Submissions

Submission Guidelines

Vita Poetica Journal is an online quarterly publication of creative work explored through a spiritual lens. This may be engaging directly with religious faith or a broader inquiry into meaning and the human experience. We appreciate a sensibility that is open and thoughtful rather than didactic. We seek diversity in experiences, backgrounds, and spiritual perspectives, as well as in genres and art disciplines. We also welcome cross-genre, cross-discipline, or multimedia experimentation. Those interested in submitting are encouraged to read previous issues to gain a sense of the kind of work we're looking for.

We are open year-round to submissions of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, visual art, and other media. Please see details within each genre for guidelines specific to the section.

Our reviews, interviews, and contemplative practices sections are also open to contributors. We prefer that writers query first for these sections. Please send a pitch of your ideas, along with a brief bio, to hello@vitapoetica.org. If you are interested in contributing a guided meditation to the Contemplative Practices section, you can contact editor Samir Knego directly at samir@vitapoetica.org.

We do not accept previously published work, including web-published or self-published material. Simultaneous submissions are welcome provided you notify us immediately if the work is placed elsewhere.

We ask for first-time rights of publication and request acknowledgment as the first place of publication. All rights revert to the author/artist after publication.

Please allow up to 3 months while we review your creative submissions. We publish on a quarterly cycle, and it can sometimes take a bit longer if the submission arrived in between issues. If you sent a query or pitch, we will confer as a team and respond in about a month.

We regret that we’re unable to offer payment for publication at this time. Vita Poetica is a nonprofit organization and relies on a small team of volunteers who read every submission carefully. We appreciate your understanding and thank you for sharing your work with us.

All submissions must be sent through our submissions management platform, Submittable, which requires an account. If you don’t already have one, you can create a free account here.