Submissions

The submission period for Vol. 36 will open after the launch of Vol. 35 in Spring 2022. Please check back for exact dates.

The Northern Virginia Review considers poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, art, and photography that reflects the diverse cultural richness of the DC area and the surrounding Mid-Atlantic region. Work may be on any topic, but at this time of transformative resistance to racial brutality and indifference, we especially welcome work that breaks down racial barriers, fosters empathy, and shares what needs to be heard and seen to spark change. We recommend viewing previous samples of published prose, poetry, and visual art in our current and past issues.

All work accepted for publication is eligible for our annual contests. Winners will be awarded $175 for best work in a genre. Fiction is considered for the Robert Bausch Memorial Prize of $250.

NOVA FACULTY & STAFF:

Call for Submissions to PANDEMIC SIGHTINGS: A new TNVR blog page featuring your COVID-19 inspired Poetry, Fiction, Creative non-fiction, Art, and Photography. Please follow the Submission Guidelines for our annual journal below and submit work through our Submission Manager.  Scholarly or pedagogical articles intended exclusively for professional academics should be submitted to Inquiry, the journal of the Virginia Community Colleges.)

TO BE CONSIDERED FOR PUBLICATION, PLEASE FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES: 

  • You must be a former or current resident of the Mid-Atlantic region or be NOVA faculty, staff or alumni.
  • In the Submittable Cover Letter box, please include a 2-4 sentence third-person bio not exceeding 100 words, along with complete contact information.
  • For each annual issue, the number of works from one person is limited to two essays, two works of fiction, three pieces of art, and five poems. The total number of works from one person may not exceed five in any mix of the above categories.
  • Written work should be submitted electronically through our submission manager.
  • When submitting more than one work in the same genre, PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT THEM AS SEPARATE SUBMISSIONS. Poems may be uploaded all in one file, prose and artwork as separate files attached to a single submission.
  • Written works should be submitted as Word documents (doc or docx), double-spaced, 12 pt., Times New Roman. Poetry may be single spaced. Fiction and non-fiction pieces should not exceed 6000-6500 words in length. Please do not include your name on the work itself. We read all of our submitted work blind.
  • Attach art work and photographs in jpeg format in high resolution, not to exceed 5 MB. When submitting more than one work, please upload them as attachments to a single submission. Also, please include the title (or titles) of your work(s). NOTE: We do not publish artwork embedded in a written work.
  • We accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately if you need to withdraw a submission due to publication elsewhere.

Response time varies from one to six months. If you don’t hear from us, please email to inquire about the status of your submission. Submitters whose work is accepted for publication must submit a NOVA Copyright Release Form and a NOVAGraphics Release Agreement Form.

If you have questions, please contact Ruth Stewart, Editor-in-Chief.