Best Fiction Literary Magazines in 2026

Print magazine for Fiction,

Ploughshares has published quality literature since 1971. Best known for our award-winning Ploughshares literary journal, we also publish Ploughshares Solos (digital-first long stories and essays) and a lively literary blog. Since 1989, we have been based at Emerson College in downtown Boston.

Submission guidelines →

Print & Online magazine for Fiction,

From its earliest days in 1977 under the editorial direction of Isaac Asimov, Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine has maintained the tradition of publishing the best stories, unsurpassed in modern science fiction, from award-winning authors and first-time writers alike.

Submission guidelines →

Print magazine for Fiction,

Since 1946, Chicago Review has published a range of contemporary poetry, fiction, and criticism.

Submission guidelines →

Online magazine for Fiction,

State of Matter is on a quest to define what Speculative Fiction means from a South Asian perspective. We publish fiction and poetry from international authors, with a keen eye for South Asian writing.

Submission guidelines →

Online magazine for Fiction,

Outlander is a digital zine and online platform that celebrates the awkward, the eccentric, and the weirdly beautiful. While its website is always open for submission, it also releases four themed issues throughout the year. Outlander is additionally home to THE LAB, an interview platform that amplifies the voices of upcoming creators.

Submission guidelines →

Print magazine for Fiction,

The Pinch was founded in 1980 as the Memphis State Review by William Page. In its first few years, the journal published such well-known writers as Robert Bly, Phillip Levine, Mary Oliver, Robert Penn Warren, and Margaret Atwood.

Submission guidelines →

Online magazine for Fiction,

Illuminations of the Fantastic is a monthly online magazine that encompasses works of Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, Adventure, Mystery, Poetry, History, Travelogue, Essay, and Review.

Submission guidelines →

Print magazine for Fiction,

From its inception in prohibition, through depression and war, in prosperity and peace, the Virginia Quarterly Review has been a haven for the best essayists, fiction writers, and poets, seeking contributors from every section of the United States and abroad. It has not limited itself to any special field. No topic has been alien: literary, public affairs, the arts, history, the economy. If it could be approached through essay or discussion, poetry or prose, VQR has covered it.

Submission guidelines →

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.

Submission guidelines →

Print & Online magazine for Fiction,

Flora Fiction is a collective of creative muses and inspiration. From original writing to reviews in music and entertainment, there’s always something to be discovered.

Submission guidelines →

Print magazine for Fiction,

Ninth Letter is a collaborative arts and literary project produced by the Creative Writing Program and School of Art & Design at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Edited and designed by faculty and students as part of the core curricula of both programs, the journal's mission is to present original literary writing of exceptional quality, illuminated by cutting-edge graphic design.

Submission guidelines →

Print magazine for Fiction,

CONSEQUENCE is an international literary magazine published annually, focusing on the culture and consequences of war. We are an independent, non-profit magazine, and charitable organization.

Submission guidelines →

Print magazine for Fiction,

Pleiades is a literary biannual featuring poetry, fiction, essays, and reviews by authors from around the world. Past contributors include winners of the Nobel, Ruth Lilly, Pulitzer, Bollingen, Prix de la Libert̩, and Neustadt Prizes, recipients of Guggenheim, Whiting, National Book Critics Circle and National Book Awards, and many writers seeing their work in print for the first time.

Submission guidelines →

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.

Submission guidelines →

Print magazine for Fiction,

Nimrod International Journal, founded in 1956 at The University of Tulsa, has been active in the discovery and publication of new writers for more than 60 years. Nimrod has also encouraged and rewarded new writers for more than 30 years through The Nimrod Literary Awards.

Submission guidelines →