Firecracker Special

Ninth Letter has been named a finalist for the 2023 CLMP Firecracker Award for Literary Magazines, and we are celebrating by giving away a free back issue with every new or renewed subscription!

No code needed. Valid on new and renewed one-year and two-year subscriptions purchased on Submittable or www.ninthletter.com. Firecracker Special valid 05/25/2023-06/22/2023. Questions? Email ninthletter9@gmail.com.


Call for Submissions (Print Edition)

2023 Regeneration Literary Contest

The Regeneration Literary Contest is presented in partnership with the Illinois Regenerative Agriculture Initiative at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Submissions will be accepted from May 1, 2023-June 30, 2023. Winner and finalists will be announced in the fall. 

Guest Judge: Dr. Craig Santos Perez. Craig Santos Perez is a native Pacific Islander from Guam. He is the co-editor of six anthologies and the author of six books of poetry. He is a professor in the English department at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa, where he teaches creative writing and eco-poetry.

Prize: $1,000 and publication in the Fall/Winter 2023-24 print edition of Ninth Letter (with the opportunity to also publish excerpts or full work on ninthletter.com) and two contributors copies. 

Submission Fee: $10 submission fee goes toward paying our judge and the winner of the contest. Contest entrants will have the option to purchase a copy of the Fall/Winter 2023 issue at a discounted price at the time of submission. 

Fee Waiver: We offer a limited number of fee waivers for members of traditionally marginalized communities and for those whom the fee presents financial hardship. Please email ninthletter9@gmail.com to request a fee waiver. 

General Guidelines: Please do not include any identifying personal information (name, address, etc.) in your submission manuscript. Any identifiable information should only appear in the "Cover Letter" field. Acceptable file formats are .doc, .docx, and .pdf. No email submission will be accepted. 

Prose (fiction, creative nonfiction, nonfiction):  Please submit one piece of no more than 8,000 words. You may also submit up to three pieces of flash-fiction or flash-nonfiction as long as the total word count of the submission is no more than 8,000 words.

Poetry: Please submit up to 3 poems in a single file of no more than 8 pages. 

Theme Explanation: Please also include a note that briefly explains your work's connection to the theme of "regeneration," or how your work responds to the question: 'What would it look like to live in a world where our food systems regenerated not only us, but the planet?'. Submissions without this note will not be accepted. 

Eligibility: Writers affiliated with Ninth Letter or the UIUC Creative Writing Department within the last 4 years are not eligible to submit. Any writers with a close, personal connection with the judge that could signify a conflict of interest are not eligible to submit. Regeneration Contest winners within the last 4 years are not eligible to subm

Ninth Letter has been named a finalist for the 2023 CLMP Firecracker Award for Literary Magazines, and we are celebrating by giving away a free back issue with every new or renewed subscription!

No code needed. Valid on new and renewed one-year and two-year subscriptions purchased on Submittable or www.ninthletter.com. Firecracker Special valid 05/25/2023-06/22/2023. Questions? Email ninthletter9@gmail.com.


$10.00

The Regeneration Literary Contest is presented in partnership with the Illinois Regenerative Agriculture Initiative at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Submissions will be accepted from May 1, 2023-June 30, 2023. Winner and finalists will be announced in the fall. 

Guest Judge: Dr. Craig Santos Perez. Craig Santos Perez is a native Pacific Islander from Guam. He is the co-editor of six anthologies and the author of six books of poetry. He is a professor in the English department at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa, where he teaches creative writing and eco-poetry.

Prize: $1,000 and publication in the Fall/Winter 2023-24 print edition of Ninth Letter (with the opportunity to also publish excerpts or full work on ninthletter.com) and two contributors copies. 

Submission Fee: $10 submission fee goes toward paying our judge and the winner of the contest. Contest entrants will have the option to purchase a copy of the Fall/Winter 2023 issue at a discounted price at the time of submission. We offer a limited number of fee waivers for members of traditionally marginalized communities and for those whom the fee presents financial hardship. Please email ninthletter9@gmail.com to request a fee waiver. 

General Guidelines: Please do not include any identifying personal information (name, address, etc.) in your submission manuscript. Any identifiable information should only appear in the "Cover Letter" field. Acceptable file formats are .doc, .docx, and .pdf. No email submission will be accepted. 

Prose (fiction, creative nonfiction):  Please submit one piece of no more than 8,000 words. You may also submit up to three pieces of flash-fiction or flash-nonfiction as long as the total word count of the submission is no more than 8,000 words.

Poetry: Please submit up to 3 poems in a single file of no more than 8 pages. 

Theme Explanation: Please also include a note that briefly explains your work's connection to the theme of "regeneration," or how your work responds to the question: 'What would it look like to live in a world where our food systems regenerated not only us, but the planet?'. Submissions without this note will not be accepted. 

Eligibility: Writers affiliated with Ninth Letter or the UIUC Creative Writing Department within the last 4 years are not eligible to submit. Any writers with a close, personal connection with the judge that could signify a conflict of interest are not eligible to submit. Regeneration Contest winners within the last 4 years are not eligible to submit. 

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