Best Fiction Literary Magazines in 2026

Print magazine for Fiction,

The Oxford American is a nonprofit, quarterly literary magazine dedicated to featuring the best in Southern writing while documenting the complexity and vitality of the American South. Over its quarter century, the Oxford American has won four National Magazine Awards — including an award for General Excellence in 2016.

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Online magazine for Fiction,

The Racket Journal seeks to showcase all forms of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. We also like art, a lot. Each issue features 5-6 pieces of writing and 3-5 pieces of art. Maybe one of your pieces could be in the next issue. We'd really like that.

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Print magazine for Fiction,

The Denver Quarterly is a well-regarded, avant-garde literary journal based at the University of Denver. Founded in 1966 by novelist John Edward Williams.

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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.

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Print magazine for Fiction,

Confrontation Magazine began operation in 1968 with the mission of bringing new talent to light in the shadows cast by well-known authors. Open to all submissions, each issue contains original work by famous and by lesser-known writers.

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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 magazine for Fiction,

We began as a free print pamphlet featuring just one short story. Now we're a pocket-sized monthly magazine — still free — with a handful of short stories and the occasional spot of nonfiction and poetry for the reading pleasure of London commuters. We aim to discover emerging writers and give them a platform to be read alongside stalwarts of the literary scene.

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Print magazine for Fiction,

Let the power of your imagination be your guide. We're interested in stories, essays, and poems that speak to this idea of Transcendence.

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Print & Online magazine for Fiction,

Black Warrior Review is the oldest continuously-run literary journal produced by graduate students in the United States. BWR publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, and art twice a year.

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Print magazine for Fiction,

BOMB Magazine has been publishing conversations between artists of all disciplines since 1981. BOMB's founders decided to publish dialogues that reflected the way practitioners spoke about their work among themselves. Annually, BOMB serves 1.5 million online readers through its free and searchable archive and BOMB Daily, a virtual hub where a diverse cohort of artists and writers explore the creative process within a community of their peers and mentors.

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Print magazine for Fiction,

Founded in 1970, The Antigonish Review is the third longest-running creative-writing journal in the Maritimes and one of the oldest continuing literary magazines in Canada.

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Print magazine for Fiction,

Arguably America's most esteemed journal of humor writing. Submission to be made separately for their web and print editions. Short stories, flash fiction, and personal essays are not something we typically run on the website. Instead, we're in the market for short, conceptual humor. We strongly recommend reading through our archives to get a sense of the style of writing we're after.

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Print magazine for Fiction,

Founded by the poet Tom McGrath in Los Angeles in 1960, Crazyhorse continues to be one of the finest, most influential literary journals published today. We look forward to another 50 years of the publication of McGrath's visionary foray into the world of letters, and hope you'll join us in encountering the best new writing we can publish.

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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.

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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.

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