Hayden's Ferry Review is the international literary journal out of Arizona State University.
General Notes on Submission (or withdrawal)
- For our PRINT issues: Please send one submission per genre at a time, and wait for a response before you submit additional work. If you submit more than one submission, we will not read the second one. Please double-check that you are submitting in the correct genre. Work submitted in the incorrect genre will be declined.
- For our WEB issues: please send one submission at a time, and wait for a response before you submit additional work. If you submit more than one submission, we will not read the second one.
- Simultaneous submissions are welcome. If your work is accepted elsewhere, please notify the editors immediately by adding a message to your submission in Submittable.
- Withdraw your submission using Submittable. if you are only withdrawing a section of your work (for example: 1/3 poems), add a message to your submission in Submittable.
- We do not accept work that was produced wholly or in part by AI.
- Please limit your poetry submissions to a maximum of 3 poems totaling up to 8 pages.
- Please limit your prose submissions to under 20 pages.
- All prose should be double-spaced.
- We are always open to submissions of visual art and translations.
- Contributors receive one copy of the issue in which they appear. Additional copies may be purchased for $6 each up to 5 copies.
- We do not accept previously published material - this includes work that’s been published on social media and Substack. (See exception for art submissions.)
- We do not consider book-length works.
- Our goal is to respond to submissions within six months. Please only reach out about your submission status after six months have passed.
- Submitters are strongly encouraged to read the journal before submitting: to subscribe, visit http://haydensferryreview.com/store.
- Anyone affiliated with ASU (staff, faculty, and graduate/undergraduate students) should refrain from submitting to HFR until they have been unaffiliated for three years.
- If you have previously been published in HFR's print journal or a web issue, please wait 2 years from your publication date before submitting again.
- By submitting, you are agreeing to receive occasional newsletter emails from us. You are welcome to opt out at any time and a link to do so will be included in each newsletter.
PLEASE NOTE: We no longer accept submissions by mail. We will only review work that has been received through Submittable.
A Note on the Submission Fee
We know the $3.00 submission fee might be a pain, but we hope that you will rest assured knowing the money we receive goes toward supporting HFR's continued success as a supportive environment for our contributors. We all want to thank you for your trust in sending us your work.
Free Submissions for Underrepresented Writers
At HFR, we believe that as a literary journal we have the responsibility to publish creative work that reflects diverse experiences, identities, and cultures on both a national and global scale. We are especially committed to uplifting the voices of those who have long been marginalized and underrepresented.
Towards this cause, we will have at least 50 free submissions in each genre for underrepresented voices. If you consider yourself to fit into this category, please submit for free to “Free Submissions for Underrepresented Writers.” Among the many types of underrepresentation that exist in literature, we particularly encourage Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and those who belong to the LGBTQIA+ and disability communities to submit to HFR.
We do not discriminate on any impermissible basis, including race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, or disability. Anyone without regard to these categories is welcome to submit as an underrepresented writer if they consider their experiences or identities to be underrepresented in the literary industry. If you have any questions please email us (haydensferryreview at gmail dot com).
A note on accessibility: It has come to our attention that Submittable may not be accessible to visually impaired writers. HFR is committed to accessibility and wants to receive submissions from all writers equally. If you are a visually impaired writer who is currently unable to submit via Submittable due to accessibility issues, you may email your submission as an attachment in .pdf format to haydensferryreview AT gmail.com. Note that submissions received via email which are outside the current submission period, or do not suit the current call(s) or current guidelines, will not receive a response. If you have questions concerning this policy, please email us at the above address
About the Contest
HFR will accept contest submissions in poetry and fiction between Feb 1-28, 2026. This year's poetry judge is Sarah Ghazal Ali, author of Theophanies. This year’s fiction judge is Gina Chung, author of Sea Change.
There will be two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Hayden’s Ferry Review (online in summer 2026 and in the fall/winter 2026 print issue) for a poem or a group of poems and a work of fiction. A runner-up in each category will receive $250 and publication. All entries are considered for publication.
Judges will pick the winners and runners-up from a list of finalists chosen by HFR editors. All entries are considered for publication in the fall/winter 2026 print issue. We do not read submissions anonymously.
Poetry Judge: Sarah Ghazal Ali
Sarah Ghazal Ali is the author of Theophanies (Alice James Books, 2024), winner of the GLCA New Writers Award and California Book Award and a finalist for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award. Her work has appeared in The American Poetry Review, The Kenyon Review, the Academy of American Poets' Poem-a-Day series, and elsewhere. Sarah is the poetry editor for West Branch and an Assistant Professor of English at Macalester College.
Guidelines & Entry Fee
Submit 1-3 poems, totaling up to 10 pages. The $23 entry fee includes a 1-year print subscription (US addresses) Your 1-year subscription will begin with our spring/summer 2026 issue 78. Current subscribers will receive a 1-year renewal. Writers may submit multiple entries, but each entry must include its own $23 fee.
*For international addresses outside of the US, please submit to the "HFR CONTEST 2026: POETRY ($15 submission)" queue, which comes with a 1-year digital subscription. If you have an international shipping address and are interested in a 1-year print subscription, we are happy to accommodate this with an additional shipping fee. Please get in touch before submitting and no later than February 20th to discuss details at haydensferryreview (at) gmail (dot) com.*
Free Submissions Period
We will accept free submissions during a short free submissions window or until we hit our cap of 50 in each genre. *Please subscribe to our free newsletter by February 3rd. We’ll let our subscribers know via newsletter when our free submissions period will take place.* All will be able to submit for free during the free submission period or until we hit our cap; however, only newsletter subscribers will know in advance exactly when the free submission period will take place. Free submissions do not come with a 1-year subscription.
The name for the free submission queues on Submittable will be “HFR CONTEST 2026: FICTION (Free Submission)” and “HFR CONTEST 2026: POETRY (Free Submission).” If you no longer see these queues listed in HFR’s submittable during the time period that we accept free submissions, that means our cap for free submissions has been reached.
How to Submit
Between Feb 1-28, submit your work to the appropriate genre at https://hfr.submittable.com/
Submitted work must be original work by the writer and unpublished. If your work is accepted elsewhere for publication, please withdraw your submission. If only a part of your poetry submission has been accepted elsewhere, please leave a note in Submittable.
Eligibility
Close friends, family, or former and current students of the judges should refrain from submitting. We define a "former or current student" as someone who has done a semester-length course with the judge or who the judge has served as a thesis advisor. If you attended a one- or two-week-long workshop or similar with the judge, you are still eligible.
If you were published in one of HFR's print journals or web issues in the past two years, you CAN submit to this contest. (See our "general notes on submission" for specific guidelines for our print and web issues, which may differ from contest guidelines.)
Anyone affiliated with ASU (staff, faculty, and graduate/undergraduate students) is not eligible to submit to this contest and should refrain from submitting to HFR until they have been unaffiliated from ASU for three years.
We do not accept work that was produced wholly or in part by AI.
All individuals are able to submit without regard to sex, race, national origin, religion, disability or any other characteristic protected by law.
About the Contest
HFR will accept contest submissions in poetry and fiction between Feb 1-28, 2026. This year's poetry judge is Sarah Ghazal Ali, author of Theophanies. This year’s fiction judge is Gina Chung, author of Sea Change.
There will be two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Hayden’s Ferry Review (online in summer 2026 and in the fall/winter 2026 print issue) for a poem or a group of poems and a work of fiction. A runner-up in each category will receive $250 and publication. All entries are considered for publication.
Judges will pick the winners and runners-up from a list of finalists chosen by HFR editors. All entries are considered for publication in the fall/winter 2026 print issue. We do not read submissions anonymously.
Poetry Judge: Sarah Ghazal Ali
Sarah Ghazal Ali is the author of Theophanies (Alice James Books, 2024), winner of the GLCA New Writers Award and California Book Award and a finalist for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award. Her work has appeared in The American Poetry Review, The Kenyon Review, the Academy of American Poets' Poem-a-Day series, and elsewhere. Sarah is the poetry editor for West Branch and an Assistant Professor of English at Macalester College.
Guidelines & entry fee
Submit 1-3 poems, totaling up to 10 pages.
The $15 entry fee includes a 1-year digital subscription. Your 1-year subscription will begin with our spring/summer 2026 issue 78. Current subscribers will receive a 1-year renewal. Writers may submit multiple entries, but each entry must include its own $15 fee.
*If you have an international shipping address and are interested in a 1-year print subscription, we are happy to accommodate this with an additional shipping fee. Please get in touch before submitting and no later than February 25th to discuss details at haydensferryreview (at) gmail (dot) com.*
Free Submissions Period
We will accept free submissions during a short free submissions window or until we hit our cap of 50 in each genre. *Please subscribe to our free newsletter by February 3rd. We’ll let our subscribers know via newsletter when our free submissions period will take place.* All will be able to submit for free during the free submission period or until we hit our cap; however, only newsletter subscribers will know in advance exactly when the free submission period will take place. Free submissions do not come with a 1-year subscription.
The name for the free submission queues on Submittable will be “HFR CONTEST 2026: FICTION (Free Submission)” and “HFR CONTEST 2026: POETRY (Free Submission).” If you no longer see these queues listed in HFR’s submittable during the time period that we accept free submissions, that means our cap for free submissions has been reached.
How to submit
Between Feb 1-28, submit your work to the appropriate genre at https://hfr.submittable.com/
Submitted work must be original work by the writer and unpublished. If your work is accepted elsewhere for publication, please withdraw your submission. If only a part of your poetry submission has been accepted elsewhere, please leave a note in Submittable.
Eligibility
Close friends, family, or former and current students of the judges should refrain from submitting. We define a "former or current student" as someone who has done a semester-length course with the judge or who the judge has served as a thesis advisor. If you attended a one- or two-week-long workshop or similar with the judge, you are still eligible.
If you were published in one of HFR's print journals or web issues in the past two years, you CAN submit to this contest. (See our "general notes on submission" for specific guidelines for our print and web issues, which may differ from contest guidelines.)
Anyone affiliated with ASU (staff, faculty, and graduate/undergraduate students) is not eligible to submit to this contest and should refrain from submitting to HFR until they have been unaffiliated from ASU for three years.
We do not accept work that was produced wholly or in part by AI.
All individuals are able to submit without regard to sex, race, national origin, religion, disability or any other characteristic protected by law.
About the Contest
HFR will accept contest submissions in poetry and fiction between Feb 1-28, 2026. This year's poetry judge is Sarah Ghazal Ali, author of Theophanies. This year’s fiction judge is Gina Chung, author of Sea Change.
There will be two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Hayden’s Ferry Review (online in summer 2026 and in the fall/winter 2026 print issue) for a poem or a group of poems and a work of fiction. A runner-up in each category will receive $250 and publication. All entries are considered for publication.
Judges will pick the winners and runners-up from a list of finalists chosen by HFR editors. All entries are considered for publication in the fall/winter 2026 print issue. We do not read submissions anonymously.
Fiction Judge: Gina Chung
Gina Chung is a Korean American writer from New Jersey currently living in New York City. She is the author of the novel Sea Change, which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and a B&N Discover Pick, and the short story collection Green Frog, which was a Good Morning America Book Buzz Pick, an NPR Best Book of the Year, and longlisted for the New American Voices Award. She has received the O. Henry Prize for Short Fiction, a Pushcart Prize, two APALA Adult Fiction Honors, and a Center for Fiction / Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellowship. She is a faculty member of the Solstice MFA in Creative Writing Program at Lasell University.
Guidelines & entry fee
Submit a short story or novel excerpt of up to 20 pages.
The $23 entry fee includes a 1-year print subscription (US addresses). Your 1-year subscription will begin with our spring/summer 2026 issue 78. Current subscribers will receive a 1-year renewal. Writers may submit multiple entries, but each entry must include its own $23 fee.
*For international addresses outside of the US, please submit to the "HFR CONTEST 2025: FICTION ($15 submission)" queue, which comes with a 1-year digital subscription. If you have an international shipping address and are interested in a 1-year print subscription, we are happy to accommodate this with an additional shipping fee. Please get in touch before submitting and no later than February 20th to discuss details at haydensferryreview (at) gmail (dot) com.*
Free Submissions Period
We will accept free submissions during a short free submissions window or until we hit our cap of 50 in each genre. *Please subscribe to our free newsletter by February 3rd. We’ll let our subscribers know via newsletter when our free submissions period will take place.* All will be able to submit for free during the free submission period or until we hit our cap; however, only newsletter subscribers will know in advance exactly when the free submission period will take place. Free submissions do not come with a 1-year subscription.
The name for the free submission queues on Submittable will be “HFR CONTEST 2026: FICTION (Free Submission)” and “HFR CONTEST 2026: POETRY (Free Submission).” If you no longer see these queues listed in HFR’s submittable during the time period that we accept free submissions, that means our cap for free submissions has been reached.
How to submit
Between Feb 1-28, submit your work to the appropriate genre at https://hfr.submittable.com/
Submitted work must be original work by the writer and unpublished. If your work is accepted elsewhere for publication, please withdraw your submission. If only a part of your poetry submission has been accepted elsewhere, please leave a note in Submittable.
Eligibility
Close friends, family, or former and current students of the judges should refrain from submitting. We define a "former or current student" as someone who has done a semester-length course with the judge or who the judge has served as a thesis advisor. If you attended a one- or two-week-long workshop or similar with the judge, you are still eligible.
If you were published in one of HFR's print journals or web issues in the past two years, you CAN submit to this contest. (See our "general notes on submission" for specific guidelines for our print and web issues, which may differ from contest guidelines.)
Anyone affiliated with ASU (staff, faculty, and graduate/undergraduate students) is not eligible to submit to this contest and should refrain from submitting to HFR until they have been unaffiliated from ASU for three years.
We do not accept work that was produced wholly or in part by AI.
All individuals are able to submit without regard to sex, race, national origin, religion, disability or any other characteristic protected by law.
About the Contest
HFR will accept contest submissions in poetry and fiction between Feb 1-28, 2026. This year's poetry judge is Sarah Ghazal Ali, author of Theophanies. This year’s fiction judge is Gina Chung, author of Sea Change.
There will be two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Hayden’s Ferry Review (online in summer 2026 and in the fall/winter 2026 print issue) for a poem or a group of poems and a work of fiction. A runner-up in each category will receive $250 and publication. All entries are considered for publication.
Judges will pick the winners and runners-up from a list of finalists chosen by HFR editors. All entries are considered for publication in the fall/winter 2026 print issue. We do not read submissions anonymously.
Fiction Judge: Gina Chung
Gina Chung is a Korean American writer from New Jersey currently living in New York City. She is the author of the novel Sea Change, which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and a B&N Discover Pick, and the short story collection Green Frog, which was a Good Morning America Book Buzz Pick, an NPR Best Book of the Year, and longlisted for the New American Voices Award. She has received the O. Henry Prize for Short Fiction, a Pushcart Prize, two APALA Adult Fiction Honors, and a Center for Fiction / Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellowship. She is a faculty member of the Solstice MFA in Creative Writing Program at Lasell University.
Guidelines & entry fee
Submit a short story or novel excerpt of up to 20 pages.
The $15 entry fee includes a 1-year digital subscription. Your 1-year subscription will begin with our spring/summer 2026 issue 78. Current subscribers will receive a 1-year renewal. Writers may submit multiple entries, but each entry must include its own $15 fee.
*If you have an international shipping address and are interested in a 1-year print subscription, we are happy to accommodate this with an additional shipping fee. Please get in touch before submitting and no later than February 25th to discuss details at haydensferryreview (at) gmail (dot) com.*
Free Submissions Period
We will accept free submissions during a short free submissions window or until we hit our cap of 50 in each genre. *Please subscribe to our free newsletter by February 3rd. We’ll let our subscribers know via newsletter when our free submissions period will take place.* All will be able to submit for free during the free submission period or until we hit our cap; however, only newsletter subscribers will know in advance exactly when the free submission period will take place. Free submissions do not come with a 1-year subscription.
The name for the free submission queues on Submittable will be “HFR CONTEST 2026: FICTION (Free Submission)” and “HFR CONTEST 2026: POETRY (Free Submission).” If you no longer see these queues listed in HFR’s submittable during the time period that we accept free submissions, that means our cap for free submissions has been reached.
How to submit
Between Feb 1-28, submit your work to the appropriate genre at https://hfr.submittable.com/
Submitted work must be original work by the writer and unpublished. If your work is accepted elsewhere for publication, please withdraw your submission. If only a part of your poetry submission has been accepted elsewhere, please leave a note in Submittable.
Eligibility
Close friends, family, or former and current students of the judges should refrain from submitting. We define a "former or current student" as someone who has done a semester-length course with the judge or who the judge has served as a thesis advisor. If you attended a one- or two-week-long workshop or similar with the judge, you are still eligible.
If you were published in one of HFR's print journals or web issues in the past two years, you CAN submit to this contest. (See our "general notes on submission" for specific guidelines for our print and web issues, which may differ from contest guidelines.)
Anyone affiliated with ASU (staff, faculty, and graduate/undergraduate students) is not eligible to submit to this contest and should refrain from submitting to HFR until they have been unaffiliated from ASU for three years.
We do not accept work that was produced wholly or in part by AI.
All individuals are able to submit without regard to sex, race, national origin, religion, disability or any other characteristic protected by law.
Submission Guidelines
We are looking for visual art in all categories.
Please submit 5-8 pieces at a time. We may ask for additional art based on this submission. We accept work that has been previously published on the artist's social media or personal website but we do not accept work that has been previously published in other journals.
Upon acceptance, we will request high res files, an author's bio, and an artist's statement. We publish art in full color, often selecting between 2 and 4 artists for each issue. One of these will receive cover credit and bookmark credit.
Anonymous Demographic Survey
After submitting your work, we'd appreciate it if you'd consider filling out our optional and anonymous Issue 77 Demographic Survey. Your responses to this survey will help us better understand who our calls for submissions are reaching and better fulfill our mission!
Translation submissions are open year-round and during the months we open for submissions in other genres for a forthcoming issue, we’ll also open submissions for 100 free translation submissions under the Submittable category “TRANSLATION: Free Submissions for Underrepresented Writers - Issue X.”
Submission Guidelines
Translations submissions should be works translated into English from any other non-English language, and must include the original text along with the translated text.
- Translators should secure rights to translate the work they are submitting. Please confirm in your cover letter that you have the rights.
- Please only submit to one call for submissions at a time.
- Submit up to 6 poems/micro-fictions, or one essay/story.
- Prose should be double-spaced. We do not have a strict word count, though we favor pieces under 17 pages, and rarely accept work that is over 20. Please do not submit pieces that are over 25 pages.
- Please include your entire submission in one file, and be sure your name and contact information are included on the first page of the file.
- All work should be uploaded through our submissions manager. Acceptable file formats include .doc, .docx, and .pdf.
- Please send one submission per genre at a time, and wait for a response before you submit additional work.
- Simultaneous submissions are welcome. If your work is accepted elsewhere, please notify the editors immediately by adding a message to your submission in Submittable.
- Withdraw your submission using Submittable. If you are only withdrawing a section of your work (for example: 2/5 poems), add a message to your submission.
- We do not accept previously published material.
- We do not consider book-length works. Submitters are strongly encouraged to read the journal before submitting. Sample work from current and past issues is available on our website.
- Upon acceptance, we will request a translator's note on your translation process (similar to an artist statement).
Free Submissions for Underrepresented Writers
At HFR, we believe that as a literary journal we have the responsibility to publish creative work that reflects diverse experiences, identities, and cultures on both a national and global scale. We are especially committed to uplifting the voices of those who have long been marginalized and underrepresented.
Towards this cause, we will have 100 free submissions in each genre for underrepresented voices. If you consider yourself to fit into this category, please submit for free to “Free Submissions for Underrepresented Writers.” Among the many types of underrepresentation that exist in literature, we particularly encourage Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and those who belong to the LGBTQIA+ and disability communities to submit to HFR.
We do not discriminate on any impermissible basis, including race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, or disability. Anyone without regard to these categories is welcome to submit as an underrepresented writer if they consider their experiences or identities to be underrepresented in the literary industry. If you have any questions please email us (haydensferryreview at gmail dot com).
Anonymous Demographic Survey
After submitting your work, we'd appreciate it if you'd consider filling out our optional and anonymous Issue 77 Demographic Survey. Your responses to this survey will help us better understand who our calls for submissions are reaching and better fulfill our mission!
Applying to CantoMundo 2026? Yes, you're in the right place, thanks to our sister organization, Hayden's Ferry Review.
CantoMundo is open to poets aged 21+.
CantoMundo is dedicated to serving Latinx poets and poetry across regional, aesthetic, ethnic, racial (e.g. Afro-Latinx/Caribbean/Indigenous) linguistic, generational, and LGBTQIA+ spectrums. Our work is motivated by the understanding that Latinx voices, despite historic silencing, have always resounded within the chorus of American poetry.