The Kenyon Review has announced its annual call for submissions, open from September 1 to September 30, 2025, for its 2026 feature. Writers are invited to submit work in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
This year, submissions may broadly engage with one of the following themes, or be submitted as general entries:
- Alchemy
- Invisible Cities
- Precarity
- Document
Submission Guidelines
- Submissions must be previously unpublished.
- Short fiction and essays: Up to 7,500 words.
- Flash fiction and essays: Up to 3 pieces, maximum 1,000 words each (submitted in a single document).
- Poetry: Up to 6 poems (submitted in a single document).
- Excerpts: Up to 30 double-spaced pages from a longer work.
- Writers may submit work in only one genre per reading period.
Not Accepted:
- Unsolicited interviews
- Unsolicited book reviews
- Unsolicited artwork
- Drama/scripts
- Previously published material
- Emailed submissions (all electronic submissions must go through Submittable)
Special Note for Paper Submissions
Writers without internet access, including those incarcerated, may submit by mail. Paper submissions must be postmarked by September 30, 2025, and accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Send hard copies to:
SUBMISSIONS, The Kenyon Review, 102 W. Wiggin St., Gambier, OH 43022
Online submissions can be made via Submittable: Kenyon Review Submissions Portal
Payment
Kenyon Review pays $0.08 per published word of prose (minimum $80, maximum $450) and $0.16 per published word of poetry (minimum $40, maximum $200).
Sarah Adeyemo
Sarah Adeyemo, SWAN IX, is a Nigerian poet, writer, editor, spoken word artiste and communication expert. The debut author of “The Shape of Silence”. She draws inspiration from solitude and experiences. She is a fellow of the SprinNG Writing Fellowship. Her works appeared or are forthcoming in The Shallow Tales Review, The Muse Journal, The Weganda Review, Everscribe Magazine, Afrillhill Press, Poems For Persons Interest, TV-63 Magazine, Northern Writers Forum Journal, Eboquills, Rinna Lit. Anthologies, and elsewhere. She's a member of the Swan Collective. She tweets @SarahInkspires.
