The Submission Window for

The Rapids: Fall/Winter 2026

 Is Now Open!

Deadline is July 31

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.

Adherence to Theme

The theme for this issue of The Rapids is The Ties That Bind. We like to take a broad interpretation of our themes, so if there’s any way we can see a path to your work fitting the theme, we will take it. Though if it’s a stretch, we’d appreciate some guidance from you about how you see your work adhering to the theme. While we love stories based here in Southern Oregon, we are happy to review work based in other places. Those places can be part of our real world or completely imagined.

 About the theme: 

For inspiration, think of the ties between our rural communities, the pull of the beauty of our region, the history behind all that we see, the complicated knots of independence and interdependence that define life here. We welcome work that examines what makes us who we are, what we owe each other, and what happens when those bonds are tested by distance, time, secrecy, grief, or change.

The submission window opens on July 1 and closes July 31.

Eligibility

• – You must live in Josephine, Jackson, Douglas, Curry, or Klamath counties in Oregon to enter.
• – We accept short stories (fiction up to 1500 words), creative nonfiction (personal essay, creative journalism, memoir up to 1500 words), and art (photography, paintings, and other visual art)
• – 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.
• – You may submit up to three poems, one short story, one nonfiction piece, and one art piece.
• – You may submit work for more than one category, but only one submission per category. For example, you may submit three poems and one art piece, but not three poems and two art pieces.
• – We value diversity and encourage submissions from marginalized voices. We do not accept work that promotes harmful stereotypes or denigrates any group.

Formatting

• – Submissions not following the formatting guidelines may be eliminated from consideration.
• – All submissions must be anonymous. Please remove your name from any part of your submission, including the filename.

Formatting for Prose (Fiction and Nonfiction)

• • – All prose (both fiction and nonfiction) must be in 12-point, Times New Roman font with 1-inch margins and page numbers in Word (.doc,.docx) or PDF file format. Include a title for your submission. (Do not include the title in your word count.)
    
  • – Prose submissions must be under 1500 words.

Formatting for Art

• • – All art must be at least 300 dpi and in JPEG file format.
  • – Photos of your work must be a straight, front-facing photo.

Formatting for Poetry

• • – If submitting more than one poem, submit them all as part of a single Word or PDF document. Begin each new poem on its own page.
  • – Include a title (unless submitting haiku or other traditionally unrhymed form)
  • – Use Times New Roman, 12 pt.
  • – Single space your lines. Double-space between stanzas (if any).
  • – As a rule, left-justify your poems. Complicated layouts may or may not be able to be accommodated.

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.