Call for Submissions
Polyphony Lit invites submissions of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction from high school students (aged 14-18) worldwide. Students may submit for publication in our annual volume, and/or our annual writing contests.
For submission guidelines, please see the individual categories listed below.
Submission Schedule:
Submissions for Volume 20 are open on the following schedule:
Reading Period 1: July 1 - September 30, 2023
Reading Period 2: November 1, 2021 - January 31, 2024
Reading Period 3 : March 1 - April 30, 2024
Submissions for our Seasonal Contests are open on the following schedule:
Latin Heritage Contest: September 15th - October 15th, 2023
Fall Contest: October 1 - 31, 2023
Black History Month Contest: February 1 - 28, 2024
Winter Contest: February 1 - 28, 2024
Asian / Pacific Heritage Month Contest: May 1st - 31, 2024
Pride Month Contest: June 1 - 30, 2024
Summer Contest: June 1 - 30, 2024
Please note that some reading periods may close early if we reach our submission cap, so we recommend submitting early during the reading period.
Student Editors Read Every Submission
We have a staff of more than 150 high school students from around the world, all of whom have successfully completed our literary editing training program.
Editorial Philosophy
It is our privilege to read every submission we receive. We relish the opportunity to participate in this personal and essential journey of the human voice. We strive to build respectful, mutually beneficial writer-editor relationships. We honor literary achievement by bringing attention to excellence through awards and publishing much of the extraordinary work we receive.
Why Submit?
Anytime you submit, your work will be evaluated for publication in our magazine and, if published, it will be eligible for the Claudia Ann Seaman Young Writers Award.
Submission Calendar
Due to high submission volume, we manage our reading periods to match our editor capacity. We have three windows during the Volume 20 (2023-2024) submission period (exlcuding contests). To verify a reading period is still open, visit our submissions page on Submittable.
For Volume 20:
Submissions during these times:
- will receive in-depth editorial feedback from our editors
- will be evaluated for publication in our annual volume
- are eligible for the Claudia Ann Seaman Awards
- Submissions are free
For Contests:
- Submissions during these contest reading periods are read by editors but do not receive feedback unless they are selected as a finalist
- Submissions cost $5.00 each for the Fall, Winter, and Summer Contests
- Submissions are free for Latin Heritage Month, Black History Month, Asian / Pacific Heritage Month, and Pride Month Contests
- Winners are:
awarded the Polyphony Lit Writing Award (no cash value)
published in our annual volume
Interested in becoming an editor for Polyphony Lit? Take our editorial training course and join the staff!
Interested in learning more about poetry from the best high school / college-aged writers and editors around the globe? Hone your poetry skills, learn about cultural perspectives on poetry, and receive detailed feedback from experienced Teaching Assistants in our poetry workshop.
Poetry / Prose Guidelines
Submission Cap
Please note that we will be closing each window for Volume 20 whenever we reach the submission cap. We recommend submitting early to ensure your work is considered. What does this mean?
- The submission window for July 2023 - September 2023 may close before the end of September.
- The submission window for November 2023 - January 2024 may close before the end of January.
- The submission window for March 2024 - April 2024 may close before the end of April.
There will be a limited number of submissions, so out of respect for other submitters:
- Please submit no more than three submissions per volume.
- Please ensure that your submission follows all guidelines, including word/line limits and guidelines for creative nonfiction (submissions that do not follow guidelines will be withdrawn).
- Please submit only if you are aged 14-18 (submissions from writers outside the age limit will be withdrawn).
Volume 20
Submissions for this category:
- will receive in-depth editorial feedback from our editors.
- will be evaluated for publication in our annual volume.
- are eligible for the Claudia Ann Seaman Awards.
- Submissions are free.
Writing Guidelines
Writer Qualifications
- High school students (aged 14-18) from anywhere in the world are eligible to submit.
- Editors on Polyphony Lit's staff are not eligible to submit.
- Works must be written in English (unless contest guidelines specify otherwise).
- Original works only.
- Submit no more than three pieces per year (submission year begins in July and ends the following April)
- If submitting multiple pieces, please upload them as separate submissions. Multiple pieces submitted in a single document will be withdrawn, and you will be asked to resubmit your pieces separately.
- We accept simultaneous submissions and work that has been published elsewhere. If submitting previously published work, please send a message in Submittable noting where and when your work has been published, and if it is eligible for republication. If it is accepted for publication elsewhere after submitting to Polyphony Lit, please notify us immediately but do not withdraw your submission if you are still interested in publication at Polyphony Lit. If we accept a previously published submission for publication, we will acknowledge the place of the original publication.
- Previously published pieces are not eligible for the Claudia Ann Seaman Awards
Length
- Poetry must be 80 lines or less.
- Fiction and creative nonfiction must be 1,800 words or less.
Formatting
- Do not put your name on the piece, as all work is blind juried.
- Poetry should be formatted flush left unless another format, such as centering, is an integral part of the piece's meaning.
- We accept submission in .doc, .docx or .rtf formats.
- We prefer common conventions:
- Color: Black & white
- Font Size: 12 pt throughout, including titles
- Font Type: Times or Times New Roman
- Margins: 1-inch at the top and bottom, and 1.25 inch at the left and right. One space after periods. There should be no extra returns after paragraphs unless you have a meaningful reason for the extra space.
Using Submittable
- Please upload submissions through Submittable. We do not accept email submissions or hard copies via mail.
- If you submit a revision of a piece that we have already reviewed, type "(REV)" after the title.
- There is no fee to submit.
- By submitting to Polyphony Lit you give us permission to publish your piece as outlined by Polyphony Lit's Copyright Policies.
Additional Guidelines for Creative Nonfiction
- At Polyphony Lit, we look for creative nonfiction pieces that are written in the style of short personal memoirs. We are looking for pieces that are informal, flexible in form, and most importantly, personal. Personal discovery is the keystone of a personal essay. Self-revelation, human experiences, humor, and flexibility of form are all aspects that we look for in pieces we publish as creative non-fiction.
- We do not look for op-ed pieces, critical analyses, research papers, or academic essays.
- We would advise reading some samples of our work, in order to understand the material that we publish. Here are some samples of creative nonfiction that we have published:
- Memories of the Boy I Didn't Know
- responses to love
- Holiday in a Burning City
Additional Opportunities for Writers
- Interested in becoming an editor for Polyphony Lit? Take our editorial training course and join the staff!
- Interested in learning more about poetry from the best high school / college-aged writers and editors around the globe? Hone your poetry skills, learn about cultural perspectives on poetry, and receive detailed feedback from experienced Teaching Assistants in our poetry workshop.
Art Guidelines
Artist Qualifications
- High school students (aged 14-18) from anywhere in the world are eligible to submit.
- For the art category, we welcome multiple submissions.
Artwork Guidelines
- Submitted artwork will be considered for any of the following categories: (1) Cover Art (which will appear both on the website and in print), (2) T-Shirt Art (which will appear in our online store), and (3) Promotional Art (which will appear on social media, on our website, and in our online workshops).
- The T-shirt art winner will receive $150 and a free t-shirt featuring their design.
- Images must be a .PNG or .JPG file.
- Images must be at least 2700 x 1800 pixels. Images with low resolution will not be eligible for cover art or t-shirt printing.
- Images must have a resolution of at least 300 DPI (dots per inch).
- Portrait orientation is preferred.
- For the purpose of t-shirt printing, your artwork may be edited in order to create a printer-friendly color palette.
- Polyphony means “many voices,” which you can use as inspiration for your design. You are not limited to that theme, as we are looking for the creativity and imagination of your visual art to be a match for the wide-ranging literary works contained in our annual volume.
- We accept simultaneous submissions but if the piece is accepted elsewhere, please notify us immediately. Only previously unpublished artwork is eligible.
- All submissions must be original and may include drawings, paintings, collages, photographs, or mixed media.
Using Submittable
- In the submission form, please select "Cover Art" as the genre for your submission.
- Please upload submissions through Submittable. We do not accept email submissions or hard copies via mail.
- Upload only one piece per submission file. To submit more than one piece, make more than one submission file.
- There is no fee to submit.
- We do not provide feedback on cover art submissions. If your piece is accepted for publication, we will notify you at the close of our submission cycle.
- If you are submitting visual art, you give us permission to publish your work as cover art, t-shirt art, or promotional art on Polyphony Lit's platforms as outlined by Polyphony Lit's Copyright Policies.
“How to Be a Literary Editor” Scholarship Application
Students who fill out this form will be offered a full scholarship for the “How to Be a Literary Editor” course, if they qualify for financial aid.
We are a nonprofit with aim to reach all students. In order to open our staff to students from low-income communities, we offer to waive the $99 enrollment fee for students who qualify for financial aid.
You must apply for the scholarship by completing this form: https://form.jotform.com/240325870158052
"How to Be a Literary Editor"
This course teaches high school and college students how to edit poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. Our editorial method, developed over 15 years of teaching our own staff the craft of editing, offers a standard approach for tackling each submission and gives an overview of the specific editing vocabulary useful for giving meaningful feedback.
Students who complete the course will be prepared to join the staff of their school literary magazine, ace an internship at a real-world lit magazine, and/or join Polyphony Lit. The course also includes a guide for literary magazine interns published by the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses [clmp] which will introduce students to the administrative and business aspects of producing a literary magazine.
Features of this course:
- On-demand & self-paced (Start right now!)
- 3-5 hours to complete
- 3 expert instructors lead mini-lectures and close readings in poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction
- A panel of talented high school Executive Editors workshop pieces in each genre
- A final assignment with personal feedback
Students who pass the mini-quizzes and complete the final assignment will receive a Certificate of Completion and an invitation to join the Polyphony Lit editorial staff.
For High School Literary Magazine Advisers: If your school is interested in using the workshop to train your high school editorial staff, please contact us for more information and a discount on volume purchases.
Scholarship Qualifications
- High school student or equivalent.
- Financial need: public school students who qualify for free/reduced lunch; private school students receiving financial aid; students whose family financial situation prohibits them from purchasing the program.
- Has access to computer/device and Wifi to take the online workshop.
- Plans to complete the online workshop, which takes 3-5 hours, by June of each school year.