Please note that current students/affiliates of George Mason University's MFA program, and GMU MFA graduates who are within 5 years of graduating, aren't permitted to apply. If you have been published by us before, please wait at least one calendar year before submitting again.
Please note we only accept previously unpublished work for all categories. Please do not send us a piece you have sent us before unless we ask to see another version.
Blog submissions are open year-round. Please submit book reviews, essays, event reporting, etc. See our website for additional submission information. It's always a good idea to read a few of our blog posts (outside of a limited series) for a sense of what we're looking for.
We offer fee-free submissions for Black and indigenous writers. This will be available as a separate form when submissions are open.
If you are not a Black or Indigenous writer and the submission fee presents a financial hardship, please email us at sotospeakjournal@gmail.com for a fee waiver.
For more information, please visit http://www.sotospeakjournal.org.
An all-new collection of intersectional fiction, poetry, CNF, and visual art! This year's print issue is expanded, with 15 contributors across genres.
Our Spring 2023 Issue of So to Speak is available for purchase as a digital PDF for $3!
To receive a print hard-copy of the contest issue, you can select the add-on of "mail me a print copy!" for just an extra $6! (We'll even throw a back issue or two in with your order, free of charge.)
The So to Speak blog is now accepting submissions for its newest limited series! We invite writers to submit creative work and craft essays that explore the theme through an intersectional lens. Broad interpretations of the theme are welcome.
Submissions should consist of no more than 2,000 words of prose or 3 poems, and should be double-spaced with numbered pages (poems do not have to adhere to this formatting). We would also be excited to receive multimedia creative work. This could take the form of audio, spoken word, a mix of visual art and text, or anything else that you can think of. Simultaneous submissions are also welcomed, provided you notify us promptly if the piece has been published elsewhere.
So to Speak is humbled to share an online space with writers and artists who seek to produce thought-provoking work that engages diversity and inclusion. We can't wait to hear from you!
We welcome submissions from anybody aged 13-18 for our Young Writers Initiative. We are particularly interested in hearing from individuals who identify with marginalized identities and who view themselves and the world through an intersectional lens. If you wish to submit and you are over the age of 18, please submit using our genre forms (during open submission windows) or to our blog.
We accept submissions only through our Submittable page, and we do not charge a fee to submit for our young writers.
- Prose submissions (fiction and nonfiction) must be 4,000 words or less. If submitting flash (pieces under 1,000 words), you may submit up to 3 pieces in a single document.
- Poetry submissions may consist of up to 5 poems in a single document as long as the entire submission is no longer than 10 pages.
- Art submissions may consist of any type of art that can be displayed on a website. This includes audio and visual art, as well as studio arts such as painting, drawing, illustration, ceramics, etc. Photographs must be submitted in jpg or tif formats with a dpi of 300.
Please be aware that, as employees of an institution of higher education in the State of Virginia, all of our editorial staff are mandated reporters. This means that if we suspect child abuse or neglect, we are legally bound to report that information to proper authorities. We do not want this information to deter anybody from submitting to us, but we also want to be upfront and honest about our obligations.