Call for submissions for the Inlandia Journal speculative issue

Now accepting art, flash fiction, fiction, poetry, reviews, and scripts for the 2026 Special Speculative Issue of Inlandia Journal, Inlandia Institute’s online literary & arts journal. We're using speculative as a catchall for science fiction, fantasy, horror, and all their subgenres. For this special issue, all submissions should have a speculative element, which editors will take into consideration when evaluating submissions.

New York Times bestseller and World Fantasy Award winner Tobia S. Buckell and Justin C. Key, featured in The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2022, will appear in this Special Speculative Issue.

As part of Inlandia's mission to support regional writers and artists, we spotlight someone with connections to inland Southern California (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties plus neighboring cities) every issue. 

Each issue of Inlandia Journal also features a Cover Artist interview.

Deadline and Category Caps

The submission window opens May 1, 2026, and closes May 31, 2026, at midnight PDT. All submissions must have a Speculative element. Please note that this issue we are capping submissions by category at 100 for art, 100 for flash fiction, 50 for fiction, 100 for poetry, 50 for reviews, and 50 for scripts.

Guidelines for Speculative Submissions

• Editors evaluate only anonymized submissions. Please remove your name from the submission, including the file name.
• For art you may submit *each in its own submission* 1–5 digital photographs and/or digital images of work including but not limited to drawings, paintings, collages, ceramics, fiber art, sculpture, murals, metalwork, jewelry, and comics. Each art submission should include the title, medium, and dimensions.
• For flash fiction you may submit *each in its own submission* 1–3 flash pieces. There is no minimum word count. Each flash should not exceed 999 words. Any topic is okay.
• For fiction the story should be 1,000–5,000 words. Any topic is okay. If you are submitting an excerpt from a larger work, it must be self-contained with a beginning, middle, and end.
• For poetry you may submit *each in its own submission* 1–5 poems. Each poem should not exceed 100 lines.
• For reviews you may submit an original review of fiction or nonfiction books, plays, television series, and/or films across speculative genres and readerships that will appeal to not only a speculative fanbase but also a general readership. The review should not exceed 3,000 words.
• For scripts any topic is okay. If you are submitting an excerpt from a larger work, it must be self-contained with a beginning, middle, and end. You may submit up to 45 pages; we recommend 10 pages. (See How should I format my written work? for more details.)
• You may submit in more than one category, but do not submit more than once in any category except art, flash fiction, and poetry as noted. (That means you could potentially submit 16 times: 5 works of art, 3 flash fiction pieces, 1 fiction story, 5 poems, 1 review, and 1 script.)
• We recommend you choose the "Yes, I want to receive email notifications" under Submittable Settings and check the email connected to your Submittable account on a regular basis. If that’s not possible, you will need to check the Submittable website regularly to receive updates and communications from us regarding your submission.

FAQs

Where do I submit my work? We accept submissions only through the Inlandia Institute’s Submittable portal. We will not consider mailed or emailed submissions.

Is there a submission fee? No! Submissions are free.

How should I format my written work?

1. Font and Point Size: something standard such as 12-point Times New Roman.
2. Spacing: double space your work unless it is poetry, which is at the poet's discretion but usually single spaced.
3. Margins: 1 inch on all sides.
4. Header: include the title of your work and page numbers if more than a single page.
5. Please remove your name from the submission AND the file name.
6. Optionally, Shunn Modern Manuscript format — please still remove your name from the submission AND the file name — is also acceptable.

What file type should I use for my submission? For flash fiction, fiction, poetry, reviews, and scripts, submit as a DOCX, DOC, or RTF file. For art only, submit as a JPG, JPEG, or PNG file. We cannot consider links to google docs, dropbox, or other sharing platforms.

Anything else to submit? We request a biographical statement (up to 75 words) written in the third person. Bios should include your name as you want it to appear if your submission is accepted. Note: Bios are concealed from screeners.

Are there types of work you don’t want?

• Do not submit erotic material, content containing gratuitous violence, hate speech, or work that degrades any gender, race, religion, ability level, etc. In other words, nothing demeaning to others.
• Do not submit AI-generated or AI-assisted work.
• We do not want any work that you did not create yourself. Do not plagiarize. By submitting your work, you are verifying that it is solely your creation.

When will I know if my work has been accepted? Please be patient as we review and seriously consider every submission. It may be July before you receive a response.

If my submission is accepted for publication, will my work still be mine? Writers and artists retain rights. Please credit us if your work is republished, and be sure to let us know so we can celebrate your achievement!

Additional Information

Do you allow simultaneous submissions? Simultaneous submissions are okay but please notify us and withdraw any work accepted elsewhere promptly.

Do you allow reprints? Previously curated works — in books, magazines, journals, anthologies, online or in print — by writers and artists who have republication rights are okay to submit with proper attribution/credit.

Do you allow non-English submissions? Unfortunately, at this time, we can only review submissions primarily in English or translated into English (with written permission).

Do you allow translations? Translations are okay to submit with permission of both author and translator. Please include the English as well as native-language version of the work along with third-person bios for both author and translator.

If I have a question that is not answered here, who do I ask? Please email your question to the managing editor of Inlandia Journal, Erin Michaela Sweeney (she/her), at JournalEditor@InlandiaInstitute.org.

The 2026 Hillary Gravendyk Prize 

Sponsored by Inlandia Institute and published by Inlandia Books

One National and one Regional Winner will each be awarded $1000 and book publication.

The Hillary Gravendyk Prize is an open poetry book competition for all writers regardless of the number of previously published poetry collections. The manuscript page limit is 48 - 100 pages, and the press invites all styles and forms of poetry. Only electronic submissions accepted via Inlandia’s Submittable portal. Entries must be received online by April 30, 2026 at midnight Pacific Standard Time. Reading fee is $20. The winners will be announced late Summer/Fall 2026, for publication in 2027.

The competition was created in memory of the late Inland Empire poet, Hillary Gravendyk, who passed away in 2014.

HILLARY GRAVENDYK (1979-2014) was a beloved poet living and teaching in Southern California’s “Inland Empire” region. She wrote the acclaimed poetry book, HARM from Omnidawn Publishing (2012) and the poetry collection The Naturalist (Anchiote Press, 2008). A native of Washington State, she was an admired Assistant Professor of English at Pomona College in Claremont, CA. Her poetry has appeared widely in journals such as American Letters & Commentary, The Bellingham Review, The Colorado Review, The Eleventh Muse, Fourteen Hills, MARY, 1913: A Journal of Forms, Octopus Magazine, Tarpaulin Sky and Sugar House Review. She was awarded a 2015 Pushcart Prize for her poem "Your Ghost," which appeared in the Pushcart Prize Anthology. She leaves behind many devoted colleagues, friends, family and beautiful poems. Hillary Gravendyk passed away on May 10, 2014 after a long illness. This contest has been established in her memory.

The details: One contest, two prizes, each award is granted publication and $1000: All entrants will be considered for the National Prize, and entrants who currently reside or work in Inland Southern California, the “Inland Empire,” will also be considered for the Regional Prize (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, and any non-coastal Southern California area, from Death Valley in the northernmost region to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in the southernmost). If you believe you reside or work in an area that falls within the I.E., please select the “Yes, I reside in the I.E.” checkbox on the Submittable form, or if you’re not sure, please contact the Inlandia Institute at Inlandia@InlandiaInstitute.org.) In addition, the editors may select one or more additional books for publication.

Eligibility: Any American writer may enter the contest, with the exception of current colleagues and/or students, close friends, or family of the judge. Additionally, anyone currently serving in the Inlandia Institute in the last two years, either as an employee or on the Inlandia Institute Board of Directors, or is a close family member of the above, is not eligible.

Manuscript Requirements: Please submit 48-100 pages of poetry through our Submittable portal as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf. 

***Submissions are read without identifying information.***Do not include your name or any identifiable information on the manuscript itself.*** Do not include a cover page.***Do not attach an acknowledgements page.*** 

No revisions to the manuscript are allowed while the contest is running; however, if your manuscript is selected for publication, revisions may be submitted at that time. Please use a standard 11 or 12 point font. If there is a significant amount of non-standard formatting, please submit as a PDF to ensure formatting remains intact. Individual poems may have been published in journals, anthologies, chapbooks, etc., but the collection as a whole must be unpublished.

Submission fee: $20 per manuscript. Multiple submissions accepted but a separate entry fee is required for each manuscript submitted. Simultaneous submissions also accepted. If accepted elsewhere, please formally withdraw your manuscript from consideration via the Submittable portal.

Prize: Each winner will receive $1000, 20 copies of their book, and a standard book contract.

The manuscripts will be screened by MFA students from local colleges and universities.

Inlandia Institute is a literary nonprofit and publishing house based in Inland Southern California dedicated to celebrating the region in word, image, and sound. Hillary Gravendyk Prize winners have gone on to win other post-publication prizes, including Rachelle Cruz's 2016 God's Will for Monsters, which received an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation.

Hillary Gravendyk Prize winners to date include Meg Reynolds, Anna Zumbahlen, Jennifer MacKenzie, Elizabeth Galoozis, Will Barnes, Tiffany Elliott, Angelica Maria Barraza, Alexandra Martinez, Michael Samra, Jonathan Maule, Bronwen Tate, Adam Martinez, Michelle Peñaloza, Elizabeth Cantwell, Malcolm Friend, Rachelle Cruz, Marco Maisto, Kenji C. Liu, and Angela Peñaredondo.

​​The Eliud Martínez Prize was established to honor the memory of Eliud Martínez (1935–2020), artist, novelist, and professor emeritus of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside. One prize of $1,000 and book publication through Inlandia Books will be awarded for a book of fiction or creative nonfiction by a writer who identifies as Hispanic, Latino/a/x, or Chicana/o/x.

Our literary expression occupies a place within our American national literature, and among the literatures of the world.
—Eliud Martinez

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• Submissions accepted only from writers who identify as Hispanic, Latino/a/e/x, or Chicana/o/x.
• Manuscripts can be fiction or creative nonfiction, including memoir, essays, stories, and multi-genre or hybrid works.
• At this time, only submissions written primarily in English will be considered.
• Manuscripts must be submitted anonymously. Do not include any identifying information on the manuscript itself, in the file name, or headers/footers.
• Manuscripts can be under consideration by other publishers, but the winning writer must agree to withdraw their entry from consideration by other publishers. There will be no refunds of entry fees.

MANUSCRIPT FORMATTING

• 150 to 300 typed pages in 12-point Times New Roman, 1-inch margins, double-spaced, page numbering in upper-right corner.
• Submit as a PDF but have the full manuscript available as a Word document on request.
• Longer works of up to 500 pages may only be submitted in proposal form: excerpt, table of contents, and synopsis.
• All manuscripts must be complete to be considered. Do not submit works-in-progress.

ELIGIBILITY

• Any writer residing in the U.S. or its territories of Hispanic, Latino/a/e/x, or Chicana/o/x descent may enter the contest, with the exception of current colleagues and/or students, close friends, or family of the judge. Additionally, anyone currently serving in the Inlandia Institute in the last two years, either as an employee or on the Inlandia Institute Board of Directors, or is a close family member, is not eligible.