Table of contents
A literary journal of poetry, fiction, and lyrical commentary, founded at the University of Chicago in 2003.
Vibe
Send us your best but less intimidating
Response Time
Average acceptance rate
Types of Submissions Accepted
Poetry
Max pieces: 3
We look especially for plurality of meaning, for dual reverberation of beauty and concern. Contrary’s poetry in particular often mimics the effects of fiction or commentary.
Fiction
We favor fiction that is contrary in any number of ways, but our fiction typically defies traditional story form. A story may bring us to closure, for example, without ever delivering an ending. It may be as poetic as any poem.
literary
experimental
magicalRealism
Nonfiction
Lyrical commentary/creative non-fiction —“Commentary” is our word for the stuff that others define negatively as non-fiction, nominally as essay, or naively as truth. We favor commentary that delivers a message less through exposition than through artistry. The commentary we select is often lyrical, narrative, or poetic.
Poetry
Max pieces: 3
We look especially for plurality of meaning, for dual reverberation of beauty and concern. Contrary’s poetry in particular often mimics the effects of fiction or commentary.
Fiction
We favor fiction that is contrary in any number of ways, but our fiction typically defies traditional story form. A story may bring us to closure, for example, without ever delivering an ending. It may be as poetic as any poem.
literary
experimental
magicalRealism
Nonfiction
Lyrical commentary/creative non-fiction —“Commentary” is our word for the stuff that others define negatively as non-fiction, nominally as essay, or naively as truth. We favor commentary that delivers a message less through exposition than through artistry. The commentary we select is often lyrical, narrative, or poetic.
Need to know for submitting
Read carefully, it will save from dead rats in the mailbox
01
Details
02
How to submit 🏗️
03
Cover Letter and Bio 🏗️
04
Awards
05
Demographics & Eligibility
06
Formatting requirements 🏗️
07
Rights for published work 🏗️
Magazine
Founded in 2003 | United States
Masthead
We currently list only main editors, more will be added later! If you are an editor, you can edit your masthead in our admin panel :)
Jeff McMahon
Editor-in-Chief
Shaindel Beers
Poetry Editor
Frances Badgett
Fiction Editor
Chill Stats (note: this is not exactly accurate...)
Total tracked
1
Average acceptance rate
0% (so far)
Average response time
46 days
Average acceptance/rejection time
-/46 days
Fastest response time
46 days
Slowest response time
46 days
