The Carolina Quarterly welcomes unsolicited submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art. Electronic submissions are accepted year-round. Mail submissions are not accepted during the summer months of May, June, July, and August. Expect four to six months for a decision. We do not reprint previously published work. We do accept simultaneous submissions, expecting that the author will notify us should the work be accepted by another journal.
Electronic Submissions
Electronic submissions are now accepted through our online partner, Tell It Slant. See the Tell it Slant website for specific guidelines on submitting work electronically.
There is a small fee for submitting via this service, comparable to the cost of postage. This fee supports Tell it Slant and the numerous submission, organizing, and tracking services it offers writers, artists, and publications. In addition, the submission system creates a needed cost barrier (on par with the cost of envelopes, paper, printing, and postage) to reduce the number of less-than-serious submissions. Spending less time wading through the digital slush pile helps our editors and readers respond to your work more thoughtfully and efficiently. Writers are still more than welcome to submit hard copies of their work to the address below.
Mail Submissions
Poetry
Submit no more than 6 poems at a time. Poems must be typed either single- or double-spaced on one side of its page or pages. Include your full name, home address, and email address on all pages.
Prose
Submit no more than one prose piece at a time. Prose should be typed double-spaced on one side and be no longer than twenty-five pages (about 7,500 words). Include your full name, home address, and email address on all pages. Although we have, in the past, primarily looked for short stories, we are expanding our non-fiction section and are therefore on the lookout for personal essays, travel writing, memoirs, and other forms of creative nonfiction. Novel excerpts are acceptable if self-contained.
Visual Art
CQ aims to feature a diverse range of contemporary artists, both established and emerging. We feature national and international work, in all printable mediums. Each issue typically has one color spread of six to eight images, along with two black and white spreads with four to six pieces. Images that can be faithfully reproduced in black and white thus have a higher chance of acceptance. To submit, please upload four to eight images from a cohesive series to our online partner, Tell it Slant. We do accept visual art that has been previously published.
Note
If submitting work in more than one genre, mail submissions separately. Do not send another manuscript until you hear about the first. Address submissions to the “Art Editor,” “Fiction Editor,” “Nonfiction Editor,” or “Poetry Editor.”
Address
The Carolina Quarterly
CB# 3520 Greenlaw Hall
The University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3520
