August 2023 Deadlines: 9 Contests and Magazines with Deadlines This Month

We are looking for gut-turning, nerve-nudging and heart-tilting writing & creative endeavors. Please send us the most thoughtful & thought provoking versions of your work and only your very best creatively written &/or artistic response to the African Diaspora globally. Please also submit only grammatically polished work that has been carefully proofread & edited for readability, succinctness, and clarity. A) Poetry—40 lines or fewer, maximum of three poems each submission

Since our founding in 2016, the Arkansas International has been dedicated to publishing diverse, transnational voices. In 2024, we will advance this work by publishing our first issue dedicated entirely to women-identifying writers, translators, and artists. VIDA: Women in Literary Arts has conducted a study focused on women in literary publishing since 2009. In its most recent study (2019), VIDA estimated that women writers made up only 35% of the total writers published when compared to men. This includes publications such as Harper’s (36.68% women published or employed), The Atlantic (36.55% women published or employed), and the New York Review of Books (33.37% women published/reviewed). VIDA reported only three major publishers––Tin House, New York Times Book Review, and Poetry––reached the benchmark of women representing 50% or more of their total writers published. The Arkansas International defines women’s literature authored by women-identified writers, including transgendered and cisgendered women, as well as non-binary writers who also identify with the traditionally female pronouns, she/her/hers. We are especially interested in work that tells untold stories from experiences and identities often marginalized by the larger publishing industry. We’ll consider previously unpublished fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and translation between May 15 and August 15.