We are a unique forum for the freshest, most compelling ideas from and about the black world. 

Since its founding in Uganda in 1961, the magazine has kept apace of the rapid transformation of the African Diaspora and has remained a leading forum of intellectual debate.

Journals that have published debut stories later selected for this award honoring exceptional first-time published short story writers.

Lit Mags That Have Published PEN/Robert J. Dau Award Winners

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

Fiction Magazines That Nominate for the Pushcart Prize

Publications with nonfiction in BAE, the premier American essay anthology. These journals consistently publish thought-provoking, beautifully crafted nonfiction defining contemporary essay excellence.

Lit Mags Featured in Best American Essay Anthologies

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

A comprehensive guide to journals that regularly nominate work for the Pushcart Prize.

Literary Magazines That Nominate for the Pushcart Prize

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

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

Nonfiction Magazines That Nominate for the Pushcart Prize

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

Poetry Magazines That Nominate for the Pushcart Prize

Transition Magazine

We publish short stories as well as excerpts from forthcoming novels.  In general, fiction must have some obvious link to the editorial mission of Transition to publish by and about Africa and the African diaspora.  We typically publish fiction of up to 6000 words.

Short Fiction

Please submit 5-7 poems at a time.  We publish poetry from and about Africa and the Diaspora. For non-English-language poetry, we prefer to run the original language version along with its literary translation into English.  Submission of translations should specify whether or not the translator has already secured permission to publish the translation and original.  We rarely publish new translations of poems that are already widely available in English.  In such cases, the submission cover letter must include a compelling argument from the translator on why their version is revelatory.

Poetry

Our ideal length for non-fiction prose is 6000 words.  Although we occasionally publish shorter pieces, we almost never publish longer pieces.  Unlike academic journals, we believe that the mode of expression is just as important as the content. Academic clichés, locutions, and jargon, in addition to authorial intrusions such as “I am going to argue...,” “In the second section of this paper I will...,” etc., are best avoided, since they tend to disrupt the narrative flow.We expect the nonfiction pieces published in Transition to display the virtues of high-quality literary fiction, especially narrative prose, which leads the reader naturally from one sentence to the next. Rich description and attention to voice, tone, imagery, and word choice are all appreciated. We also welcome provocative points of view that stimulate debate.
N.B. As a nonacademic journal, we do not run footnotes or give strict bibliographic documentation for the ideas expressed in our essays. One way to cite quotations or reference scholars is by incorporating the reference into the sentence; for example, “As Edward Said reminds us in Culture and Imperialism, ‘Appeals to the past are among the commonest of strategies in interpretations of the present.’”

Non-Fiction Prose (including Creative Non-Fiction)

We continuously seek new, unpublished work from photographers and artists and look for images that inform, innovate, startle, and speak.Please submit:Five to ten high-resolution (300 dpi) images for which you would grant Transition permission to publishCaption information for submitted images (Title. Materials. Size. Courtesy (if any). Copyright year, artist name.)A short bio (150 words or less) in an MS Word documentContact info, including name, address, email and phoneShould your image(s) be selected to appear in Transition, a member of the staff will contact you to make further arrangements for publication.Although Transition is unable to pay contributors, we provide the opportunity to reach a broad, international audience by including a brief profile on each artist whose work is used to complement our text pieces.Please note that most artwork and photography in Transition appears in black and white, and we can use only high-resolution images (300 dpi). Others will be discarded.

Artwork and Photography

We love to publish interviews by and with scholars, writers, artists, filmmakers, activists—anyone doing something interesting and unique in the black world.  All interviews should be preceded by a short (150-250 words) introduction that incorporates a bio of the interviewee, with the interview following in standard interview format (Q & A). We publish interviews in the 6000 word range.

Interviews

For Transition's upcoming issue, 141, we are soliciting submissions for a special folio on the theme of "Africa and Black Migrants in the Trump Era." Contributions might engage the fallout from USAID’s pullout from the continent, the nature of U.S.–Trump brokered “peace deals,” or broader extractivist activities tied to Trump-era policies. We also welcome reflections on ICE and global and local Black populations, as well as more creative or interdisciplinary approaches—whether through culture, art, or other analytical lenses.  In addition, we are interested in work that broadens the scope of this issue to consider Trump’s convulsive effects on the African diaspora, including his administration’s impact on the African American experience and the brazen, open erasure of African American history.
Given the nature of the folio, we are particularly interested in receiving long-form nonfiction prose. However, we welcome submissions across other genres as well (fiction, poetry, hybrid texts, etc). We typically publish nonfiction between 3000-6000 words.
We will remain open to general submissions outside of this call. Transition is committed to showcasing imaginative and thought-provoking work which is linked to and emerges from African and African diasporic art and experience.

Transition Magazine

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Short Fiction

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