Speculative City A Literary Magazine

About

Speculative City embraces the motivations of speculative fiction and integrates them into a focus of setting: the city. Cities instinctively draw individuals aspiring to create communities. Speculative City endeavors to elevate the voices of these communities through literary works that explore the potentials of their lived experience through the frame of science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism. Speculative City first found inspiration in Yevgeny Zamyatin’s novel We. We features a city enshrouded by a glass wall, a city that is monitored and controlled. Rather than acting as a veil to contain and limit, Speculative City looks to magnify exchanges, particularly of the unheard and invisible, in dense cityscapes. In this magnification, the magazine invites introspection, questioning, and confrontation of prevailing ideas and beliefs. We call for those curious and laboring to envision altered realities.

Voluntary Fees: This project accepts voluntary fees for “tip jar” submissions.

Important: See guidelines for details on what genres they are currently accepting.

Country of Publication

United States

Publication Medium & Frequency

Electronic Publication Electronic Publication: Unknown publication frequency

AI Policy

Human-created work only; no AI use allowed

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Collapse section Fiction Temp Closed

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience, including: All ethnic groups/populations, All genders, All sexual identities, People with disabilities.

Genres:

General Subgenres: Slipstream, Urban
Fantasy Subgenre: Urban Fantasy
Horror Open to all/most Subgenres
Science Fiction Open to all/most Subgenres

Lengths:

Flash Fiction: Up to 1,000 words.
Short Story: 1,000 - 5,500 words.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary.

Topics:

Place/Regions: Urban areas, See guidelines.
Other: May vary.

Payment:

Token payment (under 1 US cent per word) to Professional payment (5 or more US cents per word) Pay ranges from Token payment to Professional payment. Details: USD $20-$55.

Submissions:

Method: Duosuma submission manager.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are allowed.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Nonfiction Temp Closed

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience, including: All ethnic groups/populations, All genders, All sexual identities, People with disabilities.

Lengths:

Essay: Up to 5,500 words.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary.

Topics:

Place/Regions: Urban areas, See guidelines.
Other: May vary.

Payment:

Token payment (under 1 US cent per word) to Professional payment (5 or more US cents per word) Pay ranges from Token payment to Professional payment. Details: USD $20-$55.

Submissions:

Method: Duosuma submission manager.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are allowed.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Poetry Temp Closed

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience, including: All ethnic groups/populations, All genders, All sexual identities, People with disabilities.

Genres:

General Subgenres: Slipstream, Urban
Fantasy Subgenre: Urban Fantasy
Horror Open to all/most Subgenres
Science Fiction Open to all/most Subgenres

Lengths:

Poem: No line limits known; Up to 5 pieces.

Poetry Forms:

Open to all/most Forms.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary.

Topics:

Place/Regions: Urban areas, See guidelines.
Other: May vary.

Payment:

Token payment (under US$5 per poem) to Professional payment (US$50 or more per poem) Pay ranges from Token payment to Professional payment. Details: USD $20-$55.

Submissions:

Method: Duosuma submission manager.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are allowed.
Media: Text.

Always check guidelines for details and restrictions. If you aren't familiar with these terms, see our glossary.

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For the Editor(s):
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Link to Duotrope

Speculative City Submission Statistics

The statistics in this section are compiled from submission reports sent to us through our submission tracker. They are not provided by the publication's editors/staff or by Duotrope's admins. Information in this section is updated a few times per day. Learn more about the statistics.

We have not received any submission reports for this listing in the past 12 months.

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Before Submitting

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Always read the full guidelines provided by the publisher.
Try to read at least one previous publication to get a better idea of what the editor would like to see.
Unless the publisher's guidelines state otherwise, always use industry standard manuscript formatting.
Be professional, patient, and persistent.

Dates

Last Updated: 31 Aug 2026

We check their guidelines for changes every four weeks, and we audit the listing twice a year.