Oyster River Pages publishes fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and visual art. We search for and champion underrepresented voices. To find out more about ORP please go to: https://www.oysterriverpages.com/
See below for guidelines and deadlines for any active opportunities and special issues. Submissions for our annual issue will re-open January of 2026.
*If you have not heard back from us regarding your submission, we may be considering your piece for publication. Please do not send duplicate submissions. If you receive a decline or are waiting to hear back, please wait until the next submission cycle before submitting again. Thank you!*
Please submit up to three poems in Times New Roman, 12-point font. We accept .doc, .docx, and .pdf.
Each poem should start on its own page. Please include your name and email address in the header of the first page. Please number your pages. Note if a page break also indicates a stanza break. Otherwise, the spacing of the submission will remain unchanged in publication to preserve the integrity of the poem.
In your cover letter, include a short bio (~60 words), and feel free to upload a photo with your submission. Due to the high volume of poetry we receive, duplicate poetry submissions within the same submission window will be automatically declined.
Generally, we are not interested in light verse or traditional rhyming poetry. We recommend reading through our previous issues to gain insight into our preferences.
ORP runs entirely on the love and support of its volunteers. Please consider supporting our mission to make the world more equitable by including a small donation with your submission. All donations go directly to ORP's essential operations. (Donating will not change the priority or care with which your submission is read.)
Submissions are open through May 15, 2026.
We love stories that make us feel something. Give us real characters, ones that step out of the page and into our hearts. Real people (or octopi) with quirks and contradictions. Serve us heartbreak with a drizzle of humour. Surprise us with a fresh metaphor. We are looking for strong voices, that are uniquely, unabashedly yours.
Some of the writers we admire include Ayşegül Savaş, Fredrik Backman, Romesh Gunesekera, Kaveh Akbar, Shelby Van Pelt, Julian Barnes, Alice Munro, Julie Otsuka, Dalia Sofer, Elizabeth Strout, Tobias Wolff, Ursula Le Guin, Arundhati Roy, Elif Shafak, Deborah Levy and of course the greats, Marquez and Toni Morrison.
Please submit one story up to 7,500 words in .docx format. Please include word count on the first page of your document. All work should be double-spaced.
In general, simultaneous submissions are fine, but please contact us immediately if your work is picked up elsewhere. We request first serial rights, after which all rights revert to the author or artist. We do not reprint previously published work unless otherwise explicitly stated in the specific guidelines. Please include a 60-word bio with your submission.
We are especially eager to publish pieces that engage with the work of marginalized and decentered people—Black and Brown creators, LGBTQ+ creators, and creators of all levels of dis/ability, and to that end, we invite creators to self-identify in their submissions.
ORP runs entirely on the love and support of its volunteers. Please consider supporting our mission to make the world more equitable by including a small donation with your submission. All donations go directly to ORP's essential operations. (Donating will not change the priority or care with which your submission is read.)
Submissions are open through May 15, 2026.
Please submit one essay no longer than 6,000 words in a Word Doc or PDF format. Include your first and last name and contact information at the top of your piece. All work should be double-spaced.
Your cover letter should introduce yourself and your essay. Additionally, include a third-person biographical statement. You may also include an optional author photo as a separate file alongside your essay.
We welcome simultaneous submissions, but please withdraw your submission via Submittable if your work is picked up elsewhere.
We are especially eager to publish pieces from BIPOC and LGBTQ+ creators, as well as creators of all levels of dis/ability. To that end, we invite creators to self-identify in their submissions.
ORP runs entirely on the love and support of its volunteers. Please consider supporting our mission to make the world more equitable by including a small donation with your submission. All donations go directly to ORP's essential operations. (Donating does not change the priority or care with which your submission will be read.)
Submissions are open through May 15, 2026.
We love unique artistic expression with distinct points of view across all mediums. Work by instinctual makers with a clear voice. We are especially interested in, but not limited to, video art, fiber arts, and work that comments on internet culture. We look for complete ideas, compelling concepts, bold visual statements, and thoughtful execution. We are committed to uplifting underrepresented voices and emerging artists. We strive to provide a platform for early-stage artists, including those being published for the first time, to showcase their work.
What to Submit
Art portfolios
Submissions should include the following materials:
- Artist bio (100–150 words)
- Portfolio statement (150–300 words) describing the submitted work
- Five to Eight images
- work list including: title, year, medium
Images should be as high-resolution as possible and suitable for digital publication (300 dpi or greater).
Video Submissions
Submissions should include the following materials:
- Artist bio (100–150 words)
- video statement (150–300 words) describing the submitted work providing context for the work (concept, process, or intent)
- One single video with a total runtime of 10 minutes or under.
- Please upload your video file directly using the form. If your video is better suited for streaming (due to size, format, or quality or if the file exceeds the upload limit) you may instead include a link to view the video online (YouTube, Vimeo, or similar platforms).
- work list including: Video title, year of completion, duration.
Submissions close: May 15, 2026 at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time)
Editorial & Rights Information
- Oyster River Pages reserves the right to crop or lightly edit images for layout purposes while maintaining the integrity of the work.
- By submitting, artists confirm that they hold the rights to all submitted material and grant Oyster River Pages permission to publish accepted work digitally with appropriate credit.
- By submitting, you acknowledge and agree that you are the sole author of the creative work. You further affirm that the work has not been created, in part or in full, or in collaboration with generative artificial intelligence. If a submitted work is found to have been created with the support of generative artificial intelligence, Oyster River Pages reserves the right to remove the work from its website and rescind publication.
ORP is accepting submissions for reviews, interviews, profiles, commentary, or other innovative forms (including multimedia) that seek to highlight or critically engage with issues or works of literary, artistic, or cultural significance. The most compelling Soundings submissions will align with ORP's mission to amplify stories that speak to what it means to be alive in this world, works that move of out of ourselves and into other spaces, and voices who bring balance and diversity to historical institutions of power. For these reasons, we prioritize works that are published or produced independently, without the clout of corporate promotion. We are especially eager to publish pieces that engage with the work of marginalized and decentered people—Black and Brown creators, LGBTQ+ creators, and creators of all levels of dis/ability.
Reviews need not be uncritically positive, but predominantly negative reviews will be evaluated for necessity and/or urgency. If you aim to eviscerate the subject of your review, please ask yourself whom your critique serves. ORP is not in the business of strafing the creative community.
There is no predetermined length requirement, but successful Soundings will exercise brevity and a sense of proportion to the content they engage with.
ORP’s Emerging Voices (EV) seeks to publish and support writers and poets who are beginning their creative journeys. To that end, the first 100 EV submissions will receive at least one or two lines of constructive feedback.
Submissions must meet the following criteria:
- Emerging Voices have been published no more than two publications in any genre (poetry, drama, prose, nonfiction, and media). (Publications in the author’s college and/or university are exempt.)
- Emerging Voices have not published (with a publishing house) in book-length form.
- Content deemed overly explicit and/or violent will be declined without feedback.
Submissions that do not meet the above criteria will be declined. Writers who have more than two publications to their name are welcome to submit their work for consideration under our regular Fiction or Poetry submission form categories.
The form will ask you to indicate whether you are submitting work to Emerging Voices Fiction or Emerging Voices Poetry. Submissions that combine Emerging Voices Fiction and Emerging Voices Poetry will be declined, unread. We welcome simultaneous submissions, but please contact us immediately by using the Submittable message function if your work is picked up elsewhere.
Emerging Voices Fiction: Please submit one story of no more than 5,000 words in .docx format. Please do not send two stories within one submission. Such submissions will be declined, unread. Please do not submit twice within the same submission window. The second submission will be declined, unread. All work should be double-spaced. Please include word count, your full name, pseudonym or pen name should you wish to use it for publication, and preferred email on the top of the first page. If your submission is declined, please wait for the next submission cycle to submit again.
Emerging Voices Poetry: Please submit up to 3 poems in one document of no longer than 10 pages total in .doc or .docx format. If your poem(s) require specific formatting, you may use .pdf to preserve the spacing. Each poem should start on its own page. Please note if a page break is also a stanza break.
Please include your full name, pseudonym or pen name, should you wish to use it for publication, and preferred email on the first page of the document. Please also include the title(s) of your poem(s) with each poem.
In your cover letter, please let us know how many times you have been previously published.
Emerging Voices Poetry does not accept translations at this time.
Only one submission of poetry per submitter will be read and reviewed.
We do our best to respond to submissions in a timely manner. However, given the volume of submissions and the personalized feedback each submission receives through Emerging Voices, please wait at least 6 months before inquiring about a submission. Duplicate submissions within the same submission window will be automatically declined.