Fairy-Tale and Folklore-Friendly Journals and Magazines

August 27, 2019

After fielding three queries about places to publish fairy-tale and folklore related writing this week, we decided it was time to put together a blog post!

The landscape of fantasy, speculative, and fairy-tale publishing is always changing, and some of our very favorite places have closed or gone on hiatus (here’s to you, Mythic Delirium, Niteblade, and Goblin Fruit!) However, many other journals continue to publish wonderful work.

We’ve put together a list of journals and magazines that are, at the time of this post’s publication, still active or about to return from hiatus. Many of them specifically want “speculative” poetry and prose, which is essentially an umbrella term for work that is fantasy, science fiction, horror, weird fiction, magical realism, genre-bending, or almost any mode that is not straightforward realism. We’ve published work at many, though not all, of these venues and have only good things to say about the editors. Very few of these places publish only fairy-tale or folklore-ish pieces, but, to the best of our knowledge, they are friendly to these themes. If there’s a magazine or journal you love that’s not on the list, please tell us about it in the comments!

So please peruse, check out the blurbs from each venue, and, if you’re ready to submit, grab a copy of our guide “How to Submit Your Poetry and Prose Like a Pro” that we’ve crafted based on our own publishing experience!

Happy reading, and good luck!

Bracken Magazine (poetry and fiction) – Bracken is looking for “lyrical fiction and poetry, inspired by the wood and what lies in its shadows.
Clarkesworld Magazine (fiction) – “Clarkesworld Magazine is a Hugo, World Fantasy, and British Fantasy Award-winning science fiction and fantasy magazine that publishes short stories, interviews, articles and audio fiction. Issues are published monthly and available on our website, for purchase in ebook format, and via electronic subscription. All original fiction is also published in our trade paperback series from Wyrm Publishing.”
Corvid Queen (fiction and poetry) – “[A] journal of feminist fairy tales & folklore”
Cunning Folk (fiction) – This new journal seeks “personal essays, scholarly articles and short stories” that “reflect on the relevance of the occult, folklore, mythology, and magic in our world today”
Enchanted Conversation (poetry and fiction) – “[A] bi-monthly webzine that publishes original stories using fairy tale, folktale, and mythic themes.”
Enchanted Living (poetry and fiction) – “Enchanted Living [formerly Faerie Magazine] is a quarterly print magazine that celebrates all things enchanted—from a scattering of mushrooms in an ancient forest to a sweet, scented gown made only of roses. Founded by artist and visionary Kim Cross in 2005 and helmed by novelist Carolyn Turgeon since 2013, Enchanted Living is a feast for the senses. Every issue features exquisite photography, recipes, original fiction and poetry, travel pieces, artist profiles, home decor, otherworldly beauty tips, craft tutorials, and much more—with a dash of faerie magic sprinkled throughout.”
Eternal Haunted Summer (poetry and fiction) – “We’re looking for hymns to Odin and Inanna and Sekhmet. Prayers to Hermes and Brigid and Asherah. Short stories featuring (or otherwise referencing) Lugh and Yinepu and Hekate. Every poetic form, from sonnet to rhyming couplet to free form, is acceptable. There is no set length. Any genre of short story is welcome, from mystery to fantasy to true lifeish to reimaginings of classic myths, provided the Deities and heroes are treated respectfully (no bashing someone else’s Gods, please!).”
Eye to the Telescope (poetry) – Each issue has a different theme, for which the current guest editor solicits speculative poetry. EttT defines speculative poetry as “poetry which falls within the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and supernatural horror, plus some related genres such as magic realism, metafiction, and fabulation. It is not easy to give precise definitions, partly because many of these genres are framed in terms of fiction rather than poetry.”
Fairy Tale Review (poetry and fiction) – “Founded in 2005 by Kate Bernheimer, Fairy Tale Review is an annual literary journal dedicated to publishing new fairy tales and to helping raise public awareness of fairy tales as a diverse, innovative art form.”
The Future Fire (poetry and fiction) – “The Future Fire (TFF) is our free, online, flagship magazine, which is always open to submissions of beautiful and useful short stories and poetry in Social-political and Progressive Speculative Fiction, Feminist SF, Queer SF, Eco SF, Multicultural SF and Cyberpunk, and an experiment in and celebration of new writing. We publish issues approximately four times a year.”
Gingerbread House (poetry and fiction) – “[D]edicated to publishing quality poetry & fiction with a magical element. Take your fairy tale and twist it. Bend your fantasy to suit your needs. Be original and fresh, loose and lovely.”
GlitterShip (poetry and fiction) – “Stories must contain some queer content. I believe in queer as a large umbrella term and specifically include trans, genderqueer, intersex, two-spirit, pan and ace/aro identities in addition to LGB. If your story includes an identity not listed here that you feel is queer, please don’t self-reject.”
Gramarye (poetry and fiction) – The Journal of the Chichester Centre for Fairy Tales, Fantasy and Speculative Fiction, Gramarye features both scholarship and creative pieces.
Grimoire (poetry and fiction) – Grimoire seeks “all kinds of poetry, from the lyric to the experimental [… and is] especially interested in poetry that plays with forms and ideas from the gothic, the fantastic, and the speculative.” They are also looking for fiction “that tends to embrace the use of dark, fantastical elements.”
Lackington’s (fiction/prose-poetry) – Lackington’s “want[s] to help widen the space for prose poetry. We’re looking for stylized prose. Not inept purple prose, of course, but controlled and well-crafted wordsmithery that reflects the story, setting, theme, atmosphere, or philosophy it seeks to describe.”
Lightspeed (fiction) – “Lightspeed is a digital science fiction and fantasy magazine. In its pages, you will find science fiction: from near-future, sociological soft SF, to far-future, star-spanning hard SF—and fantasy: from epic fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, and contemporary urban tales, to magical realism, science-fantasy, and folktales.”
Liminality (poetry) – “We’re looking for speculative literary poems that touch the heart as much as the head; poems of the liminal, the fluid, and the fantastic. We’d love to see work that shifts shape, refuses to be easily pinned down or categorised. We actively welcome diversity; we want to hear new as well as established voices. Tell us tales we thought we knew, the way only you can tell them. Give us new myths.”
Luna Luna (poetry) – Luna Luna is a lifestyle magazine that also publishes magical, witchy poetry.
Mirror Dance (poetry and fiction) – “Mirror Dance is a biannual online magazine of fantasy fiction and poetry. We are open to all sub-genres of fantasy, including magic realism, urban or contemporary fantasy, sword and sorcery, fantasy-of-manners, and stories with mythological or folkloric themes. As a member of the Outer Alliance, we actively seek work with LGBTQIA themes and characters who challenge traditional concepts of gender. We are open to dark fantasy, science fantasy, and historical fiction with fantasy elements. We do not publish science fiction or non-supernatural horror.”
Mithila Review (poetry and fiction) – “Mithila Review is a journal of international science fiction and fantasy devoted to the best of speculative writing, arts or culture from around the world. We welcome original submissions as well as translations from around the world.”
Moonchild Magazine (poetry and fiction) – “Send us your ode to the moon cycles, your ingenious poems based on zodiac signs, your poetic hybrids or pictorial erasures, your magical and healing spells, your translations you’re most proud of (and you should be!), your briefest but bravest (non-)fiction, your soothing mixtape lullabies, your can’t-keep-our-eyes-off art pieces.”
New Myths (poetry and fiction) – New Myths is “[a] quarterly ezine by a community of writers, poets and artists” that seeks “science fiction and fantasy, dark and light, serious and humorous, hard and soft science, and longer and shorter works. Our readers are not fixated on a single style or tone or genre, but prefer a quality sample of the field. Think a combo plate of appetizers rather than a whole lot of popcorn.”
NonBinary Review (poetry and fiction) – “NonBinary Review is the literary journal of Zoetic Press. Four times a year, we reach back into history for a piece of our collective past, and invite authors to interact with it in new and innovative ways. We take existing works of fiction in the public domain, and invite authors to re-invent those works. From Grimm’s fairy tales to Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, we look for authors to fill in some backstory, apply the plot to new situations, or take the characters in new directions.”
Polu Texni (poetry) – “Polu Texni (πολύ τεχνικός) is a Greek phrase meaning many arts. It’s the same root word as polytechnic. Polu Texni is a web magazine about mixed-media arts and speculative or weird fiction. We’re interested in the intersection where different media, styles, crafts, and genres meet to create something more interesting than what they would be alone.”
Priestess and Hierophant (poetry and fiction) – “Likes: We have a particular craving for the dark and macabre, strange and illuminating, wicked and spectacular. All marginalizations-in work and author-strongly encouraged. Please feel free to tell us about yourself and your work in your cover letter. Dislikes: Hateful/Purposeful racism, bigotry, and intolerance not accepted for publication; the use of such tropes should be handled sensitively.”
Rose Red Review (poetry and fiction) – “Rose Red Review loves magical realism and pieces that possess a fairy tale element. If you would like to submit spoken word, please submit it as poetry, with a note containing a link to an audio or video file. (Unfortunately, Rose Red Review cannot host your audio or video files.) You may send prose and poetry with mild elements of fantasy and science fiction. Horror and dystopian work–in any medium–is welcome, provided it is compelling. Death and decay is mysterious; as such, it represents the darker magic in the everyday. The editor of Rose Red Review particularly enjoys the broad theme of death and rebirth.”
Space and Time Magazine (poetry and fiction) – “Are your thoughts not quite…normal? Then we are looking for you. Before man could fly, some writer dreamed of it. In a time when midwives were burned as witches, space remained unexplored and fantasy was frowned upon, forward thinkers dared to have bigger thoughts and preserve them in ink. We seek those words.”
Star*Line (poetry) – “Star*Line is the official newsletter and network instrument of the SFPA, established in 1978. It is a venue for speculative (including science-fiction, fantasy, and horror) poets and poetry enthusiasts, and features interviews, articles, reviews, member news and letters, association business, and poetry—by members and nonmembers.”
Strange Horizons (poetry and fiction) – “Strange Horizons is a weekly magazine of and about speculative fiction. We publish fiction, poetry, reviews, essays, interviews, roundtable discussions, and art. Our definition of speculative fiction includes science fiction, fantasy, horror, slipstream, and all other flavors of fantastika…We want to showcase work that challenges us and delights us, by new and established writers from diverse backgrounds and with diverse concerns.”
Sycorax Journal (poetry) – “Sycorax Journal is an online magazine dedicated to speculative poetry, focusing on fantasy. We love lush and lyrical language tuned to ancient and traditional myths and fairy tales as well as newly forged stories. Come here to find poems that take you to new worlds, stop your heart cold or set it afire, poems that let you soar on dragon wings.”
Three Drops From a Cauldron (poetry and flash fiction) – “[A] quarterly online journal for poetry and flash fiction (or any hybrid of the two) and visual art involving myth, legend, folklore, fable and fairytale.”
Through the Gate (poetry) – “Through the Gate is a literary journal of fantastical poetry…We strive to present a diversity of voices and seek to celebrate work by poets who identify as women, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, neurodiverse, and any other marginalized identity. In particular, we are interested in seeing work that considers race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, identity (multicultural, religious, etc.), and disability in original and meaningful ways. Even though we are a fantastical venue, we want to showcase poetry that derives from lived experience, that deals with the everyday intersections of identity, that centers a strong sense of emotion, perspective, and language.
Timeless Tales Magazine (poetry and fiction) – “Timeless Tales is a digital magazine exclusively publishing retellings of fairy tales and classic myths since 2013.”
Uncanny Magazine (poetry and fiction) – “A 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 Hugo Award winner, 2016 Parsec Award winner, and World Fantasy Award and Locus Award finalist, Uncanny Magazine is an online Science Fiction and Fantasy magazine featuring passionate SF/F fiction and poetry, gorgeous prose, provocative nonfiction, and a deep investment in the diverse SF/F culture. Each issue contains intricate, experimental stories and poems with verve and imagination that elicit strong emotions and challenge beliefs, from writers of every conceivable background. Uncanny believes there’s still plenty of room in the genre for tales that make you feel.”
Wild Musette (poetry and fiction) – “The Wild Musette Journal always circles back to a few core pieces focused on music and dance, but along the way we stray very far afield. To understand our approach, think about the way A Prairie Home Companion is a radio show about folk music, but diverges into all manner of serious or silly topics before returning to its center. Though our readers are enchanted by Euterpe and Terpsichore, they are also thrilled by a great adventure, a steamy romance, edgy fiction, and thoughtful (or humorous) reflections on nature and the human condition.”