Submit

We are currently accepting submissions for Issue 12 to be published in 2026.

Email submissions to dark.river.review@gmail.com.
Attach submission. Include short bio. See below for details.

We do not always have the chance to send rejection letters, though we will contact you if you are accepted.
If you submitted before 2025, your work was not accepted, but we encourage you to re-submit.
If you submitted your work during 2025, your work is still being considered.

We accept submissions from students currently enrolled as undergraduates at two and four year colleges and universities.

We accept poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and visual art.

Upon publication, Dark River Review assumes first serial rights. All rights revert back to contributors upon publication. Authors and artists may re-publish their work elsewhere, provided proper acknowledgment is given to Dark River Review.

Guidelines and Advice:

  • Submit a brief third-person bio of no more than fifty words. Include your college/university affiliation. (See examples in our previous issues.) We do not need a cover letter.
  • All work must be original and previously unpublished.
  • Simultaneous submissions are fine, but let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.
  • Submit files with last name, first name, and genre (Smith, Robert – Poetry.docx).
  • Submit writing as .doc, .docx, or .rtf.
  • If you are submitting in multiple genres, send the submissions in separate emails.
  • We reject many otherwise-strong submissions simply because they were not carefully proofread. See our house style below.

Poetry Guidelines:

  • Submit no more than five poems.
  • Single-space.
  • Punctuate poetry appropriately unless you have good reasons for doing so.
  • Poetry should be left-justified unless there is a good reason for doing otherwise. We usually do not accept poetry that involves complicated formatting.

Fiction Guidelines:

  • Submit no more than one piece of fiction.
  • 20 pages maximum. 5-12 pages is preferred.
  • Double space.

Creative Nonfiction Guidelines:

  • We loosely define “creative nonfiction” as nonfiction that utilizes the conventions of fiction (image, scenes, dialogue, etc.). We are not interested in research essays or similar types of academic writing.
  • Submit no more than one piece of creative nonfiction.
  • 20 pages maximum. 5-12 pages is preferred.
  • Double space.

Visual Art Guidelines:

  • Visual art may include photographs, paintings, drawings, comics, etc.
  • Submit no more than five works of visual art.
  • Submit as .jpg or .png at 300 dpi or better.

House Style:

  • Avoid comma splices. Include the Oxford comma and other necessary commas (after introductory phrases, setting off parenthetical expressions, before the conjunction that conjoins two independent clauses, etc.).
  • Periods and commas go inside double quotation marks.
  • Avoid unnecessary or incorrect punctuation, such as ellipses to indicate a pause.
  • Spell out easily-written numbers like seven, fourteen, and thirty, unless there is a good reason for doing otherwise.