Asymptote Journal

Translations

Hitherto unpublished translated poetry, fiction, nonfiction and drama.

Fiction

Max words: 5000

You may include one or more works of short fiction or excerpts of a longer work translated into English, but please send no more than 5,000 words by only one author in total.

Nonfiction

Max words: 5000

Literary Nonfiction. This includes genres such as memoir, despatch (reportage), travelogue and the occasional essay. Nonfiction submissions must be work translated into English, except for essays about translation, which may be written in English. To get a stronger sense of what we are looking for, go through the past articles that we have published. Send no more than 5,000 words in total. For our regular Special Feature, we invite essays from readers, critics, translators engaging with and problematizing the very concept of “world literature.”

Play

You may send a one-act play or an excerpt from a full-length play, in either case not exceeding 20 pages, translated into English. For full-length plays, send a brief synopsis first.

Poetry

Please send up to 10 pages of poetry translated into English. If the originals are included in the submission, the length of the entire document may reach 20 pages (that is, a maximum of 10 pages of translated work accompanied by 10 pages of original material).

Review

Max words: 3500

We publish reviews of (usually recently published or forthcoming) titles translated into English.

Interview

We welcome interview pitches. We ask that the interview be primarily about translation, or about the intersection of the issue of language and some other domain. Interviews must be in English or, if the original has been conducted in a foreign language, rendered afterwards into English.

Art

Please inquire first, providing a URL to your portfolio website. Illustrators (including photographers) are encouraged to try for our guest artist positions by submitting a cover.

Photography

See "Art".

Audio

Optional. An MP3 recording of a reading of the original non-English-language text (for poems and shorter pieces) or an excerpt of the original text (for longer creative work)—we usually ask for this only after acceptance is confirmed.