Bluestem is an online journal, published thrice yearly.
Please submit no more than 5 poems at one time, or one short story, or one creative non-fiction essay. Fiction / prose should be no longer than 5000 words. Please include a brief bio with your submission. If you are submitting more than one poem, please include all pieces in one file (you may withdraw single poems by sending a message through Submittable or emailing us at bluestemmag@gmail.com).
No previously published work is accepted. Simultaneous submissions are fine. If your work is accepted elsewhere, please withdraw your work via the submission manager.
For more insight into what kind of work we are looking for, please read our updated interview at Duotrope.
We seek quality writing grounded in place and character and, above all, we want a good story.
Prose should be roughly 3,000 - 5,000 words. Short pieces are okay, too. A cover letter is not necessary, but a brief bio and publication history is encouraged.
Bluestem is looking for poems that surprise with their originality of language or perspective. Please submit between 3-5 poems, and limit yourself to one submission per reading period, please.
We seek writing that explores the unsayable, the obsessive, the compelling, the human.
Prose should be roughly 3,000 - 5,000 words. You may also submit flash non-fiction.