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PRUFER POETRY PRIZE
REGULAR SUBMISSIONS
•Pleiades is open for regular submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and translations during the months of June and December. We are currently closed for book reviews submissions. Please note that submissions sent outside the submission period will not be considered. Unsolicited poetry, fiction, translations (submit under “poetry), and nonfiction should be submitted via our online submissions manager. Unfortunately, we cannot consider paper submissions and emailed submissions, and mailed manuscripts will be recycled. Please do not submit more than once in a given genre during each reading period. Due to staffing changes and an unprecedented volume of submissions, our response time is longer than usual. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.
• Please remember to select the appropriate genre of your submission, as submissions sent with no genre marked will not be read. Translations can be submitted under “poetry”.
• Please read the below genre-specific guidelines carefully before submitting.
• Though we attend to submissions as quickly as possible, please allow up to six months before querying.
• We are especially interested in reading submissions from writers from historically marginalized communities as part of our commitment to a broad representation of dynamic work.
• Writers should review past issues of Pleiades to get a sense of our aesthetic and preferences. Order Pleiades here.
GENRE SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
POETRY
Please send a PDF of 3-5 poems. We are particularly interested in work that embraces risk and is lyrically inventive. We value work that gives voice to a range of lived experiences and employs a mastery of expression. Work of any length will be considered, and we look forward to reading your most polished poems. Please do not submit multiple packets during one submissions period. Direct questions regarding poetry to Jenny Molberg and Caitlin Cowan at [email protected].
FICTION
Pleiades is looking for exceptional fiction, with a focus on well-developed characters, memorable language, provocatively-wrought subject matter, and immersive settings. While there are no length requirements, our journal has limited space, and manuscripts over 12,000 words will especially need to impress. Some stories may be considered for our “online exclusives” category. Please direct questions regarding fiction to Jennifer Maritza McCauley at pleiadesfictioninquiries
CREATIVE NONFICTION
While we enjoy essays and nonfiction in all forms, here at Pleiades we are particularly interested in creative nonfiction that gazes out at the world rather than into the self. This is to say nothing against memoir, only that our publishing aesthetic leans towards the exterior in order to balance what we often see as a focus on memoir and interiority in many literary journals. Essays that perform a weave of the personal with an outward gaze are very welcome. We do not only consider externally-focused creative nonfiction, but this is our taste preference. Limit creative nonfiction submissions to 6,000 words. Please direct questions regarding nonfiction to [email protected].
BOOK REVIEWS
The Pleiades Book Review is now published online. Please note that our Book Reviews submission process has changed. We welcome both finished reviews and pitches from reviewers via email at [email protected]. Only emailed reviews and queries will be accepted; any mailed submissions will be recycled. Please direct any reviews, questions, pitches, or queries to Kylie Gellatly, our Reviews Editor. Reviews should be submitted exclusively by the reviewers themselves (not by the authors of the work being reviewed). We encourage experimental reviews—reviews that borrow from creative nonfiction, adopt a unique form, engage in a retrospective look at an older text, and/or visual reviews.
• Pleiades DOES accept simultaneous submissions, but we ask that you notify us immediately if a piece is accepted elsewhere. *If you need to withdraw your work from consideration, please email the appropriate genre editor with the subject line “Withdrawal.” Please ONLY email through the links provided above.
• To have a book considered for review, send a review copy to: Pleiades Book Review • Dept of English, Martin 336 • University of Central Missouri • Warrensburg, MO 64093. Please note: not all books received will be reviewed, though we do review 40+ books in each year.