General Submissions Guidelines:
$3 general poetry, fiction, & creative nonfiction submissions accepted year-round
Breakwater Review only accepts previously unpublished work and is glad to review simultaneous submissions, but please inform us if your writing is accepted elsewhere.
We publish ONLINE two times per year, in the Spring and Fall.
**NEW: If a contest is taking place during a particular submission period, we will be limiting the number of incoming submissions for the general submission form of that genre. For instance, while the Breakwater Fiction Contest is open, the General Fiction form will have a limited capacity of acceptances; the General Poetry form will have a limited capacity when the Peseroff Poetry Prize is open, and so on.
Submissions sent via e-mail will not be accepted
Breakwater Review is also seeking VISUAL ART.
We prefer illustrations and paintings to photography, although we'll consider the latter if the work strikes us with potential for the issue's cover. We are looking for great cover art (and supplemental work) that will be featured as the look of the issue. Read our visual art guidelines in the submission form below.
Please follow the instructions below to enter your submission or your manuscript will be automatically withdrawn:
- Please use either .doc or .docx file formats. Submissions in other formats will not be accepted.
- Submit up to 3 poems per reading period. Include all poems in a single document. Please do not exceed the submission limits.
Please follow the instructions below to enter your submission or your manuscript will be automatically withdrawn:
- Please use either .doc or .docx file formats. Submissions in other formats will not be accepted.
- Submit up to 5,000 words of fiction per reading period. If you have multiple short pieces, please include them in one document with the word count for each piece at the top of the respective piece's opening page. Please do not exceed the submission limits.
Please follow the instructions below to enter your submission or your manuscript will be automatically withdrawn:
- Please use either .doc or .docx file formats. Submissions in other formats will not be accepted.
- Submit up to 5,000 words of nonfiction per reading period. If you have multiple short pieces, please include them in one document with the word count for each piece at the top of the respective piece's opening page. Please do not exceed the submission limits.
Exciting News!
Breakwater Review is now seeking VISUAL ART. We prefer illustrations and paintings to photography, although we'll consider the latter if the work strikes us with potential for the issue's cover. We are looking for great cover art (and supplemental work) that will be featured as the look of the issue. Send us your best:
- Hand-drawn illustration
- Painted prints
- Photography
- Mixed Media
- Digital Compositions
You may submit between one and ten images per entry.
To ensure high-quality viewing, we ask that images be sized so that at least one dimension meets or exceeds 1000px. at 72ppi. Photos should arrive in .jpg or .png format and under 5mb, though we can accept other formats as needed, as well as zipped folders for photo essays. If your submission cannot be processed by our online file management system, please email it and your cover letter directly to breakwaterreview@gmail.com.
The Peseroff Prize Poetry Contest
prize: $1000 and publication in Issue 36
fee: $10
The Peseroff Prize honors Joyce Peseroff’s work as a poet, teacher, editor, innovator, and mentor. She helped found the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Massachusetts Boston, served as its first director, and retired from teaching in 2014.
Submit up to three poems and a $10 entry fee. There are no restrictions on content or form. Poems should be previously unpublished. All entries will be considered for publication. We accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify Breakwater if submission is accepted elsewhere.
2024 Finalist Judge: Amanda Shea
Submissions: Open MARCH 1 - MAY 1
Winner and Finalists will be published in our next forthcoming issue (Issue 36).
Please do not submit your work if you are associated with the MFA program at the University of Massachusetts, Boston or the Finalist judge.