Now Accepting Submissions for Issue 53 (Fall 2024)!
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.
Issue 53 (Fall 2024) submissions open September 21st – October 15th (or until submission cap is met) for the following genres:
- Fiction
- Nonfiction
- Poetry
- Art + New Media
What we’re looking for: We encourage writing and art that bends genres, experiments with forms, and includes interesting premises. We like writing that searches for meaning in experience—writing that makes us feel and think, cry and laugh, reflect and relate. 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.
Genre guidelines:
- Fiction: Please submit only one piece between 2500-5000 words (max).
- CNF: Please submit only one piece between 2500-5000 words (max).
- Poetry: Please submit no more than 3 poems, all contained in one document.
- Art + New Media: For all work (including 3D art pieces), please submit a high-resolution .JPEG, JPG, PNG, or .TIFF file. Though it isn’t required, you may also submit an artist statement about the work (100-200 words) in your cover letter.
Cover letters: Make sure to write a brief 3rd-person bio in the space marked by Submittable as “Cover Letter.”
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.
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OxMag
CONTESTS
The Crystal Ox Poetry Contest
Crystal Ox submission schedule TBA soon!
For this year’s winter edition of Crystal Ox, we are interested in free verse and form poetry that captures the raw elegance of nature. We value poetry that has a strong command over language, poetry that illustrates the unbound allure of a tranquil snowfall, and the sincerity in a white-tailed deer’s gaze. Send us your single BEST poem which illustrates an appreciation for nature’s inherent charms. (If you send more than 1 poem, we will not read it.) Cover letters are not necessary, but a brief reader bio is required (about 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:
- 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 and publication
- Third Place Winner receives publication
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.
