Please read the following guidelines before you submit. We also recommend you read previous issues as a guide to the quality of work that is of interest to us.


General Guidelines

  • Blackbird does not accept previously published work.
  • Simultaneous submissions are acceptable so long as they are indicated as such and we are immediately notified upon acceptance elsewhere. To withdraw individual poems from a submission, please send a message in Submittable notifying us of the poems that are no longer available.
  • Translations are welcome so long as permissions have been obtained from the author.
  • We are able to publish long works in all genres, but query Blackbird before you send a prose piece over 8,000 words or a poem exceeding 10 pages.
  • Please submit a cover letter, either in the box provided or as the first page of your submission; if you have previously published with Blackbird or received encouragement on a previous submission, please include that information as well.
  • Expect six months for a decision, longer if you submit just before the summer break. Do not query until at least six months have passed.


Video Essays (new!): We are eager to publish video essays of quality and vision. To submit, please query us by emailing blackbird@vcu.edu

If you are a currently-enrolled student (not at VCU), please email blackbird@vcu.edu for a link to a waived-fee submission form.


Direct all queries to:

blackbird@vcu.edu

$2.00

We accept book reviews of up to 500 words or fewer. Books must have been published within a year. We only accept reviews of first or second books. 

Completed craft essays and interviews of up to 2,000 words. 

$3.00
$3.00
  • In a single PDF document, send up to ten images of a single body of work (or related series of works).
  • At the beginning of your PDF, please include an artist’s statement of up to 500 words that addresses this particular body of work and your general artist’s practice; an image index detailing each work’s title, medium, dimensions and date of completion; and, if the work has been exhibited, when and where. 
  • Artists selected for publication should be prepared to submit individual jpeg images of their work and will be interviewed by Blackbird’s art editor for a written feature. Featured artists may also be asked to participate in a video or audio segment to accompany their work, but participation will be at the artist’s discretion. 
  • While Blackbird does not generally accept previously published artworks, we are happy to feature bodies of work that have appeared in exhibition catalogues or an artist’s/gallery’s social media/websites. It is also acceptable to submit bodies of work including individual pieces that have appeared in other publications so long as the majority of the works submitted have not been published elsewhere.
$3.00
$3.00

Please read the following guidelines before you submit.

  • Send up to six poems at a time; send at least two poems, minimum.
  • Set your poem as you want it to appear on the printed page.
  • Put all poems into one document.
  • Query before you send a poem exceeding 10 pages.


General Guidelines

  • Blackbird does not accept previously published work.
  • Simultaneous submissions are acceptable so long as they are indicated as such and we are immediately notified upon acceptance elsewhere. To withdraw individual poems from a submission, please send a message in Submittable notifying us of the poems that are no longer available.
  • Translations are welcome so long as permissions have been obtained from the author.
  • Please submit a cover letter, either in the box provided or as the first page of your submission; if you have previously published with Blackbird or received encouragement on a previous submission, please include that information as well.


If you are a currently-enrolled student, please email blackbird@vcu.edu for a link to a waived-fee submission form.

$2.00
$2.00

Please read the following guidelines before you submit.

  • Double-space, please. 
  • We primarily look for short stories, but novel excerpts are acceptable if self-contained.
  • Send one prose piece at a time.
  • Query before you send a prose piece over 8,000 words.


General Guidelines

  • Blackbird does not accept previously published work.
  • Simultaneous submissions are acceptable so long as they are indicated as such and we are immediately notified upon acceptance elsewhere.
  • Translations are welcome so long as permissions have been obtained from the author.
  • Please submit a cover letter, either in the box provided or as the first page of your submission; if you have previously published with Blackbird or received encouragement on a previous submission, please include that information as well.


If you are a currently-enrolled student, please email us at blackbird@vcu.edu for a link to a waived-fee submission form.

$2.00

Please read the following guidelines before you submit.

  • Double-space, please. 
  • We primarily look for personal essays, but memoir excerpts are acceptable if self-contained. 
  • Unsolicited book reviews and criticism are not considered.
  • Send one prose piece at a time.
  • Query before you send a prose piece over 8,000 words.


General Guidelines

  • Blackbird does not accept previously published work.
  • Simultaneous submissions are acceptable so long as they are indicated as such and we are immediately notified upon acceptance elsewhere.
  • Translations are welcome so long as permissions have been obtained from the author.
  • Please submit a cover letter, either in the box provided or as the first page of your submission; if you have previously published with Blackbird or received encouragement on a previous submission, please include that information as well.


If you are a currently-enrolled student, please email us at blackbird@vcu.edu for a link to a waived-fee submission form.

Blackbird: an online journal of literature and the arts