Founded in 2004, Bat City Review is a literary journal and community devoted to supporting emerging and established writers and artists.

Dedicated to diversity of form, thought, and voice we publish poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art crafted with passion and precision—work that expands our imaginations and complicates our conversations; work willing to take risks, surprise, experiment, and play. 

Collaboratively edited by MFA candidates from the New Writers Project, Michener Center for Writers, and Studio Art; Bat City Review is generously supported by the University of Texas at Austin’s English Department and James A. Michener Center for Writers.

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Basically what it says in the title. Our top most bookmarked fee-free lit mags that nominate for the Pushcart Prize.

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Bat City Review

Upload general fiction submissions here!
 Do not include any identifying information on your submission. 
 Please number your pages, and include a word count at the top of the first page. 
 Limit 6,000 words.
 Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know immediately if a piece is accepted elsewhere. 
 Submit only once per genre per reading period. 
 Students and faculty at the University of Texas at Austin cannot submit. If we have published your work, please wait a full issue cycle before submitting again (2 years).
 If you have additional questions, please contact our fiction editor at fiction@batcityreview.com.
 We look forward to reading your work!

Fiction

Upload general poetry submissions here. 
Please no more than 5 poems as a single submission. 
Please submit only once per reading period. 
Do not include any identifying information on your submission file. 
.doc and .docx files strongly preferred!
Simultaneous submissions are fine, but do let us know immediately if a piece is accepted elsewhere. 
If you wish to withdraw only a particular piece from a submission of multiple poems, please add a note to your submission via Submittable.
Students and faculty at the University of Texas at Austin cannot submit. If we have published your work, please wait a full issue cycle before submitting again (2 years).
If you have any additional questions, please contact our poetry editor at poetry@batcityreview.com.
We look forward to reading your work!

Poetry

Upload creative nonfiction submissions here!
Do not include any identifying information on your submission. 
Do include a word count at the top of the first page, and please keep submissions under 5,000 words. 
Submit only once per genre per reading period. 
Simultaneous submissions encouraged, though we ask that you withdraw your piece should it be accepted elsewhere.
Students and faculty at the University of Texas at Austin cannot submit. If we have published your work, please wait a full issue cycle before submitting again (2 years).
If you have additional questions, please contact our nonfiction editor at nonfiction@batcityreview.com.
We look forward to reading your work!

CNF, Review, Interview

Come one, come all! For Bat City Review’s upcoming issue, our theme is Bread & Circuses. We’re looking for work that entertains, that gives us something to chew on, that makes us hungry for more.
Coined by the first-century poet Juvenal to describe the pacification of the Roman populace, panem et circenses has re-emerged as a contemporary diagnosis of our times. We want prose, poetry, and art about extravagance and empire, consumption and distraction, pleasure and pageantry. Give us the surreal, the real, the superficial. What are we being fed, and who gets to decide? What do we need and what are we given instead?
Bring us the feast. Bring us the spectacle. Bring us what’s hiding underneath.
Note: This theme a prompt and not a prescription. If your work has another appetite, we’d still love to see it!
Please upload visual art submissions here.
We are receptive to art submissions of all kinds, inclusive of drawing, painting, photography, digital works, and documentation of sculpture and performance. We welcome anything that can be represented well in our print publication or on our website.
Editors may elect to publish accepted visual submissions either online or in our print issue, or both.
Accepted file formats include: pdf, doc, docx, jpg, jpeg, mp4, tif, tiff, png, mov, avi.
If the file type you need is not available, please contact the Art Editor for assistance, or upload a .jpg photo or .pdf with a SAMPLE OF THE WORK. Specify the nature of the submission in your cover letter. The editors will review your sample and contact you if they wish to see more.
If you have further questions, contact our art editor at art@batcityreview.com
Students and faculty at the University of Texas at Austin cannot submit. If we have published your work, please wait a full issue cycle before submitting again (2 years).

Bat City Review

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