Fourth Genre

Opens on Thursday, August 31, 2023 12:00 AM US Mountain Standard Time (in 154 days)

Published twice annually by the Michigan State University Press, Fourth Genre is a literary journal devoted to publishing notable, innovative work in creative nonfiction. Given the genre’s flexibility and expansiveness, we welcome a variety of works ranging from personal essays and memoirs to literary journalism and personal criticism. We showcase works that are lyrical, self-interrogative, meditative, and reflective, as well as expository, analytical, exploratory, or whimsical. Our journal fosters a writer-to-reader conversation, one that explores the markers and boundaries of literary/creative nonfiction.

• General submissions are accepted September 1 - November 30 only. Reading fee is $4. Authors selected for publication are paid with two (2) complimentary copies of the journal and, starting with issue 25.2, a $50 honorarium.
• Where Duosuma prompts you to create a cover letter, please include your name, mailing address, phone number, email address, and title of piece, and approximate word count. But DO NOT include your name or contact information anywhere on the manuscript you upload--not even in the file name.
• We rarely publish anything over 6,000 words, but if it is longer, and really good, send it along.
• Multiple submissions not accepted from individual authors during the general submissions period.
• Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but require immediate notification to Fourth Genre if accepted elsewhere

Fourth Genre Steinberg Essay Prize submissions are accepted January 1 - March 15 only. For additional information about contest submissions, visit our website

• Reading fee for the Essay Prize: $20(U.S.) for each individual submission (multiple submissions accepted).
• NOTE: For both reading periods, we read blind, so be sure your name or any other identifying information does not appear on the manuscript or in the file name.