Career Builder - Best Lit Mags of 2025

Southword: New International Writing is a print literary journal published twice a year by the Munster Literature Centre.

Founded in 1993, the Munster Literature Centre (Ionad Litríochta an Deiscirt) is a non-profit arts organisation dedicated to the promotion and celebration of literature, especially that of Munster. To this end, we organise festivals, workshops, competitions, and fellowships. Our publishing arm, Southword Editions, publishes Southword, an English-language biannual literary journal, Aneas, an Irish-language yearly literary journal, as well as poetry chapbooks, anthologies and translations. We actively seek to support new and emerging writers and are assisted in our efforts through funding from Cork City Council and the Arts Council of Ireland. Originally located in Sullivan’s Quay, the centre moved to its current premises in Frank O’Connor House (the author’s birthplace) at 84 Douglas Street, in 2003. We produce two festivals each year, The Cork International Poetry Festival in the spring and The Cork International Short Story Festival in the autumn.

Out of 1,762 votes, these lit mags came out on top in 2025 as the best lit mags for advancing writers' careers.

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

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Lit Mags Featured in Best American Poetry 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

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

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Journals that forward outstanding nonfiction to this respected anthology series founded in 1986. These publications identify exceptional essays that might reach the broader readership BAE provides.

Literary Magazines That Nominate for Best American Essays

BASS represents the most mainstream recognition for short fiction in America. These journals serve as the initial screening layer for potential inclusion in this widely-read collection.

Literary Mags That Nominate for Best American Short Stories

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Most Popular Literary Magazines of All Time

Check out the all-time most popular speculative fiction literary magazines. These publications have a long-standing reputation for quality speculative fiction.

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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

Looking for a balance between prestige and accessibility? These speculative fiction magazines are in the sweet spot—competitive but attainable for writers.

Speculative Fiction Magazines in the Sweet Spot

Southword Journal

<div><b>Enter:</b> 3 poems</div><div><b>Closing date: </b>30th September (midnight)</div><div><b>Entry fee:</b> €24</div><div><br></div>Each entrant for their €24 entry fee will receive a complimentary postage-free, one-year subscription to Southword. Poems will be read and judged anonymously. Poems must be previously unpublished. The winning poet will have their three poems published in Southword. If you are already a subscriber, your subscription will be extended. Once a subscriber, there is the opportunity to enter, for free, other competitions which are for subscribers only.<div><br></div><div><b>EMAIL ENTRY ONLY</b></div><div><b>Send to: sw.editors.award.comp@munsterlit.ie</b></div><div><b>Subject: Southword Editor’s Competition entry</b></div><div><br></div><div>Attach the three poems for submission in a single document (Word / RTF/ ODT – we cannot accept PDFs or weblinks such as Google Drive). Please use the title of the first poem (or the first few words of the title) as the title of the document. As the competition is judged anonymously, we request that you do not write your name or personal details anywhere on this document.</div><div><br></div><div>Attach the cover letter (separate text document (Word / RTF / ODT – we cannot accept PDFs or weblinks such as Google Drive) attached to the same email, not in the body of the email ). The cover letter should include:</div><div><ul><li>Your name</li><li>Poem titles</li><li>Email address</li><li>Email associated with your PayPal account (if different from your contact email address)</li><li>Phone number</li><li>Postal address</li><li>Image of PayPal receipt or the PayPal transaction ID number</li><li>How your heard about the competition</li><li>A brief bio (optional)</li></ul></div><div><br></div><div>Payment of the €24 entry fee can be made through this PayPal button only (available during submission period). PayPal will deduct the fee in your own currency. Southword will be sent to the shipping address provided by PayPal.</div><div><br></div><div>Due to the large volume of entries, the judge will not be able to notify the authors of non-winning entries or give individual feedback. If you need to withdraw an entry, please email info@munsterlit.ie. We recommend following us on social media or signing up for our newsletter to stay up to date with all competition developments</div>

Southword Editor’s Poetry Award

The Munster Literature Centre established the Fool for Poetry Chapbook Competition in 2005. The competition did not run from 2010-13. It was reintroduced in 2014 as a yearly competition.<div><br></div><div><b>Page limit: </b>16 – 24</div><div><b>Closing date: </b>31st August</div><div><b>Entry fee: </b>€25 per manuscript</div><div><br></div><div>The competition is open to new, emerging and established poets from any country. At least one of these winners will be the highest scoring manuscript entered by a poet with no solo collection (full-length or chapbook) previously published. The other winner may have previously published poetry books. Up to 25 other entrants will be publicly listed as “highly commended”.</div><div><br></div><div>Manuscripts must be between 16 and 24 pages in length, in the English language and the sole work of the entrant with no pastiches, translations or versions. The poems can be in verse or prose. Any number of the individual poems may have been published before in journals, anthologies and periodicals – the only restriction is that they cannot have appeared together as a book before. Entrants may submit more than one entry. Once entered, no alterations can be made to the submission. Simultaneous submissions are accepted but please notify us immediately should your manuscript be accepted elsewhere. The winners will be selected by a panel of renowned poets.</div>

Previous first prize winners may not enter again.

Fool for Poetry International Chapbook Competition

<div>The Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Competition is an annual short story competition open to writers from around the world, submissions accepted from May 1st to July 31st annually. It is dedicated to one of Ireland’s most accomplished story writers and theorists and is sponsored by the Munster Literature Centre.</div><div><br></div><b>Word limit: </b>3,000<div><b>Closing date: </b>31st July (midnight)</div><div><b>Entry fee: </b>€19 per story</div><div><br></div><div>The competition is open to original, unpublished and unbroadcast short stories in the English language of 3,000 words or fewer. The story can be on any subject, in any style, by a writer of any nationality, living anywhere in the world. Translated work is not in the scope of this competition. Entrants may submit more than one entry. Once entered, no alterations can be made to the submission. Simultaneous submissions are accepted but please notify us immediately should your work be accepted elsewhere.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div>

Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition

In a social justice initiative, the Munster Literature Centre is offering free entries of two poems each for one hundred poets currently residing in a developing country (Africa, Central and South America, South East Asia, the Philippines, in the main) or in Ireland within the International Protection Accommodation Service who do not have the financial means to pay the entrance fee for this year’s Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Competition. The places are offered on a trust basis. If you can afford the fee, we implore you not to use this facility as you will be depriving someone who really needs it. Only one free entry of two poems per person is allowed. Anyone who submits more than one free entry of two poems will have all their entries disqualified. The entries will go through a preliminary reading process before reaching the judge.
You will need to upload two documents.
Cover letter:
Your name
Titles of your poem(s)
Your complete postal address
Your email address
Your complete phone number (including country code)
Your poems:
maximum of two, each with a maximum of 40 lines (Word / RTF / ODT – we cannot accept PDFs or weblinks such as Google Drive). As the competition is judged anonymously, we request that you do not write your name or personal details anywhere on this document.
No changes to entries can be made after they have been submitted. The Submittable portal is for fees-free entries only. For information on how to make a fees-paid entry and for more info on prizes and entry conditions, please go here: https://munsterlit.ie/odonoghue-competition/

Southword Journal

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Fees-Free Entry for Gregory O'Donoghue International Poetry Competition

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