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"MAYDAY presents new poetry, fiction, nonfiction, translations, cultural commentary, and visual art to an international community of readers. We publish artists that explore culture and history; politics regional and global; the past, present, and future."
"MAYDAY presents new poetry, fiction, nonfiction, translations, cultural commentary, and visual art to an international community of readers. We publish artists that explore culture and history; politics regional and global; the past, present, and future."
Vibe
Send us your best but less intimidating
Response Time
Acceptance Rate
Payment
Yes: see Genres section for details
Fee
No
Simultaneous submissions
Yes
Previously published
No
Expedited response
No
Available in print
No
Provides contributor copies
No
Examples online
Yes
Active on social media
Yes
Accepted genres
8 genres
Fiction
Max words: 3000
Max pieces: 1
Please only send one full-length submission at a time or up to three flash fiction/short-short submissions, under 1,000 words each. We are i...
Flash Fiction
Max words: 1000
Max pieces: 3
Nonfiction
Max words: 5000
We seek personal, critical, and hybrid essays that move, engage, and transport us and our readers. We are sure to respond to many things, bu...
Poetry
Max pieces: 3
10 pages max
Review
Max words: 1500
We publish reviews (typically 1,000-1,500 words) of books either forthcoming or published in the last six months, preferably from small pres...
Interview
Max words: 1500
We’re interested in interviews with contemporary artists, writers, critics, and other notable cultural figures.
Translation
Poetry and prose from any language translated to English will be considered. Please include a brief translator’s note if you would like to p...
Art
Max pieces: 5
Please submit no more than five high-resolution JPEG files that include the title in the file name, along with a brief cover letter describi...
Fiction
Max words: 3000
Max pieces: 1
Please only send one full-length submission at a time or up to three flash fiction/short-short submissions, under 1,000 words each. We are i...
Flash Fiction
Max words: 1000
Max pieces: 3
Nonfiction
Max words: 5000
We seek personal, critical, and hybrid essays that move, engage, and transport us and our readers. We are sure to respond to many things, bu...
Poetry
Max pieces: 3
10 pages max
Review
Max words: 1500
We publish reviews (typically 1,000-1,500 words) of books either forthcoming or published in the last six months, preferably from small pres...
Interview
Max words: 1500
We’re interested in interviews with contemporary artists, writers, critics, and other notable cultural figures.
Translation
Poetry and prose from any language translated to English will be considered. Please include a brief translator’s note if you would like to p...
Art
Max pieces: 5
Please submit no more than five high-resolution JPEG files that include the title in the file name, along with a brief cover letter describi...
Statistics
We're able to provide them because you use our tracker!
You're the best!
29
Total submissions tracked
54 days
Average response time
Average acceptance rate
1 days
Fastest response time
111 days
Slowest response time
*Weird response times we excluded from calculations: 168 days
How to submit
Process
We use Submittable.
Cover letters
In lieu of a cover letter, include a bio of up to 100 words in the appropriate field, as well as any social media handles where indicated in the Submittable form.
Eligibility
No specific eligibility requirements
Formatting
For prose: Your submission should be double-spaced and in standard font and style. We prefer .doc files, but .docx, .rtf, and Open Office files are okay, too.
Rights for published work
Rights revert to author upon publication. Please credit MAYDAY with first publication if the work is republished elsewhere.
Additional info
Open year round Payment for work published at MAYDAY is according to the following flat rates: Book Reviews and Interviews: $20 Creative Nonfiction: $20 Culture: $20 Fiction: $20 (traditional stories), $10 (flash fiction) MAYDAY:Black: $50 Poetry: $10 Translation: $20 (stories), $10 (poems) Visual Art: $10
About the Magazine
Founded in 2009 | United States
First published by New American Press in 2009 and relaunched with an expanded editorial staff in 2020, MAYDAY presents new poetry, fiction, nonfiction, translations, cultural commentary, and visual art to an international community of readers. MAYDAY takes its name from the international distress call derived from the phonetic French m’aider (“help me!”). Recalling William Carlos Williams’ famous remark that “it is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there,” MAYDAY features art that compels our attention by virtue of its urgency, something we find there that sustains us, excites us, reveals new ways of being and knowing in a complex and ever-changing world. While MAYDAY is a literary magazine, we recognize that great literature has often been genre literature. We publish artists that explore culture and history; politics regional and global; the past, present, and future. Send us writing that surprises us, introduces images and ideas in new and strange ways, that complicates our perspectives. Send us fiction, poetry, personal essays, translations, reviews, visual art, and cultural criticism that have achieved a balance of craft and story so compelling that we cannot look away. We must read more. We welcome writers working in English or in translation anywhere in the world, especially those who have been marginalized historically, including writers of color, queer and trans writers, disabled writers, and others who have suffered systemic discrimination. MAYDAY nominates for The Best of the Net, the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize, and the Pushcart Prize.
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 :)
David Bowen
Executive Director
Chase Erwin
Managing Editor
Emma Daley
Assistant Managing Editor
Nathan Winer
Assistant Managing Editor
