Submission FAQs

Yes, but please let us know right away if your work is accepted somewhere else so we don’t get too attached. Also, so we can send you our felicitations!

We don’t know. Really! Unless we have a special issue in the works (for which there would be a special call for submissions posted on our website), our editors choose a theme based on the content of the work they have accepted for that particular issue.

Yes, we are The NEW Quarterly, but we are not an entry-level magazine. We are, however, interested in hearing from writers at all stages. And remember, a conversation with an editor—even if it results in a rejection—is just a part of the writing life.

Unfortunately, no.

Our editors are volunteers extraordinaire. They generously eke out time from their day jobs, families, and free time not only to read your work but also to make notes and then meet in person to choose the accepted pieces. Work is filed into bundles of 10 authors. Each round of reading sees at least 15 bundles. That’s 450 poems or 150 pieces of fiction every few months and usually 4 or 5 editors to read them. If our editors want to see more or your work, they will ask.

No, but the longer the piece, the better we have to like it to justify the pages devoted. That said, we have published long poems, poem cycles, and novellas.

Postmarked is fine. We’re well aware of the vagaries of Canada Post!

We can only accept your submission if you are a Canadian citizen, a current resident (i.e. a landed immigrant, refugee, or student) living in Canada, or a member of the First Nations, Inuit, or Métis peoples. If you are a Canadian citizen and are simply not living in Canada at this time, feel free to submit!