Submissions

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Submission Reading Periods #

We do not accept AI-generated or AI-assisted text or images.

COMICS are open for consideration by Comics Editor Chris Gavaler.

FICTION submissions (short stories and novel excerpts) will open on September 10 and on January 15 each year.

THE GRAYBEAL-GOWEN PRIZE FOR VIRGINIA POETS will be open for submissions from October 15 to October 31 each year, or until we reach 500 submissions.

POETRY reading periods for the 2026-27 academic year will be announced shortly. Please follow us on social media or subscribe to our newsletter for updates.

CREATIVE NONFICTION will be considered in fall 2026 by our Editorial Fellow in CNF. Please follow us on social media or subscribe to our newsletter for updates.

Our POETRY IN TRANSLATION section is currently being curated and is not open for submissions, though we will consider translated prose during open reading periods for fiction and nonfiction (see above).

THE SHENANDOAH FELLOWSHIP FOR EMERGING EDITORS is not currently open for submissions. Please follow us on social media or subscribe to our newsletter for updates.

What We Look For #

Our editors love writing that stretches their imaginations and ways of thinking, surprises, makes them laugh, moves them, is formally interesting or challenging, defies genre, explores the confusing or uncomfortable, introduces them to new writers, thinks globally, has a distinctive voice, cares about the world, and does not assume white people are literature’s default characters. 

We publish an excerpt from a novel-in-progress during each issue of Shenandoah, with a note from the author about their process and what it’s like to be in the middle of a big project. We know writers at this stage need support, and we would like Shenandoah to be a place where they can get some. These excerpts need not function like a short story. We’ve found the best novel excerpts give some sense of the overall scope of the book and whet the reader’s appetite without leaving us dangling too far off of a cliff.

POETRY submissions are considered by editor Lesley Wheeler. Lesley reads for power, surprise, intelligence, big-heartedness, craftiness, mystery, and risky strangeness.

COMICS, considered by editor Chris Gavaler, can be in black and white or color and should be submitted as PDFs. We define the form broadly and so welcome the widest possible range of visual styles and image–text approaches.

Our poetry TRANSLATIONS are curated by editor Seth Michelson, but we’ll accept submissions of translated prose in their appropriate genre (short story, novel, CNF). They should be accompanied by a cover letter which explains the language you’re translating from and whether you’ve been in contact with the original author. Please include the original text with all translations in your submission.

Full Submission Guidelines#

Shenandoah aims to showcase a wide variety of voices and perspectives in terms of gender identity, race, ethnicity, class, age, ability, nationality, regionality, sexuality, and educational background (MFAs are not necessary here). We love publishing new writers; publishing history is not a prerequisite either. Checking out our current issue is another great way to get a sense of the kind of work we like. All content is freely available on our website.

Some logistics:

  • We’ll only consider one submission per author at a time (no multiple submissions in different genres, please), and will delete multiple submissions without reading them. Please decide what you’d like us to read most, submit that, and wait for a response before submitting additional work.
  • Submitted work should be previously unpublished in English.
  • Work simultaneously submitted elsewhere will be considered, but we ask that you withdraw the work immediately if it is accepted (and congratulations, by the way).
  • Prose submissions should be under 8,000 words.
  • We’ll consider up to three pieces of flash or micro fiction in a single submission.
  • For poetry submissions, please send three to five of the poems you consider your most urgent work, no more than ten pages total.
  • Due to the limited space we have in each issue, we’re asking previous contributors to wait five years before sending us new work. We are thrilled to celebrate our contributors’ successes; please do keep in touch with publications and updates so we can help champion your work in the world!
  • Our submission manager accepts only 800 submissions per month as that is all we can reasonably handle. If submissions are not being accepted during the windows noted, it’s because we’ve already reached 800. We suggest submitting early in the reading period.
  • All submissions should be sent through Submittable. We do not accept submissions by email or mail, with apologies to the U.S. Postal Service. 

We believe your work has incredible value. We pay all of our contributors as much as our budget allows. Payment details will be explained when your work is accepted.

We buy first North American Serial Rights, and rights to the work revert to the author after publication. As a courtesy, we ask writers to note Shenandoah as the first place of publication when the work is anthologized, reprinted, or otherwise made public through another format.