Terrain.org welcomes submissions on place, climate, and justice from new and experienced authors and artists alike.
General submissions of poetry, nonfiction, and fiction open on January 1, 2025 and close on March 31, 2025 for poetry and April 30, 2025 for nonfiction and fiction. (No entry fee, $50 paid per contribution.)
Submissions to the 16th Annual Contests in Poetry, Nonfiction, and Fiction are open May 1 to September 1, 2025. ($20/entry for $1,000 grand prize in each genre.)
Submissions for the 4th Annual Sowell Emerging Writers Prize (a full manuscript in nonfiction, published by Texas Tech University Press, with a prize of $1,000, plus a residency at the Lopez Cottage on the Mackenzie of up to two weeks and $1,000 to support travel to the residency) are open September 15 to November 15, 2025. ($25/entry.)
ARTerrain and Letter to America submissions are open and are accepted year-round. (No entry fee, $50 paid per contribution.)
Our online, place-based journal accepts only the finest poetry, essays, fiction, articles, artwork, videos, and other contributions—material that reaches deep into the earth’s fiery core, or humanity’s incalculable core, and brings forth new insights and wisdom. We are seeking work in English (or translation) from around the world, and particularly Indigenous, Native, Black, Brown, and other historically marginalized and underrepresented voices as we expand contributions relating to social, environmental, and climate justice. All accepted submissions by writers of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, women, and/or other marginalized communities whose contributions explore place particularly in the context of social, environmental, or climate justice are considered for our annual Editor's Prize of $500 per genre.
Terrain.org pays all regular contributors $50 for each submission published.
We do our best to respond to general submissions within six months and Letter to America and ARTerrain submissions within six weeks. Please do not submit regular submissions more than once every six months unless invited to do so.
If you are a former Terrain.org contributor, or we have spoken with you at an event such as AWP, please remind us in your cover letter.
View our full submission guidelines at www.terrain.org/submit.
Thank you for your interest in submitting poetry to the Terrain.org 16h Annual Contest, judged by Blas Falconer. You may view our full submission guidelines at www.terrain.org/submit/contest-guidelines.
Submission deadline: Labor Day, Monday, September 1, 2025, 11:59 p.m.
$20 entry fee per poem set (up to 5 poems). $1,000 grand prize. $200 for finalists. All poems are considered for publication.
Submit 1-5 poems per entry, maximum of 7 pages total. Combine all poems into a single document.
For poetry, we are seeking a single poem or set of poems to select as the 15th Annual Contest. Submitted documents must contain only the poem title(s) and poems(s) without the author name or contact information (including in the document header/footer).
All poems must be previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are just fine; please notify us by sending a message through Submittable if you are withdrawing a single poem.
View our recent poetry at www.terrain.org/category/poetry.
Submittable is now requiring email validation. If you have difficulty validating your email, you may complete the form at www.submittable.com/help/submitter.
Thank you for your interest in submitting nonfiction to the Terrain.org 16th Annual Contest, judged by Douglas Carlson. You may view our full submission guidelines at www.terrain.org/submit/contest-guidelines.
Submission deadline: Labor Day, Monday, September 1, 2025, 11:59 p.m.
$20 entry fee per essay/article or set of 2 flash essays. $1,000 grand prize. $200 for finalists. All submissions are considered for publication.
Submit one essay or article, up to 5,000 words total, or 2 flash essays, up to 1,000 words each, per entry. Essays must contain only the essay title and essay itself without the author name or contact information (including in the document header/footer). We will consider all nonfiction, but are most interested in creative nonfiction, including personal essays, lyric essays, memoir, literary journalism, and other literary forms.
View our recent nonfiction at www.terrain.org/category/nonfiction.
Submittable is now requiring email validation. If you have difficulty validating your email, you may complete the form at www.submittable.com/help/submitter.
Thank you for your interest in submitting fiction to the Terrain.org 16th Annual Contest, judged by [coming soon]. You may view our full submission guidelines at www.terrain.org/submit/contest-guidelines.
Submission deadline: Labor Day, Monday, September 1, 2025, 11:59 p.m.
$20 entry fee per story or 2 flash fictions. $1,000 grand prize. $200 for finalists. All submissions are considered for publication.
Submit one story, up to 5,000 words total, or 2 flash fictions up to 1,000 words each, per entry. Stories must contain only the story title and story itself without the author name or contact information (including in the document header/footer).
View our recent fiction at www.terrain.org/category/fiction.
Submittable is now requiring email validation. If you have difficulty validating your email, you may complete the form at www.submittable.com/help/submitter.
Thank you for your interest in submitting a Letter to America to Terrain.org, open once again for submissions.
Please submit your prose, poetry, visual art-based, video, or other Letter to America (generally up to 1,500 words) in a single document. Photos or other graphics may be inserted into the document, but if accepted will be requested as separate files.
View our recent Letters to America at www.terrain.org/category/letter-to-america. And learn more about our Dear America project, plus find an amazing array of Letter to America teaching resources, at www.terrain.org/dear-america.
Thank you for your interest in submitting to Terrain.org's ARTerrain gallery and artist feature.
Please submit your ARTerrain narrative or query in a single document, which may included embedded images or links to images (as well as links to video/audio). Up to 20 images may also be uploaded with your document. The images should be no less than 1600 pixels wide, when possible.
View our recent ARTerrain features at www.terrain.org/category/arterrain.
Submittable is now requiring email validation. If you have difficulty validating your email, you may complete the form at www.submittable.com/help/submitter.