The New Quarterly publishes short fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction exclusively by Canadian writers.
We seek to nurture emerging writers (writers who haven’t yet published a full book) by publishing and promoting their work alongside established writers, whose work is familiar and respected in the Canadian literary landscape.
At The New Quarterly, we strive to publish writing that questions. Writing that challenges. Writing that responds. We seek new literature that focuses on the style and the writer’s attention to how they tell their narrative or poem.
Beginning in 2026, our regular submission periods for fiction and poetry are:
For nonfiction, our submission periods are:
In order for our editors to manage everyone’s submission with the care and attention it deserves, we have set the following submission caps per genre per reading cycle:
Fiction: 150
Poetry: 120
Nonfiction: 50
With these caps in place, we recommend submitting within the first couple months of our submission periods.
Every submission is read by a senior editor, who recommends work to the editorial collective. From these submissions, approximately 10-15 are selected for publication. Works that have been accepted for publication are edited in direct communication with authors.
We deliver feedback on submissions as often as possible, even to writers not selected for publication. You can expect to hear back about your submission 6-7 months from the time the submission period opened.
For Fiction and Nonfiction pieces, we pay $400. For Poetry and Postscripts, we pay $100 per piece.
Additionally, each contributor receives a complimentary copy their piece is featured in and is eligible to redeem a special contributor discount on all TNQ subscriptions!
Yes, but please let us know right away if your work has been accepted somewhere else.
Unless we have a special issue in the works, our editors choose a theme based on the content of the work they have accepted for that particular issue.
Yes! We are interested in hearing from writers at all stages of their journey. Many acclaimed authors like Alicia Elliott and Maria Reva were first published in TNQ.
Our editors are volunteers extraordinaire. They generously eke out time from their day jobs, families, and free time not only to read your work but also to make notes and then meet in person to choose the accepted pieces. We have capped our submissions to ensure it is at a volume that our editors can comfortably manage.
No, but we typically publish fiction and nonfiction pieces that range from 2,500 to 5,000 words. We rarely publish pieces longer than 6000 words.
We can only accept your submission if you are a Canadian citizen, a current resident (i.e. a landed immigrant, refugee, or student) living in Canada, or a member of the First Nations, Inuit, or Métis peoples. If you are a Canadian citizen and are simply not living in Canada at this time, you are eligible to submit!
If you have further questions regarding our regular submissions, contact us or call us at 519-884-8111 x28290.
