Submissions
Editorial Philosophy
Blue Mesa Review strives to publish the best poetry and prose available. We are open to writers from all backgrounds and are especially interested in work from writers of marginalized communities. We are also keen to read exceptional writing from or about the Southwest. Please refer to our current or back issues to see the kinds of work we publish.
Reading Period
We accept poetry and fiction submissions between August 1 – October 31 for publication in our Fall issue. We accept nonfiction submissions for the Fall issue between March 1 – December 1. We accept poetry, fiction, and nonfiction submissions between December 1 – February 28 for publication in our Spring contest issue.
Genres
• Poetry: No more than three poems per packet.
• Fiction: No more than 6000 words.
• Nonfiction: No more than 6000 words.
We are always looking for visual art for publication in the magazine. Due to the layout of our site, we have a strong preference for landscape-oriented or square pieces, but we will accept the occasional portrait piece that captures our imaginations.
Magazine Payment & Copyright
We pay $25 per poem, essay, or short story published in the magazine during our general reading period.
For our annual contest issue in poetry, fiction and nonfiction, first-place recipients receive $500, second-place recipients receive $100, and third-place recipients receive $25. All recipients are published in the issue.
We ask for the following rights in exchange: first North American serial rights and non-exclusive electronic rights for our website. Rights revert to the author upon publication. Each piece will be published in one of our biannual online-only issues.
Incarcerated Artists
We gladly accept submissions from incarcerated authors and artists and will waive the submission fee for such submissions. Please make sure to include a cover letter and a return address with your work. We will not be able to return original copies, so do not send us the only copy of your piece. You can mail your work to:
Blue Mesa Review
Department of English Language and Literature
Humanities Building, Second Floor
MSC03 2170
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
General Guidelines
We only accept submissions online via Submittable. We do not accept submissions via email or postal mail (with the exception of incarcerated writers). Any submissions received by means other than Submittable will be returned to the submitter unread or recycled if a stamped, self-addressed envelope was not provided.
We do not consider work that has been previously published in print or online. Please do not submit anything that has been published on your blog, through your Facebook page, in other magazines including those online, or in an anthology or chapbook.
We gladly accept simultaneous submissions. If your work is accepted elsewhere, please notify us immediately and withdraw your submission through the Submittable system. If a poem in a packet is accepted elsewhere, add a note identifying the piece that is no longer available.
We encourage you to read past issues of Blue Mesa Review before submitting so you have a sense of the type of work we publish. Keep in mind that our editorial staff changes year-to-year, so variance in style, point of view, and themes is to be expected.
Our editorial team publishes annual essays about the types of work we’re interested in publishing. We recommend you explore our Staff Writes page for further insight into what catches our eye.
You may submit to more than one genre. However, please submit no more than one submission in a given genre (poetry, fiction, nonfiction). Multiple submissions in the same genre will be disregarded.
Due to the high volume of submissions we receive, response time can be longer than our standard two-to-six months. Please be patient. If you have not heard from us in six months, you can contact us here. “Submission Query” should be the subject line.
Individuals previously affiliated with the University of New Mexico (students, staff, and/or faculty) cannot submit to Blue Mesa Review until they have been unaffiliated for five years.
Submissions should be saved in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx). Prose submissions should be double-spaced. Poetry can be single-spaced. Please use a standard typeface and font size (12 pt). Pages should be numbered.
