The Arkansas International invites the world’s best writers and artists into conversation with each other and with readers who yearn for depth, complexity, and delight. We are eager to read your work!
We welcome previously unpublished general submissions of fiction, poetry, essays, comics, and works in translation. To get a sense of what we publish, read previous issues on our website.
We are now accepting submissions to the Henry Dumas Fiction Prize! Click here to go to the guidelines for the prize. (Note that they are different from our general guidelines.)
General Guidelines
- For all submissions, include a brief cover letter and bio.
- Prose submissions should be no more than 8,000 words, poem packets no more than five poems, and we ask that excerpts from longer works be self-contained. Please submit all work in one document.
- Simultaneous submissions are welcome, provided we are notified in the event that a piece is accepted elsewhere. Please do not submit more than a single story, essay, or poem packet until you have heard back from us about your previous submission.
- Submissions of translated works must include a copy of the original text. Before submitting translations of works that are not in the public domain, translators should identify the rights holder and obtain a statement that the rights to publish an English translation are available.
- We assume you are human and do not accept work produced by artificial intelligence (AI) generators or similar.
- If you need to withdraw any or all parts of your submission, please withdraw via Submittable For partial withdrawals of poetry submissions, add a message to your submission.
- While we no longer offer free submissions, we are happy to provide waivers to those identifying as BIPOC or in need of financial assistance. For more information on how to apply, please email editor@arkint.org.
Response time: On average, we respond within three to six to months, although sometimes longer due to the volume of submissions received. We continue to review submissions and will be in touch as soon as we can. We are unable to respond to general status queries. Should you need to be in touch with the editorial team, Submittable message is the best way to do so.
Beginning with issue #19 in spring 2026, the unthemed spring issue will be online only, while the themed fall issue will be both in print and online. Fiction contributors will be paid $25 per 500-word page and poets will be paid $25 per page, with payments capped at $200. All contributors will receive a one-year digital subscription. In addition, contributors to a print issue will receive two complimentary copies of the issue.
Closes: March 22, 2026
Judge: John Keene
In honor of Henry Dumas’ legacy, we seek to award an emerging writer for innovative fiction that “inhabits the geography” of its place in rare ways. Entries for The Henry Dumas Fiction Prize should be a single prose work of fiction not exceeding 7,500 words. Entrants may submit more than once, but each new entry must be accompanied by a separate $20 entry fee. The winner receives $1000 and publication in the Arkansas International.
Contest Guidelines:
- Open to English-language writers of any nation who haven’t published a full-length book and who have no book forthcoming before December 1, 2026. Writers who have self-published books are ineligible. Writers who have published chapbooks qualify.
- All submissions will be considered for inclusion in the Arkansas International.
- Only work previously unpublished in any venue will be considered.
- The contest will be judged blindly. Remove any identifying information from your submission. Submissions with identifying information will be disqualified.
- Submit your double-spaced work as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file.
- Close friends and previous students of the judge, as well as anyone recently affiliated with the Arkansas International, which includes those who have been on staff within the past 4 years, are ineligible.