About the Magazine
Witness seeks original fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and photography that is innovative in its approach, broad-ranging in its concerns, and unapologetic in its perspective. The magazine blends the features of a literary and an issue-oriented magazine to highlight the role of the modern writer as witness to their times.
Our mission is to amplify extraordinary voices, feature writers from every part of the globe, and highlight pieces that speak to the present moment in an enduring and distinctive way. The magazine seeks to open up conversations surrounding oppression and transcendence, prejudice and compassion, fear and raw honesty. The editorial team is also proud to feature the work of emerging voices alongside that of established writers.
Reading Periods
Witness is published twice a year: a Spring print issue, and a Fall/Winter online issue.
Reading periods:
- Sept 5th-October 5th: Spring Print Issue--Theme: Second Chances
- October 1st-October 31st: Witness Literary Awards
- January 23rd-TBD: Fall/Winter Online Issue
- Summer/Winter TBD: Special capsule issues
Please note: submission windows are subject to change based on submission capacity. Additionally, your submission may be considered for future issues--regardless of the submission window--depending on the volume and quality of work submitted in a single reading period.
General Guidelines:
- We do not accept previously published work. This includes material that has appeared online in any form or format, including personal blogs.
- We do not accept more than one submission per genre, though you may submit up to five poems and three flash pieces as a single submission. We work to respond to all poetry submissions within four months; response times for fiction and nonfiction may be six months or longer, depending on the volume of submissions.
- Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please withdraw your work promptly if it is accepted elsewhere. If submitting multiple poems or flash, if any of your pieces has been accepted by another publication, please notify us directly by sending a message through Submittable.
- If Witness publishes your piece, we ask that you wait two years following your publication date before submitting to us again. We love our contributors, but seek to platform as wide an array of authors as we can.
- Graduates and current UNLV MFA/PhD candidates or other students affiliated with the university are asked to wait two years post-graduation before submitting work for consideration at Witness.
We pay our contributors $50 per published piece, whether in the print or online issue. We suggest a reading fee of $3 for a general submission, but keep an eye out for our free reading periods, or contact us directly if you have difficulty paying this fee.
Witness Literary Award Winners receive $500, and runners-up receive $250. Contest entry is $12. All entries are considered for publication in any upcoming issue.
We look forward to reading your work!
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***This form is subject to early closure, so submit before it disappears!***
We are especially excited to be featuring this free submission opportunity for Black and Indigenous writers! Please do not submit to this category if you are not Black or Indigenous. Our mission at Witness is to amplify extraordinary voices, and highlight pieces that speak to the present moment in an enduring and distinctive way. We encourage you to check out our past issues online or purchase a copy to become familiar with the magazine. Submissions will be open until we reach capacity.
We look forward to reading your work!
Submission Guidelines:
- Previously accepted or published work is not eligible.
- Stories must be no more than 7,000 words (please include a word count and page numbers in your header), or no more than 1200 words for up to three pieces of flash. Stories over 7000 words will not be accepted.
- All files must be saved in Microsoft Word .doc or .docx (preferred) or as PDF.
- Please double-space your submission and use a 12-point, standard font (Times, Helvetica, Arial, etc.)
- Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but we ask that you notify us and withdraw the work immediately in the event that it is accepted elsewhere.
- Please do not submit a story that has already been declined, unless substantial revisions have been made.
- We are committed to paying our authors and artists for accepted pieces. Any donations and reading fees help us maintain our Submittable page and operating costs, which we greatly appreciate!
- If you have any further questions, please direct them to witness.fiction@unlv.edu or witness@unlv.edu.
***This form is subject to early closure, so submit before it disappears!***
We are especially excited to be featuring this free submission opportunity for Black and Indigenous writers! Please do not submit to this category if you are not Black or Indigenous. Our mission at Witness is to amplify extraordinary voices, and highlight pieces that speak to the present moment in an enduring and distinctive way. We encourage you to check out our past issues online or purchase a copy to become familiar with the magazine. Submissions will be open until we reach capacity.
We look forward to reading your work!
Submission Guidelines:
- Previously accepted or published work is not eligible.
- Please limit your submission to five poems, and wait to hear back from us before submitting again. Poems should be sent in a single document file, with the individual poems separated by page breaks.
- Please include a title or titles in the Title Box on the submission page.
- All files must be saved in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or PDF format.
- Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but we ask that you notify us and withdraw the work immediately in the event that it is published elsewhere.
- We are committed to paying our authors and artists for accepted pieces. Any reading fees help us maintain our Submittable page and operating costs, which we greatly appreciate!
- If you have any further questions, please direct them to witness.poetry@unlv.edu or witness.manager@unlv.edu.
Witness is currently seeking cover art for our Winter Issue. The selected cover artist will be awarded $250 for their artwork, which will be featured on the cover of our magazine and across our website and social media platforms.* All submitted artwork may be considered for content and future issues.
Artists are encouraged to send up to five original images (high-resolution) for our editors to consider for publication. You are welcome to look to our past themed cover art for inspiration, or engage us with something new and evocative; we are most interested in how your work interprets and communicates an experience. We accept all mediums: photography, painting, drawing/illustration, sculpture, graphic design, etc. Please include the title(s) of your work, a short bio, a link to your portfolio or website, and any social media handles you use for showcasing your work.
Witness is an issue-oriented, literary magazine designed to highlight the role of the modern writer--and artist!--as witness to our times. We can't wait to see what you can do. Submissions will be open until April 1st, or until we reach capacity!
*Please note: While we request non-exclusive rights to the winning selections, we do ask that any of the work you submit from your back catalog or current body of work not appear on a similar publication (such as another magazine cover) prior to, or following, our 2023 publication date.
Submission Guidelines:
- Please limit your submissions to 1-5 high-resolution images in a single upload.
- Make sure to fill out the forms carefully and include the title(s) in the Title Box on the submission page.
- Include your contact information.
Thank you for your interest! We look forward to seeing your work.
Questions? Comments? Find us at witness.community@unlv.edu.