WTR seek poems that perform Olympic feats with language that leave a reader in wonder while still referring back to the basic things that make us human. We want powerful imagery and enjoy the juxtaposition of images in interesting and unexpected ways.
   We want poems that make the reader think and feel, work that humbles us with its joy, humor, embarrassment, anger, hope, grief, or all of the above, and gravitate toward writing that has something important to teach us--something that readers really need to know but might not have understood this was a need until the last word of the work.




NOTE: Submissions which do not meet the following guidelines will not be considered:
 

• All submissions must be previously unpublished and are limited to five poems per reading period and must be accompanied by a cover letter and a biography of no more than 150 words. Work submitted without a biography will not be considered.
• In your cover letter, please mention your social media handles (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter).  If you have a website dedicated to your writing, please include the link in your letter.
• Include a clear title for each poem.
• Submit poems as one reading packet and place what you consider your stronger work at the front of the group.
• Enter the title of each poem as your packet's submission title.
• Work must be submitted as a Microsoft Word file. 

Submit only once per reading period.  


While we offer free submissions the first week of each month (April to December), general submissions are typically $3 (to cover administrative costs).  

You may also choose to receive a quick decision about your work for $10, and may also receive a quick decision about your work along with personalized feedback from the editors for $25 (1.5-2 pages).   The response time for both expedited and personalized options is approximately 2 weeks.


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You'll also find us on Threads and Bluesky.

We look for fiction with a literary focus and prioritize characterization and psychological depth. No genre pieces considered.

​We  want stories that make the reader think and feel, work  that humbles us with its joy, humor, embarrassment, anger, hope, grief,  or all of the above, and gravitate toward writing that has something  important to teach us--something that readers really need to know, but  might not have understood this was a need until the last word of the work.

Manuscripts are read between April 1 and August 1 & August 15 to December 15.

NOTE: Submissions which do not meet the following guidelines will not be considered:

• All submissions must be previously unpublished and are limited to one entry per submission period.
• While we have no hard limit regarding story length, most pieces we accept are typically less than 5,000 words.
• Work must be submitted as a Microsoft Word file and include a clear title of the work
• Submissions must be accompanied by a cover letter and a biography of no more than 150 words. Work submitted without a biography will not be considered.
• In your cover letter, please mention your social media handles (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter).  If you have a website dedicated to your writing, please include the link in your cover letter as well.

Submit Only Once Per Reading Period.

While we offer free submissions the first week of each month (April to December), general submissions are typically $3 (to cover administrative costs).  

You may also choose to receive a quick decision about your work for $10, and may also receive a quick decision about your work along with personalized feedback from the editors for $25 (1.5-2 pages).   The response time for both expedited and personalized options is approximately 2 weeks. 

Please take a moment to follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter.

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

You'll also find us on Threads and Bluesky.

We are interested in personal essays, memoir, travel essays, and lyric essays of up to 6000 words that blend style with substance and reach beyond the personal to tell us something new about the world.

We  want creative nonfiction that make the reader think and feel, work that humbles us with its joy, humor, embarrassment, anger, hope, grief,  or all of the above, and gravitate toward writing that has something  important to teach us--something that readers really need to know, but  might not have understood this was a need until the last word of the work.

Manuscripts are read between April 1 and August 1 & August 15 to December 15.

NOTE: Submissions which do not meet the following guidelines will not be considered:

• All submissions must be previously unpublished and are limited to one entry per submission period.
• While we have no hard limit regarding CNF length, most pieces we accept are typically less than 6,000 words. We do accept flash nonfiction, but we find pieces are often undeveloped or unfocused.
• Work must be submitted as a Microsoft Word file (.doc or .docx). We have had issues with Apple Pages and Google docs. Follow conventional formatting (12pt readable font, double spacing, 1" margins).
• Include a clear title of the work, a brief cover letter, and a short biography no more than 150 words.  Work submitted without a biography will not be considered.  
• Please mention your social media handles in your cover letter.  If you have a personal website for your writing, please provide the link in your cover letter as well.

Submit Only Once Per Reading Period.
 

While we offer free submissions the first week of each month (April to December), general submissions are typically $3 (to cover administrative costs).  

You may also choose to receive a quick decision about your work for $10, and may also receive a quick decision about your work along with personalized feedback from the editors for $25 (1.5-2 pages).   The response time for both expedited and personalized options is approximately 2 weeks. 

Please take a moment to follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter.

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

You'll also find us on Threads and Bluesky.

Special Submissions Promo:  Submit by end of day on 10/6, and we'll respond to your submission within 2 weeks (no extra charge for expedited response).

"Finally, to hinder the description of illness in literature, there is the poverty of the language. English, which can express the thoughts of Hamlet and the tragedy of Lear, has no words for the shiver and the headache. It has all grown one way. The merest schoolgirl, when she falls in love, has Shakespeare or Keats to speak her mind for her; but let a sufferer try to describe a pain in his head to a doctor and language at once runs dry. There is nothing ready made for him. He is forced to coin words himself, and, taking his pain in one hand, and a lump of pure sound in the other (as perhaps the people of Babel did in the beginning), so to crush them together that a brand-new word in the end drops out. Probably it will be something laughable."
 

 -from On Being Ill by Virginia Woolf

The editors of West Trade Review seek creative nonfiction that engages with the ideas of mental health and mental well-being. Specifically, we'd like to read personal stories that are raw, honest, and vulnerable in their explorations of mental health or mental well-being and their intersection with inequality, access to healthcare, the need for accessible, quality mental health care, and/or the need for open conversations about mental health and practices that contribute to mental well-being.
 

              Writers are encouraged to speak their truth, to share their challenges, losses, and triumphs. Simply creatively explore these ideas and the potential themes below to give voice to a truth that is often difficult to verbalize, as Woolf so eloquently expresses.
 

We are excited to read your work and share your stories with others.
 

Potential themes are (but not limited to):

• ​the challenges of living with a mentally ill adult children
• understanding and navigating neurodivergencies
• navigating and healing from traumatic experiences
• addiction
• chronic disease
• anxiety or depression
• the intersection of homelessness and mental illness
• grief and loss
• the importance of self-care for mental well-being

NOTE: Submissions which do not meet the following guidelines will not be considered:
Guidelines:
 

Guidelines:
 

- Submit one CNF piece of up to 6,000 words. Please submit a double-spaced Microsoft Word file.

 - Include a clear title of the work.

  -Include a cover letter and a short 3rd person biography of no more than 150 words. Work submitted without a biography will not be considered.

  -If your work is a simultaneous submission, please let us know immediately if it is published elsewhere.
 

  -Writers may not submit more than once per reading period
 

Entries that do no meet guidelines or eligibility requirements will not be considered.

 

Selected  work will be included in an anthology published by Iron Oak Editions.  Publication will include an honorarium.  A portion of all book sales  will be donated to NAMI.  
 

 While we offer free submissions the first week of each month (April to December), general submissions are typically $3 (to cover administrative costs).  

You may also choose to receive a quick decision about your work for $10, and may also receive a quick decision about your work along with personalized feedback from the editors for $25 (1.5-2 pages).   The response time for both expedited and personalized options is approximately 2 weeks. 

Please take a moment to follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter. 

Twitter 

Instagram

Facebook