Submissions
Quarterly West opens for our contests in poetry and prose in Fall and for regular submissions in Spring and Summer. We also hold an annual chapbook contest and open regularly for Special Features. Past features have included Extreme Environments, Queer Time & Space, Wilderness, & more.
What We’re Looking For
QW is looking for writing that is: Exciting. Challenging. Risky. Unpredictable. And Different.
We could say what different means, but then we might receive a slew of submissions that are all different in the same way. Different will be victim to form—to the “fragment sentence,” “non-linear plot,” and “hybrid genre.” Different will be beholden to space, time, story, and moment. This does not seem the way to open the door for Different.
We think Different doesn’t open a door, actually. Different doesn’t know doors or windows. Different stomps in. Maybe it seeps in. Sometimes, and in our favorite works, different is always already there and it strikes flint and blazes. This is what we look for.
Send us your work. Seep in. Stomp in. Strike us. Set the familiar voice on fire.
Submission Guidelines
Submissions will remain open until our reading period closes or until we reach a cap of 500 submissions per genre, whichever comes first.
We are happy to accept simultaneous submissions. If your work is accepted elsewhere, we request that you withdraw your submission promptly through Submittable. To withdraw individual poems, please use Submittable’s message system.
Please do not submit more than one entry per genre per submission period. Additional submissions will be declined unread.
No previously published work will be considered.
Quarterly West acquires First North American Serial Rights for the work we publish. All rights revert back to the author upon publication. If your work is later republished, we request you note its initial publication in Quarterly West.
Unfortunately, we are unable to return any print manuscripts sent for online publication. Any manuscripts that are sent to us, even with a SASE, will be recycled.
We ask that former contributors wait at least one year after publication before submitting new work.
Poetry and Prose Contests
Each fall, Quarterly West runs poetry and prose contests. The winners will each receive $500 and publication in a forthcoming issue of Quarterly West. Runners-up in poetry and prose will each receive $200, and all entries will be considered for publication.
Submissions for our 2025 Poetry & Prose Contests will be open from October 15th to November 15th, or until we reach a cap of 500 per genre. There will be no fee to submit for the first week of the contest, after which there will be a submission fee of $5. Submissions for BIPOC writers will remain fee-free for the entire submission period.
To enter, submit up to three poems or one prose piece (i.e. fiction, non-fiction, or any hybridization therein) through Submittable. Please submit no more than one entry per genre.
Chapbook Contest
Every summer, Quarterly West runs an open-genre chapbook contest. Send us poetry, short-fiction, non-fiction, or any combination or hybridization therein, in an 18 - 52 pp. manuscript.
The winning writer receives $1000, publication, and 20 copies. In addition, Quarterly West usually publishes the runner-up and at least one editors’ pick. All published authors receive 20 copies of their chapbook. We look forward to reading your manuscripts.