 University of Minnesota 

The journal of the University of Minnesota Creative Writing program. 
Poetry, fiction, nonfiction, & reviews since 1975. 

Great River Review is a literary magazine published by University of Minnesota, which is located on traditional, ancestral, and contemporary lands of Indigenous people, including Dakota land ceded in the Treaties of 1837 and 1851. The Mississippi River flows through the heart of our cities and campus, so we carry in mind the ways the river unites lands north and south, east and west; the way the river’s health is tied to the well-being of all of its tributaries; and the way its waters bring life to the entirety of the watershed. As the river nourishes and is nourished by both the smallest creeks and widest streams, so it is for Great River Review’s literary ecosystem. 

Story-focused publications with works chosen for Pushcart Prize anthologies. Less than 5% of nominated fiction typically makes the anthology.

Fiction Magazines Featured in Pushcart Prize Anthologies

Publications with pieces chosen for Pushcart Prize anthologies. Recognition of exceptional quality across poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.

Lit Mags Featured in Pushcart Prize Anthologies

Essay-focused publications with works selected for Pushcart Prize anthologies. These journals have repeatedly identified nonfiction that resonates with Pushcart editors and readers.

Nonfiction Magazines Featured in Pushcart Prize Anthologies

Verse-centered publications with poems chosen for Pushcart Prize anthologies. These journals have consistently identified poems that stand out in this intensely competitive field.

Poetry Magazines Featured in Pushcart Prize Anthologies

Great River Review

Great River Review Issue 75, Fall 2027: submissions accepted until cap reached.
For our Fall 2027 issue, we are welcoming fiction submissions of up to 7,000 words. Please submit only one fiction piece for the Issue 74 submission period. Additional submissions after your first one will be automatically declined.
We are looking for fully embodied stories that remind us of what it means to be alive, that show us something new, and that stand up over many reads, deepening each time.
Works of translation are welcome.
We accept only .docx file types. Unless special formatting is absolutely required, please submit your work in Times New Roman, 12 pt font, double spaced, with page numbers. Work that does not meet these criteria will not be reviewed.
Please also include a brief biography with your submission (400 characters max).

Fiction

Great River Review Issue 75, Fall 2027: submissions accepted until cap reached.
For our Fall 2027 issue, we are welcoming nonfiction submissions of up to 7,000 words. Please submit only one nonfiction piece for the Issue 75 submission period. Additional submissions after your first one will be automatically declined.
We seek nonfiction that bends—but doesn't break—the genre.
We appreciate risk-taking with structure, chronology, form, and other elements of nonfiction (save for truth—there’s no messing with that) that tell a richly textured story.
We are open to memoir that goes beyond the personal story to engage with larger ideas through the use of research, multiple narrative voices, and chronological deviations.
Nonfiction will be fact-checked.
Works of translations are welcome.
We accept only .docx file types. Unless special formatting is absolutely required, please submit your work in Times New Roman, 12 pt font, double spaced, with page numbers. Work that does not meet these criteria will not be reviewed.
Please also include a brief biography with your submission (400 characters max).

Great River Review

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