Best Poetry Literary Magazines in 2026

Print magazine for Poetry,

We publish two print issues a year of compelling poetry, fiction, and literary nonfiction by established writers and new voices alike. We're global in scope, but with a regional bias. Over the years, we've been privileged to feature work by Wendell Berry, Louise Erdrich, Richard Hugo, Seamus Heaney, James Welch, Patricia Goedicke, James Lee Burke, Chris Offutt, Aimee Bender, Steve Almond, and a number of other writers whose work we're fond of.

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Print & Online magazine for Poetry,

A collectible lit object with a mischievous streak, Folly is New Zealand’s fastest-selling literary journal that scooped recognition at the 2025 New Generation Best International Indie Book Awards. Each beautifully produced annual pairs lush design with writing that startles: razor-sharp essays, lewdly lyrical fiction and some of the best collectable art. We publish emerging talents beside prize-winners and prize social commentary that captures the cultural moment (with profanity welcome). International voices encouraged; roughly half our pages go to work from outside NZ and Folly sells globally.

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Online magazine for Poetry,

Ginosko: A Greek word meaning the recognition of truth from experience.

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Print magazine for Poetry,

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 Poetry,

Islandia Journal is a subtropical print periodical of art and writing. We publish work by people from South Florida or by writers and artists whose work deals with our region. All contributors are paid - starting at $50 for poems and visual art and $100 for prose pieces of all kinds, scaling upwards depending on amount work or research involved.

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Online magazine for Poetry,

Narrative is dedicated to advancing literature in the digital age by supporting the finest writing talent and encouraging reading, as the gateway to understanding, across generations, in schools, and around the globe.

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Print magazine for 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 Poetry,

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 magazine for Poetry,

The Chicago Quarterly Review is a nonprofit, independent literary journal publishing the finest short stories, poems, translations and essays by both emerging and established writers. We're proud to have had work from our pages chosen for Best American Short Stories and the Pushcart Prize Anthology as we continue our mission to stimulate, entertain, and inspire.

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Print & Online magazine for Poetry,

On Spec adheres to a strong mandate that has served us well over the years. We discover and showcase quality works by predominantly Canadian writers and artists, in the genre we call “Fantastic” literature. We foster the growth of emerging writers in this genre, by offering support and direction through constructive criticism, education, mentoring, and manuscript development.

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Print magazine for Poetry,

Hayden’s Ferry Review looks for well-crafted work that takes risks, challenges readers, and engages us emotionally and artistically. A small portion of our publication is solicited from established authors, while the majority of our contributors are chosen from the thousands of manuscripts we receive each year.

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Print & Online magazine for Poetry,

Commonweal's mission is to provide a forum for civil, reasoned debate on the interaction of faith with contemporary politics and culture. Read by a passionate audience of educated, committed Catholics, as well as readers from many other faith traditions, Commonweal presents well-argued, respectful points of view from across the ideological spectrum.

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Print magazine for Poetry,

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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Online magazine for Poetry,

Invisible City is an online publication of the MFA in Writing Program at the University of San Francisco that publishes in the fall and spring. We seek work that encourages us to see the world from new perspectives and different angles, ones that we may not have previously considered or imagined.

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Print & Online magazine for Poetry,

The American Poetry Review is dedicated to reaching a worldwide audience with a diverse array of the best contemporary poetry and literary prose. APR also aims to expand the audience interested in poetry and literature, and to provide authors, especially poets, with a far-reaching forum in which to present their work.

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