Best Literary Magazines in 2026

Online magazine for Fiction, Poetry, Short 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 & Online magazine for Fiction, Poetry, Non-Fiction,

The Carolina Quarterly has been publishing established and emergent writers for 65 years. Pieces published in The Carolina Quarterly have appeared in New Stories from the South, Best of the South, Poetry Daily, O. Henry Prize Stories, The Pushcart Prizes, and Best American Short Stories.

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Print & Online magazine for Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Short Fiction,

The Atlantic is always interested in great nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. A general familiarity with what we have published in the past is the best guide to what we're looking for. All manuscripts should be submitted as a Word document or PDF. Succinct pitches may be submitted in the body of an email.

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Print magazine for Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Short Fiction,

We like stories that start quickly and have a strong narrative arc. Poems that are passionate about subject, language, and image are welcome, whether they are traditional or experimental, whether in formal or free verse (closed or open form). We publish all forms of creative nonfiction, from personal narrative to lyric essay to immersive journalism; we appreciate when an essay moves beyond the personal to tell us something new about the world.

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Print & Online magazine for Fiction, Non-Fiction,

Our editorial mission is to encourage writers, new and established, to take themselves as seriously as possible — to write with as much energy and daring as possible, and to connect their own deepest concerns with the broader social and political environment; that is, to write, while it happens, a history of the present day. We welcome submissions from all writers. If you are considering sending work, please start by reading an issue or two. The best submission guidelines are those implied by the magazine itself.

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Online magazine for Art, Fiction, Short Fiction, Translations,

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, Poetry, Non-Fiction,

Founded in 1972 and “known for publishing important new writers early in their careers” (PEN), AGNI discovers stories, poems, and essays that map our pressured interiority and respond in necessary ways to the bedeviled state of the world. Six contributors have gone on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

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Print magazine for Fiction, Non-Fiction,

Smart, funny, fabulist, poltical prose featuring mostly West Coast writers. The Santa Monica Review currently features literary fiction and nonfiction, though in past years also included poetry. SMR represents Santa Monica College's commitment to the literary arts, community, and literacy.

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Online magazine for Art, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry,

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.

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Print magazine for Fiction, Poetry,

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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Online magazine for Fiction, Poetry, Non-Fiction,

TriQuarterly is the literary magazine of Northwestern University and of the MA/MFA in Creative Writing program.

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Online magazine for Art, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry,

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.

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Print magazine for Fiction, Poetry, Non-Fiction, Translations,

Copper Nickel, the national literary journal housed at the University of Colorado Denver, was founded by poet Jake Adam York in 2002. Work published in Copper Nickel has appeared in the Best American Poetry, Best American Short Stories, and Pushcart Prize anthologies, and has been listed as notable in the Best American Essays anthology.

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Print & Online magazine for Fiction, Poetry, Non-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 Non-Fiction, Poetry, Short Fiction, Translations,

Sky Island Journal is an independent, international, free-access literary journal. We publish accomplished, well-established authors—side by side—with fresh, emerging voices. Our mission is to provide our over 100,000 readers in 145 countries with a powerful, focused, advertising-free literary experience that transports them: one that challenges them intellectually and moves them emotionally.

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