Welcome to the Munster Literature Centre submissions manager
Southword Literary Journal
Southword: New International Writing is a print literary journal published twice a year by the Munster Literature Centre. Southword has published the likes of Medbh McGuckian, Helen Ivory, Haruki Murakami, James Lasdun, Kim Addonizio, Tess Gallagher, Colm Tóibín and Vona Groarke. Our spring issue is composed of prizewinning and shortlisted entries from our Gregory O'Donoghue and Seán O'Faoláin competitions, as well as specially commissioned work. Unsolicited submissions of poetry and short fiction (for our autumn issue) are open as follows:
POETRY: December 1st, 2022 ‒ February 28th, 2023
FICTION: January 1st ‒ March 31st, 2023
Southword pays contributors €40 per poem and €250 per short story. Payment to writers within the Republic of Ireland is made by bank transfer. Writers abroad must accept payment through PayPal.
Subscribe or buy individual issues here.
Other opportunities for publications, mentorships, readings and more will appear here periodically throughout the year.
Annual Competitions
Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition (open for entries 1st May to 31st July).
Fool for Poetry International Chapbook Competition (open for entries 1st June to 31st August).
Gregory O'Donoghue International Poetry Competition (open for entries 1st September to 30th November).
Questions/troubleshooting on using Submittable system
E-mail support@submittable.com or visit their help centre.
1. All stories must be previously unpublished and submitted via Submittable in the appropriate categories during open reading times only. Submissions cannot be accepted by post or email.
2. There is a strict submission limit of 1 story of up to 5000 words per person.
3. If you need to withdraw a submitted story, please send a note to the editor via Submittable. No requests for edits will be possible after the submission deadline passes.
4. Work should be submitted in one of the following file formats: .doc, .docx, .txt, .rtf.
5. If submitting poems and prose simultaneously, they will be considered by different editors at different times, so to be sure of a response please submit separately, via the appropriate Submittable category. Southword is not currently considering unsolicited submissions of non-fiction or memoir.
6. When Submittable prompts you to type a 'cover letter', please include an up-to-date biographical note and contact details including an email address.
7. Works of translation where the original author is still in copyright will require the bios of both the original author and the translator. On the Southword contents page, the story will be listed under the name of the original author, and the translator will be credited on the story's page itself.
8. Short stories are considered between January 1st and March 31st each year for our autumn issue. After the close of the submission date the editors will make their selection. Submittable will notify you as to the success of your submission. Due to the large volume of submissions received, the editor may take up to 10 weeks after the submission deadline to make their decision. From 1 May – 31 July, fiction writers may submit their work to the Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition, the winners of which will be published in the spring issue of Southword.
9. Authors are paid €250 per story published in Southword. If the writer lives outside of Ireland, they will be paid by PayPal. (Information on how to set up a PayPal account: http://www.paypal.com).
10. If your work has been selected from an unsolicited submission and published in Southword before, we ask that you please don't submit for one year before submitting again – for example, if you were accepted in the last open submission period (2022) it means you need to skip this one (2023) and wait for the next (2024).
Any questions regarding these guidelines can be sent to the Publications Officer at info(AT)munsterlit(DOT)ie