Submit a short story/poem to the 2027 annual journal competition (1st prize £500) - EARLYBIRD SUBMISSION 25% OFF

Upon acceptance, Superlative will publish the winners' pieces as our annual short story and poetry competition winners in our annual print journal (alongside a runner-up and shortlisted pieces), 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. Our online journal is available to read for free. We offer specific, individual feedback from our editors at no extra cost.

Submitted work should be:

• One short story and/or poem of any genre linked to the theme of HORIZONS.
• Previously unpublished.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. 
• Submission fees are purposefully nominal, and only cover the journal's running costs and competition prize money. We offer specific, individual feedback from our editors at no extra cost.
• 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! There is no embargo period during which you cannot resubmit work, following both successful and unsuccessful submissions.

 Click here to go directly to Superlative's website

• Superlative, The Literary Journal, is edited by Ross Turner, Holly Joyce, Varvara Lois, Gemma Mainwaring and Daniel Chesmore 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 Sep - 31 Dec
• Submissions: 01 January - 31 August 
• Judging: September
• Longlist: October
• Shortlist: November
• Winners & Launch: December

• The theme for Superlative's 2027 annual writing competition is HORIZONS.