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Willows Wept Review

Founded in 2008, Willows Wept Review is a quarterly literary journal that publishes writing that explores, celebrates, interrogates, and/or problematizes the relationship between human beings and the natural world.

Simultaneous Submissions
Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please notify the editors as soon as possible if your work has been accepted elsewhere.

Reprints
We occasionally publish reprints of work that was published in a print journal at least one year ago. Please indicate the journal and all other relevant information, including the issue number and date, in your submission. We do not publish reprints of work published online. (We do not consider work included on personal websites to be “published online.”)

Response Times
Response times vary but are usually no longer than two months.

Authorship
We do not accept submissions of work with evidence of partial or complete AI authorship. Although we recognize that the role of AI is complex, there remain significant questions about issues of copyright and responsibility associated with AI-generated materials, so we will automatically decline all work with evidence of partial or complete AI authorship.

Rights
When we publish work, we ask that writers grant us exclusive publication rights for forty-five days from the date of publication. After that, we ask for non-exclusive publication rights so that we can maintain an archive of our issues online and so that we can continue to sell back issues of the print version of the journal. We also ask for rights to include work in possible later Best of or Annual editions, either online or in print.

In all cases, we ask that writers acknowledge Willows Wept Review in the event that their work is later reprinted elsewhere.

Tip Jar Submissions
We're very grateful for contributions to our virtual tip jar, and any contributions help to cover the cost of operating the journal. We do not give preference to submissions accompanied by a tip in the editorial process; all submissions are given equal consideration.

Payment
If everything in the world worked the way we liked, we'd offer you truckloads of money upon publication of your work. Or we'd offer you a world in which truckloads of money didn't matter. We typically cannot offer you payment for your work, but thanks to the support of Accelerate Resilience L.A., contributors to our 2025 issues will receive payment of $20 per published piece, along with a complimentary print copy of the journal.

Quick Links to Open Calls:

Poetry Free Tip Jar Option

Open

Send up to six poems. While we are happy to read individual poems from writers, we generally prefer to see several poems from each writer.

Prose Free Tip Jar Option

Open

Send one longer prose piece or up to three shorter prose pieces.

Visual Art Free Tip Jar Option

Open

Send submissions of visual art as high-resolution attachments. To have your work considered for our cover, please keep in mind that finished print copies of the journal are 5.25 x 8.25, so images need to be of sufficient resolution to scale to at least 5.5 x 8.5 and should include space for the journal’s title and issue information to appear at the top or bottom of the cover.