submissions

submissions are closed

have a story you’ve been chewing on? a poem you’ve been mulling? a draft hanging out in the basement, ready to be set free into the world? photography and art that’s ready for a grand entrance? send it to us! abraxas review invites submissions between april 1 - july 1. we love reading work that strikes an intentional, but subtle message—work that haunts us, that keeps us thinking about it after we’ve read it. we seek poetry and prose with arresting emotional impact that’s achieved not by contrived figurative language, but language that surprises while serving a larger purpose. send us your work that is authentic without being performative, that’s experimental without being pretentious, and speaks to the humanity in all of us. challenging genres and pushing boundaries is great fun, but we look for writing that’s inviting and accessible for an everyday reader rather than requiring lengthy explication in order to be understood. get fancy, get weird, have fun—but do it with purpose!

​abraxas review publishes once per year in september. we accept submissions for poetry, narrative nonfiction, short fiction, photography, and art.

submission deadline: july 1, 2024

submissions are closed. check back for open submissions this spring.

theme: dusk

Dusk is the dimming of light, with surroundings still visible but becoming less distinct, as the earth rests into evening. Colors change, the sky burns fiery red, and some creatures bed down as others emerge and begin to croak and sing. There’s a serenity to dusk, an anticipation of the change it brings. Even as it grows darker, dusk brings the hope of morning.

Issue 2 will include works inspired by dusk—whether in poems, essays, stories, and art that take place during literal dusk or that deal with the liminal, the emerging, the afterglow, or themes of uncertainty.

See submission requirements in the menu below.

submission types & format

  • Submit 2-4 poems in a single document file (.doc, .docx, or .pdf).

    Begin each poem on a new page.

    Poems should be single-spaced, or how they should appear on the page.

  • Submit 1-2 pieces of short creative nonfiction in a single document file (.doc, .docx, or .pdf).

    Begin each piece on a new page.

    Double-space your manuscript, or how it should appear on the page.

    Each piece should not be longer than 2,000 words in length.

    We do consider both micro fiction and micro creative-nonfiction (100-500 words). ​

  • Submit up to 10 images of photography or artwork (painting, drawing, letterpress, or relief printing).

    We prefer JPG and PNG file types.

    Please send the highest resolution possible for your work.

    If your work is accepted, we may ask you to send us a higher-resolution image for publication.

  • We accept submissions via email only. We currently accept submissions here: abraxaslit@gmail.com

    Subject line: In the subject line, please include AUTHOR'S LAST NAME: GENRE (Example - Smith: Poetry).

    Body of email: Please include a short bio (100 words or so) in the body of your email written in the third person.

    Please include a word count for all prose submissions.

    Please do not paste any prose submissions into the body of your email.

    All submissions should be attached as .doc or .docx only please. PDFs and Google docs will not be read.

  • Feel free to submit to multiple genres (but only once per genre per submission period).

    If previously published in Abraxas Review, please do not submit to the issue immediately following the one you were published in. For example, if you are published in Issue 1, please wait until Issue 3 to submit again.

    Please wait until you've heard from us regarding a submission before submitting additional work. We accept simultaneous submissions and ask that you notify us promptly if your work is accepted elsewhere (just send us an email in reply to your original submission email). We will consider only work that has not been published in print or appeared online previously in English.

abraxas review is an independent, online publication run by volunteers who love literature and art.

abraxas review is free for all to read, has no submission fee, and is currently a non-paying journal. 

abraxas review holds exclusive first serial rights in english to publish your work in our literary journal in print, online, and/or electronic versions, as well as promotional, nonexclusive anthology and archival rights. all applicable rights revert back to you following publication, and at all times you retain the copyright to your work.

ISSN 2997-2515