Texas Tech

In 1999, Texas Tech University founded Iron Horse Literary Review in order to bring the literary arts to West Texas, which did not have a national print venue for the literary arts.

We wanted an inexpensive way to bring America’s respected poets, storytellers, and essayists to serious readers living in the remote panhandle. 

Too, we hoped to juxtapose regional writers next to headliners, thereby increasing the attention artists in the West received. Our early contributors included Frederick Busch, Robert Olen Butler, Li-Young Lee, Barry Lopez, Bobby Ann Mason, Stanley Plumly, Pattiann Rogers, Leslie Ullman, and David Wagoner.

 
Today, we continue our earliest mission but also spend a great deal of time ferreting out those up-and-coming writers who keep poetry, fiction, and nonfiction energized.

Most importantly, we're making an earnest push to find and welcome voices of diversity—women, LGBTQIA writers, and writers of color—who challenge the boundaries of what the literary arts can accomplish.

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Iron Horse Review

For the 2026 Chapbook Competition, Iron Horse is seeking one of the following: 

a short collection of three to five stories, 
a short collection of three to five essays, 
a short collection of flash fiction,
a short collection of flash essays,
a novella, 
a long story told specifically in linked flash, or
a long lyric essay (by lyric, we mean segmented, braided, or in a hermit crab shell).
 

We are NOT accepting hybrids or prose poetry. 

 

Formatting Instructions

The submitted manuscript must be 40 - 56 pages, double-spaced (approx. 10,000 to 20,000 words). Each story/essay/flash/chapter/segment must start on a new page. Number the pages. 
Manuscripts must be typed, with one-inch margins and using a 12-point standard font such a Times, Times New Roman, or Garamond. 
The author’s name and contact information must  appear on the Submittable form, but it must NOT appear anywhere in or on the manuscript. There should be no footers or headers containing the author's identity. And no bio page. Manuscripts with biographical information will be disqualified.
Do not include acknowledgments of previous publications. Manuscripts including an  acknowledgments page will be disqualified.
While individual portions of the chapbook may  have been published elsewhere, the chapbook as a whole must be  previously unpublished.
We  only accept electronic manuscripts, submitted as ONE pdf file, with the entire chapbook in that single file. Do NOT submit essays or stories in individual files.
Entries failing to meet formatting instructions will be automatically disqualified.
 

Entry Fee

The $18 entry fee includes a year's subscription to IHLR's print issues.

Submissions will be accepted between January 1 and  March 15.

We will offer a FREE SUBMISSION DAY on February 15. Watch for the link on our social media accounts or our website. It is hidden on our Submittable page--you MUST follow us on social media or visit our website to get it. If you are using this link to submit a free manuscript, you are using the wrong link, and you will be charged the regular submission fee. 

Chapbook Competition Prose

Iron Horse does not publish nonfiction which analyzes literature or focuses solely upon scholarly interests. We're looking for memoir, personal essays, cultural criticism with a personal angle, or immersion nonfiction. We do love an essay that blends research and the personal--when the personal takes on a larger scope. For our print issues, we read flash and mid-length essays up to 5,500 words. Longer nonfiction manuscripts should be submitted to our annual Long Story competition in the fall, but not here. We accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if the manuscript is taken elsewhere the moment that happens. For this issue in particular, we are looking for essays on any topic; there is no set theme.  

Nonfiction

We do not have length requirements for poetry, though we will not print any poem that severely limits the number of other poems we can include in each issue. Submitters should place all poems they want us to consider in ONE file--up to five poems. Do not send multiple files.



For this particular issue, we are looking for poems on any topic; there is no set theme.

Poetry

For our print issues, we read flash and stories up to 5,500 words. Longer stories should be submitted for our annual Long Story competition every fall, but not here. We accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if the story is taken elsewhere the moment that happens.



For this issue in particular, we are accepting stories on all topics; there is no set theme.

Fiction

Texas Tech University Press and Iron Horse Literary Review are pleased to accept submissions for the Iron Horse/TTU Press First Book of Prose Prize, awarded annually to a first book of collected prose. The author of the winning entry will receive $1000, and their collection will be published in 2027 by Texas Tech University Press. 

 

We are looking for emerging writers who have yet to publish a first book in any genre. We are seeking collections of prose, either short fiction or nonfiction, especially stories and essays from and about places and people that are often overlooked and underrepresented in contemporary letters, but we have no preferences as to subjects or themes. Entries may come from writers who have published individual essays or stories--including works collected in the submitted manuscript--but it is not required. We are simply interested in strong voices, diverse perspectives, and fresh takes on what it means to be human.

 

The winner will be chosen by Katie Cortese, director of Texas Tech University Press, an associate professor in the Creative Writing Program at Texas Tech University, and author of Make Way for Her and Other Stories.

 

 

 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:
ENTRY FEE: $15, which directly supports the series.
SUBMISSION DATES: June 15 to Aug 15
FREE SUBMISSION DATE: Aug 1. On this day, we will accept a limited number of submissions free of charge to ensure the inclusion of as many authors as possible. If you can afford to pay the fee, we ask that you reserve the free slots for others who may not be able to submit otherwise. If you miss the Aug 1st free submission day and would like to submit your work but cannot pay the fee, please feel welcome to contact Travis Snyder at Texas Tech University Press (travis.snyder@ttu.edu), but not before Aug 1st.
TIMELINE: Prize finalists will be announced in November 2026, and the winner will be named in January/February 2027. Though only one book is guaranteed to receive the $1,000 honorarium and publication, all submissions will be considered for publication.

 

  For more information on Texas Tech University Press, visit their website.

  For more information on Iron Horse Literary Review, visit their website.

IHLR/TTU Press First Book of Prose Prize - Fiction

IHLR/TTU Press First Book of Prose Prize - Nonfiction

For the IHLR annual PhotoFinish, we seek well-crafted and very brief ekphrastic work that pushes beyond an absolute literal read of a photo prompt. We're looking for work that recognizes what's hidden in the world we see, either responding to the physical details that the picture offers or the emotion it conveys--or both. We provide the photo on our website beginning May 15th every year. 

 

 

Responses should be no longer than 500 words for prose or 15 lines for poetry, and our submission gate will remain open from July 1 to Aug 30. The winner receives $250. The other nine finalists, also published, receive: $75. The winner and nine finalists are published in the e-edition, released at midnight on New Year's Eve--our last horse over the year's finish line. 

 

 

Submission Fee: $5 fee. Or you may submit on our free day: Aug 1. The link to the free portal will be live on our website and social media accounts all day on the 10th! You must have that specific link to reach it. If you're are using this gate, you will be charged. This is NOT the Free Gate.
The 2026 Photo Prompt
This year's photo prompt appears on our website: https://www.ironhorsereview.com/photofinish.
Good luck!

2026 IHLR PhotoFinish - Fiction

2026 IHLR PhotoFinish - Nonfiction

2026 IHLR PhotoFinish - Poetry

NOTE: If you are looking for the free submit day for our NaPoMo issue, this is NOT it. If you use this link, it will charge you the regular submission fee, and we will not refund your money. To acceess the free link, check our website or our social media pages for the free link on September 15. It will be open and close on September 15.        Time to Submit to the IHLR NaPoMo Issue!     It's been 13 years since we started publishing an annual issue dedicated to National Poetry Month! This is one of our most popular issues, and we always combine new voices with some established champions. Each fall, when we begin hunting the poems we will include, we're excited to see what poets have been working on over the summer.     Our annual NaPoMo issue is now released electronically, via ISSUU, which means anyone can download and read it for free, and so our contributors' works reach a wider audience. Secondly, we're very selective for this issue: only 11 poems, one winner and ten finalists--the very best we can find. The issue is released in full color, and each manuscript has its own artwork.      The entrance fee is now $15, which includes a year's subscription for print issues. Plus, the winner receives $1,000. Two runners-up receive $150 and $100 each. And the remaining finalists receive $50.
Geffrey Davis, our Poetry Editor, will judge.
General Guidelines
Send up to five poems in ONE file.
Do NOT include your cover letter materials in the file with your poems. Simply paste it into the Cover Letter box on the submission form.
Do NOT include your name and address on the manuscript.
Submissions that do not follow these guidelines will be disqualified.
Prose stories and essays will be automatically rejected, though we welcome prose poems.
Once we receive 225 submissions (if we receive that many), we will close the gate. Otherwise, we simply cannot read the submissions in a timely fashion or complete our selection process for other issues.
NOTE: Writers who live outside the United States are encouraged to submit their work, but their entrance fee will result in an electronic subscription--all of our usual electronic issues (three a year) plus electronic versions of our print issues (three a year). Iron Horse can simply no longer afford to ship subscriptions outside the United States.

NaPoMo (Poetry Only)

NOTE: If you are looking for the free submit day for our Long Story issue, this is NOT it. If you use this link, it will charge you the regular submission fee, and we will not refund your money. To acceess the free link, check our website or our social media pages for the free link on September 15. It will be open and close on September 15. It's Time to Submit Your Marathon-Long Stories & Essays!      For the IHLR Long Story, we open our submission gates to longer prose works every fall: essays and stories between 20 and 40 pages This is the ONLY time of the year in which IHLR considers longer works.
We will select only ONE winner--a story OR an essay, and the winning writer receives $1,000.
The reading fee is $15, and, as always, includes a year's subscription.
General Guidelines
The winning story or essay will be released electronically as an e-single, with its own chic design, and it will be available for free download via ISSUU to all readers.
You may enter as many times as you wish, but you can only include one manuscript per entry.
Stories and essays must be between 20 and 40 double-spaced manuscript pages, using a 12-point font and one-inch margins.
Do not include your name or address on the manuscript itself.
Manuscripts that do not fall within these parameters will be automatically rejected, without feedback.
Poetry will be automatically rejected, without feedbakc.
Once we receive 150 submissions, we will close the gate. Otherwise, we simply cannot read the submissions in a timely fashion or complete our selection process for other issues.      Note: Poets with longer manuscripts (or not longer manuscripts) should be submitting their work to our NaPoMo issue. The gate for that issue is open right now, as well. We also read poetry chapbooks every other year. Our next year for poetry chapbooks will be the Spring of 2027. NOTE: Writers who live outside the United States are encouraged to submit their work, but their entrance fee will result in an electronic subscription--all of our usual electronic issues (three a year) plus electronic versions of our print issues (three a year). Iron Horse can simply no longer afford to ship subscriptions outside the United States.

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