under consideration in another genre.
Please do not submit revisions of work we’ve already considered.
Formatting notes: Please double-space, use 12-point font, and add page numbers.

Conversation

Please limit your submission to one story, and please submit only once during our September-to-May reading period. (If you are sending flash fictions of less than 1,000 words each, we welcome up to three in a single file.)
Please do not submit revisions of work we’ve already considered.
We do not publish genre romance, horror, mystery, or science fiction; however, we are open to writing that borrows elements from any of these.
We will consider excerpts if they read as if they were meant to stand alone.
We have no word-count limits, though space is at a premium and length sometimes affects our decisions.
Formatting notes: Please double-space, use 12-point font, and add page numbers.

Flash Fiction

Please send only one hybrid piece, and please submit only once during our September-to-May reading period.
Please do not submit revisions of work we’ve already considered.
We do not publish genre romance, horror, mystery, or science fiction; however, we are open to writing that borrows elements from any of these.
We do not publish academic essays or purely journalistic writing.
We will consider excerpts if they read as if they were meant to stand alone.
We have no word-count limits, though space is at a premium and length sometimes affects our decisions.
Formatting notes: Please double-space, use 12-point font, and add page numbers. However, please do NOT double-space any lineated verse contained in the piece.

Genre-bender

AGNI features a single artist in each print issue, with the cover and an eight-page glossy insert.

In your submission of visual art, feel free to upload as many as six files (up to 4MB each), whether image files, PDFs, or Word docs. You are welcome to submit art even if you have writing under consideration with us.
Please do not submit work we’ve already considered in another form.

AGNI has a history of assembling portfolios that bring attention to rich, often underappreciated categories of writing. Senior editor Shuchi Saraswat and guest editors Ru Freeman and Preti Taneja are coediting the latest of these—Proximity: An AGNI Portfolio of Writing and Art by Women of Color.

This portfolio gathers women writers and artists of color from around the world who are committed to using their voices, through written or visual art, to excavate and interrogate our connections within the systems of power that affect us all, both globally and at home.

Proximity might be defined as geographic, political, linguistic, historical, embodied, environmental, generational, intimate. What do we risk and what do we yearn for when we engage with oppression and injustice through our art? How do we support—and challenge—each other toward liberation?

The editors seek fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art that is fearless and unapologetic and inspires us to center a radical new canon. We welcome works in translation, with a preference for translators who also identify as women of color.

This portfolio gathers women writers and artists of color from around the world who are committed to using their voices, through written or visual art, to excavate and interrogate our connections within the systems of power that affect us all, both globally and at home.

Proximity Portfolio (Writing)

AGNI has a history of assembling portfolios that bring attention to rich, often underappreciated categories of writing. Senior editor Shuchi Saraswat and guest editors Ru Freeman and Preti Taneja are coediting the latest of these—Proximity: An AGNI Portfolio of Writing and Art by Women of Color.

This portfolio gathers women writers and artists of color from around the world who are committed to using their voices, through written or visual art, to excavate and interrogate our connections within the systems of power that affect us all, both globally and at home.

Proximity might be defined as geographic, political, linguistic, historical, embodied, environmental, generational, intimate. What do we risk and what do we yearn for when we engage with oppression and injustice through our art? How do we support—and challenge—each other toward liberation?

AGNI

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