Best Fiction Literary Magazines in 2026

Print magazine for Fiction,

Founded in 1980, Sonora Review is one of the oldest student-run literary journals in the country. Former staff members include Antonya Nelson, Robert Boswell, Richard Russo, Tony Hoagland, David Foster Wallace, Joshua Marie Wilkinson, Tim Peterson, and Richard Siken. Work originally printed in Sonora Review has appeared in Best of the West and Best American Poetry, and has won O. Henry Awards and Pushcart Prizes.

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Online magazine for Fiction,

Ginosko: A Greek word meaning the recognition of truth from experience.

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Print magazine for Fiction,

The Normal School is a bi-annual print and online journal featuring nonfiction, fiction, poetry, criticism, journalism, author interviews, and multi-media texts. We dig quirky, boundary-challenging, energetic prose and poetry with innovations in content, form, and focus, which isn't actually as high-falutin as it sounds.

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Online magazine for Fiction,

Lightspeed is a digital science fiction and fantasy magazine. In its pages, you will find science fiction: from near-future, sociological soft SF, to far-future, star-spanning hard SF—and fantasy: from epic fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, and contemporary urban tales, to magical realism, science-fantasy, and folktales.

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Print magazine for Fiction,

Harper's Magazine, the oldest general-interest monthly in America, explores the issues that drive our national conversation, through long-form narrative journalism and essays. With its emphasis on fine writing and original thought Harper's provides readers with a unique perspective on politics, society, the environment, and culture. Non-fiction authors must query the magazine before submission.

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Print & Online magazine for Fiction,

For over half a century Shenandoah has been publishing splendid poems, stories, essays and reviews which display passionate understanding, formal accomplishment and serious mischief.

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Online magazine for Fiction,

Based in Central Texas, The Raven Review is a literary magazine that publishes poetry and short fiction that explores the human experience through dark, atmospheric writing. Since 2019, the magazine has been publishing both seasoned and newbie writers with the explicit goal of helping them gain exposure.

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Print magazine for Fiction,

The London Magazine publishes literary writing of the highest quality. We look for original poetry and short fiction that startles and entertains us. Reviews, essays and features should be erudite, lucid and incisive.

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Print magazine for Fiction,

Prairie Schooner, a national literary quarterly published with the support of the English Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska Press, is home to the best fiction, poetry, essays, and reviews being published today by beginning, mid-career, and established writers.

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Print & Online magazine for Fiction,

F(r)iction is a triannual publication that boasts work from both industry legends and emerging writers. Each issue is carefully curated to evaluate an important cultural topic from vastly different perspectives. We accept short fiction, creative nonfiction, flash fiction, comics, and poetry submissions all year round, and also host contests featuring guest judges and cash prizes twice a year (each spring and fall). Every piece published in F(r)iction is also accompanied by custom artwork, making our journal a visual odyssey from cover to cover!

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Print magazine for Fiction,

The Massachusetts Review is one of the nation's leading literary magazines, distinctive in joining the highest level of artistic concern with pressing public issues. As The New York Times observed, "It is amazing that so much significant writing on race and culture appears in one magazine." MR was named one of the top ten literary journals in 2008 by the Boston Globe.

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Online magazine for Fiction,

The mission of the Awakenings is to MAKE VISIBLE the artistic expression of survivors of sexual violence. Awakenings is home to a multi-media art gallery featuring the artistic expressions of rape and sexual abuse survivors. By showcasing stories of survival, we are helping survivors find peace while simultaneously challenging the cultural taboos that prevent an honest discussion of sexual violence.

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Print magazine for Fiction,

The Missouri Review is based at the University of Missouri and publishes four issues each year. Each issue contains new fiction, poetry and essays. We also run author interviews and found-text features where we print never before published works such as a short story by William Faulkner or one of Tennessee Williams' plays.

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Print magazine for Fiction,

Founded in 1948, The Hudson Review is a quarterly magazine of literature and the arts published in New York City. It has a distinguished record of publishing little-known or undiscovered writers, many of whom have become major literary figures. Each issue contains a wide range of material including: poetry, fiction, essays on literary and cultural topics, book reviews, reports from abroad, and chronicles covering film, theatre, dance, music and art.

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Print & Online magazine for Fiction,

Our mission is to publish a magazine of the highest quality for general readers worldwide. As we reflect on our past and look ahead to the future, the goal is to inspire new ways of connecting with the world. Simply put, we think writing should be as comprehensive and far-reaching as twenty-first–century life itself.

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