Midwest Review is an annual print magazine featuring the Midwest in new work by writers, photographers, and artists who live in, or have lived in, the Midwest.
The Midwest is the region of the north central United States that includes the Great Lakes area and the upper Mississippi River valley (according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Midwest is comprised of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, and Missouri). Of course, the Midwest is also a state of mind.
We're looking for thoughtful and thought-provoking writing and visual art that examines, interprets, and redefines the wide spectrum of life, past and present, in the Midwest. We accept unsolicited submissions of original creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and visual art from June to December.
We welcome work from writers in under-represented communities and from writers in or from the Midwest who are currently or have been incarcerated. There is no submission fee required for these submissions. Contact the editor at christopher.chambers@wisc.edu regarding those submissions.
We do not consider previously published work (work that has appeared previously in any publication, print or online, including self-published work, in print or online). Simultaneous submissions are okay; please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
Authors of work accepted for publication by Midwest Review receive a contract granting non-exclusive first serial rights. Copyright reverts to the author upon publication with the request that subsequent re-publication of the work acknowledges first publication in Midwest Review.
The new Midwest Review is out! Get your copy of Issue 9 while they last.
We are now accepting submissions for Issue 10, to be published in 2022.
ISSN 2471-6871
We're looking for thoughtful and thought-provoking short fiction that examines, interprets, and redefines the wide
spectrum of life, past and present, in the Midwest. Submit work up to 6,000 words, double spaced. Let us know in your cover letter your connection to the Midwest, and please do not put your name on the manuscript.
We're looking for thoughtful and thought-provoking essays and creative nonfiction that examines, interprets, and redefines the wide spectrum of life, past and present, in the Midwest. Submit work up to 6,000 words, double spaced. Let us know in your cover letter your connection to the Midwest, and please do not put your name on the manuscript.
We're looking for thoughtful and thought-provoking poetry that examines, interprets, and redefines the wide spectrum of life, past and present, in the Midwest. Submit up to 5 poems and up to 10 pages of poetry in one file. PLEASE DO NOT MAKE A SEPARATE SUBMISSION FOR EACH POEM. You can title the submission with the title of the first poem, or with the titles of all the poems. To withdraw a poem, add a note to your submission and indicate the poem(s) you would like to withdraw. Let us know in your cover letter your connection to the Midwest, and please do not put your name on the manuscript.
We're looking for thoughtful and thought-provoking photography and visual art that examines, interprets, and redefines the wide spectrum of life, past and present, in the Midwest. Let us know in your cover letter your connection to the Midwest. Submit black & white or color, up to 5 images.
Receive a copy of a recent issue of Midwest Review with your submission.
This form is to purchase a copy of the new Midwest Review, issue 9 (this is not a submission category).
You will receive an automatic email from Submittable thanking you for your submission (even though this is an order to purchase a copy). That email is your confirmation that we received your order.
We hope you enjoy the magazine. Thank you for your interest and support!
Volume 9 features new work by:
Hala Alyan, Kimberly Blaeser, Paul Bone, Emily Bowles, Susan Cadkin, Fred Cardin, Kim Chinquee, Angelica Contreras, Kevin Coval, Darren C. Demaree, Stephanie Dickinson, Eran Eads, Margaret Galey, Jeremy George, Douglas Gorman, Avery Gregurich Justin Hunt, Jacob Izenberg, Emily Kingery, Pete Kos, Michael Jeffrey Lee, Howard Leu, Katlo Siyanda Mohutsiwa, Ander Monson, Gino X. Montoya, Ruby Hansen Murray, Yvonne Osborne, Lucas Peters, Kell Pieper, Wang Ping, Ann Potter, Marcella L. A. Prince, Ben Prostine, Ladette Randolph, Greg Rappleye, Richard Robbins, Brad Rose, Shawn Shiflett, Kathleen Sletten, Abraham Smith, Claude Clayton Smith, Dustin Sonneborn, Emily Anne Standlee, Joseph Stern, Christine Stewart-Nuñez, MK Sturdevant, Dawn Terpstra, Alison Thumel, Jeff Tiglechaar, Robert Vivian, Abby Wheeler, Douglas Yu
This form is to purchase a copy of Midwest Review, issue 8 (this is NOT a submission category).
You will receive an automatic email from Submittable thanking you for your submission (even though this is an order to purchase a copy and not a submission). That email is your confirmation that we received your order. You will receive a notification when your copy has been mailed.
We hope you enjoy the magazine. Thank you for your interest and support!
Volume 8 features new work by:
Eduardo Halfon
Pardeep Toor
Nick Rattner
Arturo Alvarez
Bridget Apfeld
Laura Bandy
Marryam Barrie
Robert Hedin
Anemonie Beaulier
Bethany Armstrong Brietland
Nathaniel Cairney
Annie Christain
Melinda Clemmons
Colin Criss
Naomi Ernest
SG Fromm
Margaret Galey
Irwin Goldman
Rick Graves
Bradley Greenburg
Gwen Hart
CB Adams
Corey Hoppenrath
Debra Hutchison
Mary Ann Inman
Kenneth Jakubas
Carrie Jerrell
Kelsey Kerin
Meara Levezow
Dave Malone
Len Messineo
Robert Miltner
Amie Adams Mortenson
Samuel Piccone
Kat Rosaen
William Rudolph
Bonnie Larson Staiger
Karen Steiner
Alberto Sveum
Erika Veurink
Beth Ann Workmaster
Alice Blue
Vicki Reed
Jody Boyer
Stephan Shambert
Zac Hall
This form is to purchase a copy of Midwest Review, issue 7 (this is not a submission category).
You will receive an automatic email from Submittable thanking you for your submission (even though this is an order to purchase a copy). That email is your confirmation that we received your order.
We hope you enjoy the magazine. Thank you for your interest and support!
Volume 7 features new work by:
Stephanie Dickinson
Ingrid Andersson
Mia Pohlman
Gen Del Raye
Timothy Kenny
George Looney
Chele Isaac
Bob Johnson
Beth Marzoni
Nina Macheel
Steve Fox
Les Bares
Elsa Bell
Pierce Brown
Nick Chiarkas
Michael Cole
Rebecca Doverspike
John Dudek
Dennis Etzel Jr
Eileen Favorite
Brianna Flavin
Rick Graves
Jeffrey Gray
Candice Haugdahl
Joseph Harris
Lisa Higgs
Jessica Hunt
Sara Judy
J. Rodney Karr
Sean Kelbley
Amanda Kenny
Angie Mason
Ethna McKiernan
Alison Meschke
Craig Milewski
Matt Morgan
Nina Moyer
Kate Murr
Shannon Nakai
Michael Ostrov
Elaine Fowler Palencia
Alexandra Penland
Gerald Podraza
Mondest Richards
Max Schleicher
Sharon Stauffer
Aaron Steffes
Roi Solberg
Pamela Sumners
Dominique Taquet
Joey Aronhalt
Carol Yoho
Claire Welsh
Robert Westphal
Aaron Zaremsky
Ciaran Cooper
Lolita Ditzler
This is form to purchase a copy of Midwest Review issue 6 (this is not a submission category).
You will receive an automatic email from Submittable thanking you for your submission (even though this is an order to purchase a copy). That email is your confirmation that we received your order.
We hope you enjoy the magazine. Thank you for your interest and support!
Volume 6 features new work by:
Sam Savage
Kristin Tenor
Michael Martone
Nicholas Gulig
Sean Lovelace
Jayson Iwen
George Kalamaras
Fermin Calderon-Dujarric
Elke Sommers
Alexis Petri
Colin Matthes
Daniel Stout
Felicitus Ferington
Gail Moreland
Roger Camp
Ross Wilcox
Susan Sinclair Edele
John Robinson
Kailee Pedersen
Mary Mullen
Mondest Richards
Robert Westphal
Carol Schaechterle
Christopher Warner
Danny Burdett
Gary Bouchard
Hannah Craig
Ingrid Andersson
Jeffrey Erlacher
jessie knoles
Joseph Zenoni
Myron Ernst
Natalie Solmer
rikki santer
Sarah Fay
This form is to purchase a copy of Midwest Review 5 (this is not a submission category).
You will receive an automatic email from Submittable thanking you for your submission (even though this is an order to purchase a copy). That email is your confirmation that we received your order.
We hope you enjoy the magazine. Thank you for your interest and support!
Volume 5 features new work by:
Catie Rosemurgy
Dylan Krieger
Robert Hedin
Ryan J. Browne
Vincent Wixon
Lorain Urban
Andy Millman
Catherine Young
Nancy Jesse
Barbara Schmidt
Corey Hoppenrath
David Giroux
Deborah Lucas
Den Adler
Gregory Galbraith
Hansa Pistotnik
Patrick Carr
Rick Graves
Sarah Marty
Sevie Kenyon
J. Lawrence Epps
Jane Curtis
W. P. Osborn
Coleman
Georgia Tiffany
Jan Bosman
Pattie See
Ash Goedker
Bonnie Jill Emanuel
Estella Lauter
Evelyn Reynolds
Gregory Galbraith
James Butcher
Joanna Laura Thompson
Judy Brackett
Laura Sweeney
M. Scott Douglass
Patricia Williams
This form is to purchase a copy of Midwest Review 4 (this is not a submission category).
You will receive an automatic email from Submittable thanking you for your submission (even though this is an order to purchase a copy). That email is your confirmation that we received your order.
We hope you enjoy the magazine. Thank you for your interest and support!
Volume 4 features new work by:
Rita Mae Reese
Bonnie Jo Campbell
Ginny MacDonald
Guy Thorvaldsen
Kimberly Suhr
Cynthia Hawkinson McEahern
Emi Morita
Helen Klebesadel
Margaret Jankowski
Ruth Ann Molyneaux
Travis Anderson
Courtney Lochner
Dennis Day
Fredric Meek
Julie Tallard Johnson
Lindsey Griffin
Mary Casey Diana
Melissa Olson-Petrie
Agate Nesaule
Gary Jones
Jacob Boyd
Jan Bosman
Lolita Ditzler
Michelle Shappell Harris
Susanne Markgren
Tricia Friesen Reed
Victoria Clayton
Audrie Bretl Roelf
Candace Armstrong
Erika Mueller
Jan Bosman
Jerome Buhman
Jon Ballard
Judith Zukerman
Richard King Perkins II
Sara Burr
Shoshauna Shy
Corey Hoppenrath
Yvette Viets Flaten
This form is to purchase a copy of Midwest Review from outside the US (this is NOT a submission category). Please indicate in the cover letter which issue you would like to receive. This fee covers the print cost of one copy and international postage.
You will receive an automatic email from Submittable thanking you for your submission (even though this is an order to purchase a copy and not a submission). That email is your confirmation that we received your order. You will receive a notification when your copy has been mailed.
We hope you enjoy the magazine. Thank you for your interest and support!
Midwest Review depends upon the support of readers and writers like you who recognize the value of supporting the arts in general and the writing and visual art of the Midwest in particular.
In the fall of 2020, UW-Madison's Division of Continuing Studies discontinued their long-standing writing program and with it, their support and publication of Midwest Review. The magazine continues currently as a self-supported entity unaffiliated with UW-Madison and is in search of a new home.
If you know of a university or other organization or individual in the Midwest that might be interested in publishing an established, nationally-recognized, and award-winning literary magazine, please contact Christopher Chambers at christopher.chambers@wisc.edu.
You can help ensure that the magazine continues to thrive and serve readers and writers by making a tax-deductible donation or by simply purchasing an issue.
Thank you for your support!