Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Low Residency MFA Program

Chapter House Journal promotes the ideals and vision of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Low Residency MFA Program

Chapter House Journal is an online, biannual literary magazine rooted in the ideals and vision of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Low Residency MFA Program. Formerly known as Mud City Journal, it is based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and is edited by Claire Wilcox

•	The journal is Indigenous-centered but publishes writers from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and aesthetics.
	•	Strongly encourages submissions from Native American, First Nation, and Indigenous people, as well as Black, Brown, LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, disabled, and other historically marginalized communities.
	•	Seeks to be a primary literary outlet for Indigenous and marginalized voices worldwide

Creative nonfiction

Chapter House Journal

General call

Submit 3-5 poems, not to exceed 5 pages total.

Indigenous Poetry Prize

Submit one story, or up to 3 shorter stories, of up to 5000 words.

Indigenous Fiction Prize

On April 1, 2026, NASA launched the Artemis II crew into space to conduct a flyby of Earth’s moon. During the nine-day mission, photos, videos, and audio were shared that intrigued the world, reminding us, as humans, we are only a small part of the immense history of Nihimá Nahasdzáán, Yethi’nisténha Ohóntsya, Uŋčí Makhá, alongside all our Indigenous relatives whose name for Earth is not recorded.
Photos of recent images of the moon’s surface. Videos of joy, of discovery, of creation. A shared moment of grief, a love that does not fade. This occasion served as a reminder of how colossal the galaxy is, how it truly remains a mystery.
We invite our writers to reflect on this current event, how the moon brought you joy, and what you imagine as stars glow above us. For Indigenous people, stories that can include star-beings, stories held in their formation. The moon has her own story, protecting Nihimá Nahasdzáán, producing stories, songs, and poems for centuries.
As inhabitants of Nihimá Nahasdzáán, Yethi’nisténha Ohóntsya, Uŋčí Makhá, etc., we ask contributors to envision a universal experience of warmth where, in darkness, stars appear—glitter above us hold galaxies—and in light, who has been here for millions of years long before us and will be here long after our time.
Open for submissions from May 1 through June 30.
We seek poetry that resonates through voice, form, rhythm, and image. Whether grounded in Indigenous tradition or breaking new ground, we welcome work that speaks truth, challenges boundaries, and evokes the personal, political, and spiritual. Surprise us. Move us. Reshape the silence.
We especially encourage submissions from Indigenous poets, as well as Black, Brown, queer, trans, disabled, neurodivergent, and other historically marginalized voices.
Mission Statement
Chapter House Journal is an online literary journal committed to empowering and uplifting Indigenous and marginalized stories, values, cultures, and art. We publish writers and artists from a diverse range of backgrounds, experiences, styles, and aesthetics whose work aligns with this mission. We strongly encourage submissions from Native American, First Nation, and Indigenous people, Black and Brown people, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and non-binary people, individuals with disabilities, and all members of historically marginalized communities. We welcome submissions from both emerging and published writers.
Housed within the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Low Residency MFA Program, we publish issues on a biannual basis. We accept submissions in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual art. All submissions, including solicitations, are read by our dedicated editors, comprised of IAIA MFA students and faculty advisors. Our editors also manage publication decisions, website design, and blog content.
We are committed to serving as a literary well for Indigenous and marginalized communities. We warmly invite all creators with aligned interests and passions to contribute to this powerful, dynamic, and ever-growing landscape of art and literature.
Visit our website at chjournal.com

Poetry

In conjunction with our Summer 2026 issue, Celestial Bodies: Honoring the Stars, the Moon, and Sky, Chapter House Journal invites submissions of interviews and reviews centering Indigenous writers, thinkers, and scholars.
Inspired in part by the April 1, 2026 launch of NASA’s Artemis II, we are interested in conversations and critical engagements that reflect on story, knowledge, and relationship—across land, sky, and community. These pieces will be considered for publication on our blog. If selected work aligns with our Summer issue, contributors may be contacted for feature inclusion.
What We’re Looking For

We seek interviews and reviews that are thoughtful, relational, and attentive to Indigenous knowledge systems. This includes:
Formats Accepted
Guidelines & Parameters
Submission Window

May 1 through June 30, 2026
Please include a brief cover letter introducing yourself, your relationship to the work, and any relevant context. If you are an Indigenous contributor, you are welcome to share your tribal affiliation if you wish.
Mission Statement
Chapter House Journal is an online literary journal committed to empowering and uplifting Indigenous and marginalized stories, values, cultures, and art. We publish writers and artists from a diverse range of backgrounds, experiences, styles, and aesthetics whose work aligns with this mission. We strongly encourage submissions from Native American, First Nation, and Indigenous people, Black and Brown people, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and non-binary people, individuals with disabilities, and all members of historically marginalized communities. We welcome submissions from both emerging and published writers.
Housed within the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Low Residency MFA Program, we publish issues on a biannual basis. We accept submissions in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual art. All submissions, including solicitations, are read by our dedicated editors, comprised of IAIA MFA students and faculty advisors. Our editors also manage publication decisions, website design, and blog content.
We are committed to serving as a literary well for Indigenous and marginalized communities. We warmly invite all creators with aligned interests and passions to contribute to this powerful, dynamic, and ever-growing landscape of art and literature.
Visit our website at chjournal.com

Interviews & Reviews

On April 1, 2026, NASA launched the Artemis II crew into space to conduct a flyby of Earth’s moon. During the nine-day mission, photos, videos, and audio were shared that intrigued the world, reminding us, as humans, we are only a small part of the immense history of Nihimá Nahasdzáán, Yethi’nisténha Ohóntsya, Uŋčí Makhá, alongside all our Indigenous relatives whose name for Earth is not recorded.
Photos of recent images of the moon’s surface. Videos of joy, of discovery, of creation. A shared moment of grief, a love that does not fade. This occasion served as a reminder of how colossal the galaxy is, how it truly remains a mystery.
We invite our writers to reflect on this current event, how the moon brought you joy, and what you imagine as stars glow above us. For Indigenous people, stories that can include star-beings, stories held in their formation. The moon has her own story, protecting Nihimá Nahasdzáán, producing stories, songs, and poems for centuries.
As inhabitants of Nihimá Nahasdzáán, Yethi’nisténha Ohóntsya, Uŋčí Makhá, etc., we ask contributors to envision a universal experience of warmth where, in darkness, stars appear—glitter above us hold galaxies—and in light, who has been here for millions of years long before us and will be here long after our time.
Open for submissions from May 1 through June 30.
We welcome original works of fiction that engage, challenge, and expand the boundaries of Indigenous narratives. We’re interested in character-driven narratives, experimental forms, flash fiction, and everything in between. Whether your work is grounded in realism or reaches toward the speculative, we are looking for writing that resonates, emotionally, culturally, or politically.
We encourage submissions from writers of all backgrounds, with a particular emphasis on uplifting Indigenous, Black, Brown, queer, trans, disabled, neurodivergent, and other historically marginalized voices.
Mission Statement
Chapter House Journal is an online literary journal committed to empowering and uplifting Indigenous and marginalized stories, values, cultures, and art. We publish writers and artists from a diverse range of backgrounds, experiences, styles, and aesthetics whose work aligns with this mission. We strongly encourage submissions from Native American, First Nation, and Indigenous people, Black and Brown people, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and non-binary people, individuals with disabilities, and all members of historically marginalized communities. We welcome submissions from both emerging and published writers.
Housed within the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Low Residency MFA Program, we publish issues on a biannual basis. We accept submissions in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual art. All submissions, including solicitations, are read by our dedicated editors, comprised of IAIA MFA students and faculty advisors. Our editors also manage publication decisions, website design, and blog content.
We are committed to serving as a literary well for Indigenous and marginalized communities. We warmly invite all creators with aligned interests and passions to contribute to this powerful, dynamic, and ever-growing landscape of art and literature.
Visit our website at chjournal.com

Literary Fiction

On April 1, 2026, NASA launched the Artemis II crew into space to conduct a flyby of Earth’s moon. During the nine-day mission, photos, videos, and audio were shared that intrigued the world, reminding us, as humans, we are only a small part of the immense history of Nihimá Nahasdzáán, Yethi’nisténha Ohóntsya, Uŋčí Makhá, alongside all our Indigenous relatives whose name for Earth is not recorded.
Photos of recent images of the moon’s surface. Videos of joy, of discovery, of creation. A shared moment of grief, a love that does not fade. This occasion served as a reminder of how colossal the galaxy is, how it truly remains a mystery.
We invite our writers to reflect on this current event, how the moon brought you joy, and what you imagine as stars glow above us. For Indigenous people, stories that can include star-beings, stories held in their formation. The moon has her own story, protecting Nihimá Nahasdzáán, producing stories, songs, and poems for centuries.
As inhabitants of Nihimá Nahasdzáán, Yethi’nisténha Ohóntsya, Uŋčí Makhá, etc., we ask contributors to envision a universal experience of warmth where, in darkness, stars appear—glitter above us hold galaxies—and in light, who has been here for millions of years long before us and will be here long after our time.
Open for submissions from May 1 through June 30.
We invite submissions of creative nonfiction that engage the truth with imagination, precision, and voice. We are interested in work that explores lived Indigenous experience through memory, identity, observation, and the personal in relation to the collective. Whether lyrical, braided, fragmented, or narrative, we welcome inventive forms and styles.
We are especially interested in work from Indigenous, Black, Brown, queer, trans, disabled, neurodivergent, and otherwise marginalized voices. Writers from all backgrounds are welcome to submit.
Mission Statement
Chapter House Journal is an online literary journal committed to empowering and uplifting Indigenous and marginalized stories, values, cultures, and art. We publish writers and artists from a diverse range of backgrounds, experiences, styles, and aesthetics whose work aligns with this mission. We strongly encourage submissions from Native American, First Nation, and Indigenous people, Black and Brown people, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and non-binary people, individuals with disabilities, and all members of historically marginalized communities. We welcome submissions from both emerging and published writers.
Housed within the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Low Residency MFA Program, we publish issues on a biannual basis. We accept submissions in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual art. All submissions, including solicitations, are read by our dedicated editors, comprised of IAIA MFA students and faculty advisors. Our editors also manage publication decisions, website design, and blog content.
We are committed to serving as a literary well for Indigenous and marginalized communities. We warmly invite all creators with aligned interests and passions to contribute to this powerful, dynamic, and ever-growing landscape of art and literature.
Visit our website at chjournal.com

Creative Nonfiction

On April 1, 2026, NASA launched the Artemis II crew into space to conduct a flyby of Earth’s moon. During the nine-day mission, photos, videos, and audio were shared that intrigued the world, reminding us, as humans, we are only a small part of the immense history of Nihimá Nahasdzáán, Yethi’nisténha Ohóntsya, Uŋčí Makhá, alongside all our Indigenous relatives whose name for Earth is not recorded.
Photos of recent images of the moon’s surface. Videos of joy, of discovery, of creation. A shared moment of grief, a love that does not fade. This occasion served as a reminder of how colossal the galaxy is, how it truly remains a mystery.
We invite our writers to reflect on this current event, how the moon brought you joy, what you imagine as stars glow above us. For Indigenous people, stories that can include star-beings, stories held in their formation. The moon has her own story, protecting Nihimá Nahasdzáán producing stories, songs, and poems for centuries.
As inhabitants of Nihimá Nahasdzáán, Yethi’nisténha Ohóntsya, Uŋčí Makhá, etc., we ask contributors to envision a universal experience of warmth where, in darkness, stars appear—glitter above us hold galaxies—and in light, who has been here for millions of years long before us and will be here long after our time.
This issue will prove to be special, one that commences our Inaugural Indigenous Prize for Creative Nonfiction, to be selected by our wonderful guest judge, Cynthia J. Sylvester.
As our guest judge penned in her book, The Half-White Album: “These pieces, poems and stories, are my songs that I offer to the night sky with the hope that at dawn the ancient deities will see me—see us—and remember our names.” Open for submissions from May 1 through June 30.
Submit one full-length piece or up to three shorter pieces, totaling no more than 5,000 words combined.
We encourage submissions that take risks in form, language, and perspective while remaining grounded in truth.
Authors must identify as Indigenous (including Pacific Islander and other Indigenous and Indigenous-adjacent identities).
Please include a cover letter with a brief bio, identify your tribal affiliation/indigenous ancestory and any relevant context for your work.
Double-space your manuscript and use a standard, readable font (e.g., Times New Roman, 12 pt).
All work must be previously unpublished, including on personal blogs or websites.
Simultaneous submissions are welcome; please notify us promptly if your work is accepted elsewhere.
We are especially interested in work from Indigenous, Black, Brown, queer, trans, disabled, neurodivergent, and otherwise marginalized voices. Writers from all backgrounds are welcome to submit.
Mission Statement
Chapter House Journal is an online literary journal committed to empowering and uplifting Indigenous and marginalized stories, values, cultures, and art. We publish writers and artists from a diverse range of backgrounds, experiences, styles, and aesthetics whose work aligns with this mission. We strongly encourage submissions from Native American, First Nation, and Indigenous people, Black and Brown people, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and non-binary people, individuals with disabilities, and all members of historically marginalized communities. We welcome submissions from both emerging and published writers.
Housed within the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Low Residency MFA Program, we publish issues on a biannual basis. We accept submissions in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual art. All submissions, including solicitations, are read by our dedicated editors, comprised of IAIA MFA students and faculty advisors. Our editors also manage publication decisions, website design, and blog content.
We are committed to serving as a literary well for Indigenous and marginalized communities. We warmly invite all creators with aligned interests and passions to contribute to this powerful, dynamic, and ever-growing landscape of art and literature.
Visit our website at chjournal.com

Chapter House Journal

Highlights

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