Paperbark Literary Magazine

There are presently no open calls for submissions.

Submission Guidelines

Paperbark lives at the confluence of text and image, science and art. We believe in the obligations of a liveable future nurtured through collaboration across generations and fields of thought. Rooted in stewardship and creative possibility, Paperbark gathers stories of ecologies in crisis—as well as stories of life’s flourishing intricacies.

Please Note: We do not consider work from current graduate students in any program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; however, undergraduates and alumni are welcome to submit.


SUBMISSION WINDOW FOR ISSUE 05: July 30 - October 1, 2023

We accept submissions through Submittable during our reading period only. No late submissions will be considered.

Please use standard fonts and page numbers where applicable. You should also include a brief, third-person biography in the "Cover Letter" section on Submittable, to be featured online upon acceptance.

We aim to respond to all submissions within six weeks. If work must be withdrawn, please do so directly through Submittable.

SUBMIT YOUR WORK


GENRE GUIDELINES

Paperbark only considers work which engages with environmental themes. Please submit to only one category per submission period, unless more work has been specifically requested by an editor

We welcome translated works, so long as the author has given permission for the work to be translated and published. If submitting a translation (either prose or poetry), please note this in the cover letter section, and include a brief biography of the original author (in addition to your own) and indicate that the original author has given permission. 


POETRY

Submit up to 6 poems. Give us your elegies, your experiments, anything lineated (or not).


PROSE

Fiction, creative nonfiction, journalism, and science communication can be submitted under this category. We limit submissions to 5,000 words. Works should be double-spaced. Please only submit sections of a longer work if it stands alone as a piece. If submitting flash pieces (<1000 words), up to three pieces may be submitted at a time.


ART

Visual art and design, video, as well as any other multimedia works can be submitted in this category. Submit up to 6 pieces as filetypes Submittable allows. If selected, we may ask for a higher resolution version. If so inclined, feel free to submit an artist’s statement (<500 words), relating to the piece(s) submitted to be considered for publication alongside the artwork.


QUESTIONS?

Email submissions@paperbarkmag.org with any questions regarding the above. Do not send unsolicited work here—we only read submissions through Submittable.

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Paperbark Literary Magazine