Dappled Things is a Catholic literary magazine, and this raises the question of what Catholic literature is in the first place. A quarterly journal of ideas, art, and faith, publishing fiction, poetry, interviews, essays, visual art, and more. 

The world is thirsting for beauty.
Not prettiness. Not hollow flashiness. Not pretentious, self-congratulating nonsense.

Beauty.

The kind that slaps you across the face when you meet it and makes you pay attention. That draws you out of yourself to contemplate truth. That stings you with longing for what is good. At Dappled Things, we’ve had enough of the phantoms on our feeds, of being addicted to fear and outrage, of taking for granted that the modern world must be practical, profitable, and banal.

Back in 2005, we knew we weren’t the only ones left parched by our culture. So we started a magazine.

Quality magazines that compensate writers and don't charge submission fees. Supporting writers financially from both ends of the transaction? Hell yeah.

Lit Mags That Pay & Don't Charge Fees

Dappled Things

Do you want to help us reach new readers on social media? Video testimonials from subscribers are a great way to spread the word. No need to get fancy: just point your phone at yourself, and in 15 seconds or less, finish this sentence for us:
"I love Dappled Things because . . ."

Video Testimonials

You may submit up to two non-fiction articles at a time for consideration on the "Deep Down Things" weblog. Essays, memoirs, interviews, and book reviews are all welcome. The Catholic literary philosophy of the magazine should be respected. We offer $50 per accepted submission.
Please include a biographical note.

Guest Blog Post

If you are interested in submitting and interview to Dappled Things, we encourage you to first pitch your idea by emailing dappledthings.aparicio [at] gmail [dot] com to see if we are interested. Please note that your interview should not only include questions and answers, but also an introduction of around three paragraphs that introduces readers to your interview subject and the topic you will discuss (we encourage you to read interviews in our archives for reference). All interviews published in Dappled Things receive a payment of $100. 
All text submissions should use 12-point Times New Roman font. Writers should only use one space after periods and other forms of punctuation.
	We are not interested in work that uses an overly academic tone. Avoid jargon and send us work that will be of interest to the well-informed non-specialist. Instead of including a list of works cited, include any citations in journalistic style, as a part of the piece itself. We are open to a wide range of topics and  approaches; take a look through past editions of the journal to see what sort of nonfiction we publish. You may use this category for submitting essays, memoirs, interviews, and other nonfiction articles, but please submit book reviews through the category specifically designated for them. Note that neither interviews nor book reviews are eligible for the Jacques Maritain Prize.
	Please send only one non-fiction piece at a time and wait for a response before making a new submission.
	Please include a byline in your cover letter that we can use in our contributor notes if your piece is selected for publication.

Interviews

Dappled Things pays $50 for reviews over 900 words and $20 for shorter reviews. Send only reviews of books no older than two years. Feel free to send a query to DTbookreviews [at] gmail [dot] com if you want to know whether we'd be interested in a particular book.

Book Reviews

Thanks to the generosity of the Catholic literary community, and with the blessing of Jane’s family, Dappled Things announces the 2026 Jane Greer Memorial Poetry Contest, for the best poems submitted to the journal this year.
Prizes are as follows:
First Place: $500

Second Place: $300

Third Place: $100
All 2026 poetry submissions will automatically be considered for the contest as well as publication in Dappled Things.     
Instructions:
You may send us up to five poems at a time. Please wait until you have received a response before sending other work. Upload separate files for each poem, unless the poems should be considered together as a collection.

  	All text submissions should use 12-point Times New Roman font.

  	Poetry should be in the line format (including indentations) in which the poet wishes it to appear in publication.

  	Persons interested in contributing to the magazine must submit their own original work.

  	Pieces that have been previously published in other periodicals will not be eligible for publication unless the writer has received permission from the editor.

  	Copyrights for submitted and published work will remain in the possession of the author. By submitting a piece, the author grants Dappled Things permission to publish the work, and reprint it in future editions or anthologies of work published in the magazine. Unfortunately, at the present time we are unable to remunerate authors for their work; however, we do send a sample printed issue to published authors.

  Please include a byline in your cover letter that we can use in our contributor notes if your piece is selected for publication.

Poetry - 2026 Jane Greer Memorial Poetry Contest

You may submit one fiction piece at a time. Please wait until you have received a response before sending more work. We recommend that you look through previous editions of the journal to get a sense of the type of work we tend to favor. You may use this category to submit short stories, flash-fiction, and drama. Dappled Things pays $100 per published piece in this category. Please include a byline in your cover letter that we can use in our contributor notes if your piece is selected for publication.

Fiction & Drama

You may submit up to ten images at a time. Please look through previous editions of the journal to get an idea of the type of work we have published in the past.

Visual Art

PLEASE READ ALL OF THE GUIDELINES BELOW BEFORE SUBMITTING
Essays published in Dappled Things receive a payment of $100. In addition, all pieces submitted to our nonfiction section will automatically be considered for our yearly Jacques Maritain Prize for Nonfiction. The three prize winners will be selected by an independent judge from among all the nonfiction pieces published in the magazine during the previous year. The prize winner will be announced in March 2025, with winners being selected from among the preceding four issues of the journal.
The prize amounts are as follows:
First prize: $500
Second prize: $300
Third prize: $200
All text submissions should use 12-point Times New Roman font. Writers should only use one space after periods and other forms of punctuation.
 	We are not interested in work that uses an overly academic tone. Avoid jargon and send us work that will be of interest to the well-informed non-specialist. Instead of including a list of works cited, include any citations in journalistic style, as a part of the piece itself. We are open to a wide range of topics and  approaches; take a look through past editions of the journal to see what sort of nonfiction we publish. You may use this category for submitting essays, memoirs, interviews, and other nonfiction articles, but please submit book reviews through the category specifically designated for them. Note that neither interviews nor book reviews are eligible for the Jacques Maritain Prize.
 	Please send only one non-fiction piece at a time and wait for a response before making a new submission.
 	Please include a byline in your cover letter that we can use in our contributor notes if your piece is selected for publication.

Nonfiction - Jacques Maritain Prize

“One foot in this world and one in the next”: that’s how J.F. Powers described the Midwestern priests he wrote about in his fiction. Having one foot in another world can be awkward, and Powers’ characters are known not for their graceful mysticism, but for the humiliating and mordantly entertaining stumbles they make while trying to live their faith. We’re looking for carefully crafted short stories with vivid characters who encounter grace in everyday settings—we want to see who, in the age we live in, might have one foot in this world and one in the next. 

 

 

 What are the prizes?

   1st place: $700

   2nd place: $300

   Up to 8 honorable mentions: publication in the journal and a one-year subscription

 

 

 When will winners be announced?

  Winners of the J.F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction will be announced in Spring 2026 and published throughout the subsequent issues that year.
Is there a reading fee?

   No.
Guidelines:
Only one submission per author will be accepted.
Please do not submit any previously published work.
Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please withdraw your work immediately if it is accepted elsewhere.
Please include in your contact information, including e-mail and mailing address, in your cover letter, as well as one or two lines with your biographical information as you would like it to appear if published.
The word limit is 8,000 words. Longer submissions will be returned unread.

Dappled Things

Highlights

About

Featured Call

J.F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction

Appears in collections