(Almost) Every MFA Program With a Literary Magazine

Why should you choose an MFA program with a literary magazine? Working for a lit mag demystifies what happens after you hit submit.

You learn who reads submissions (hint: it’s not just the editors), and the process for deciding whether a sub is chosen or not. You spend hours achingly formatting a piece so that it’s just so, proofread it once, or twice, or three times, and hope that no errors are found in the polished product. You promote the issue online and in emails, and tell everyone in the world about this masterpiece you’ve helped create. You learn how to become a better writer, garner hands-on skills to help you enter the “real world”, and make some pretty cool friends along the way.

Trust me: I worked for Ploughshares while earning my Master’s, and now I’m part of the Chill Subs team—proof that the value is real.

Below, we’ve collected (almost) every MFA program that also houses an affiliated literary magazine. By the time you reach the end of the listed mags, it’ll feel like you’ve read about all of them. And if not, well. Feel free to get to reading (and submitting!).

Looking for this as a Collection? Find all the mags in a handy list you can bookmark below.

MFA Partner Programs with Literary Magazines

Find our full list of MFA Partners here.

University of Alabama | Black Warrior Review

Black Warrior Review is the oldest journal to be continuously run by graduate students in the U.S. It nominates and has won awards for Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions, PEN America, and Wigleaf’s Top 50.

Arkansas Writers MFA Workshop | Oxford American, Arkana

The Oxford American explores and celebrates the American South's cultural heritage. It received the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2016.

Arkana fosters an inclusive literary tradition that “asks questions, explores mystery, and works to make visible the marginalized, the overlooked, and those whose voices have been silenced.” It nominates and has won awards for Best of the Net and Best Micro Fiction.

University of North Carolina, Wilmington | Ecotone, Chautauqua

Ecotone is a place of danger or opportunity, a testing ground, and welcomes perspectives of historically and currently marginalized writers and artists. It received the AWP Small Press Publisher Award in 2022.

Chautauqua believes that “everyday life should integrate leisure, education, fine arts, and spirituality.” It nominates for the Pushcart Prize.

Northern Michigan University | Passages North

Passages North is run by a volunteer graduate student, a graduate assistant, undergraduate interns, alumni editors, and Northern Michigan University’s English department faculty. It nominates and has won awards for the Best of the Net, Best Micro Fiction, Best Small Fictions, Pushcart Prize, and Wigleaf’s Top 50.

Bowling Green State University | Mid-American Review

Mid-American Review publishes contemporary fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and translations. It nominates and has won awards for the Best American series, Pushcart Prize, O. Henry Award, New Stories from the South, Poetry Daily, and Harper’s Magazine. Every fall, it hosts the Winter Wheat Festival of Writing, bringing together BGSU writers and widely published guests for a series of lectures and workshops.

University of Minnesota | Great River Review

Great River Review seeks to publish a diverse range of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and special features that foster connections between local, national, and global communities. In 2002, the journal received the Minnesota State Book Award. It also nominates and has won awards for the Best American series and the Pushcart Prize.

University of Nevada, Reno | Sierra Nevada Review

Sierra Nevada Review believes all art is political. They’re on the search for daring poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, and visual art—urgent writing that makes us feel alive and contends with the present cultural moment.

McNeese University | The McNeese Review, Boudin

The McNeese Review is made possible by faculty and graduate students at McNeese University. Recent issues have featured interviews with Michael Martone and George Saunders, and writing from Gabrielle Bates and Ada Limón, among others.

Boudin is the “spicy online cousin” of The McNeese Review. It publishes fiction and poetry, but welcomes hybrid and other non-traditional forms. Boudin seeks work from women, people of color, LGBTQ+ writers, people with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups.

University of Idaho | Fugue

Fugue biannually publishes poetry, fiction, essays, hybrid work, and visual art. Its Annual Writing Contest has been judged by nationally known writers, such as sam sax, Doiranne Laux, Patricia Hampl, and others. It accepts 3.15% of submissions and makes for a damn good read.

Whitworth University | Rock & Sling, Image Journal

Rock & Sling is a Christian literary journal searching for work that bears witness. They believe that every person is made in the image of God and, for that reason, any witness to a lived human life may let us glimpse a reality beyond us, to catch sight of existence itself.

Image Journal publishes fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and visual art that explore the intersection of art, faith, and the human experience. Author Annie Dillard says the work it publishes is "simple, direct, and without pretension—like the best of all American writing."

University of Massachusetts, Amherst | Massachusetts Review

Massachusetts Review publishes work that “provokes debate, inspires action, and expands our understanding of the world around us.” Of the journal, The New York Times wrote, “It is amazing that so much significant writing on race and culture appears in one magazine.” In 2008, MR was named one of the top ten literary journals by The Boston Globe.

Emerson College | Ploughshares, Redivider, Page Turner Magazine

Founded in 1971, Ploughshares is one of the most prestigious literary journals in the U.S. It publishes fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, including longform poetry and prose. It nominates and has won awards for the Best American series, Pushcart Prize, O. Henry Award, PEN America, and more.

Redivider is operated by graduate students in the Writing, Literature, and Publishing program at Emerson College. Each issue features a diverse array of content, including short stories, flash fiction, cultural critique, personal essays, and poetry. Its special summer issue, “Blurred Genre,” seeks hybrid works.

Page Turner Magazine seeks to spotlight the diverse creativity of students from colleges and universities across the U.S. It publishes student-made art and genre fiction pieces online and in print, and runs a blog with reviews, interviews, and articles relevant to genre fiction and the publishing industry.

Colorado State University | Colorado Review

Colorado Review is a national literary journal featuring contemporary fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and book reviews. It nominates and has won awards for the Best American series and the Pushcart Prize.

Butler University | Booth

Booth is run by students, faculty, and alumni from the Butler University MFA program. It nominates and has won awards for the Best of the Net and Wigleaf’s Top 50. It’s bold and weird in all the best ways.

Florida Atlantic University | Swamp Ape Review

The swamp ape is the smelly southern equivalent of Bigfoot, and Swamp Ape Review works to reflect this creature in its fiction, nonfiction, poetry, visual art, and “‘swamp’—a fifth category for works that defy form to the extent that the piece’s creator might be unsure of where it belongs.”

Columbia University | Columbia Journal

Columbia Journal publishes in print and online, seeking to showcase the best poetry, nonfiction, fiction, translation, and visual art. Past contributors include Raymond Carver, Sharon Olds, and Joyce Carol Oates, among others.

More MFAs, More Lit Mags

Texas Tech University | Iron Horse Review

Iron Horse Review was founded as an inexpensive way to bring literature to serious readers in the West Texas panhandle, and to provide a space for local writers to be read alongside well-known authors. Today, they’re on the search for energizing work, with a push to include more women, LGBTQ+ writers, and writers of color in their pages.

Boston University | AGNI

Named after the Vedic god of fire, AGNI is an award-winning literary journal known “among readers around the world,” as PEN America wrote, “for publishing important new writers early in their careers, many of them translated into English for the first time.”

Arizona State University | Hayden’s Ferry Review

Hayden’s Ferry Review publishes well-crafted poetry, fiction, nonfiction, translation, and art that takes risks and engages readers emotionally and artistically.

University of Memphis | Pinch

In a city founded by scrappy immigrants who were mocked for their “pinched guts,” Pinch seeks work by writers who are “starving for literary community, for recognition, and for a way in.”

Florida State University | Southeast Review

Southeast Review is a national literary magazine managed by graduate students at Florida State. SER nominates and has won awards for the Best American series, Best of the Net, Best New Poets, Best Small Fictions, and the Pushcart Prize.

College of Charleston | swamp pink

Formerly Crazyhorse, swamp pink publishes exceptional fiction, poetry, and nonfiction from writers at all stages of their career, with particular interest in writers from marginalized communities.

University of Houston | Gulf Coast

Gulf Coast seeks to publish quality literature in their local and national communities. Because editorial positions are two-year terms, there is a regular change in the journal’s personality and style, which allows Gulf Coast to offer a balance of literary approaches and voices.

Iowa Writers’ Workshop | The Iowa Review

The Iowa Review is an award-winning literary magazine that strives to publish the best contemporary fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. It nominates and has won awards for the Best American series, Best Small Fictions, PEN America, the Pushcart Prize, and Wigleaf’s Top 50.

Louisiana State University | The Southern Review

Called "superior to any other journal in the English language” by Time, The Southern Review publishes a diverse spread of timely and challenging fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and translations from the best established and emerging voices.

Virginia Commonwealth University | Blackbird

Blackbird strives to publish the best poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and art from established and emerging writers. Alongside their regular issues, they feature “Flights,” which are shorter, diverse collections released more frequently.

Bennington College | Bennington Review

Bennington Review publishes “sharp, unexpected, original poetry and prose from a geographically broad and culturally rich spectrum of prominent, up-and-coming, and new voices.”

University of Central Florida | The Florida Review & Aquifer

While The Florida Review isn’t Florida-exclusive, it seeks work that reflects the state, and the journal is “a home for the realistic and the weird alike.” In 2017, it founded Aquifer: The Florida Review Online, which features author interviews, book reviews, and graphic narratives biweekly.

University of Southern Maine | Stonecoast Review

Stonecoast Review is a Pushcart Prize-winning literary magazine dedicated to publishing innovative works that epitomize justice, awareness, and exploration.

Portland State University | Portland Review

Portland Review publishes prose, poetry, art, and translations that reflect diverse perspectives from both established and emerging writers. Works it has published have been included in the Best American series, Best Small Fictions, and Best of the Net, and it has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Oregon Arts Commission, and CLMP/Amazon Literary Partnerships.

Eastern Kentucky University | Jelly Bucket

Slang for a lunch pail and formerly used by Appalachian laborers, Jelly Bucket is also a literary journal that publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art. It is especially committed to publishing writers from, and writing about, marginalized and underrepresented communities.

New Mexico State University | Puerto del Sol

Puerto del Sol provides a forum for innovative prose, poetry, reviews, criticism, and artwork while striving to publish both established and emerging voices. They seek work that “presents authenticity, sincerity, and respect.”

Temple University | TINGE Magazine

TINGE Magazine publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that lingers and “defies or interrogates conventions of form and genre.”

University of Alaska, Fairbanks | Permafrost

The literary magazine located the farthest north, Permafrost publishes vulnerable and compelling fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Although its perspective is shaped by its unique environment, it seeks voices from all over the world.

University of Kansas | Cottonwood, LandLocked Literary Magazine

Cottonwood publishes fiction, poetry, and nonfiction from emerging and established authors. They’ve previously featured Rita Dove, Allen Ginsberg, and Virgil Suarez, among others.

Run by graduate students and faculty, LandLocked Literary Magazine seeks work that “challenges traditional boundaries and engages thoughtfully with experimentation, aiming to explore ‘a place unnavigable.’"

University of Texas at Austin, Michener Center for Writers | Bat City Review

Bat City Review features diverse forms of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and visual art that challenge our minds and conversations, work that’s willing to take risks, experiment, and surprise you.

The W — Mississippi University for Women | Poetry South, Ponder Review

Poetry South publishes a diverse range of contemporary poetry by juxtaposing voices from the American South with poetry from around the world.

Run by graduate students, Ponder Review publishes “stories that challenge, stories that shift our view, ignite our imaginations, spark conversations, and linger with us.”

Hamline University | Water-Stone Review

The “water-stone” is composed of the four elements: earth, wind, water, and fire; likewise, the Water-Stone Review is a compendium of multi-genre works that seek to combine opposing forces in perfect harmony.

DePaul University | Poetry East

Called “one of the best current journals of poetry” by Choice, Poetry East publishes “art that is immediate, accessible, and universal.” London’s Poetry Review ranks Poetry East as one of the top 20 literary journals in the United States.