Call for Submissions: Awakening (Spring 2027 100-year anniversary issue)
Submissions will open February 1 for the themed Awakening issue and close February 15 or when submission caps are met. Please only submit once per genre. If a category is not available below after February 1, we have met our cap and are closed to that genre.
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, 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 particularly welcome work by writers of color and writers who come from disenfranchised or previously disenfranchised backgrounds.
We do not consider work that has been previously published, including work that has appeared online, and while we do consider work that has been simultaneously submitted to other journals, we request that you withdraw the piece immediately upon acceptance elsewhere. We do consider translations of work that have not been published prior in English.
For poetry, send a selection of up to seven poems contained within a single document. For fiction and essays, send only one selection at a time. To withdraw an individual poem from consideration, please send us a message through Submittable. To withdraw an essay or short story, please withdraw the full manuscript.
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
New subscriptions begin with the Spring 2026 issue, coming this March.
Now in our 99th 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. Select a two- or three-year subscription for an even better rate!
US Mailing Address:
- One-year (4 issues) Student Subscription $28
- One-year (4 issues) Subscription $32
- Two-year (8 issues) Subscription $52
- Three-year (12 issues) Subscription $72
Overseas Mailing Address (includes Canada):
Add $10 per year to the rates above to account for shipping costs.
Order a copy of one of our newest issues or bundle and save on both!
Volume 99, Issue 3, Fall 2025
Featuring a portfolio of New Trans Writing, this issue includes work by: Cynthia Carr, Terese Marie Mailhot, Alissa Nutting, Leslie Zemeckis, Jai Dulani, Ell Peck, Ilana Masad, Skyler Melnick, Luca van der Heide, Ben Freedman, Fayssal Bensalah, Lane Michael Stanley, Migwi Mwangi, Sharon Olds, David Calogero Centorbi, David Hopson, Elizabeth Metzger, Ted Kooser, Mag Gabbert, Christian Bancroft, John Surowiecki, Thomas Kneeland, Aishwarya Sahi, Rebecca Griswold, Timothy Schaffert, Oliver Evans, Apollo Chastain, Oliver Brooks, Zoe Tuck, அவ்ரீனா AVRINA, James Brunton, Ava N. Winter, Joan Tate, and Alyson Favilla.
Volume 99, Issue 4, Winter 2025
Featuring a portfolio on The Long Short Story, this issue includes work by: Kasey Peters, Brad Bigelow, Priyam Goel, Micah Dean Hicks, Kate Shannon Jenkins, Dominic Russ-Combs, Eric C. Wat, Virginia Kane, Hilda Raz, Antoine Cassar, Charlie Clark, Jacquelyn Hinze, Diane Glancy, Robert Hedin, and Lolita Stewart-White.
Now in our 99th 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.
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