Submission Guidelines

Thank you for your interest in River Styx. As a multicultural journal of poetry, prose and art, River Styx publishes works of both new and established artists significant for their originality, energy, and deftness of craft. The high quality of its form and content have made it a leader among literary magazines for 37 years. River Styx has been included in many editions of the Best American Poetry, Best New Poets, New Stories from the South, and Pushcart Prize anthologies. We publish poetry, short fiction, essays, interviews, drawings and photographs. If your work is the best that it can be and you deem it fits with the established style and content of our magazine, please send it to River Styx.

Guidelines for Writers

• All submissions and correspondence must include a SASE with sufficient postage.
• Work must be received between May 1 and November 30 (postmark deadline). Work received outside of our reading period will be returned unread.
• Please do not submit work via any method that requires a signature upon delivery.
• Work submitted to River Styx must be previously unpublished.
• We do read simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us of such and notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
• Please do not send handwritten submissions.
• Translations are welcome if permission has been granted from owner of the copyright.
• Expect three to five months for a decision. Please do not query us or send another manuscript until five months have passed.
• Send three to five poems per submission.
• Send one story or essay per submission.
• Please do not mix genres within one submission envelope.
• No e-mail submissions will be accepted.
• Because our post office no longer recognizes them, we can not accept International Postage Coupons for international submissions.  Please use U.S. postage.

Guidelines for Visual Artists

• To be considered, work must be received between September and November.
• 5x7 or 8x10 photographs are preferred over slides, or we will consider links to online portfolios.
• Artists must include return postage with submissions of photographs.
• Allow 3-5 months for a response.