University of Central Oklahoma

The New Plains Review seeks quality creative works ranging from poetry and prose to plays/screenplays and music and short films.

Established in 1986, New Plains Review is a student-run literary journal published in spring and fall through the University of Central Oklahoma’s New Plains Student Publishing. Keeping with the university’s goals of both excellence and diversity, it is our mission to share with our readers thought-provoking, quality work from a diverse number of authors and artists. We receive hundreds of submissions from all over the world, and the authors and artists we publish range from well-known to the soon-to-be-discovered.

Fiction and flash fiction

Creative nonfiction

Plays & Screenplays

New Plains Review

For this special anniversary issue, we are thrilled to launch a new contest, the New Plains Prize in Poetry and Fiction! All submissions are welcome, though we are particularly interested in work that focuses on water as a theme. Here in the Plains, water is not a resource to be taken for granted. We are grateful when it rains. Oklahoma has more man-made lakes than any other state. Water is a complex part of our lives. The New Plains Review Prizes hope to highlight concerns that most directly impact our communities, part of one shared world.
Per each submission, please submit previously unpublished short stories with a 10,000-word max. We especially invite writers from traditionally underrepresented communities, and particularly voices and perspectives from our region, the Plains.
Files accepted: PDF, .doc or .docx, and .rtf.

New Plains Review Prize - Fiction

Per submission, please submit previously unpublished short stories with a 10,000-word max, up to three flash fiction pieces ranging from 500 to 1,000 words, or several pieces of microfiction ranging from 3+ sentences to 500 words. All genres welcome, the wilder the better. We especially invite writers from traditionally underrepresented communities, and particularly voices and perspectives from our region, the Plains.
Files accepted: PDF, .doc or .docx, and .rtf.

Fiction - General Submissions

We invite nonfiction submissions that reflect experiences from personal, critical, or creative narratives. The work must be grounded in reality put we are open to all forms of experimentation, genre-bending, and hybrid forms. Submissions should be a maximum of 10,000 words. You may submit any number of separate pieces distinguished clearly in your submission up to that word count, with flash pieces also accepted.
Our editors also want to read your finest plays and scripts, work that comes alive on the page. We encourage writers who push narrative boundaries and accept submissions of up to 10,000 words in any form. While we are focused on plays and scripts in a traditional sense, we also invite work that tests the boundaries of such forms.

Nonfiction

For this special anniversary issue, we are thrilled to launch a new contest, the New Plains Prize in Poetry and Fiction! All submissions are welcome, though we are particularly interested in work that focuses on water as a theme. Here in the Plains, water is not a resource to be taken for granted. We are grateful when it rains. Oklahoma has more man-made lakes than any other state. Water is a complex part of our lives. The New Plains Review Prizes hope to highlight concerns that most directly impact our communities, part of one shared world.
We will consider up to five poems per submission (no more than ten pages total).
Please include all poems in a single file (Word .doc/.docx or PDF), with each poem starting on a separate page.
Poetry in languages other than English is permitted (if possible, translated footnotes are encouraged). We do not however accept translations.

New Plains Review Prize - Poetry

New Plains Review accepts multimedia submissions of visual art & photography. We will consider any submission in this genre for our 40th anniversary issue's cover art.
While the work doesn't necessarily have to reflect any region or identity, we love what pushes boundaries and brings new forms to life. Send us your strongest work that explores genres and mediums such as photography, painting, sketch, collage, sculpture, graphic or experimental work, etc.
We particularly encourage art and artists from intersectional or marginalized identities. We are, however, restricted from accepting work that includes a recognizable human face because of privacy rights and copyright laws.
Please clearly indicate the title of each submission individually.
No AI-generated or assisted content, please.
Please limit your submission to five, single-file images, with most file types accepted, including PDF, .doc or .docx, .jpeg, .png.

Art + Photo Submissions

New Plains Review publishes poems from new and established voices alike, poetry that comes from the individual and is shaped by unique experiences. We want to read work that blurs boundaries and seek to publish poems borne of necessity. We will consider up to three poems per submission (no more than five pages total).
Please include all poems in a single file (Word .doc or PDF), with each poem starting on a separate page.
Poetry in languages other than English is permitted (if possible, translated footnotes are encouraged). We do not however accept translations, at this time.

New Plains Review

Highlights

About

Featured Call

New Plains Review Prize - Fiction