Thank you for your interest in the Northwest Review. We look forward to reading your work.

Founded at the University of Oregon in 1957, the Northwest Review publishes fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, flash fiction/nonfiction, translations, and art. Located in Eugene, Oregon, the journal will always welcome work related to the Pacific Northwest, but we are a national magazine, open to writers beyond borders and limits. We love innovation in form and style, but prize literary quality above all. Surprise us, transport us, immerse us, entertain us, move us—give us your best. 

We are open to both new and established writers. We have published Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners, but we also love nothing more than discovering new voices, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds. 

Authors receive $25 per poem and up to $75 per short story/essay. Please allow six months before querying. Due to the volume of submissions, we may not be able to respond to individual queries. 

For poetry, please send one to four poems at a time (and no more than 10 pages). Short fiction and creative nonfiction should range between 1,000 and 9,000 words. We also accept flash fiction and flash nonfiction of up to 1,000 words (please submit no more than three per submission).  

 We accept simultaneous submissions but please let us know ASAP if your work is accepted elsewhere. We only accept writing that has not been previously published. Do not resubmit work even if it’s been revised, unless a revision is requested by the editors. We do not publish current University of Oregon students.

Please submit your work via Submittable. The small submission fee we charge helps keep the lights on and ensures we can publish writers at all stages of their careers. 

 NWR is an independent nonprofit digital magazine produced in partnership with the University of Oregon’s Editing and Publishing Program. In our 70 year history, we have introduced the world to major American writers: NWR published Ken Kesey's first short story in 1957 and George Saunders' first short story in 1986. In addition, we've published literary luminaries such as Ursula K. LeGuin, Louise Erdrich, Raymond Carver, Barry Lopez, William Stafford, James Dickey, Charles Bukowski, and Joyce Carol Oates. Shuttered in 2011, NWR was relaunched in 2020 by S. Tremain Nelson and published writers such as Major Jackson, Hilary Leichter, Matthew Dickman, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Jay McInerney, Joe Wilkins, Destiny O. Birdsong, Faylita Hicks, and Michelle Peñaloza. Now back in Eugene as a mostly digital publication, the Northwest Review continues to build on its esteemed legacy to find a new generation of American voices.

Our professional genre editors select all NWR content but work in close collaboration with both undergraduate and graduate student editors to produce each issue. NWR provides UO students with opportunities to gain valuable experience in literary editing and production. We also employ a team of volunteer editors, who help us find the best work possible. Most of the work we publish is found through the slush pile. Although we are a digital publication, we hope to eventually expand to publishing print anthologies and books of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. 

We believe that literary magazines build community. If you want to help us build our community, become a supporter here.