The Fool's World | General Submissions

The Fool's World | A Travel Literary Magazine of Poetry, Prose and Visual Art

Annual Submission Periods

July 1st - Sept 1st (Temp. Closed as of 7.6.2026 6 PM: we plan to reopen on 7/7/2026).

November 1st - February 1st

Submit to The Fool’s World!

Thank you for your interest. We are usually open for poetry, prose, and visual art submissions during two annual windows: November 1st – February 1st, and July 1st – September 1st. We reserve the right to close windows at anytime, while we make sure we are covering our reading assignments as a team.

Please keep in mind that although we are a travel magazine, we recognize “travel” as a broad and deliciously ambiguous term. Submit all kinds of travel writing and visuals, whatever the word means to you! We’re a small team and may take a few months to respond to your submission, but we endeavor to get back to you as quickly as we can. Generally, it takes us between 4-6 weeks to respond. Please see our guidelines below.

Note: Only previously unpublished work will be considered. AI generated submissions are strictly banned.

Poetry

In a single word document, submit 1-3 unpublished travel poems of any length. More than any particular style, we are interested in the truth and weight of your work; we welcome any kind of poetry, so long as it packs a punch.

Note: We reserve the right to make grammatical edits. If we feel the need to make content edits, rather than purely grammatical ones, we will consult the artist first.

Prose

In a word document, submit a travel story between 800-1200 words. We welcome fiction, memoir, essays, and more experimental forms. We also accept literary reviews for recently published travel-centric work. The word count applies to all prose sub-categories; submissions longer than 1200 words will not be considered.

Note: We reserve the right to make grammatical edits. If we feel the need to make content edits, rather than purely grammatical ones, we will consult the artist first.

Visual Art

Option 1: Submit up to 5 artworks as separate files (jpeg, tiff, pdf). We accept any medium that can be printed on a 2D surface. (Encouraged but not required: a 1-2 sentence caption for each piece, with whatever info you find necessary. You can include these captions under the “cover letter” section, specifying which caption belongs to which piece. The editorial staff reserves the right to make a final decision to include these or not.)

Option 2: Submit one pdf of a photo essay or art series, max 12 pieces, ready to be published as a whole. Work must be sequenced in desired order, and be unified in theme or style and generally cohesive. Single pieces from a series may be considered, upon request from editorial staff. Please include a short statement on the work in the submission portal.

The work may be inspired by your travels, depicting travel itself, or simply a reflection of movement itself. The experience just must be your own.

Please send high quality images of physical works - no glares, wrinkles, or borders of canvasses should be visible, unless that is an obviously intentional creative decision. Accepted artwork may be asked to be rephotographed to meet quality standards.

Not Open

Theme: Immigrant Voices

01 June to 31 July
01 November to 31 December

Poetry
In a single word document, submit unpublished poetry that encapsulates a personal experience with immigration. We welcome any style of poetry that creatively captures an experience with immigration that has had an impact on your life.

Prose
In a word document, submit any essay or personal written account about an experience with immigration. Whether this indicates a personal story about immigrating to a new country for better opportunities or a journal entry about an experience you or someone you know has had that has impacted you profoundly. between 500 and 1000 words. We will make room for work that is outside of these word count parameters.

Visual artwork
In a single pdf, png, tiff or jpeg file, submit up to 3 separate pieces of visual artwork related to travel and/or immigration. While we accept artwork in any medium, photography or visual artwork with photographic elements is preferred to truly capture the experience of immigration and its impact on the people and society we are experiencing in real time.

The work may be inspired by your travels, depicting travel itself, or simply a reflection of movement itself. The immigrant experience or the impact of immigration must be your own.

Thank you to our sponsors at Raleigh Review, and for your interest in our magazine—
The Fool's World.

Not Open