Talking Writing is a nonprofit digital magazine that features poetry, personal essays, visual art, and hybrid genres.

***** 2023 Update: We have currently closed most submissions categories. If you query us about a project, please be patient. ****

At TW, we care about writing that's honest, personal, and a joy to read—and we seek writers with diverse backgrounds, strong voices, and a commitment to words that impact the world. Please visit talkingwriting.com to get a sense of the magazine's style and TW's eclectic mix of genres.

• Personal Essays and Themes: Each issue of Talking Writing has a theme—such as "Transitions" or "Writing and Faith." When submissions are open for a theme, entry details will appear in the listings below.

• Contests: TW awards one or two annual writing prizes, with the categories changing each year. During the contest periods, entry details appear in the listings below.

• Other TW Pieces: For information about submitting poetry, cartoons, and other kinds of features with rolling deadlines, see the full list of categories below.

General Submission Guidelines

Queries and simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please tell us in your cover message if your work is also being considered elsewhere and notify us if it is accepted.

Upload each submission as a separate file in Word, PDF, or RTF format. Make sure your draft is easy to read.

For nonfiction essays, features, and hybrid poems, be sure to include complete references for any direct quotes you cite or factual information you include.

Submission Fees: The submission ($3) and contest ($15) fees partially offset our administrative costs. TW has limited editorial resources and a small budget. While we’re aware that submitting payments online is difficult for some writers, managing submissions online helps us to keep publishing.

There are no submission fees for comics, visual art, and queries. Ask away!

"The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible." — Vladimir Nabokov, Lectures on Literature