Guidelines for Submission
Summer Writing Contest
Congratulations to our 2023 Summer Contest winner: “My Arm is Steady. My Hand Does Not Shake” by Beth Walker. Thank you to our final judge, Ren Cedar Fuller, winner of our 2022 Summer Writing Contest (whose winning essay can be found in this issue). Congratulations also to our Readers’ Choice award, “Mountain Keeper” by Hye-Kyung Kang. These two essays, plus several others from our contest, will appear in our 2024 issue. Under the Sun thanks all summer readers who read these and other essays, giving their detailed attention to each one: Shalva BenDavid, Andrew Bertaina, Krista Beucler, Phyllis Brotherton, Reba Condiotti, Jere Mitchum, Terri Sutton, and Lauren Woods.
Regular Submission Policy
We don’t have a lot of guidelines, except that we are interested in creative nonfiction generated by human minds that has not been published elsewhere, online or in print, and that we seek, of course, excellence. We welcome and appreciate diversity in both voice and form, and we encourage submissions by historically underrepresented writers. We honor and respect submitters from all backgrounds, and we do not countenance works that project hate on any group or ethnicity.
Very short pieces (e.g., 2-3 pages), unless they are so tightly written that they squeak, don’t stand as good of a chance with us as longer ones.
Please send only one essay at a time! We prefer online submissions, either via Submittable or by email. Emailed submissions are free, and we welcome them. For Submittable submissions we charge $2 per submission. That covers our cloud rent. We also accept submissions by ground mail at the post office box listed below.
We do like a brief cover letter. But please remove all identifying information from your submission itself, as we send those out to our readers anonymously.
It’s o.k. with us if you send your piece to other journals also.
This year Under the Sun was able to pay a $50 honorarium to each published writer. We are grateful to the Tennessee Arts Commission for helping make this happen, and we are working on further grants to continue paying honoraria. We nominate for Best of the Net, Pushcart, and The Best American Essays. We acquire First North American Serial Rights only, after which the author is free to publish his or her work elsewhere.
Under the Sun requests that it be acknowledged in the event of subsequent publication.
If we published a written work by you this year, we ask that you wait one year to submit to us again.
We also accept art submissions.
Our regular reading period is September 1 – January 2.
Please address all correspondence and submissions to:
If you need to mail your work, send to:
Dr. Martha Highers
Editor, Under the Sun
P.O. Box 332
Cookeville, TN 38501.
Recent Comments