Southword: New International Writing is a print literary journal published twice a year by the Munster Literature Centre. Southword has published the likes of Medbh McGuckian, Helen Ivory, Haruki Murakami, James Lasdun, Kim Addonizio, Tess Gallagher, Colm Tóibín and Vona Groarke.

Unsolicited submissions of poetry and short fiction (for our winter issues) are open annually as follows:

POETRY: 1st ‒ 31st January 

FICTION: 1st ‒ 28th February

Our Submittable account limit means that we can only receive 1000 submissions per month, so if we reach this limit before the end of January (for poetry) or February (for fiction), the submission link will automatically close and we won't be able to accept any further submissions.

Southword pays contributors €50 per poem and €300 per short story. We welcome submissions of up to four poems or one short story (of up to 5000 words) per submission period. If your work has been published in Southword before, we ask that you please don’t submit again for at least one year after publication.

Poetry submission guidelines for Southword

Ends on Sat, Jan 31, 2026 11:59 PM

1. All poems must be previously unpublished and submitted via Submittable in the appropriate categories during open reading times only. Submissions cannot be accepted by post or email. Our Submittable account limit means that we can only receive 1000 submissions per month, so if we reach this limit before the end of January, the submission link will automatically close and we will be unable to accept any further submissions.

2. There is a strict submission limit of 4 poems per person. More than one live submission by the same person will lead to just one being read and the others rejected unread.

3. Poems should be submitted in a single file, (preferably single-spaced in 12-point font) with poems separated by titles or page breaks in one of the following file formats: .doc, .docx, .txt, .rtf.

4. Simultaneous submissions are allowed. Please inform us by a note to the editor via Submittable if a submitted poem has been accepted elsewhere.

5. If submitting poems and prose simultaneously, they will be considered by different editors at different times, so to be sure of a response please submit separately, via the appropriate Submittable category. Southword is not currently considering unsolicited submissions of non-fiction or memoir.

6. Works of translation where the original author is still in copyright will require the bios of both the original author and the translator.

7. Poems are considered between 1st ‒ 31st January for our winter issue published in November. After the close of the submission date the editor (Patrick Cotter) will make his selection. Submittable will notify you as to the success of your submission. Due to the large volume of submissions received, the editor may take up to four months after the submission deadline to make their decision.

8. Authors are paid €50 per poem published in Southword. If the writer lives outside of Ireland, they will be paid by PayPal. (Information on how to set up a PayPal account: http://www.paypal.com ).

9. If your work has been published in Southword before, we ask that you please don’t submit again for at least one year after publication.

The editor may not always see messages sent through submittable, so the best way to get answers to any questions regarding these guidelines or submissions in process is to email the Publications Officer at publications(AT)munsterlit(DOT)ie