Submissions

Poor Yorick is open for submissions from Dec. 6  – Jan 31. 

The theme of this year’s 2026 edition is Transformation.

Poor Yorick seeks bold, creative works that explore the dynamic experience or impact of transformation. Transformation can be planned or unexpected, welcome or not. It occurs in ourselves, our environments, to objects we love or even to concepts and ideas throughout time. When do we accept transformation? When do we push back? 

We encourage writers to read our archives to better understand our selection criteria.

General Guidelines:

  1. Submit all work through Submittable 
  2. We do not accept emailed or mailed submissions 
  3. We do not accept previously published material 
  4. Simultaneous submissions are welcome. If your work is accepted elsewhere, please withdraw your submission 
  5. Attach your submission as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf document 
  6. Include a brief cover letter and three-to-five sentence third-person bio with your submission 
  7. We typically respond to submissions in one-to-three  months. If you receive no response by then, you may email editor@pooryorickjournal.com to inquire
  8. Unfortunately we cannot pay contributors at this time

Genre-Specific Guidelines:

  • Creative Nonfiction: Submit up to 5,000 words of creative nonfiction, either as a single piece or multiple flash creative nonfiction pieces. If submitting multiple flash pieces, submit each as a separate file.
  • Fiction: Submit up to 5,000 words of fiction, either as a single piece or multiple flash fiction pieces. If submitting multiple flash pieces, submit each as a separate file.
  • Poetry: Submit up to 5 poems in separate files. Each poem should be no more than 5 pages. 

Authors’ Rights:

If your work is accepted and you consent to its publication, you grant Poor Yorick Exclusive Internet Rights to publish the work. Accepted work will be featured on Poor Yorick‘s website for at least eight weeks and will be archived on the website thereafter. Poor Yorick retains the right to archive accepted work indefinitely and to promote it electronically.

You retain all print rights and other electronic rights. If you do reprint all or a portion of the work, we appreciate the acknowledgment of first publication.