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.
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 If a flash piece needs to be withdrawn, please notify us via the notes tool on Submittable.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We welcome previously unpublished work from writers of all backgrounds and identities, particularly including people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities, members of religious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.