Phoebe Journal

There are presently no open calls for submissions.

phoebe prides itself on supporting up-and-coming writers, whose style, form, voice, and subject matter demonstrate a vigorous appeal to the senses, intellect, and emotions of our readers. We choose our writers because we believe their work succeeds at its goals, whether its goals are to uphold or challenge literary tradition.

We insist on openness, which means we welcome both experimental and conventional prose and poetry, and we insist on being entertained, which means the work must capture and hold our attention, whether it be the potent language of a poem or the narrative mechanics of a short story. Above all, we seek to publish quality writing. Please review website publications, especially our latest online issue, for an idea of the caliber of writing we publish.

We produce a print issue in fall/winter and an online issue in spring/summer. We’re generally open for submissions from late summer to early fall for the print issue and from mid-winter to early spring for the online issue. The online issue is comprised of the winners (and possibly several honorable mentions) of our annual contests in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.

phoebe: publishing original work since 1971.

PhoebeLiterature@gmail.com


  • We accept submissions only via our online submission portal, Submittable, linked below. 
  • We do not consider previously published work.
  • We do not have a strict word limit for prose; however, work over 4,000 words will need to be extraordinary.
  • Regarding flash prose, we are happy to accept up to three pieces of less than 1,000 words each. Please paste these together in a single document and submit them via the standard fiction or nonfiction portal.
  • Poetry submissions may contain 3-5 pieces but may total no more than 10 pages.
  • We welcome multiple submissions, but each should follow the guidelines above.
  • We allow and encourage simultaneous submissions. If your submission is no longer available for publication, please use our online submission portal to withdraw it as soon as possible. If you need to withdraw a single poem or piece of flash prose, please add a note to your submission or email us at phoebeliterature@gmail.com.
  • We strive to respond to submissions 30 days after the submissions period closes. If you have not heard from us 60 days after the submissions period closes, feel free to inquire about the status of your submission.
  • Writers, we prefer that you submit your work as a Word Document or another similar processing system, rather than as a PDF. Visual Artists may use PDFs to submit multiple works of art, but should be prepared with a high-resolution version of their files upon their work's acceptance to the journal.
  • If you’ve submitted to phoebe in the past, or if you’ve been published in our journal before, you are welcome to submit your work again.
  • Contributors to the print editions receive one copy of the journal upon publication, along with our gratitude and respect.
  • phoebe does not accept submissions from current or former students of George Mason University’s creative writing program or any other affiliates of George Mason University. If you have a question regarding your eligibility, please send us an email at phoebeliterature@gmail.com.
  • Regarding our spring contests, the payment of a monetary prize is subject to U.S. laws and regulations, including those that prohibit payments to persons from or who reside in countries subject to U.S. sanctions.

phoebe welcomes and hopes to see literary and visual art from writers and artists of all races, ethnicities, national origins, religions, sexes, sexual orientations, genders, gender expressions, ages, abilities, military statuses, and other distinguishing identity traits. phoebe also welcomes and hopes to see literary and visual art from writers and artists of all genres, styles, and aesthetics. phoebe makes every effort to be open to all and closed to no one.

Phoebe Journal