Best Literary Magazines in 2026

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

EPOCH magazine publishes fiction, poetry, essays, cartoons, screenplays, graphic art, and graphic fiction. The magazine is edited by faculty in the Department of English Program in Creative Writing at Cornell University.

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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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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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Print magazine for Fiction, Poetry, Non-Fiction,

There are vanishingly few magazines left in this country which seem pitched at the general literary reader and which consistently publish such interesting, high-quality criticism, reflection, argument, fiction, and poetry. Threepenny is thankfully still out there.

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Online magazine for Poetry,

Impostor: A Poetry Journal was created for writers who may feel intimidated by the established literary world or who feel as if their credentials—or lack thereof—don't fall in line with what's expected. Impostor desires diverse voices to fill its pages regardless of history; age, academic background, or the length of curriculum vitae.

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Print magazine for Fiction, Poetry, Non-Fiction,

The Gettysburg Review, published by Gettysburg College, is recognized as one of the country's premier literary journals. More than one-hundred short stories, poems, and essays first published in The Gettysburg Review have been reprinted in the various prize anthologies. Online submissions are $3 and snail mail submissions are free!

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

Southern Humanities Review publishes fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. $1,000 and publication in SHR will be awarded annually to one poem of witness by an American poet. Full guidelines on our website.

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

Clarkesworld is a monthly science fiction and fantasy magazine first published in October 2006. Each issue contains interviews, thought-provoking articles, two reprints, and at least four or five works of original fiction. Our fiction is also available in ebook editions/subscriptions, audio podcasts, print issues, and in our annual print/ebook anthologies.

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

An award-winning monthly literary magazine that focuses on strong writing and captivating stories (fiction and narrative nonfiction), regardless of genre or author pedigree.

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Print magazine for Fiction, Poetry, Non-Fiction,

The Sun is an independent, ad-free magazine that for more than forty years has used words and photographs to evoke the splendor and heartache of being human. The personal essays, short stories, interviews, poetry, and photographs that appear in The Sun's pages explore the challenges we face and the moments when we rise to meet them.

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Print magazine for Fiction,

Issued triannually, American Short Fiction publishes work by emerging and established voices. These are stories that dive into the wreck, that stretch the reader between recognition and surprise, that conjure a particular world with delicate expertise — stories that take a different way home.

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Print magazine for Fiction, Poetry, Non-Fiction,

Published three times a year by the Georgia State University Department of English, each issue features poetry, fiction, essays, and interviews with the most compelling writers working today.

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