The Submission Window for The Rapids Is Currently Closed
Thank you for considering The Rapids as a home for your work. We’re honored to read every submission that flows our way, and we approach each one with care, curiosity, and respect.
Whether you’re sending poetry, fiction, nonfiction, or visual art, know that your voice matters here. We’re especially proud to feature the vibrant creative talent of Southern Oregon — both emerging and established — and we can’t wait to see what you’ve created.
Before submitting, please read the guidelines below so we can give your work the attention it deserves.
Spring/Summer 2026 Issue:
January 1 – January 31, 2026
Fall/Winter 2026 Issue:
June 1 – June 30, 2026
Eligibility
- You must live in Josephine, Jackson, or Douglas counties in Oregon to enter.
- For poetry and prose, we do not accept previously published work. Any work you’ve published on your personal website/blog or social media is acceptable. Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, but please let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.
- For art, submissions that have been previously exhibited or printed are eligible.
- We do not consider AI-generated work as legitimate creative work. Please do not send us work that has been generated by AI in whole or in part. The exception is for digital artwork in which AI has been used as an artistic element in the work. If this is the case, please let us know how AI was used in the description of your work with your submission.
- We value diversity and encourage submissions from marginalized voices. We do not accept work that promotes harmful stereotypes or denigrates any group.
Rights
- We ask writers to grant Rogue Writers Collective exclusive rights for 45 days from the date of publication. After that, we ask for non-exclusive publication rights so that we can maintain an archive of our issues and continue to distribute and sell back issues of The Rapids and to include your work in possible special editions of The Rapids. We also ask that writers acknowledge The Rapids if their work is reprinted elsewhere.
- If your artwork is selected, we will send you a “right to use” contract for your permission to reproduce your work in this edition of The Rapids while you still hold exclusive rights to your work.
Around Southern Oregon
Nothing is as exciting as waiting for a performance at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Elizabethan Theater!
Ashland offers free guided walks through beautiful Lithia Park.
Kerby is the home of the Southern Oregon Guild of Artists and Artisans.
Grants Pass loves classic cars!
Find beautiful flowers at the Growers Market on Saturday mornings in Grants Pass.
Grants Pass is brimming with historic buildings, like the Chiles Building at 241 SW G Street.
The Growers Market is every Saturday in Grants Pass.
