Yalobusha Review is a journal of new writing, founded in 1995 and operated by the University of Mississippi MFA program. We seek to showcase work with a dynamic voice, confident style, and rigorous ideas. Currently, we publish fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and hybrid/experimental work.
We are committed to being a space that celebrates emerging writers and voices from a wide range of communities. We nominate exceptional work for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net Anthology. Additionally, each spring we also award the Barry Hannah Prize for Fiction and the Yellowwood Poetry Prize. We have been lucky to publish the work of notable writers such as Carmen Maria Machado, Melissa Broder, Stella Wong, and Michael Chang.
Submissions may close during contests and summer months.
All submissions should include a cover letter, a brief, professional third-person biography, and any relevant contact information.
YR does not accept previously published pieces.
Simultaneous submissions are not only permitted but expected; please notify us immediately if a piece is chosen for publication elsewhere.
Response time can take up to five or six months.
Named in memoriam, the Barry Hannah Prize in Fiction celebrates the best writing, regardless of form or style.
Submissions open: February 15th - March 16th, 2026
We are proud to announce that our 2025 judge is LaToya Watkins, the 2025-26 John and Renee Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi.
Winner receives $500, publication, and interview in YR: 43
Guidelines
- Please submit fiction (1 full-length short story, or multiple flash fictions), totaling no more than 5000 words, through Submittable. We accept only previously unpublished work. Although first place is guaranteed for publication, all other entries will also be considered for general publication.
- Only one submission per contestant. Simultaneous submissions are permitted. Please notify us immediately if a piece is selected for publication elsewhere.
- Please do not include your name anywhere on the manuscript.
- Contest entries must be received by March 16th.
- The contest fee is $3.
- General submissions will be closed during the contest period.
Eligibility
YR cannot consider work from anyone affiliated with the University of Mississippi or the prize judge.
Yalobusha Review seeks stories that resist outdated tropes and ideologies, rather than uphold them. Writers of color, women writers, and writers who identify as LGBTQIA+ are especially encouraged to submit. All submissions will be considered for general publication.
Final Judge
LaToya Watkins’ writing has appeared in A Public Space, The Sun, Kweli Journal, McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Kenyon Review, The Pushcart Prize Anthology, and elsewhere. She is a Kimibilo fellow and has received support from the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, MacDowell, OMI: Arts, Yaddo, Hedgebrook, and the Camargo Foundation. She is the author of Perish and Holler, Child.
Yalobusha Review is excited to announce the 2026 Yellowwood Poetry Prize. This year’s judge is Cody-Rose Clevidence. The winner of the Yellowwood Poetry Prize receives $500, as well as publication and an interview in Yalobusha Review. The contest is open February 1st through March 16th.
GUIDELINES
- Please submit up to 3 poems, totaling no more than 5 pages, through Submittable. We accept only previously unpublished work. All entries will be considered for general publication.
- Only one submission per contestant. Simultaneous submissions are permitted. Please notify us immediately if a piece is selected for publication elsewhere.
- Please do not include your name anywhere on the manuscript.
- Contest entries must be received by March 16th.
- The contest fee is $3.
- General submissions will be closed during the contest period.
ELIGIBILITY
YR cannot consider work from anyone currently or recently affiliated with the University of Mississippi or the prize judge, Cody-Rose Clevidence. This includes those who have studied or taught at the University of Mississippi.
Yalobusha Review seeks stories that resist outdated tropes and ideologies, rather than uphold them. Writers of color, women writers, and writers who identify as LGBTQIA+ are especially encouraged to submit. All submissions will be considered for general publication.
FINAL JUDGE
Cody-Rose Clevidence is the author of THIS HOUSEHOLD OF EARTHLY NATURE (Roof Books, 2025), Aux Arc / Trypt Ich (Nightboat, 2021), Listen My Friend, This is the Dream I Dreamed Last Night (The Song Cave, 2021), Flung/Throne (Ahsahta, 2018), and BEAST FEAST (Ahsahta Press, 2014), as well as several chapbooks (Fonograf, flowers and cream, NION, garden door press, Auric). Occasionally a visiting poetry professor at the Iowa Writers Workshop, they live in the Arkansas Ozarks alongside three loyal, sentient pets, and the continuous void.
Because we are a volunteer-run publication, tip jar submissions help us to host readings and events, attends conferences like AWP, buy thank-you gifts for our staff readers, and keep a steady flow of coffee in the hands of the editors.
We are looking for nonfiction that pushes the boundaries of the genre, whether through form, voice, POV, setting, or otherwise.
Please submit one essay (up to 4000 words) or up to 3 micro essays (less than 1000 words apiece). If submitting 3 shorter works, please include all pieces in one file.
Please submit in standard manuscript format (12-point font, double spaced, Times New Roman).
Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, but please let us know if a piece is accepted elsewhere by manually withdrawing your submission. If a flash piece needs to be withdrawn, please notify us via the notes tool on Submittable. Submit in .docx, .doc, or .pdf format.
Please wait thirty days after response before submitting again.
Please wait at least 120 days to query the status of your manuscript. Questions and queries may be sent to yreditors@gmail.com.
We welcome previously unpublished work from writers of all backgrounds and identities, particularly including people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities, members of religious minorities, people outside the United States, and all others whom traditional publishing has historically excluded.
We are looking for nonfiction that pushes the boundaries of the genre, whether through form, voice, POV, setting, or otherwise.
Please submit one essay (up to 4000 words) or up to 3 micro essays (less than 1000 words apiece). If submitting 3 shorter works, please include all pieces in one file.
Please submit in standard manuscript format (12-point font, double spaced, Times New Roman)
Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, but please let us know if a piece is accepted elsewhere by manually withdrawing your submission. If a flash piece needs to be withdrawn, please notify us via the notes tool on Submittable. Submit in .docx, .doc, or .pdf format.
Please wait thirty days after response before submitting again.
Please wait at least 120 days to query the status of your manuscript. Questions and queries may be sent to yreditors@gmail.com.
We welcome previously unpublished work from writers of all backgrounds and identities, particularly including people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities, members of religious minorities, people outside the United States, and all others whom traditional publishing has historically excluded.