The Fabulist accepts submissions across multiple creative forms by invitation only or during periodic open calls.
- If we have an open call running, you can access the submissions portal by clicking the button at the bottom of this page. (No button=no open call.)
- Guidelines & open calls: You can access details about current open calls, submissions guidelines, our AI policy (hint: NO), details on payments, contracts and more by visiting our submissions page on our website: https://fabulistmagazine.com/about/submissions/
- Follow us: For updates on current and forthcoming open calls, our latest publications, and other Fabulist news, follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, Facebook, or subscribe to our email newsletter.
What we’re looking for: The Fabulist is widely interested in the possibilities of speculative and fantastical literature, poetry, visual art and related nonfiction. We love genre, though genre should not be considered a constraint. We do not publish mainstream or realist creative works — some element of the fantastic or speculative must be present to be a good fit for our pages. In particular, we’re concerned with art as a means toward liberation, though this can express itself in a myriad ways. The bottom line for us is creative work that tells us something about what it means to be human. This is a broad mandate for creators to reach for the proverbial brass ring …
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR WORK: Click the submissions button that appears below during open calls. No button, no open call.
Poetry Submissions
Fabulist Poetry: Where the speculative meets the strange, and the genre-curious find a home.
We believe poetry is a portal. We’re looking for poetry that gazes beyond the ordinary—work that dares, deviates, and dreams. Whether you write about interstellar grief, ghost mothers, quantum longing, or eco-hauntings—or none of the above—we want to read it. We celebrate both genre writers and genre-crossers. We can’t wait to read you.
- Send 2–6 poems per submission.
- Shorter pieces are highly encouraged. (We don’t accept long-form poetry at this time—brevity invites mystery.)
- Submit all poems in one document, unless instructed otherwise.
Standard Format
- Standard fonts only, please: Times New Roman, Garamond, or Georgia
- 12 pt, single-spaced
- .doc, .docx, or .pdf files accepted
For the Form Breakers If your poem includes unconventional formatting (visual, concrete, spatial, typographic, etc.), we ask that you:
- Submit a high-resolution JPG (300dpi) along with your written document so we can understand and honor your vision.
- Include both the image and a typed version in your submission if possible.
Style & Content
- We love work that stretches the speculative: Afrofuturist elegies, fairy tale fragmentation, post-apocalyptic love poems, poems-as-hexes, and anything else that isn’t easily defined.
- We welcome emergent voices, genre writers, and those writing into/against genre.
- Show us something risky. Break the mold or shape a new one.
Who Should Submit?
- Anyone. Especially the ones who think this isn’t “for them.”
- We especially encourage submissions from BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, neurodivergent, immigrants and working-class writers, and others from historically marginalized communities.
Simultaneous Submissions Yes. Just let us know immediately if a piece is accepted elsewhere.
Previously Published Work We do not accept previously published work (including personal blogs and social media).
Response Time We aim to respond within 6–8 weeks. If it’s been longer, feel free to nudge
Payment We pay a flat fee of $25 per poem, up to four poems total.