For all our submissions, themed or otherwise, we welcome especially work by writers who are part of marginalized groups: immigrant and indigenous writers; writers of color; women, non-binary, LGBQA and trans writers; writers with disabilities both visible and invisible. Send us your best work!
General Guidelines
The Fourth River publishes print and online issues. Submissions are accepted July 1-September 1. We will occasionally run special calls for theme issues as well.
Submissions for the web series, Tributaries, is rolling, though we will sometimes close for a short time to catch up on reading.
There is a $3 submission fee for our issues, however we will announce FREE submission days occasionally over social media, so be sure to follow us!
Submissions to Tributaries are always free.
We wish it were otherwise, but The Fourth River is not a paying market at this time. Contributors to our print issues will be offered one copy of the issue in which their work appears. Digital contributors will be offered either one back issue or a copy of the upcoming print issue.
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We welcome submissions of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and visual art, that explore the relationship between humans and their environments, both natural and built, urban, rural or wild. We are looking for writing that is richly situated at the confluence of place, space and identity—or that reflects upon or makes use of landscape and place in new ways.
Please send 3-5 poems, up to 4,000 words of prose, or 1-3 pieces of visual art at a time.
The Fourth River only accepts submissions via Submittable.
If you have difficulty using our submission system, please query us at 4thriver@gmail.com. We will be glad to assist you, but please understand that uninvited emailed or mailed submissions will not be read.
Recent authors we’ve published include Barbara Hurd, Susan Cohen, Todd Kaneko, Mia Ayumi Mahlotra, Ira Sukrungruang, Lisa Summe and Bk Loren. Contributors to The Fourth River have received Pushcart Prizes, NEA Fellowships, and The Drue Heinz Literature Prize. The Fourth River’s contributors have been published in Glimmer Train, Alaska Quarterly Review, The Missouri Review, The Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Prize Stories, and The Best American Travel Writing.
Rolling, burbling, churning along, tributaries lead us to the river. These winding origins are sometimes small, but often powerful. Tributaries refresh us, urge us forward, guide us through the trees. The Fourth River’s weekly online publication, Tributaries, showcases the brief and the inspiring, that which sustains us and takes us through unexpected courses. Each week we will feature one short piece on our website.
Guidelines:
Submit one poem or up to 500 words of fiction or nonfiction prose, translations in any genre, and hybridity that addresses the mission above!
Multiple submissions are not accepted. Please submit one piece at a time and wait to hear back before submitting again.
Simultaneous submissions are fine as long as you notify us immediately.
We do not accept previously published work.
Please indicate in your cover letter if your submission is intended for one of our special themes. If no theme is indicated, we will consider your work for our upcoming print and/or online issues.