We're working a bit more slowly than usual. To those of you with outstanding submissions, we appreciate your patience!
The Schooner’s intention is to publish the best and most interesting writing available, both from beginning and established writers. We publish short stories, poems, interviews, imaginative essays of general interest, and reviews of current books of poetry and fiction. Scholarly articles requiring footnote references should be submitted to journals of literary scholarship.
We do not prefer to read simultaneous submissions, except in the case of contest submissions, and submissions must be received between September 1 and May 1. We do not consider work that has been previously published anywhere, including online publications. We read as quickly as we can, but please allow 4 -5 months for a reply. (We know, we're a little behind, and we appreciate your patience!)
In principle, the Schooner has no objections to the use of pseudonyms, but we require disclosure of their use to the editor before publication.
We encourage you to read the Schooner before you submit. Sample copies are available below for just $9.00. There's never a fee to submit to our general reading period, and we're grateful for the support we receive through donations and orders.
Looking for the Prairie Schooner Raz-Shumaker Book Prize contest? For the sake of confidentiality, it's totally separate from normal submissions. Open annually from January 15 to March 15, for collections of short fiction and poetry, the fee to submit is $25, and the prize is $3,000 and publication through the University of Nebraska Press. Read more: https://prairieschoonerbookprizeseries.submittable.com/submit
Looking for the African Poetry Book Fund's Sillerman First Book Prize? It's also entirely separate, and it opens September 15 to submissions of book-length manuscripts by African poets who have not yet published a full-length collection. Read more: https://africanpoetrybookfund.submittable.com/submit
Our annual summer nonfiction contest opens May 15th to all types of creative nonfiction essays up to 5,000 words.
The winner will receive $1,000 and publication in our Spring 2024 issue.
This year's guest judge is Siddhartha Deb.
Born in Shillong, north-eastern India, Siddhartha Deb lives in Harlem, New York. His fiction and nonfiction have been longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award, shortlisted for the Orwell Prize, and been awarded the Pen Open prize. His journalism and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Republic, Dissent, The Baffler, N+1, and Caravan.
Entries will consist of three parts: a cover letter, the essay manuscript, and the entry fee.
Cover Letter: In the cover letter, include the submission's title and your contact information, including e-mail address, phone number, and mailing address. Your name and contact info must not appear anywhere within the manuscript itself (double-check headers and footers!).
Essay Manuscript: The contest is open to all types of creative nonfiction essays up to 5,000 words. We're interested in reading imaginative essays of general interest. (Scholarly articles requiring footnote references should be submitted to journals of literary scholarship.) Manuscripts should be double-spaced and use a standard font, and, again, the submitter's name and contact info should not appear within the manuscript itself.
Entry Fee: Each submission must be accompanied by the $20.00 fee, which includes a copy of the Spring 2024 issue of the Schooner, in which the winning essay will appear.
Multiple submissions are welcome and encouraged, but a separate entry fee must accompany each submission.
This contest is administered anonymously. Editorial Assistants, Assistant Nonfiction Editors, the Guest Judge, and the Editor in Chief of the Schooner are not privy to submitters' identifying information.
If you have a problem with your submission, please write to Managing Editor Siwar Masannat at prairieschooner@unl.edu.
Now in our 95th year of continuous publication, the Schooner seeks to publish the most interesting work in contemporary poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and reviews.
A one-year subscription includes 4 issues of the journal and will begin with the next issue. Select a two- or three-year subscription for an even better rate!
Our Summer 2022 issue features creative work by Marilyn Hacker, Tomaž Šalamun (translated by Brian Henry), John Kinsella, Ghassan Zeineddine, Cameron Dezen Hammon, Cat Wei, Grace Wagner, Diane Thiel, Jason Tandon, Salawu Olajide, Jason Irwin, Rasma Haidri, Amy Gong Liu, Sarah Carson, Jonathan Perry, Corrie Williamson, Rodrigo Toscano, Timothy Donnelly, Sallie Fullerton, Fleda Brown, Nick Bertelson, Joy Lanzendorfer, S. Grady Barrett, Cathy Smith Bowers, Brooke Schifano, Edward Salem, Caleb A. Parker, Clare Paniccia, Meghan E. Giles, Andrea England, Susan Atefat-Peckham, Matt Vekakis, Meg Reynolds, Safia Jama, Athena Kildegaard, Nancy Eimers, Jehanne Dubrow, Rob Colgate, Bruce Bond, Emily Kristin Anderson, Traci Brimhall, Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum, and Brianna Di Monda, and book reviews by Lucy Bryan and Jamie Logan Benner.
Now in our 95th year of continuous publication, Prairie Schooner seeks to publish the best in contemporary poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and reviews.
We've got years of great issues full of excellent writing, and buying a sample copy is a great way to grab a taste of what we're all about.
If you're looking to buy a specific back issue, please indicate which one you want in the form. Otherwise, we'll just pick out one of our favorite recent issues and send it your way.
Our readers' loyal support and enthusiasm for what we do is why we're able to keep producing one of the oldest literary magazines in the country.
Consider making a donation to support our ongoing mission to bring great work from around the world out into the world.