80 Regional and Local Lit Mags to Submit to and 5 Prompts to Get You Started
Sub Club Specials (6.19.25) | Write where you are!
In the course of picking magazines for any list, I end up stumbling upon lots of gems that don't fit the theme, but that I feel bad not bookmarking because they're too cool. (Yes, I feel guilty for lit mags when I don't bookmark them—take it up with my therapist.)
Anyway, I have 29 bookmark lists. But the theme of my baby—the bookmarks list to end all bookmarks lists—is “Specific Place.” For months, I've been collecting magazines here and there, like a greedy lit mag bird. And now, having found 80-something magazines, my beautiful nest is ready and I can… lay an egg? Yikes.
Ahem. Moving on.
Every magazine on today’s list is focused on publishing writers from a specific part of the world, whether it’s a country, region, or city. I have done my best to find magazines that represent as many different places as possible—we have quite a few international magazines featured—but there is a definite focus on regions within the United States. I have also made a lot of judgment calls about what is too big a place to be considered regional or local. And then I worried that people would feel left out.
All that to say, I made a few extra lists on Chill Subs for some bigger regions and the magazines that are more focused on broad diasporas than local writers. If you don't find a magazine for where you live on this list, one of these links might help you out.
→ South Asian, Middle Eastern, and North African Magazines
I also have five prompts for you. This time, they're a little broader so they can be adapted to different genres. But all of them will invite you to use your local area as inspiration and fuel for your writing. Good luck!
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1. Soundscapes
Sound deeply impacts how we experience our sense of place. What are the sounds of your area? What sounds of nature do you hear when you go outside—animals, water, or wind? What human-created noise? You might include written language in your environment, which could be its own type of sound. Or think about if and how the sound of your environment has changed over a specific period of time—hours or days, weeks or years.
2. People from Here
Regardless of whether you live in a particularly well-known place, you probably have some ideas about the types of people you share a local world with. For example, the other day I saw a very beautiful and well-coiffed man carrying a full—but so chic that I assumed it was a fashion statement—laundry bag down the street in Chinatown. I felt very strongly that he was a particular type of New Yorker.
Consider the “types” you encounter in your local world, particularly the ones that you don't relate to. Now, in an imaginative effort, create a character that includes both what you can see from a distance and what you aren't seeing. What conflict can you create in the tension between your real-life perception and the imagined reality?
3. Memory Lane
Walk, bike, drive, roller skate, or otherwise explore an undiscovered route through your area, or imagine a route that you know well from your past. Note both how the route unfolds: which turns you take, which landmarks you notice, and which details jump out to you.
For fiction, give a fictional character that real-world route, and narrate it like a tour guide, but in the character’s voice. What history do they have with this place? What memories does it conjure for them?
For nonfiction, think back on your own experiences as you explored or rediscovered this route. Can you pull out a theme or find any interesting contrasts? Use the physical experience of the route to create dimensions in your writing as you survey those memories.
4. Local Holidays
What are the moments when you feel the most commonality with the people in your local area? Maybe it's a seasonal happening, like the first sunny weekend after winter, when suddenly every park becomes a patchwork of picnic blankets. Or perhaps it's something unexpected happening: something unforeseen that pulls your attention back to the here and now.
Write about one of these moments of local collective experience: an essay, a calendar, or an almanac.
5. Land
Most of these prompts have been more focused on local culture, but this one's simple. What has occurred on this land, literally? How has it changed and been formed? Who has been here? What horrors and joys has it held? Tell that story.
This week, we’ve got →
5 Mags from the Southern US
17 Mags from the Western US
11 Mags from Appalachia and Adjacent
11 Mags from the Midwest, Great Lakes, and Rust Belt (US & Canada)
9 Mags from the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern US
3 Mags from Florida and the Caribbean
2 Mags from the Mediterranean
2 Mags from Singapore
1 Mag from Hong Kong
6 Mags from New Zealand
8 Mags from Ireland and the UK
5 Mags from Africa
US: The South
Five broadly Southern magazines →
storySouth → Deadline: Jul 15 | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 180 days | A: 7.14% | 2K+ followers | United States | 2001 — "storySouth’s most important mission is to showcase the best fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry that writers from the new south have to offer. Special emphasis is given to finding and promoting the works of promising new writers."
Susurrus → Deadline: Jul 15 | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Nonfiction, Poetry, Fiction, Multimedia | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | R: 30 days | A: 20.22% | 3K+ followers | United States | 2021 — "An online literary arts magazine for artists from the American South"
Salvation South | Fee: No | Pay: Yes | Open for Multimedia, Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 90 days | A: 20% | 1.5K+ followers | United States | 2021 — "A weekly web magazine that covers issues facing the American South and the unique culture of the region, in the hopes of building a community where civil conversation can happen."
Deep South Magazine → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 20K+ followers | United States — "An online magazine covering life in the Deep South."
Arkansas Review | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Poetry, Nonfiction, Multimedia, Fiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 360 days | Under 100 followers | United States | 1998 — "A Journal of Delta Studies focuses on the seven states of the Mississippi River Delta, from St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico. We publish creative material—fiction, poetry, essays, and visual art—that evokes or responds to the Delta cultural and natural experience."
US: The West
Magazines from Arizona, Texas, California, Washington, Hawai’i, South Dakota, Alaska, and more →
Hydration | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Poetry, Multimedia | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | R: 14 days | A: 75% | 100+ followers | United States | 2024 — "Hydration is a literary magazine focused on uplifting local Arizona artists, especially underrepresented ones. Just like drinking water, experiencing art should be a daily ritual we are happy to contribute to."
Infrarrealista Review → Deadline: Oct 31 | Fee: No | Pay: Yes | Open for Nonfiction, Fiction, Multimedia, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 1K+ followers | United States | 2019 — "A Texas-based literary journal + press"
Big Sky Journal | Fee: No | Pay: Yes | Open for Fiction, Multimedia, Nonfiction, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 90 days | 35K+ followers | United States | 2000 — "a high-end, general interest magazine that captures the full range of culture and lifestyle in the Northern Rockies"
Weber — The Contemporary West | Fee: No | Pay: Yes | Open for Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 84 days | Under 100 followers | United States | 1984 — "An international, peer-reviewed journal."
Saddlebag Dispatches | Theme: Cochise County → Deadline: Aug 1 | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 60 days | 200+ followers | United States | 2014 — "If you like stories of the West, you’ve come to the right place. In addition to fiction, we publish the best nonfiction about the West as well as poetry, interviews, and…well, pretty much anything to do with the West. "
Big Bend Literary Magazine → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Nonfiction, Multimedia, Poetry, Fiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | Under 100 followers | United States | 2021 — "Big Bend Literary Magazine's mission is to support the artistic community of the Big Bend region by showcasing the work of creators inspired by its local nature, beauty, and culture."
Oakwood Magazine | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Multimedia, Poetry, Nonfiction, Fiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | Under 100 followers | United States | 1975 — "Oakwood is the literary and arts annual of South Dakota State University, publishing the work of writers and artists of the Northern Great Plains region since 1975."
Angel City Review | Fee: No | Pay: Yes (varies) | Open for Multimedia, Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry | ✖️ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | Under 100 followers | United States | 2014 — "An outlet for new and emerging authors with an emphasis on writers based in Los Angeles. "
Mobile Data Mag | Fee: No | Pay: Yes | Open for Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | Under 100 followers — "A collection of poetry and prose, particularly from authors who are born and raised in California, including writers born outside this West Coast state who have made the Golden State home. Authors from all over the globe are welcome too. "
Reforestation Magazine → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: $30 | Publishes Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 28 days | Under 100 followers | United States — "A literary publication dedicated to the celebration of urban nature in Los Angeles"
San Joaquin Review → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, Multimedia | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 60 days | A: 50% | 700+ followers | United States — "The San Joaquin Review is a student-run literary journal out of Fresno State University. We seek to publish works for other Fresno State students and central valley authors."
Bamboo Ridge: Journal of Hawai'i Literature & Arts → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Multimedia, Fiction, Nonfiction, Hybrid, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | Under 100 followers | United States | 1978 — "Bamboo Ridge Press was founded in 1978 to publish literature by, for, and about Hawaiʻi’s people."
Alaska Women Speak → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Nonfiction, Multimedia, Fiction, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 2K+ followers | United States | 2019 — "Alaska women have stories to tell. Alaska Women Speak is the journal devoted to their expression of ideas, literature and art."
Cirque Journal | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Multimedia, Nonfiction, Poetry, Fiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 90 days | Under 100 followers | United States | 2008 — "Cirque, published in Anchorage, Alaska, is a regional journal created to share the best writing in the region with the rest of the world. Cirque was founded in 2009. This regional literary journal invites emerging and established writers living in the North Pacific Rim."
Creative Colloquy | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 2K+ followers | United States | 2014 — "Creative Colloquy strives to highlight the South Sound literary community and build relationships based on mutual admiration of the written word."
Buckmxn Journal → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: $300 | Publishes Fiction, Multimedia, Nonfiction, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | 4K+ followers | United States | 2018 — "Buckmxn Journal is an art and literature anthology, published twice a year, featuring the Pacific Northwest’s finest talent. "
Moss → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: Yes | Publishes Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 240 days | 2K+ followers | United States | 2014 — "A literary journal of writing from the Pacific Northwest. Published annually, Moss is dedicated to exploring the intersection of place and creative expression, while exposing the region’s outstanding writers to a broad audience of readers, critics, and publishers."
US: Appalachia and Adjacent
Magazines from Kentucky and the Carolinas, plus five broadly Appalachian magazines →
Pegasus → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 1.5K+ followers | United States | 2017 — "To inspire, encourage, and develop Kentucky's poets."
North Carolina Literary Review → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: $25–$250 | Publishes Nonfiction, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 8K+ followers | United States | 1992 — "We publish North Carolinian voices, North Carolinian stories, and North Carolinian lives"
Atlantis Creative Magazine → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Nonfiction, Poetry, Multimedia, Fiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | R: 90 days | A: 10% | 1K+ followers | United States | 2011 — "Atlantis is a student-run publication. We publish North Carolina students."
North Carolina Literary Review | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 90 days | 500+ followers | United States | 1992 — "Since 1992, the North Carolina Literary Review has been dedicated to the rich literary history and culture of NC."
Poetry in Plain Sight → Closed | Fee: Yes | Pay: No | Publishes Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | Under 100 followers | United States | 2013 — "Brings North Carolina poetry and poets to the public eye."
Carolina Muse Literary & Arts Magazine → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Multimedia | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 28 days | Under 100 followers | United States | 2020 — "Carolina Muse is a tri-annual multimedia literary & arts magazine featuring young adult creators who have ever called North Carolina or South Carolina their home. poetry | art | dance | stories & scripts | music"
Northern Appalachia Review → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 45 days | 200+ followers | United States | 2020 — "A publication that seeks to represent writers from, living in, or writing about Northern Appalachia"
Appalachian Places → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Multimedia, Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 1K+ followers | United States — "A nonprofit publication dedicated to telling the stories of people and places in the Appalachian mountains and other highland regions."
Floyd County Moonshine | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction, Multimedia | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | Under 100 followers | United States | 2008 — "The mission of Floyd County Moonshine is to publish thought-provoking, well-crafted, free-thinking, uncensored prose and poetry."
AvantAppal(achia) → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Fiction, Poetry, Multimedia | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | Under 100 followers | United States | 2016 — "Our goal is to bring the world to Appalachia and Appalachia to the world, break stereotypes and boundaries, and find out what poetry, short story, and art can do in the 21st century. We are artists: the rules do not apply."
Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel Literary Journal → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Fiction, Multimedia, Nonfiction, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | Under 100 followers | United States | 1984 — "An annual themed literary journal. Through Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, the Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative continues its original mission to foster community and activism among and encourage publication of Appalachia’s writers."
US: The Midwest, Great Lakes, and Rust Belt
There are so many regional magazines about the Midwest! And a couple of Canadian ones too, for good measure →
Flying Island Online Literary Journal | Fee: $2 | Pay: No | Open for Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 300+ followers | United States | 2014 — "Flying Island is the Online Literary Journal of the Indiana Writers Center, accepting submissions from Midwest residents and those with significant ties to the Midwest."
Midwest Weird | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Fiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | Under 100 followers | United States | 2023 — "Midwest Weird is an audio literary magazine featuring weird fiction and nonfiction by Midwestern writers."
Barstow & Grand → Closed | Fee: $3 | Pay: No | Publishes Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 180 days | 900+ followers | United States | 2017 — "Barstow & Grand is an annual print journal, published in the fall, that highlights writers connected to western Wisconsin's Chippewa Valley and the Upper Midwest, USA."
Portage Magazine → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Poetry, Multimedia, Nonfiction, Fiction, Hybrid | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 90 days | 100+ followers | United States | 2014 — "Portage Magazine is run and edited by undergraduate students at Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Portage publishes literary writing, art, music, film, and cultural commentary from the upper Midwest."
Midwest Review → Closed | Fee: Yes | Pay: No | Publishes Nonfiction, Poetry, Fiction, Multimedia | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 180 days | A: 6% | 900+ followers | United States | 2012 — "An annual literary magazine that features work by writers, photographers, and artists who have a connection to the Midwest."
Peninsula Arts Magazine → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction, Hybrid, Multimedia | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | R: 60 days | A: 60% | Under 100 followers | United States | 2023 — "Publishing literary and visual arts focused on themes of Michigan's nature, the outdoors, and the environment. Print and online."
After Hours | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Fiction, Poetry, Multimedia | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 120 days | A: 38.46% | Under 100 followers | United States | 2000 — "After Hours is a semi-annual literary magazine publishing poetry, fiction, art, and photography from Chicago-area writers and artists."
Belt Magazine → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: Yes | Publishes Multimedia, Poetry, Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 10K+ followers | United States | 2013 — "for writers with a connection to the Rust Belt, its histories, and its futures. a focus on environmental / climate justice."
The Electric Rail → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Fiction, Poetry, Multimedia | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | 900+ followers | United States | 2018 — "At The Electric Rail, we celebrate America’s Rust Belt cities and towns, and we look for poetry and fiction that shares our love of these places."
Great Lakes Review → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Multimedia, Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 1K+ followers | United States | 2013 — "Great Lakes Review publishes fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and photography from and about the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, both in print annually and on a rolling basis digitally."
flo. → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: Yes (varies) | Publishes Nonfiction, Poetry, Fiction, Multimedia, Hybrid | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 300+ followers | Canada | 2021 — "flo. is dedicated to publishing short stories, creative non-fiction, and poetry by writers in the Ottawa-Gatineau area."
US: Mid-Atlantic & Northeast
Mags based in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware →
Artists from Maryland | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Poetry, Fiction, Multimedia, Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | R: 30 days | A: 21% | Under 100 followers | United States | 2024 — "Artists from Maryland is an archive dedicated to sharing Maryland artists' voices through all genres of writing and art."
Dreamstreets Magazine | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Nonfiction, Poetry, Multimedia, Fiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | R: 180 days | Under 100 followers | United States | 1977 — "Since 1977, the Dreamstreets project has showcased progressive artists, photographers, and writers of the Delaware Valley. "
Provincetown Arts Magazine → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | 500+ followers | United States | 1985 — "Provincetown Arts focuses broadly on artists, performers, and writers who inhabit or visit the tip of Cape Cod, and seeks to stimulate creative activity and enhance public awareness of the cultural life of the nation’s oldest continuous artists colony."
Bloodroot Literary Magazine → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes | ✖️ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | Under 100 followers | United States — "founded as a print literary journal for the Upper Valley region of New Hampshire and Vermont by “Do” Roberts and Deloris Netzband, Bloodroot Literary Magazine was revived digitally"
Stone Canoe → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction, Multimedia | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 180 days | Under 100 followers | United States | 2007 — "A journal of arts and ideas from Upstate New York, was founded at Syracuse University's University College, and is now published by The YMCA's Downtown Writers Center, at the Arts Branch of the YMCA of Greater Syracuse. The annual publication appears each February."
No, Dear → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 3K+ followers | United States | 2008 — "No, Dear publishes new work by NYC poets, emerging and established, in collaboration with Small Anchor Press."
Three Decker → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | 1.5K+ followers | United States | 2025 — "Three Decker is a bi-annual literary journal for poets and writers living, working, or attending school in Worcester, MA."
Bluff & Vine: a literary review → Deadline: Jul 31 | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Multimedia, Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 500+ followers | United States | 2017 — "Bluff & Vine is a literary review featuring work created in and around Keuka Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York State."
Philadelphia Stories → Deadline: Sep 1 | Fee: No | Pay: Per piece: $0 - $25 | Open for Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry, Multimedia | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 240 days | A: 4.44% | 2K+ followers | United States | 2004 — "Co-founders Carla Spataro and Christine Weiser began Philadelphia Stories to build a Philadelphia-based community of writers, artists, and readers through the free magazine and affordable educational programs and events."
US: Florida and the Caribbean
These mags are all about publishing Caribbean writers (and, in one case, Floridian folklore) →
The Dominican Writers Association | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Poetry, Nonfiction, Fiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 25K+ followers | United States | 2015 — "They are committed to nurturing and promoting the works of Dominican writers."
Moko Magazine | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Nonfiction, Multimedia, Fiction, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 270 days | Under 100 followers | Trinidad & Tobago | 2013 — "a non-profit online journal that publishes fiction, poetry, visual arts, and essays that reflect a Caribbean heritage or experience"
Islandia Journal → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: Yes (varies) | Publishes Multimedia, Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | Under 100 followers | United States | 2021 — "visual art and writing which deal with the themes of myth, folklore, ecology, history, paranormal activity, and cryptozoology as they pertain to Florida & the Caribbean"
International: The Mediterranean
Two magazines on the wine dark sea →
Mediterranean Poetry | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | Under 100 followers | Sweden | 2007 — "an odyssey through the mediterranean world"
Open Doors Review | Fee: €3 | Pay: No | Open for Fiction, Poetry, Multimedia, Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | Under 100 followers | Italy — "a seasonally published literary & arts magazine in Italy."
International: Singapore
Something old and something new for Singaporean writers →
Quarterly Literary Review Singapore (QLRS) | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction | ✖️ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 60 days | Under 100 followers | Singapore | 2001 — "Our mission is to promote the literary arts in Singapore, to stimulate the feedback mechanisms in the literary scene, and to develop Singaporean writers to international standards. Our standards are therefore high, and our paradigms are the TLSes and LRBs of this world. "
Kopi Break | Fee: No | Pay: Per piece: S$10 | Open for Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 14 days | A: 10% | 200+ followers | Singapore | 2023 — "New Singapore poetry for your Friday kopi break."
International: Hong Kong
It's just the one magazine, but it comes with a community →
The Apostrophe | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry, Hybrid, Multimedia | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | R: 60 days | A: 15% | Under 100 followers | Hong Kong SAR China | 2023 — "A quarterly publication of the Hong Kong Writers Circle"
International: New Zealand
So many of these magazines pay! Get after it, New Zealanders →
takahē | Fee: No | Pay: Yes | Open for Poetry, Nonfiction, Multimedia, Fiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 81 days | A: 4.35% | 1K+ followers | New Zealand | 1989 — "Bringing literature and art from Aotearoa New Zealand to the world."
Tarot Poetry Journal | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Poetry, Multimedia | ✖️ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 90 days | A: 60% | Under 100 followers | New Zealand | 2020 — "A free-to-access digital poetry journal for Aotearoa."
Flash Frontier | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Multimedia, Fiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 120 days | 1.5K+ followers | New Zealand | 2012 — "New Zealand's flash fiction and competition site. Building a community of writers from all over Aotearoa. "
Headland: Literary frontiers & emerging voices → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: Per piece: NZ$50 | Publishes Fiction, Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | Under 100 followers | New Zealand | 2014 — "an online publication featuring the best short stories and creative nonfiction from Aotearoa New Zealand and around the world"
Landfall → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: Yes | Publishes Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 180 days | Under 100 followers | New Zealand — "New Zealand's foremost and longest-running arts and literary journal. It showcases new fiction and poetry, as well as biographical and critical essays, and cultural commentary."
Starling → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: Yes | Publishes Nonfiction, Poetry, Fiction | ✖️ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 180 days | 2K+ followers | New Zealand — "An online literary journal showcasing the best poetry and prose from New Zealand writers under 25 years old."
International: Ireland and the UK
Including British, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh magazines →
HOWL: New Irish Writing → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 3K+ followers | Ireland | 2022 — "a literary platform showcasing the creative wail in Irish writing from around the world"
Abergavenny Small Press Literary Journal → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Fiction, Multimedia, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 45 days | Under 100 followers | United Kingdom — "Abergavenny Small Press is a new publishing agency that focuses on local authors, poets and artists. We will be publishing an online quarterly magazine to promote and market the vast talent that abounds in South Wales and further afield within Wales."
Nawr → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Multimedia, Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | R: 7 days | 2K+ followers | United Kingdom | 2020 — "We're a tri-annual magazine supporting Welsh and Wales-based writers and artists. We specialise in art, literature and philosophy. Our issues are themed and we love creative and outside the box ideas."
New Writing Scotland → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: Yes | Publishes Fiction, Multimedia, Poetry, Nonfiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 163 days | A: 13.91% | Under 100 followers | United Kingdom | 1982 — "New Writing Scotland is an annual volume publishing poetry and prose from both emerging and established writers. Every piece appears here in print for the first time, and has been drawn from a wide cross-section of Scottish culture and society. "
Northern Gravy → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: £100 | Publishes Poetry, Fiction | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 14 days | A: 3.08% | 2K+ followers | United Kingdom | 2020 — "Fresh, online periodical from the North of England, dished up quarterly with lashings of rich, new talent. A paying market featuring fiction, kidlit, and poetry from UK and Ireland based writers. "
Northwords Now → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: Yes | Publishes Poetry, Fiction | ✖️ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 1.5K+ followers | United Kingdom | 2005 — "Writing from people living in or inspired by the Highlands and Islands is given prominence, but we also feature material linked to the wider north. That includes both other parts of Scotland and places around the northern world."
Extra Teeth Magazine | Fee: Yes | Pay: Yes (varies) | Open for Fiction, Nonfiction, Multimedia | ✖️ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 70 days | A: 6.67% | 9K+ followers | United Kingdom | 2019 — "Based between Edinburgh and Glasgow, we want Extra Teeth to provide space for a whole host of writers from and working in Scotland, fostering a community based on great writing alongside design."
Gutter Magazine | Fee: No | Pay: Yes | Publishes Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction | ✖️ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 180 days | A: 6.90% | 7K+ followers | United Kingdom — "An award-winning, high quality, printed journal for fiction and poetry from writers born or living in Scotland and featuring literature from around the world."
International: Africa
Magazines based in Nigeria, Namibia, Cameroon, South Africa, and more →
Kikwetu: A Journal of East African Literature → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 120 days | 600+ followers | Kenya | 2015 — "An annual online literary journal that publishes both new and established writers from East Africa and beyond in English and Swahili."
POETRY COLUMN-NND → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: Per piece: ₦5000 | Publishes Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | R: 7 days | 2K+ followers | Nigeria | 2020 — "Weekly Poetry Column of Nigerian NewsDirect. Open only to Nigerian Poets. "
Doek! Literary Magazine → Deadline: Sep 30 | Fee: No | Pay: No | Open for Nonfiction, Multimedia, Fiction, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 3K+ followers | Namibia | 2019 — "A literary magazine from Namibia publishing fiction + nonfiction + poetry + visual art from Namibia + Africa + and the African diaspora. "
Bakwa Magazine → Closed | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Nonfiction, Fiction, Multimedia, Poetry | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ✖️ Reprints | 5K+ followers | Cameroon | 2011 — "Founded in the last quarter of 2011, Bakwa is a literary magazine where urgent and intelligent discussions on the state and direction of literary and cultural production can take place."
KUDU | Fee: No | Pay: No | Publishes Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry, Multimedia | ☑︎ Sim Subs | ☑︎ Some Reprints | R: 28 days | Under 100 followers | South Africa | 2024 — "KUDU is an online biannual literary journal of South African writing."