BAT CITY REVIEW IS OPEN FOR GENERAL SUBMISSIONS SEPTEMBER 8 - OCTOBER 15

Come one, come all! For Bat City Review’s upcoming issue, our theme is Bread & Circuses. We’re looking for work that entertains, that gives us something to chew on, that makes us hungry for more.

Coined by the first-century poet Juvenal to describe the pacification of the Roman populace, panem et circenses has re-emerged as a contemporary diagnosis of our times. We want prose, poetry, and art about extravagance and empire, consumption and distraction, pleasure and pageantry. Give us the surreal, the real, the superficial. What are we being fed, and who gets to decide? What do we need and what are we given instead?

Bring us the feast. Bring us the spectacle. Bring us what’s hiding underneath.

Note: This theme a prompt and not a prescription. If your work has another appetite, we’d still love to see it!

We are interested in poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, art, and cross-genre pieces that experiment with language, form, and unconventional subject matter. We also welcome traditional styles as well as translations. When submitting a translation, please include a copy of the original text and a note stating that you have secured permission from the copyright holder.

Our staff changes every year, and a team of readers and a large editorial board evaluate each submission. Before submitting to Bat City Review, take some time to review our mission statement,  previous issues and featured content in order to familiarize yourself with our aesthetic heritage. Please visit ABOUT at the top menu to contact the appropriate or nearest-related editor with genre-specific questions.

GUIDELINES:

  • We only accept submissions through Submittable

  • Please remove all identifying information from the submission document itself.

  • Students of the University of Texas at Austin may not submit. Alumni must have completed their studies at least three years prior to current open call.

  • Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please email the relevant editor immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

  • If you have been previously published by Bat City Review, we ask that you wait 2 years before submitting again.

  • Due to the volume of submissions, we ask that you please submit only once per genre per reading period.

  • Contributors receive two free copies of the issue in which their work appears. Individual rights revert to authors upon publication.

POETRY

Please submit three to five poems.

Submit Poetry


FICTION

Please submit short stories, flash fiction, novel excerpts, and other experiments. Word limit: 6,000.

Submit Fiction


NONFICTION

Please submit creative nonfiction, lyric essays, memoirs, hybrid works, and interviews. Word limit: 5,000.

SUBMIT NONFICTION


VISUAL ART

Bat City features a diverse range of visual art both in print and on the web.

SUBMIT ART
VIEW ALL