George Mason University

phoebe prides itself on supporting up-and-coming writers, whose style, form, voice, and subject matter demonstrate a vigorous appeal to the senses, intellect, and emotions of our readers.

phoebe prides itself on supporting up-and-coming writers, whose style, form, voice, and subject matter demonstrate a vigorous appeal to the senses, intellect, and emotions of our readers. We choose our writers because we believe their work succeeds at its goals, regardless of whether those goals are to uphold or challenge literary tradition.

We insist on openness, which means we welcome both experimental and conventional prose and poetry, and we insist on being entertained, which means the work must capture and hold our attention, whether it be the potent language of a poem or the narrative mechanics of a short story. Above all, we seek to publish quality writing. Please review our website, especially our latest issue, for an idea of the caliber of writing we publish.

We produce a print issue in fall/winter and an online issue in spring/summer. We’re generally open for submissions from August 15-October 15, and from January 15-March 15.

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A targeted resource for short story placements with potential for Pushcart recognition.

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Looking for balance between prestige and accessibility? These magazines are competitive but attainable for poetry, fiction, and nonfiction writers.

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Best Microfiction, edited by Meg Pokrass and Gary Fincke, celebrates the art of the extremely brief narrative. These publications have editorial teams with particular sensitivity to the craft.

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Highlights publications that regularly put forward essays, memoirs, and other creative nonfiction for Pushcart consideration.

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Focuses specifically on poetry journals with established histories of Pushcart nominations.

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phoebe

Phoebe Journal Prizes

We do not have a strict word limit for prose; however, work over 4,000 words will need to be extraordinary.

We are now accepting submissions for our annual creative nonfiction contest. The winner will be published online this May in phoebe 55.2. We encourage you to take a look at our previous contest winners. Only contest winners will win prize money, but we hope to publish some outstanding honorable mentions alongside our prize winner in phoebe 55.2. We look forward to reading your work. Submit online, and send us the best you’ve got!
The Basics: 

  All entries should include a cover letter with the submission’s title and author’s contact information (name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address).
  Your name and contact information must not appear anywhere else on the manuscript.
  You may submit multiple entries, but must pay an entry fee for each new submission.
  Please submit your work in a Word Document or another similar processing system, if possible.
  We will not accept mailed submissions. Please use our online submission manager. 
  Please note: phoebe does not accept work that uses AI-generated text or artwork.

A Note About Content Warnings:
If your piece discusses or includes mentions of difficult topics, please provide a content warning when sending us your piece on Submittable. This information allows us to send pieces to our readers a bit more quickly—it does not impact our selection of pieces for publication. (Sample content warnings include: sexual assault/harassment, self-harm, abuse, racism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. If there are other content warnings you believe apply to your piece, please mention those as well.) If the submission does not require a content warning, write "N/A."
DEADLINE: March 8 at 11:59 p.m. 
PRIZE: $500 and publication in phoebe 55.2 (digital issue). Honorable mentions selected for publication will receive our standard contributor rate of $30 per accepted piece.      
SUBMISSION SIZE: 1 piece per submission, up to 5,000 words OR up to three pieces of flash prose of less than 1,000 words each.  
phoebe welcomes and hopes to see literary and visual art from writers and artists of all races, ethnicities, national origins, religions, sexes, sexual orientations, genders, gender expressions, ages, abilities, military statuses, and other distinguishing identity traits. phoebe also welcomes and hopes to see literary and visual art from writers and artists of all genres, styles, and aesthetics. phoebe makes every effort to be open to all and closed to no one.

Nonfiction - Submissions for Spring 2026 Contest Issue (55.2) (Free for BIPOC and Other Underrepresented Writers)

We are now accepting submissions for our annual fiction contest. The winner will be published online this May in phoebe 55.2. We encourage you to take a look at our previous contest winners. Only contest winners will win prize money, but we hope to publish some outstanding honorable mentions alongside our prize winner in phoebe 55.2. We look forward to reading your work. Submit online, and send us the best you’ve got!
 The Basics: 

  All entries should include a cover letter with the submission’s title and author’s contact information (name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address).
  Your name and contact information must not appear anywhere else on the manuscript.
  You may submit multiple entries, but must pay an entry fee for each new submission.
  Please submit your work in a Word Document.
  We will not accept mailed submissions. Please use our online submission manager. 
  Please note: phoebe does not accept work that uses AI-generated text or artwork.

A Note About Content Warnings:
If your piece discusses or includes mentions of difficult topics, please provide a content warning when sending us your piece on Submittable. This information allows us to send pieces to our readers a bit more quickly—it does not impact our selection of pieces for publication. (Sample content warnings include: sexual assault/harassment, self-harm, abuse, racism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. If there are other content warnings you believe apply to your piece, please mention those as well.) If the submission does not require a content warning, write "N/A."
DEADLINE: March 8 at 11:59 p.m. 
PRIZE: $500 and publication in phoebe 55.2 (digital issue). Honorable mentions selected for publication will receive our standard contributor rate of $30 per accepted piece. 
SUBMISSION SIZE: 1 piece per submission, up to 5,000 words OR up to three pieces of flash prose of less than 1,000 words each. phoebe welcomes and hopes to see literary and visual art from writers and artists of all races, ethnicities, national origins, religions, sexes, sexual orientations, genders, gender expressions, ages, abilities, military statuses, and other distinguishing identity traits. phoebe also welcomes and hopes to see literary and visual art from writers and artists of all genres, styles, and aesthetics. phoebe makes every effort to be open to all and closed to no one.

Fiction - Submissions for Spring 2026 Contest Issue (55.2) (Free for BIPOC and Other Underrepresented Writers)

Above all, we seek to publish quality art from artists at various stages of their careers, with an eye towards artwork that illustrates a narrative or conveys an emotion, as we believe in the importance of both visual and textual storytelling. See here for images we've featured in our journal. Since we want to incorporate more artwork into our digital and print editions, it's free to submit visual art. Artists are paid our standard rate for their work of $30 per accepted piece. 
To submit, please upload between one and five high-resolution images. Files should be uploaded as a .png, .tif, or a high-quality .jpeg with at least 300 dpi and a size of at least 1 MB. PDFs also are acceptable. All submitted artwork will be considered for phoebe's online issue, 55.2, for both the cover image, as well as for pieces featured with writing from the issue.    
phoebe welcomes and hopes to see literary and visual art from writers and artists of all races, ethnicities, national origins, religions, sexes, sexual orientations, genders, gender expressions, ages, abilities, military statuses, and other distinguishing identity traits. phoebe also welcomes and hopes to see literary and visual art from writers and artists of all genres, styles, and aesthetics. phoebe makes every effort to be open to all and closed to no one.
Please note: phoebe does not accept work that uses AI-generated text or artwork.

Visual Art - Submissions for Spring 2026 Contest Issue (55.2) (Free for BIPOC and Other Underrepresented Artists)

We are now accepting submissions for our annual poetry contest. The winner will be published online this May in phoebe 55.2. We encourage you to take a look at our previous contest winners. Only contest winners will win prize money, but we hope to publish some outstanding honorable mentions alongside our prize winner in phoebe 55.2. We look forward to reading your work. Submit online, and send us the best you’ve got!
 The Basics: 

  All entries should include a cover letter with the submission’s title and author’s contact information (name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address).
  Your name and contact information must not appear anywhere else on the manuscript.
  You may submit multiple entries, but must pay an entry fee for each new submission.
  Please submit your work in a Word Document or another similar processing system, if possible.
  We will not accept mailed submissions. Please use our online submission manager.
  Please note: phoebe does not accept work that uses AI-generated text or artwork.

A Note About Content Warnings:
If your piece discusses or includes mentions of difficult topics, please provide a content warning when sending us your piece on Submittable. This information allows us to send pieces to our readers a bit more quickly—it does not impact our selection of pieces for publication. (Sample content warnings include: sexual assault/harassment, self-harm, abuse, racism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. If there are other content warnings you believe apply to your piece, please mention those as well.) If the submission does not require a content warning, write "N/A."
DEADLINE: March 8 at 11:59 p.m. 
PRIZE: $500 and publication in phoebe 55.2 (digital issue). Honorable mentions selected for publication will receive our standard contributor rate of $30 per accepted piece.     
SUBMISSION SIZE: Up to five (5) poems per submission. phoebe welcomes and hopes to see literary and visual art from writers and artists of all races, ethnicities, national origins, religions, sexes, sexual orientations, genders, gender expressions, ages, abilities, military statuses, and other distinguishing identity traits. phoebe also welcomes and hopes to see literary and visual art from writers and artists of all genres, styles, and aesthetics. phoebe makes every effort to be open to all and closed to no one.

Poetry - Submissions for Spring 2026 Contest Issue (55.2) (Free for BIPOC and Other Underrepresented Writers)

phoebe is now accepting submissions for its winter 2026 print issue, 55.1.
The phoebe nonfiction team is looking for personal, lyric, and journalistic essays (and everything in between!) that embrace complexity and explore unique topics, ideas, and connections. We are excited by nonfiction that reveals larger truths about the self and the world through unique lenses, representing diverse identities and voices with intellectual and emotional honesty. We also appreciate essays engaging with research and history. Teach us something new! Submitted work should be stand-alone. On our pages, we aim for a mixture of brevity and breadth from both emerging and experienced writers. We approach all essays with care and respect, and we especially welcome essays with BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and/or trans perspectives. :)
General Guidelines:

  All entries should include a cover letter with the submission’s title and word count as well as the author’s contact information (name, mailing address, and email address) and a brief bio.
  We accept simultaneous submissions. However, if your submission is accepted by another publication or otherwise is no longer available, please use Submittable to withdraw it as soon as possible.
  You may submit multiple entries.
  Please submit only one work per entry.
  We do not consider previously published work or reprints.
  Please submit your work in standard manuscript format and as a Microsoft Word document (or compatible).
  We do not accept submissions through e-mail or physical mail. All submissions must be made through our Submittable forms.
  More submissions guidelines here: www.phoebejournal.com/submissions/

DEADLINE: October 15 at 11:59 p.m. 
SUBMISSION SIZE: 1 piece per submission. We do not have a strict word limit for prose; however, nonfiction pieces longer than 4,000 words will need to be extraordinary.      
We strive to respond to submissions 30 days after the submissions period closes. If you have not heard from us 60 days after the submissions period closes, feel free to inquire about the status of your submission.

Nonfiction -- Submissions for Print Issue

phoebe is now accepting submissions for its winter 2026 print issue, 55.1.
We appreciate poetry that risks: vulnerability, experimentation, diction, the poet’s soul. Surprise us with your image work, your use of the line, and your approach to form. Send us poems that grip us with their intensity, honesty, and craft. We enjoy the surreal and the unexpected but we also appreciate heartfelt and new approaches to old topics. Whether you’ve never been published before, or you have a lengthy CV, we want to read your work! We also encourage submissions from poets identifying as a member of a previously underrepresented group of people including but not limited to folks who are: BIPOC, LBGTQIA+, and disabled writers. 
General Guidelines:

  All submissions should include a cover letter with the author’s contact information (name, mailing address, and email address) and a brief bio.
  PLEASE include the names of your poems under the TITLE box in the submission form
  We accept simultaneous submissions. However, if a piece in your submission is accepted by another publication or otherwise is no longer available, please use Submittable to send the editors a message about which piece(s) is no longer available or withdraw the submission as soon as possible.
  You may submit multiple submissions.
  You may submit up to five poems per entry; however, poetry submissions may total no more than 10 pages. If you would like to submit more than 10 pages, please complete an additional submission. 
  We do not consider previously published work or reprints.
  Please submit your work in standard manuscript format and as ONE Microsoft Word document (or compatible). Please do not submit poems in separate documents. 
  We do not accept submissions through e-mail or physical mail. All submissions must be made through our Submittable forms.
  More submissions guidelines here: www.phoebejournal.com/submissions/

DEADLINE: October 15 at 11:59 p.m. 
SUBMISSION SIZE: Up to five (5) poems submission.   
We strive to respond to submissions 30 days after the submissions period closes. If you have not heard from us 60 days after the submissions period closes, feel free to inquire about the status of your submission.

Poetry -- Submissions for Print Issue

phoebe is now accepting submissions for its winter 2026 print issue, 55.1. 
The phoebe fiction team is looking for ​p​ieces that deliver an honest, affecting, and human reading experience. We encourage experimentation with modality and crave complexity, and we believe that part of what makes a piece excellent is its voice. We eagerly welcome BIPOC, (dis)abled, LGBTQIA+, and ​immigrant, international, and non-Western perspectives. Please send us your work that has soul and urgency​. Pieces published inphoebe are often briskly paced (fewer than 5,000 words), but longer works of exceptional quality can also find a home here. We look forward to reading your w​riting!
General Guidelines:

  All entries should include a cover letter with the submission’s title and word count as well as the author’s contact information (name, mailing address, and email address) and a brief bio.
  We accept simultaneous submissions. However, if your submission is accepted by another publication or otherwise is no longer available, please use Submittable to withdraw it as soon as possible.
  You may submit multiple entries.
  Please submit only one short story or up to three flash fictions (works of fewer than 1,000 words) per entry.
  We do not consider previously published work or reprints. 
  Please submit your work in standard manuscript format and as a Microsoft Word document (or compatible).
  We do not accept submissions through e-mail or physical mail. All submissions must be made through our Submittable forms.
  More submissions guidelines here: www.phoebejournal.com/submissions/

DEADLINE: October 15 at 11:59 p.m. 
SUBMISSION SIZE: 1 piece per submission. We do not have a strict word limit for prose; however, fiction longer than 4,000 words will need to be extraordinary. 
We strive to respond to submissions 30 days after the submissions period closes. If you have not heard from us 60 days after the submissions period closes, feel free to inquire about the status of your submission.

Fiction -- Submissions for Print Issue

Nonfiction - Submissions for Spring 2026 Contest Issue (55.2)

We are now accepting submissions for our annual fiction contest. The winner will be published online this May in phoebe 55.2. We encourage you to take a look at our previous contest winners. Only contest winners will win prize money, but we hope to publish some outstanding honorable mentions alongside our prize winner in phoebe 55.2. We look forward to reading your work. Submit online, and send us the best you’ve got!
 The Basics: 

  All entries should include a cover letter with the submission’s title and author’s contact information (name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address).
  Your name and contact information must not appear anywhere else on the manuscript.
  You may submit multiple entries, but must pay an entry fee for each new submission.
  Please submit your work in a Word Document.
  We will not accept mailed submissions. Please use our online submission manager. 
  Please note: phoebe does not accept work that uses AI-generated text or artwork.

A Note About Content Warnings:
If your piece discusses or includes mentions of difficult topics, please provide a content warning when sending us your piece on Submittable. This information allows us to send pieces to our readers a bit more quickly—it does not impact our selection of pieces for publication. (Sample content warnings include: sexual assault/harassment, self-harm, abuse, racism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. If there are other content warnings you believe apply to your piece, please mention those as well.) If the submission does not require a content warning, write "N/A."
DEADLINE: March 8 at 11:59 p.m. 
PRIZE: $500 and publication in phoebe 55.2 (digital issue). Honorable mentions selected for publication will receive our standard contributor rate of $30 per accepted piece.   
SUBMISSION SIZE: 1 piece per submission, up to 5,000 words OR up to three pieces of flash prose of less than 1,000 words each. phoebe welcomes and hopes to see literary and visual art from writers and artists of all races, ethnicities, national origins, religions, sexes, sexual orientations, genders, gender expressions, ages, abilities, military statuses, and other distinguishing identity traits. phoebe also welcomes and hopes to see literary and visual art from writers and artists of all genres, styles, and aesthetics. phoebe makes every effort to be open to all and closed to no one.

Fiction - Submissions for Spring 2026 Contest Issue (55.2)

Visual Art -- Submissions for Cover and Interior Print/Online Gallery

We are now accepting submissions for our annual poetry contest. The winner will be published online this May in phoebe 55.2. We encourage you to take a look at our previous contest winners. Only contest winners will win prize money, but we hope to publish some outstanding honorable mentions alongside our prize winner in phoebe 55.2. We look forward to reading your work. Submit online, and send us the best you’ve got!
 The Basics: 

  All entries should include a cover letter with the submission’s title and author’s contact information (name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address).
  Your name and contact information must not appear anywhere else on the manuscript.
  You may submit multiple entries, but must pay an entry fee for each new submission.
  Please submit your work in a Word Document or another similar processing system, if possible.
  We will not accept mailed submissions. Please use our online submission manager.
  Please note: phoebe does not accept work that uses AI-generated text or artwork.



A Note About Content Warnings:
If your piece discusses or includes mentions of difficult topics, please provide a content warning when sending us your piece on Submittable. This information allows us to send pieces to our readers a bit more quickly—it does not impact our selection of pieces for publication. (Sample content warnings include: sexual assault/harassment, self-harm, abuse, racism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. If there are other content warnings you believe apply to your piece, please mention those as well.) If the submission does not require a content warning, write "N/A."
DEADLINE: March 8 at 11:59 p.m. 
PRIZE: $500 and publication in phoebe 55.2 (digital issue). Honorable mentions selected for publication will receive our standard contributor rate of $30 per accepted piece.     
SUBMISSION SIZE: Up to five (5) poems per submission. phoebe welcomes and hopes to see literary and visual art from writers and artists of all races, ethnicities, national origins, religions, sexes, sexual orientations, genders, gender expressions, ages, abilities, military statuses, and other distinguishing identity traits. phoebe also welcomes and hopes to see literary and visual art from writers and artists of all genres, styles, and aesthetics. phoebe makes every effort to be open to all and closed to no one.

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Nonfiction -- Submissions for Print Issue

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