Cagibi welcomes submissions year-round for quarterly online issues, as well as our Cagibi Express feature section where feature works are published between issues. Each quarterly issue features original prose and poetry, most of which are selected from unsolicited submissions. Works published in online issues and as Cagibi Express features are eligible for publication in an annual print anthology.
We are currently accepting poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and translation submissions on the theme of Skin. As the largest and most visible organ in the body, skin is everywhere. A protective coating, it sheds, burns, peels, gets goosebumps. A form of armor, it serves as a literal and metaphorical barrier, yet the touch of another’s can melt ours down. Our skin tells stories and secrets, shielding us while also exposing our truths. With its distinctive shades, scars, lines, tattoos, sunspots, and birthmarks, it can act as a tapestry of our history, family, and culture, revealing the lives we have lived.
But skin is more than skin deep. For Issue 29, Cagibi wants you to peel back the layers. Let us see beneath the surface. Whether thick or thin, soft or prickly, decorated or bare, human or animal, living or dead, use Skin as your canvas to paint new poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. Get some skin in the game and send us your best work today!
GUIDELINES
- We ask that you send only one submission and wait to hear back.
- We welcome works in translation. Also, we welcome submissions from outside the United States.
- Simultaneous submissions are accepted as long as you notify us immediately should your piece be accepted elsewhere.
- Previously unpublished work only. Cagibi does not consider work that has previously appeared in print or online.
- TO WITHDRAW, IN WHOLE OR IN PART: For help on how to withdraw a partial of your submission, or the whole submission, see our Submission Guidelines page.
See below for additional Prose and Poetry guidelines.
PROSE GUIDELINES
- In fiction, the editors welcome short stories, flash fiction or short-shorts, and lengthier stories. There is no word count limit; use your best judgment. For flash fiction, up to 3 flash pieces under 1000 words each.
- In nonfiction, Cagibi is literary in focus, which includes personal narrative essays; but to be clear, we do not consider academic papers that are limited to a particular audience or that are footnoted/in-text referenced.
POETRY GUIDELINES
- You may submit up to 3 poems at once, depending on the length; use your best judgment.
- Place your poems in one document.
- If your poem is a book-length epic, then you should think about excerpting.