L’Esprit Literary Review accepts short fiction, creative non-fiction, novel extracts, literary criticism, autotheory, and book reviews. Pieces incorporating research, footnotes, and/or a works cited page are especially welcome.
Please include the following with each submission:
- A third-person bio, to be used as the contributor’s note should your work be accepted.
- Social media handles (Twitter and Instagram), if you’d like to be promoted online.
- An optional cover letter to introduce the work, yourself, or provide some context to your submission; please note that this in no way impacts the likelihood of publication.
- Finally, we would appreciate knowing how you found the journal (social, ad listing, database search, reference, etc).
L’Esprit does not discriminate based on the background, education, or identity of those who send work to us. All work is evaluated solely on merit, without regard for any other consideration whatsoever. We encourage those of all backgrounds and experiences to send in their work, and look for writing exploring the range of the human condition.
Both simultaneous and multiple submissions (across genres or within the same genre; no more than two at a time) are welcome; please do let us know if a piece is under consideration elsewhere, and if it is accepted. We welcome work in translation; it is the translator’s responsibility to secure all necessary permissions before submitting. Similarly, we accept previously published work, so long as the author has full rights and informs us of the original publisher so that we may credit them. Please only submit once (up to two pieces) before hearing back. To ensure we remain equally open to all, we must limit contributors to one publication per issue, but are happy to feature further work by past contributors in future issues.
We aim to reply to all submissions within six weeks. All entries are judged by the editorial staff. L’Esprit reserves all publication rights for each issue’s design and content, as well as for first North American publishing rights. The journal also retains rights to use works for promotional and publicity pieces. We nominate for the Pushcart and other literary awards. Authors and artists retain their rights for future publication and use, but we ask that L’Esprit be credited with original publication.
Edits will be done collaboratively, between the editorial staff and the author. All final decisions are at the discretion of the author. We accept pieces on an intermittently rolling basis. Submissions will open and close at the discretion of the Editor, and these announcements will be made both here and on social media. We currently offer a modest honorarium of $10 per published work as payment. Issues are published online in April and October. We encourage work to be read in the order in which it appears on the table of contents, as each issue is put together with consideration to theme, rhythm, and an overall narrative-stylistic progression.
We look for ambitious, voice-driven literary fiction and criticism that emphasizes consciousness and interiority in the Modernist tradition. Please no genre work. We seek writing that takes risks on the sentence level and is propelled by dynamic, poetic language. We also look for criticism that engages literary work on a critical, technical, mechanical, and/or theoretical level, including book reviews and essays. For an overall indication of what we seek, see previous issues and the essay “100 Years of Modernity”, originally published here and reprinted in Issue Zero, which serves as our aesthetic manifesto.
Indirect Books is pleased to announce the J. Alfred Prufrock Prize for Poetry, open to full-length collections in any style or form.
The Prize—which includes $1,000 USD, twenty-five (25) author copies, and publication & promotion with Indirect Books—will be given to the manuscript which best demonstrates command of language and style alongside a sustained commitment to formal innovation and thematic depth. Generally speaking, in poetry, we are more inspired by focus and technique than expanse and discourse.
We’re interested in poetry that presents unique voice, engages in formal play, and which centers a palpable delight in language as its engine. We love being surprised by a line break, an errant word choice, and poetry that isn’t afraid to subvert our expectations.
As with all our published work, we seek risk-adept, language-driven writing that pushes the boundaries of form and rests comfortably beyond convention.
Guidelines
- Submit a previously unpublished, full-length poetry manuscript, in English.
- The Prize will be open from March 1-May 31, 2026.
- The entry fee is $25. We have a limited number of fee waivers we can offer; if the fee is a genuine barrier to entrance, please email us.
- We anticipate that shortlist announcements will be made by mid-June; finalists by the end of June; and the winner by the end of August.
- There are no length requirements; full-length collections of poetry typically run between 48-100 pages.
- Material in your manuscript may have been published previously in a chapbook, magazines, journals, or anthologies, but the work as a whole must be unpublished.
- For a modest additional fee, we offer expedited feedback: your submission will be given a prioritized read, and we will notify you with a shortlist determination within two weeks.
- Do not include your name or identifying information on the manuscript itself. However, please do include this information–including a third person brief bio–in the cover letter on Submittable.
- Translations of complete, preexisting manuscripts already published in another language and/or previously self-published books are not eligible.
- You may submit multiple manuscripts, but each must be treated as an individual submission, submitted separately and with a separate fee.
- Please let us know immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
- We consider using AI to generate your manuscript, in whole or in part, as disqualifying. Such manuscripts will be rejected outright and no refund will be offered.
See full rules, terms, and conditions on our website.