Fiction – Spring 2027

We are now paying for publication! If your story is selected for publication for the Spring 2027 issue, you will be contacted through the email you have provided to set up payment. Published stories will receive a one-time payment of $40 USD.

American Literary Review seeks distinctive, character-driven stories. We generally avoid novel excerpts unless they can stand alone as stories. Check out our previously published work to get a sense of what we are looking for: Spring 2026 – American Literary Review

Please note: the fiction submission portal will close if we receive 300 submissions before the reading period ends.

Fiction Submission Guidelines

• Submit only one story at a time. 
• Submissions should be under 6,000 words. 
• Submissions must be double-spaced.
•  Include a cover letter with the author's name, address, phone number, email, and the story's word count.

Additional guidelines and expectations for submission with ALR

• Submission must be previously unpublished. Including online publication and “revised” or altered versions.
• Submissions of work created in part or in whole with generative A.I. or LLMs are not accepted. 
• Anyone who is or was associated with the University of North Texas in the last three years is ineligible to submit.
• Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please withdraw your work immediately if your piece is accepted elsewhere.
• We are unable to leave feedback on submissions. 
• We do not consider edits once a piece has been submitted, so please send only finished pieces.

Essay– Spring 2027

We are now paying for publication! If your story is selected for publication for the Spring 2027 issue, you will be contacted through the email you have provided to set up payment. Published stories will receive a one-time payment of $40 USD.

We welcome creative nonfiction essays in all forms, including flash, and we are interested in both traditional personal essays and those that push the boundaries of the genre.  Check out our previously published work to get a sense of what we are looking for: Spring 2026 – American Literary Review

Please note: the essay submission portal will close if we receive 300 submissions before the reading period ends.

Essay Submission Guidelines

• Submit only one story at a time. 
• Submissions should be under 6,000 words. 
• Submissions must be double-spaced.
•  Include a cover letter with the author's name, address, phone number, email, and the story's word count.

Additional guidelines and expectations for submission with ALR

• Submission must be previously unpublished. Including online publication and “revised” or altered versions.
• Submissions of work created in part or in whole with generative A.I. or LLMs are not accepted. 
• Anyone who is or was associated with the University of North Texas in the last three years is ineligible to submit.
• Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please withdraw your work immediately if your piece is accepted elsewhere.
• We are unable to leave feedback on submissions. 
• We do not consider edits once a piece has been submitted, so please send only finished pieces.

Poetry– Spring 2027

We are now paying for publication! If your story is selected for publication for the Spring 2027 issue, you will be contacted through the email you have provided to set up payment. Published stories will receive a one-time payment of $15 USD.

Poetry submissions are reviewed by a widely read group with eclectic tastes who look for the best poems, regardless of form or subject matter.  Check out our previously published work to get a sense of what we are looking for: Spring 2026 – American Literary Review

Please note: the poetry submission portal will close if we receive 300 submissions before the reading period ends.

Poetry Submission Guidelines

• Submit no more than five poems. 
• Submissions must be single-spaced. 
•  Include a cover letter with the author's name, address, phone number, email, and the poem titles.

Additional guidelines and expectations for submission with ALR

• Submission must be previously unpublished. Including online publication and “revised” or altered versions.
• Submissions of work created in part or in whole with generative A.I. or LLMs are not accepted. 
• Anyone who is or was associated with the University of North Texas in the last three years is ineligible to submit.
• Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please withdraw your work immediately if your piece is accepted elsewhere.
• We are unable to leave feedback on submissions. 
• We do not consider edits once a piece has been submitted, so please send only finished pieces.

Flash Flood Contest

Tired of waiting months to hear back about a submission? Our Flash Flood contest is open for submissions on a rolling basis from the 1st to the 15th of each month (excluding December, January, May, June, July, and August).

We accept flash fiction, flash nonfiction, and prose poetry under 1000 words. At the end of each two-week submission window, we’ll read your submissions and decide on a winner by the following week! The winning story will be published on our website shortly after acceptance.

Flash Flood is the place for stories, essays, and poems that use economy of form to express the possibility in the unstated. We’re interested in stories that feel like they use the form’s compression to elevate the narrative. For poetry, the lyric is important: a prose poem should not have dead music just because it has bucked its lines. What is the relationship between shortforms and parable or figuration? What is said and how is what is left unsaid greater? Flash Flood is also a place to highlight pieces which embrace the hybridity of these forms—where does a prose poem end and a flash essay begin?

Flash Flood Submission Guidelines

• Flash Flood submissions can be sent to us through our online submission manager for a fee of $2. 
• Submissions should include one piece of flash fiction, flash nonfiction, or prose poetry. Submissions containing more than one piece will not be read.
• Submission length should be under 1000 words.

Additional guidelines and expectations for submission with ALR

• Submission must be previously unpublished. Including online publication and “revised” or altered versions of stories, poems, or essays.
• Submissions of work created in part or in whole with generative A.I. or LLMs are not accepted. 
• Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please withdraw your work immediately if your piece is accepted elsewhere.
• We are unable to leave feedback on submissions. 
• We do not consider edits once a piece has been submitted, so please send only finished pieces.
• We do not accept submissions via email or via postal mail, except from incarcerated writers or others who do not have internet access. 
• Anyone who is or was associated with the University of North Texas in the last three years is ineligible to submit.

Check out some of our previous winners for examples of what we’re looking for:

• “Harbinger” by Tolu Ogunlesi
• “Zari” by Shruti Goel
• “Aunt Lou” by Miriam McEwa

Art

We are looking for art to feature on the title page and on the pages for each genre (Essay, Fiction, and Poetry) in the Spring 2027 issue of our online literary journal. 

We prefer cohesive sets of art with shared themes and/or media. We are more likely to publish work accompanied by a detailed artist statement that discusses the relationship between the work's subjects, themes, and craft. We are much less likely to publish submissions of fewer than 5 pieces. We do not typically publish cartoons or comics. 

We recommend viewing artwork from previous issues to get an idea of what we publish: Issues – American Literary Review

Art Submission Guidelines

•  Include 5-10 images in a standard web-readable format (we prefer JPEG).
• Each piece should have a title that is reflected in the file name. 
• Include a cover letter with the artist name, address, phone number, email, and the art titles.
• Include an artist statement. 

Additional guidelines and expectations for submission with ALR

• Submission must be previously unpublished. Including online publication and “revised” or altered versions.
• Submissions of work created in part or in whole with generative A.I. or LLMs are not accepted. 
• Anyone who is or was associated with the University of North Texas in the last three years is ineligible to submit.
• Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please withdraw your work immediately if your piece is accepted elsewhere.
• We are unable to leave feedback on submissions. 
• We do not consider edits once a piece has been submitted, so please send only finished pieces.