Novellas are perfect for that in-between space—fiction too long for a short story, too brief for a novel. We're looking for works about that in-between space that only a novella can fill. Maybe your work covers a topic that make the mainstream uncomfortable. Or maybe it's experimental. Or maybe your novella has a surprising take on the mundane aspects of life. The field is open. Send us your best.
The final product here is a physical book, just like the Northwest Review journals: gritty, grainy, thick paper stock, an art object with original illustrations and your own vision for the art and cover baked into the editorial process. Let's make art together. 20,000 to 50,000 words-ish.
We are now encouraging writers to submit their original flash fiction for online publication with Northwest Review. There are no restrictions on content or style; however, we are limiting submissions to approximately 1000 words.
Flash fiction submissions will not be considered for the print journal (but you can submit your flash fiction in both places, i.e., the flash fiction reading queue and the print fiction reading queue). Thank you for sharing your work with us!
We are now accepting digital submissions! Please take a moment to read through some of our editorial guidance and discursive thoughts on literature for what we’re looking to publish.
What will NORTHWEST REVIEW look to publish?
We want to expand the frontier of American literature. What does that mean, exactly? Insofar that literary boundaries exist, we want you to break them. If, in your mind as a writer, you hear a voice saying, don’t break that rule, that is the rule you should break. We are eager to read works that are formally inventive, experimental in voice or form; we want to read work from writers of marginalized communities and voices. We want to read work from writers who have never been published; we want to read work from Nobel Prize winners still trying to reach that literary nightcap of a decades-long career.
Ken Kesey, Louise Erdrich, Joyce Carol Oates, Raymond Carver, Ursula le Guin, Charles Bukowski, and so many others have published here, in the years past.
We are especially interested in art that defends the Earth, the environment.
Illustrations
We are looking for formally inventive black-and-white illustrative portraits. Think of this as a hand-drawn, or hand-painted sketch of someone in black and white; label it if you feel like a word or two adds to the beauty of your drawing; we’d like to include as many instances of visual self-expression along with written forms of literature as well. This is not a photographic selfie; think Morisot, Manet, Picasso, Krasner, DeKooning; draw someone who inspires you.
GRAPHIC NARRATIVE
We are open to graphic narratives, comics, or other works that blur the line between illustration and narrative. Think Persepolis, Habibi, Maus. Send it over!
Photography
Additionally we’d love to see your black and white photography that is: experimental in technique, environmental in spirit, but also anything that raises a gigantic middle finger to the global capitalist industrial military complex and says ENOUGH.
We are now accepting digital submissions! Please take a moment to read through some of our editorial guidance and discursive thoughts on literature for what we’re looking to publish this Fall.
What will NORTHWEST REVIEW look to publish?
We want to expand the frontier of American literature. What does that mean, exactly? Insofar that literary boundaries exist, we want you to break them. If, in your mind as a writer, you hear a voice saying, don’t break that rule, that is the rule you should break. We are eager to read works that are formally inventive, experimental in voice or form; we want to read work from writers of marginalized communities and voices. We want to read work from writers who have never been published; we want to read work from Nobel Prize winners still trying to reach that literary nightcap of a decades-long career.
Ken Kesey, Louise Erdrich, Joyce Carol Oates, Raymond Carver, Ursula le Guin, Charles Bukowski, and so many others have published here, in the years past.
We are especially interested in art that defends the Earth, the environment.
Non-fiction
We welcome submissions of literary criticism, book reviews of current or forthcoming titles, personal essays, and creative non-fiction. For essays and criticism, try to stay within 5,000 words if possible. Book reviews can usually succeed within 1,000 words or less. And for creative non-fiction, allow your story to dictate the length, while keeping in mind that the shorter the work the more space we’ll have for it.
Use this category to submit works of translation. You can submit 5-6 poems at one time. For prose works, our ideal length is 5 pages. Whenever possible, please include the original language piece along with your translation submission but, as a print magazine, Northwest Review normally can run only the English translation. You should have permission to translate before you submit work. Feel free to include information about the translation in your cover letter as well as a brief bios for the translator(s) and author.