aug 22 - sept 23

We're looking for poems, stories, essays that focus upon the potential of unity and union, the splendor of diversity, the belief in progress--and yes, even those darker manuscripts contemplating those moments when we have failed. Let's look forward to what we might accomplish and mourn when we have foundered.

sept 26 - oct 21

We celebrate National Poetry Month by dedicating our April issue to poetry and nothing but!

Every November, Iron Horse accepts submissions for its annual Trifecta, which is your chance to publish those marathon manuscripts most journals won't consider. Poets should submit a single poem, 10-20 pages long. Prose writers should submit a story or essay that runs between 20 and 40 pages. The entry fee is $10, which includes a year's subscription. The winners--a poet, an essayist, and a fiction writer--each receive $250. 

jan 1 - mar 15

Poems, stories, essays on any topic.

Each year, Iron Horse publishes one issue as a chapbook. This year, we're accepting collections of prose, fiction or nonfiction, 50 to 65 pages. Submissions due every year from mid-January to mid-March. Winner receives $1,000. 

Iron Horse Literary Review is proud to host an annual filmfest, featuring works we've commissioned as well as the winners of our yearly Video Lit Competition. This year, it's also time to compile the best films from last year and this year for our next DVD issue. We're looking for digital essays, stories, and poems—videos that combine visual art and sound with original written texts in artistically beautiful ways. 

Every year on New Year's Eve, we'll publish an e-issue featuring ten short pieces of prose or poetry, with a photograph to accompany each manuscript (which we'll choose during production, so don't worry about the photograph). Send us your best flash stories and essays (500 words or less) or your best poems fifteen lines or shorter. First prize wins $250.