GENERAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Hunger Mountain Review seeks to provide a platform for traditionally silenced voices, to expand representation in literature and to examine culture with a critical eye. We pursue this mission through the work we both solicit and select from submissions.
We want writing that explores, questions and challenges. We want writing that remains open. We want work that thinks about what it’s trying to do for others and the world.
Writing submitted to us will be thoroughly and open-heartedly read by at least two members of our community, and unlike many literary journals we reserve roughly 50% of each issue for unsolicited work.
We publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry, hybrid work, and translations of all of these forms. We welcome work that is genre-less and the traditional genres some magazines shun—yes, that means we want more speculative fiction! We don’t believe in the divide between literary and genre fiction. We want to read your science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, ecofabulism, irrealism and slipstream.
While a cover letter is not required, feel free to submit one along with your work. If you chose to include one, please tell us whatever we need to know about you and how you identify in order to meet your work on its own terms.
While we have no problem with simultaneous submissions, if your work is accepted elsewhere, we ask that you notify us as soon as possible. For us, this means within 24 hours in most cases. Please withdraw through Submittable, not by sending us an email.
Current students and faculty in the MFA in Writing Program cannot submit to the magazine. Alumnx must wait two years after the date of graduation to submit.
Hunger Mountain accepts translations of fiction, literary nonfiction, plays, poetry and works that fall somewhere in between. We are interested in publishing translated works that do not fit neatly into established categories.
Upon acceptance, we will ask translators to prepare a translator’s note (of less than 1000 words) that contextualizes the work and discusses the translation process. This can also come in the form of a discussion between author and translator. At that time we also encourage you to send (if possible) a one minute recording of a portion of the piece in its original language to give readers an idea of the sound of the work.
To be considered for publication, translation submissions must include:
· The translation in a standard format other than PDF—we would like to be able to copy & paste the work.
· Short biographies (50-100 words) of both the author and the translator.
· All relevant rights and permissions for publication of the text and the translation from the author and/or rightsholder(s). A copy of the email from the author or publisher is usually sufficient.
Submissions without all three of these components will not be considered for publication.
Please follow genre requirements above, including collating your entire submission in a single document and including your name, the work’s title, and the fact that it is a translation in the file name (i.e. name_title_translation).
If you have a question, feel free to email us. We love to hear from authors and will respond as quickly as we can. However, please note, we will not respond to angry, hostile or abusive emails. These emails will be deleted immediately and you will not hear back from us. Our email address for all friendly inquiries is: hungermtn@vcfa.edu.
Thank you for sharing our pursuit to elevate the best of today’s literature.
