5 Ontario literary magazines accepting work from women writers
Are you a writer looking to publish your poetry, fiction or creative nonfiction? Take a look at these Ontario-based literary magazines featuring female writers.
These magazines all accept unsolicited work, which means you can submit your writing without an invitation or request from the editors.
Before submitting your writing to these publications, we recommend you read previous issues to get a feel for the writing style they accept. These magazines can receive anywhere from hundreds to thousands of submissions per year, so make sure your work is a good fit to increase your chance of acceptance.
Canthius
Canthius is a feminist literary arts magazine from Ottawa. They accept poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, experimental work and play excerpts. Prose submissions cap at 3,500 words and poetry submissions have a limit of five poems. Play excerpts cap at five to eight pages.
Writers published in their issues receive $50 for one page, $75 for two pages, $100 for three pages, $125 for four pages and $150 for five pages or more, regardless of genre. Canthius is committed to publishing diverse perspectives and experiences and strongly encourages Indigenous women, Black women and women of colour to submit.
Read previous issues here.
The New Quarterly
The New Quarterly is based in Waterloo and has been circulating since 1981. They currently have an open call for submissions in nonfiction. They have reached their limit in poetry and fiction, but will open submissions for these genres on Sept. 1, 2021. They have no word limit nor submission fee.
If the magazine selects your work for publication, they pay $275 for fiction and nonfiction or $50 for poetry.
The New Quarterly is “committed to providing an inclusive platform for new voices in Canadian literature, particularly for voices who have been historically underrepresented in Canadian literary contexts and who represent the varied dimensions of race, ethnicity, geography, culture, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and religion in Canada.”
Read previous issues here.
Taddle Creek
Based in Toronto and founded in 1997, Taddle Creek accepts unsolicited fiction and poetry submissions or nonfiction and cartoon submissions on a pitch basis. There is no strict word limit, but poems usually have a limit of 90 lines.
They have no submission deadlines as the editors are always reading work. They do not accept simultaneous submissions. Publications are both in print and online, and they release two issues per year.
Read previous issues here.
Arc Poetry Magazine
Arc is based in Ottawa and was established in 1978.
They accept poetry and have two reading periods: April 1 to July 31 for the Winter issue and Sept. 1 to Dec. 31 for the Summer issue. Submissions cap at three poems and have a maximum of 360 lines. If accepted, writers receive a compensation of $50 per page. Arc’s mission statement reads: “We find the brave new voices. We feature poetry that is woozy, cunning, shearing and wildlike, and prose that offers new perspectives on the verse you thought you knew.”
Read previous poems here.
The /tƐmz/ Review
The /tƐmz/ Review is based in London and publishes four seasonal issues per year. They accept fiction and creative nonfiction up to 10,000 words and up to one to eight poems, preferably capped at 10 pages. They do accept simultaneous submissions and, if accepted, pay writers $20 per prose piece or per batch of poems. The /tƐmz/ Review focuses on publishing work from a diverse range of emerging and established voices. They write that their goal is to “reflect a wide variety of editorial perspectives and publish an eclectic mix of writing.”
Read previous issues here.
