Submission Guidelines | Contest Information | Previous Contest Winners
Submission Guidelines
The editors actively solicit writing that expresses the values of Chautauqua Institution broadly construed: a sense of inquiry into questions of personal, social, political, spiritual, and aesthetic importance, regardless of genre. We consider the work of any writer, whether or not affiliated with Chautauqua Institution, except for members of the Board of the Chautauqua Writers’ Center unless solicited for special issues. The qualities we seek include a mastery of craft, attention to vivid and accurate language, a true lyric “ear,” an original and compelling vision, and strong narrative instinct. Above all, we value work that is intensely personal, yet somehow implicitly comments on larger public concerns—work that answers every reader’s most urgent question: Why are you telling me this?
Poetry: A Chautauqua poem is not just a pretty exercise in language. It exhibits the writer’s craft and attention to language, employs striking images and metaphors, and engages the mind as well as the emotions. It emerges from the poet’s deep reading and knowledge of poetic tradition, reacting to that tradition to reveal a definite aesthetic approach, opening insights into the larger world of human concerns. This may include traditional or experimental work, but each poem should be meaningful to a smart reader beyond the writer’s private code of expression. Submit a maximum of four poems, typed single-spaced, justified left.
Short Stories: A Chautauqua short story, self-contained novel excerpt, or short short demonstrates a sound storytelling instinct, using suspense in the best sense of creating a compulsion in the reader to continue reading—because of deep interest in the characters and their actions, unsettled issues of action or theme, or in some cases sheer delight at the language itself. A superior story will exhibit the writer’s attention to language—both in nuance and detail—and reveal a masterful control of syntax. Fiction should be a maximum of 25 double-spaced, single-sided pages in 12-point font, no extra spaces between paragraphs and all pages numbered-- or about 7,000 words.
Creative Nonfiction: Most of the same guidelines apply here as for short stories. We are seeking essays that use personal experience as a way of addressing the world, blending a confident and articulate narrator with fascinating subject matter. Again, we value exact and artful use of language and syntax as well as a compelling emotional experience that includes the reader, whatever the subject matter. The best essay is timeless, released from daily headlines but important for its truthful evocation of the world. Creative Nonfiction should be a maximum of 25 double-spaced, single-sided pages in 12-point font, no extra spaces between paragraphs and all pages numbered-- or about 7,000 words.
Book Reviews: All reviews are assigned by the editors.
The editors will make every effort to respond to submissions within three months. All submissions must be original and unpublished in any form. Simultaneous submissions are permitted. Notify Chautauqua immediately if a work under consideration is no longer available. Unsolicited e-mail submissions are not accepted. Chautauqua acquires First North American Serial Rights and reserves the nonexclusive right to reprint the work in a future anniversary issue of the magazine. Payment to authors at this time is two contributor’s copies.
We follow the Chicago Manual of Style.
Chautauqua assumes no responsibility for delay, loss or damage of manuscript submissions.
Reading Period for the 2011 Issue: Chautauqua welcomes unsolicited submissions of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction from February 15 to April 15 and from August 15 to November 15. The 2011 issue of Chautauqua will focus on the larger theme of nature and the natural world. We are looking for poems, short stories, and creative nonfiction.
Submissions: Please make submissions online at www.manuscripthub.com. Manuscripthub.com does charge a small fee for submissions. We made the decision to move to online submissions after a great deal of deliberation. Ultimately, online submissions enable all editors to read work more efficiently. In addition, online submissions reduce paper waste.
If for some reason, it is not possible for you to submit electronically, you may mail submissions to Chautauqua c/o Department of Creative Writing, University of North Carolina Wilmington, 601 S. College Rd, Wilmington NC 28409.
All paper manuscripts and correspondence regarding submissions should be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope (S.A.S.E.). We assume no responsibility for delay, loss, or damage. Paper submissions will be recycled. For more information about literary magazines, consult directories such as The Writer's Market™ and The International Directory of Literary Magazines and Small Presses.
More Information: For more information about Chautauqua, please contact Jill Gerard, editor, at gerardj@uncw.edu or contact Chautauqua directly, clj@uncw.edu.
