5×5 is an online literary journal that publishes poetry and prose of 500 words or less. We also feature photography. We publish twice a year (Winter & Summer). Please submit your work through Submittable.
Response time depends on volume of submissions we receive. In most cases, however, you should hear from us within six to eight weeks. Because we have a small editorial staff, response time might be as long as six months (occasionally longer). If you don’t hear from us within six months, please don’t hesitate to send an e-mail. However, please wait to submit further work to us until you have had a response. When you do submit, include the following information in the cover letter box available through Submittable: a short bio, your e-mail address, and any other information you feel we should know about your submission. See below for general formatting preferences, reading period, and genre-specific submission details and requirements.
General Formatting Preferences
- Times New Roman (or something similar) 12-point font
- Double-spaced (for prose)
- Name and page number in bottom right-hand corner
- Word count
Current Reading Periods
- Poetry is typically welcome year-round, but is currently closed until September 20, 2021
- Fiction submissions are currently closed and will reopen September 20, 2021
- Nonfiction is generally welcome year-round, but is currently closed until September 20, 2021
Poetry Submission Overview and Requirements
We’re looking for your very best poems. That said, since this is a journal of concise writing, please let your work be no more than one page in length. Please also beware of page size and customize line breaks accordingly.
We are open to all kinds of poems in their myriad forms. We cleave to poems that carry both music and clarity no matter how strange the places they lead us or how surprising their leaps.
Please submit no more than five poems. All poems should be submitted in a single document, single-spaced. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable. Please let us know when your work has been accepted elsewhere immediately. Wait for response to your submission before submitting again, feel free to inquire about the status of your work after 6 months. (We are a very small editorial crew.)
The poetry reading period is currently closed and will reopen in September 20, 2021. Please submit your poetry via Submittable.
Nonfiction Submission Overview and Requirements
We’re looking for nonfiction of all varieties, including but not limited to (short) memoir, personal essays, profile/portrait essays, lyric essays, meditative essays, and journalism.
Generally speaking, we want submissions that demonstrate an awareness of the connections between individual experience and that of the human condition at large. Borrowing from poet Richard Hugo and one of his students, Kim Barnes, when it comes to short nonfiction the challenge a writer faces is the battle between music and meaning. Hugo said neither music nor meaning should ever win but that if one has to win in poetry music should win. Barnes argues, however, and the editors of 5×5 tend to agree, that, in prose, the battle between music and meaning should tip instead in favor of meaning, as in 5×5, or I hear you perfectly.
You’re welcome to submit up to two essays of 500 words or less via Submittable. Please don’t submit more than two essays at a time, and, unless otherwise requested by an editor, you should wait at least three months after a submission response to submit new work.
The nonfiction reading period is currently closed and will reopen September 20, 2021.
If your work is accepted for an issue, please note that an editing process may ensue.
Fiction Submission Overview and Requirements
We’re looking for fiction that works and works well. Just as there isn’t one simple definition of “good writing,” there isn’t one element we look for in each submission. In short, we are looking for your best work in 500 words or less. Show us what you can accomplish with the short-short form. Fiction submissions are welcome year-round. Please submit your nonfiction via Submittable. Only one story is allowed per submission, and, unless otherwise requested by an editor, you should wait at least three months after a submission response to submit new work.
The nonfiction reading period is currently closed and will reopen September 20, 2021.
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