Now Accepting Submissions for OxMag Issue 53’s Crystal Ox Poetry Contest!
About OxMag
OxMag (or more formally: Oxford Magazine) is a literary & arts magazine edited and published by creative writing MFA students at Miami University. Since our premiere in 1984, our magazine has received Pushcart Prizes for both fiction and poetry and has published authors such as Charles Baxter, William Stafford, Robert Pinsky, Stephen Dixon, Helena Maria Viramontes, Andre Dubus, and Stuart Dybek. Appearing biannually, OxMag is a web-based journal that accepts fiction, poetry, art + new media, and creative nonfiction/essays.
Now Accepting Submissions for OxMag Issue 53’s Crystal Ox Poetry Contest!
The first OxMag Crystal Ox Poetry Contest was held in Winter 2022 and published as part of Issue 49. We’re continuing this tradition of celebrating poetry by opening the Crystal Ox Poetry Contest of Issue 53!
Please send us your best work (one poem only). If you send more than one poem, we will read only the first poem you send. Cover letters are not necessary, but a brief reader bio is required (~50 words).
Submissions will be open until January 10th or until we reach our submission cap, whichever comes first.
We do not accept previously published work. Upon publication, the rights to the poem(s) remain with the writer, though we ask for acknowledgement that the work first appeared in our journal.
Awards will go to three winners (1st, 2nd, & 3rd place).
We encourage those who come from underrepresented communities and backgrounds to submit work, including but not limited to: race/ethnicity, class, geography/culture, religion/spirituality, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and ability.
Submissions: We accept submissions through Submittable only. We no longer accept email submissions. Please only send one submission per reading period.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are okay as long as you remember to withdraw your submission via Submittable if your work is accepted elsewhere. For poetry, you can add a note indicating which poems are no longer up for consideration.
Response time: Our response time varies. We will make every effort to accept or decline all submissions within eight to ten weeks. It could take longer, but hopefully not. If we haven’t gotten back to you and it’s past the response time, drop a gentle nudge to oxmag@miamioh.edu.
Rights: OxMag acquires first North American serial rights, one-time anthology rights, and online serial rights. Previously published work is not accepted.
We can’t wait to read your work!
xx,
OxMag
CONTESTS
The Crystal Ox Poetry Contest
Submissions will be open until January 10th or until we reach our submission cap, whichever comes first.
The first OxMag Crystal Ox Poetry Contest was held in Winter 2022 and published as part of Issue 49. We’re continuing this tradition of celebrating poetry by opening the Crystal Ox Poetry Contest of Issue 53!
Please send us your best work (one poem only). If you send more than one poem, we will read only the first poem you send. Cover letters are not necessary, but a brief reader bio is required (~50 words).
We do accept simultaneous submissions, but if your work is accepted elsewhere, please withdraw it immediately via Submittable.
We do not accept previously published work. Upon publication, the rights to the poem(s) remain with the writer, though we ask for acknowledgement that the work first appeared in our journal.
Awards will go to three winners (1st, 2nd, & 3rd place).
The Golden Ox Prose Contest
Golden Ox submission schedule TBA soon!
The Golden Ox awards small but mighty prose. We want to read your best flash fiction or micro essays under 1,000 words.
Please submit a flash fiction story or micro creative nonfiction essay of fewer than 1,000 words. The contest theme will be announced in the spring of 2025.
Please specify in your cover letter whether your piece is fiction or nonfiction. Also note that our submissions will close once we reach 100 total submissions, so be sure to get your submission in early!
Awards:
- First Place Winner receives a prize of $50 worth of books of your choosing and publication
- Second Place Winner receives a prize of $25 worth of books of your choosing and publication
- Third Place Winner receives publication
We can’t wait to read your strange and beautiful words.
