The editors of LETTERS welcome submissions in poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, and visual art. We publish twice a year, in January and May.
We have two open submission periods:
- September 21 to November 20
- February 1 to April 1
We welcome simultaneous submissions. If your work is accepted elsewhere, please withdraw the work via Submittable -- and accept our congratulations! (Anything you write using the "Notes" tab is only for you and will not be visible to the editors.) If you want to withdraw a single poem or image from your submission, use the "Messages" tab to do so.
Submit only unpublished works. Work posted to a blog or personal website is considered published. LETTERS acquires First North American Serial Rights. We do not offer our contributors payment at this time. There is no fee to submit.
Regarding AI use: We neither seek nor accept work that was made in whole or in part using generative AI. If you employed generative AI for stages such as research and/or copyediting, disclose in detail and specifically how you used that tool in your submission letter.
Please note that current Yale Divinity School students, faculty, and staff are not eligible to submit their work. LETTERS welcomes submissions from YDS alumni and students at other Yale schools.
We ask that contributors to LETTERS wait two years from the date their work appeared before submitting again.
Genre Guidelines
We only publish work that fits with our mission. Please review our mission carefully before submitting.
We will consider only submissions that come to us via Submittable.
Along with your submission, you will be asked to provide a short cover letter that includes your name, email address, and concise bio, including former publications if relevant. If you have not published before, we are still eager to read your work. We are a small staff and aim to respond to submissions within 6 months.
- Poetry: Up to ten pages of poetry. Start each poem on a new page. Save all poems into one document before submitting.
- Fiction: One work of short fiction of up to 5,000 words.
- Nonfiction: One work of creative nonfiction of up to 5,000 words. Note: we do not seek book reviews, academic essays, or newspaper-style journalism.
- Visual Art: Up to three images, saved as high-quality JPEG files. We prefer two-dimensional media and publish one cover image per issue.
Format
Works of prose should be double-spaced and in a standard, 12-point font. Number your pages and include your contact information in a heading on the first page. All submissions should be in a single manuscript file in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format.
Works of poetry should be typed in a standard 12-point font. Include all poems in one document; start each poem on a new page. Number your pages and include your contact information on the first page. All submissions should be in a single manuscript file in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format.
Works of visual art should be submitted as high quality JPEG files.
LETTERS is a semi-annual literary journal that engages religion, spirituality, and belief within contemporary experience(s). We publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art.
For poetry submissions, please submit up to ten pages of poems. Save all poems in one document with each poem starting on a new page in a standard twelve-point font. Include your contact information on the first page of your submission.
The poetry editor will not read any submissions aided by AI in any way, shape, or form.
LETTERS is a semi-annual literary journal that engages religion, spirituality, and belief within contemporary experience. We publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art.
For creative nonfiction, submit one work of up to 5,000 words. Note: we do not seek book reviews, academic essays, or newspaper-style journalism. Please see recent issues of the journal, available online, for a sense of the range of work we're interested in.
Works of prose should be double-spaced and in a standard, 12-point font. Number your pages and include your contact information in a heading on the first page.
Regarding generative AI: We neither seek nor wish to publish essays written in whole or part using generative AI.
LETTERS is a semi-annual literary journal that engages religion, spirituality, and belief within contemporary experience. We publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art.
For fiction submissions, please submit one work of short fiction of up to 5,000 words. Works of prose should be double-spaced and in a standard, 12-point font. Number your pages and include your contact information in a heading on the first page.
Please see recent issues of LETTERS, available online, to see samples of the kinds of work we are interested in.
Regarding generative AI: The editors neither seek nor wish to publish fiction composed in whole or part by generative AI.
LETTERS is a semi-annual literary journal that engages religion, spirituality, and belief within contemporary experience. We publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art.
For visual arts submissions, we accept up to three images, saved as high-quality JPEG files. We prefer two-dimensional media and publish one cover image per issue.
Regarding generative AI: The editors neither seek nor wish to publish art made in whole or part using generative AI.