Best Literary Magazines in 2026

Print magazine for Short Fiction,

PROMPTED is a celebration of the power of inspiration, and the places our imagination can take us with the slightest nudge. Each story is inspired by a one-sentence prompt, and written in a single week.

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

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, Poetry,

The New Ohio Review publishes work that addresses the purpose and mystery of being, in any shape or form. We appreciate humor, if it's got depth. We appreciate experimental work, if it's not gimmicky. What we look for is a voice that is genuine, speaking with some degree of lucidity and intelligence about something that feels urgently felt.

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Print magazine for Fiction, Poetry, Non-Fiction,

West Branch is a twice-yearly magazine of poetry and fiction, published by Bucknell University.

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Print magazine for Fiction, Poetry, Non-Fiction,

The Paris Review is a quarterly English language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. Since relocating to New York City, it has become one of the world's pre-eminent publications of its type.

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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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Print magazine for Fiction, Poetry,

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

Uncanny Magazine is an online Science Fiction and Fantasy magazine featuring passionate SF/F fiction and poetry, gorgeous prose, provocative nonfiction, and a deep investment in the diverse SF/F culture. Each issue contains intricate, experimental stories and poems with verve and imagination that elicit strong emotions and challenge beliefs, from writers of every conceivable background.

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Print & Online magazine for Art, Fiction, Poetry, Short 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.

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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 & Online magazine for Fiction, Short Fiction,

Featuring the world’s most celebrated crime writers alongside brilliant new voices. Cutting-edge content includes suspense thrillers, whodunits, and noir, reviews, and an editor’s blog. Join us … if you dare!

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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 Art, Short Fiction,

Elegant Literature is a monthly eZine that features new talent only. Each issue is filled with short fiction of all genres, handcrafted stories by new brilliant writers from around the globe. We pay all our published, aspiring writers professional rates & each issue one writer is awarded $3,000.

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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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