Upon acceptance, Superlative will publish the contributor's short story/poem in our international online journal, share bio and social media handles, and pay a £50 contributor prize. We also nominate contributors for major prizes (Pen America, Pushcart, Best of the Net, etc) and continue to promote contributors after publication. Submitted work should be:

• One short story/one poem of any genre or theme.
• Up to 5,000 words (for short story submissions).
• Previously unpublished.
• Your own - not written by any kind of AI software.

 Additional information:

• Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.
• We respond to every submission and, for open journal submissions, aim to do so within 1-3 months.
• We encourage transgressive and experimental work.
• We accept extracts from longer pieces of work, provided they still meet the submission criteria and stand as a comprehensible piece of writing in their own right.
• The editors' decision is final.  However, we offer feedback wherever possible, and always upon request, at no extra cost.
• Submission fees are purposefully nominal, and only cover the journal's running costs and competition prize money.
• If you are unsuccessful, please do not be deterred from submitting new work in future! We receive a lot of submissions, and standards are always very high. Please persevere!

 Click here to go directly to Superlative's website

• Superlative, The Literary Journal, is edited by Ross Turner, Gemma Mainwaring, Daniel Chesmore, Holly Joyce and Varvara Lois, illustrated by Orlaith Stratford, and marketed by Hannah Darby.
• We publish short stories and poetry.
• Follow Superlative on Instagram
• Follow Superlative on Facebook
• Subscribe to Superlative on Substack

Superlative accepts open submissions, and runs monthly feature competitions and annual competitions.

Superlative's annual competition schedule is:

• Earlybird Submissions: 01 September - 31 December
• Submissions Accepted: 01 January - 31 August 
• Judging: September
• Longlist Contacted & Announced: October
• Shortlist Contacted & Announced: November
• Winners Contacted & Announced: December

• The theme for Superlative's 2026 annual writing competition is GROWTH.

Upon acceptance, Superlative will publish the contributor's short story/poem in our international online journal, share bio and social media handles, and pay a £50 contributor prize. We also nominate contributors for major prizes (Pen America, Pushcart, Best of the Net, etc) and continue to promote contributors after publication. Submitted work should be:

• One short story/one poem of any genre linked to the theme of 'Female Voices'.
• Up to 5,000 words (for short story submissions).
• Previously unpublished.
• Your own - not written by any kind of AI software.

 Additional information:

• Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.
• We respond to every submission and, for open journal submissions, aim to do so within 1-3 months.
• We encourage transgressive and experimental work.
• We accept extracts from longer pieces of work, provided they still meet the submission criteria and stand as a comprehensible piece of writing in their own right.
• The editors' decision is final.  However, we offer feedback wherever possible, and always upon request, at no extra cost.
• Submission fees are purposefully nominal, and only cover the journal's running costs and competition prize money.
• If you are unsuccessful, please do not be deterred from submitting new work in future! We receive a lot of submissions, and standards are always very high. Please persevere!

 Click here to go directly to Superlative's website

• Superlative, The Literary Journal, is edited by Ross Turner, Gemma Mainwaring, Daniel Chesmore, Holly Joyce and Varvara Lois, illustrated by Orlaith Stratford, and marketed by Hannah Darby.
• We publish short stories and poetry.
• Follow Superlative on Instagram
• Follow Superlative on Facebook
• Subscribe to Superlative on Substack

Superlative accepts open submissions, and runs monthly feature competitions and annual competitions.

Superlative's annual competition schedule is:

• Earlybird Submissions: 01 September - 31 December
• Submissions Accepted: 01 January - 31 August 
• Judging: September
• Longlist Contacted & Announced: October
• Shortlist Contacted & Announced: November
• Winners Contacted & Announced: December

• The theme for Superlative's 2026 annual writing competition is GROWTH.

Upon acceptance, Superlative will publish the winner's short story as our featured story for March, share bio and social media handles, and pay a £100 winner prize. We also nominate winners for major prizes (Pen America, Pushcart, Best of the Net, etc) and continue to promote winners after publication. Submitted work should be:

• One short story or excerpt of any genre or theme.
• Previously unpublished.
• Up to 5,000 words.
• Your own - not written by any kind of AI software.

 Additional information:

• Winning pieces may be included in Superlative's annual journal publication, alongside annual competition winners, and winners may be invited to Superlative's December launch event and given the opportunity to read their work.
• Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.
• We respond to every submission and, for monthly feature submissions, you will hear from us within 2 weeks of the closing deadline.
• We encourage transgressive and experimental work.
• We accept extracts from longer pieces of work, provided they still meet the submission criteria and stand as a comprehensible piece of writing in their own right.
• The editors' decision is final.  However, we offer feedback wherever possible, and always upon request, at no extra cost.
• Submission fees are purposefully nominal, and only cover the journal's running costs and competition prize money.
• If you are unsuccessful, please do not be deterred from submitting new work in future! We receive a lot of submissions, and standards are always very high. Please persevere!

 Click here to go directly to Superlative's website

• Superlative, The Literary Journal, is edited by Ross Turner, Gemma Mainwaring, Daniel Chesmore, Holly Joyce and Varvara Lois, illustrated by Orlaith Stratford, and marketed by Hannah Darby.
• We publish short stories and poetry.
• Follow Superlative on Instagram
• Follow Superlative on Facebook
• Subscribe to Superlative on Substack

Superlative accepts open submissions, and runs monthly feature competitions and annual competitions.

Superlative's annual competition schedule is:

• Earlybird Submissions: 01 September - 31 December
• Submissions Accepted: 01 January - 31 August
• Judging: September
• Longlist Contacted & Announced: October
• Shortlist Contacted & Announced: November
• Winners Contacted & Announced: December

• The theme for Superlative's 2026 annual writing competition is GROWTH.

Upon acceptance, Superlative will publish the winner's poem as our featured poem for March, share bio and social media handles, and pay a £100 winner prize. We also nominate winners for major prizes (Pen America, Pushcart, Best of the Net, etc) and continue to promote winners after publication. Submitted work should be: 

• One poem of any genre or theme.
• Previously unpublished.
• Your own - not written by any kind of AI software.

 Additional information:

• Winning pieces may be included in Superlative's annual journal publication, alongside annual competition winners, and winners may be invited to Superlative's December launch event and given the opportunity to read their work.
• Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.
• We respond to every submission and, for monthly feature submissions, you will hear from us within 2 weeks of the closing deadline.
• We encourage transgressive and experimental work.
• We accept extracts from longer pieces of work, provided they still meet the submission criteria and stand as a comprehensible piece of writing in their own right.
• The editors' decision is final.  However, we offer feedback wherever possible, and always upon request, at no extra cost.
• Submission fees are purposefully nominal, and only cover the journal's running costs and competition prize money.
• If you are unsuccessful, please do not be deterred from submitting new work in future! We receive a lot of submissions, and standards are always very high. Please persevere!

 Click here to go directly to Superlative's website

• Superlative, The Literary Journal, is edited by Ross Turner, Gemma Mainwaring, Daniel Chesmore, Holly Joyce and Varvara Lois, illustrated by Orlaith Stratford, and marketed by Hannah Darby.
• We publish short stories and poetry.
• Follow Superlative on Instagram
• Follow Superlative on Facebook
• Subscribe to Superlative on Substack

Superlative accepts open submissions, and runs monthly feature competitions and annual competitions.

Superlative's annual competition schedule is:

• Earlybird Submissions: 01 September - 31 December
• Submissions Accepted: 01 January - 31 August
• Judging: September
• Longlist Contacted & Announced: October
• Shortlist Contacted & Announced: November
• Winners Contacted & Announced: December

• The theme for Superlative's 2026 annual writing competition is GROWTH.

Upon acceptance, Superlative will publish the winner's short story as our annual short story competition winner in our annual print journal (alongside a runner-up and shortlisted stories), share bio and social media handles, and pay a £500 winner prize. We also nominate winners for major prizes (Pen America, Pushcart, Best of the Net, etc) and continue to promote winners after publication. Submitted work should be:

• One short story or excerpt of any genre linked to the theme of GROWTH.
• Previously unpublished.
• Up to 5,000 words.
• Your own - not written by any kind of AI software.

 Additional information:

• Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.
• We respond to every submission and, for annual competition submissions, you will hear from us according to the annual competition schedule (below).
• We encourage transgressive and experimental work.
• We accept extracts from longer pieces of work, provided they still meet the submission criteria and stand as a comprehensible piece of writing in their own right.
• The editors' decision is final.  However, we offer feedback wherever possible, and always upon request, at no extra cost.
• Submission fees are purposefully nominal, and only cover the journal's running costs and competition prize money.
• If you are unsuccessful, please do not be deterred from submitting new work in future! We receive a lot of submissions, and standards are always very high. Please persevere!

 Click here to go directly to Superlative's website

• Superlative, The Literary Journal, is edited by Ross Turner, Gemma Mainwaring, Daniel Chesmore, Holly Joyce and Varvara Lois, illustrated by Orlaith Stratford, and marketed by Hannah Darby.
• We publish short stories and poetry.
• Follow Superlative on Instagram
• Follow Superlative on Facebook
• Subscribe to Superlative on Substack

Superlative accepts open submissions, runs monthly feature competitions, and annual competitions.

Superlative's annual competition schedule is:

• Earlybird Submissions: 01 September - 31 December
• Submissions Accepted: 01 January - 31 August 
• Judging: September
• Longlist Contacted & Announced: October
• Shortlist Contacted & Announced: November
• Winners Contacted & Announced: December

• The theme for Superlative's 2026 annual writing competition is GROWTH.

Upon acceptance, Superlative will publish the winner's poem as our annual poetry competition winner in our annual print journal (alongside a runner-up and shortlisted poems), share bio and social media handles, and pay a £500 winner prize. We also nominate winners for major prizes (Pen America, Pushcart, Best of the Net, etc) and continue to promote winners after publication. Submitted work should be:

• One poem of any genre linked to the theme of GROWTH.
• Previously unpublished.
• Your own - not written by any kind of AI software.

 Additional information:

• Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.
• We respond to every submission and, for annual competition submissions, you will hear from us according to the annual competition schedule (below).
• We encourage transgressive and experimental work.
• We accept extracts from longer pieces of work, provided they still meet the submission criteria and stand as a comprehensible piece of writing in their own right.
• The editors' decision is final.  However, we offer feedback wherever possible, and always upon request, at no extra cost.
• Submission fees are purposefully nominal, and only cover the journal's running costs and competition prize money.
• If you are unsuccessful, please do not be deterred from submitting new work in future! We receive a lot of submissions, and standards are always very high. Please persevere!

 Click here to go directly to Superlative's website

• Superlative, The Literary Journal, is edited by Ross Turner, Gemma Mainwaring, Daniel Chesmore, Holly Joyce and Varvara Lois, illustrated by Orlaith Stratford, and marketed by Hannah Darby.
• We publish short stories and poetry.
• Follow Superlative on Instagram
• Follow Superlative on Facebook
• Subscribe to Superlative on Substack 

Superlative accepts open submissions, runs monthly feature competitions, and annual competitions.

Superlative's annual competition schedule is:

• Earlybird Submissions: 01 September - 31 December
• Submissions Accepted: 01 January - 31 August
• Judging: September
• Longlist Contacted & Announced: October
• Shortlist Contacted & Announced: November
• Winners Contacted & Announced: December

• The theme for Superlative's 2026 annual writing competition is GROWTH.