Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices, is currently open for general submissions in all categories. Our guidelines are below.
When you submit your piece, we require that you fill in our form and include a short bio. Your name, telephone number and email address should be typed at the top of the first page of your piece. Also, in order to file your submission, we must ask you to copy and paste your bio onto the first page of your piece. We cannot process your piece without the bio copied at the top of the first page.
We do not accept multiple submissions, so please send us only one piece at a time. We do accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know right away if your piece has been accepted elsewhere by sending an email with the title of your piece to submissions@solsticelitmag.org.
We only accept unpublished work, unless solicited. One we have published your work, you are free to send it elsewhere. We hold first-and one-time rights only, although we reserve the right to post your work in our Archives. We might request selected pieces for future anthologies. You reserve the right to decline our offer.
While we do not pay for individual pieces, we do promote selected work on our social media pages and elsewhere, and we also sponsor an annual contest which offers cash prizes.
We make every attempt to respond to submissions within four to six months or sooner.
We’ve kept our submission guidelines to a minimum because we want to encourage you to submit your best work. We are looking for established and also new voices. Out of the collision of diverse voices can come dialogue, and maybe a hint of unity, and maybe even peace, a solstice of the mind.
- $1,000 Fiction Prize, judge: Patricia Engel
- $500 Michael Steinberg Nonfiction Prize, judge: Grace Talusan
- $500 Graphic Lit Prize, judge: Jess Ruliffson
- $500 Stephen Dunn Poetry Prize, judge: A. Van Jordan
Contest Dates: April 1 - June 1, 2023
Winners, 5 finalists, and Editors' Choice in each genre will be published in our Summer Awards Issue due out in August. All winners, finalists, and editors' choice will be cited in future advertisements and announcements.
Previous judges have included Martha Collins, Andres Dubus III, Jennifer Haigh, Terrance Hayes, Robert Lopez, Celeste Ng, Jerald Walker, and Afaa Weaver.
FEE: $18.00/entry
GUIDELINES
- Cover sheet required with name, address, telephone number and email. Email and/or phone MUST be included to be considered. Please include cover sheet in the same file as the actual submission. Do not put your name on the manuscript itself. Final judges will be choosing on the basis of the quality of your work. Please indicate the genre of your piece next to the title.
- 12-point font, double-spaced, .DOC or .DOCX attachment. We accept online submissions only through Submittable. No emails please.
- Each entry: Fiction or Nonfiction: 25-page maximum, double-spaced; free-standing excerpts from books also accepted. Poetry: 3-poem maximum. Graphic Lit: Original artwork, multiple panels (no single image pieces), 1-6 pages preferred, maximum 8-10 pages, in JPG/PDF format.
- You may submit more than once but must pay a separate fee for each entry.
- You may submit simultaneously elsewhere, but please email us immediately if accepted at another journal.
- We will not accept previously published work. Solstice has first publication rights, but copyright reverts to you upon publication. We will publish the piece after the Summer Awards Issue in our Archives.
- If you won last year’s contest, you must skip a year before resubmitting to the contest, but we encourage you to submit work to Solstice for general publication.
- We will announce the winners, finalists, and editors' choice approximately 6-8 weeks after the contest deadline.
- After announcing the winners, finalists, and editors' choice, all contest submissions will be automatically considered for standard publication unless you indicate otherwise.
- The $18.00 entry fee must be paid online at the time of entry.
Solstice: a Magazine of Diverse Voices, is currently open for general submissions in all categories, including fiction. Our fiction guidelines are below.
Up to 25 sequentially numbered pages, double-spaced, one-inch margins, 12-point type. We seek voices of excellence and inclusion. Fiction for us includes the literary short story, stand-alone novel excerpts, flash fiction collections of 3-5 pieces, and genre short stories—mystery or sci-fi only.
Solstice: a Magazine of Diverse Voices, is currently open for general submissions in all categories, including poetry. Our poetry guidelines are below.
Four poems maximum, single-spaced, with 12-point type. Please submit all poems in one document, not separately.
Solstice: a Magazine of Diverse Voices, is currently open for general submissions in all categories, including Poetry in Translation. Our Poetry in Translation guidelines are below.
New translations of poems from around the globe are welcome. All rights to translate original work must be acquired, unless work is in the public domain. Translators should be prepared to provide copyright proof. Four poems maximum, single-spaced, with 12-point type. Please submit all poems as one document.
Solstice: a Magazine of Diverse Voices, is currently open for general submissions in all categories, including nonfiction. Our nonfiction guidelines are below.
Up to 22 pages, double-spaced, one inch margins, 12-point type, sequentially numbered pages. We seek unique voices. (Nonfiction includes the memoir and the essay.) We like nonfiction that probes into a cultural issue.
Solstice: a Magazine of Diverse Voices, is currently open for general submissions in all categories, including Graphic Lit. Our Graphic Lit guidelines are below.
Solstice is proud to now accept comic submissions for our new Graphic Lit category. As with all of our magazine’s contributors, we are looking for fresh voices and diverse perspectives. In Graphic Lit we are open to pushing boundaries so send us your personal stories, creative fiction comics, comic poetry, comic essays, and more. We will consider most formats as long as they contain multiple panels (no single image pieces) and can be displayed within our website framework. Original artwork, multiple panels (no single image pieces), 1-6 pages preferred, maximum 8-10 pages, in JPG/PDF format.
We only accept unpublished work, unless solicited. One we have published your work, you are free to send it elsewhere. We hold first-and one-time rights only, although we reserve the right to post your work in our Archives. We might request selected pieces for future anthologies. You reserve the right to decline our offer.