29 Amazing Literary Magazines You Need To Be Reading
29 Amazing Literary Magazines You Need To Be Reading
And you thought your reading list was long already…
1. Fields magazine
What it features: Fiction, poetry, essays, visual art, interviews, and profiles on up-and-coming creators.
How to read it: Print only ($12/issue)
Why it’s great: “Not only does it showcase a changing part of Texas, but it also features up-and-coming artists and writers from across the country in interviews and profiles. It’s a great way to find out about underground art created by conceptual sculptors and experimental screenwriters. Also, its Instagram account tracks all the coolest art galleries and concerts in Austin.” —almondmilkandcoffee
2. A Public Space
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What it features: Modern fiction, poetry, essays, art, and international works in translation.
How to read it: Print and digital ($36/one-year subscription)
Why it’s great: The nonprofit Brooklyn-based mag is celebrating its 10-year anniversary, and it still feels incredibly fresh. Founder Brigid Hughes (formerly of The Paris Review) has described the work as “push[ing] the bounds of traditional narrative” for a “culturally curious” readership. (Recommended by Niela Orr.)
3. Ecotone
What it features: “Place-based” writing across all genres and disciplines, whether based in science or art.
How to read it: Print and digital ($16.95/one-year subscription, $12.95/issue)
Why it’s great: The magazine’s focus on landscape and geography makes it especially transportive.
“Ecotone’s motto is ‘Reimagining Place,’ which is a fascinating approach to art and literature, especially during a time when identity and the idea of home are more important than ever.” —TheNewChrissy
4. Tin House
dauntlessreading / instagram.com
What it features: Fiction, features, poetry, interviews, and a section dedicated to highlighting old or forgotten books.
How to read it: Print ($34.95/one-year subscription, $15/issue) and digital ($19.95/one-year subscription, $9.99/issue)
Why it’s great: Its fiction is consistently awarded, and its list of contributors is just wild— Sherman Alexie, Miranda July, David Foster Wallace, Donna Tartt, Stephen King, to name just a few. (Recommended by Kevin Tang, Facebook)
5. Narratively
What it features: “Untold human stories … presented in the most appropriate medium.” Those include creative nonfiction, photo essays, comics, journalism — even audio and video.
How to read it: Online only (for free!)
Why it’s great: “As a non-fiction/memoir reader, I love this magazine’s variety of stories and honest accounts from people. They range from profoundly inspiring, to just plain hilarious.” —katherinegeorgekatie
6. Blackbird
What it features: Fiction, poetry, plays, interviews, reviews, and art, which isn’t to mention its streaming audio and video content.
How to read it: Online only (for free!)
Why it’s great: Blackbird isn’t the most visually attractive of the online journals, but its simplicity allows you to focus on nothing but the writing. And the writing is extraordinary — honest, insightful, profound. (Recommended by Saeed Jones.)
7. The Normal School
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What it features: Fiction, essays, poetry, criticism, and journalism — in their words, they are “the kid who always has bottle caps, cat’s eye marbles, dead animal skulls, little blue men and other treasures in his pockets.”
How to read it: Print and digital ($12/one-year subscription)
Why it’s great: “Quirky, cool, and current. Awesome cover art.” —lysistrata
8. Poetry Magazine
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What it features: The best contemporary poetry around, as curated by the independent Poetry Foundation.
How to read it: Print and digital ($35/one-year subscription, $4.25/issue)
Why it’s great: Poetry earned a reputation for publishing the best poetry across styles, genres, and philosophies soon after launching in 1912, when it published works by T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Marianne Moore, and William Carlos Williams. The tradition continues today. (Recommended by Saeed Jones.)
9. McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern
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What it features: Short stories, reporting, poetry, comics, and illustrations.
How to read it: Print only ($60/one-year subscription, $21/issue)
Why it’s great: McSweeney’s started as a place for up-and-coming writers to publish pieces rejected by other journals, and though that rule was quickly dropped it’s still a magazine that welcomes both new and established writers. It’s also completely redesigned for each edition, and past issues have been hardcovers, paperbacks, bundled like junk mail, or bound with a magnetic spine. (Recommended byelizabethj37)
10. North American Review
kosmicallykonnected / instagram.com
What it features: Short fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry.
How to read it: Print and digital ($22/one-year subscription, $7/issue)
Why it’s great: “It’s the oldest literary magazine in North America, and it exudes history, creativity, diversity, and passion.” —jordanleal
11. Oxford American
What it features: The very best in Southern writing — fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art.
How to read it: Print and digital ($24.98/one-year subscription, $15.95/issue)
Why it’s great: Oxford American publishes truly powerful stories, but it’s probably best known for its much-celebrated annual music issue, which comes with a mix of carefully curated songs selected by the editors. (Recommended by Anita Badejo.)
12. One Story
aprilmaybpoetry / instagram.com
What it features: Simple and straightforward — one short story, always from a new author, every month.
Where to read it: Print and digital ($21/one-year subscription)
Why it’s great: “Each issue is a single short story written by one author. Perfect quick read, and small format make it super portable. They also have One Teen Story which is one short story for teens written by teens.” —jennymaem
13. n+1
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What it features: n+1 is a world — literature, culture, art, and politics in three issues yearly, plus free online-only work updated weekly and books expanding on topics found within the mag.
How to read it: Print ($36/one-year subscription, $14.95/issue) and digital ($32/one-year subscription)
Why it’s great: The magazine is founded on criticism, so its writers never hold back — they turn a discriminating eye on current events and trends in arts and politics.
14. Painted Bride Quarterly
What it features: Poetry, fiction, essays, interviews, and photography, released quarterly (online) or annually (print).
How to read it: Print and digital ($10–15/issue)
Why it’s great: “Tons of beautifully crafted short stories and poems, all of which are true to the human experience.” —Allyson Jo, Facebook
15. Ploughshares
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What it features: Fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
How to read it: Print ($35/one-year subscription) and digital ($20/one-year subscription)
Why it’s great: Since two of the journal’s four annual issues are guest-edited by different, notable writers, the writing never gets boring — the aesthetics, styles, and perspectives are always shifting. (Recommended by Robert Pallante, Facebook.)
16. One Throne
What it features: Cross-genre fiction, essays, and poetry, each paired with original artwork.
How to read it: Online only (for free!)
Why it’s great: One Throne doesn’t believe in borders when it comes to art, and even though it’s young — just over a year old — its work has already been recognized inBest American Essays and Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy. (Recommended by Jean-Luc Bouchard.)
17. Hazlitt
What it features: Personal essays, fiction, reported features, humor, criticism, interviews, and comics.
How to read it: Online only (for free, though you can also buy print editions for $10.99 or $13.99)
Why it’s great: “Hazlitt feels like an old friend who tells you new stories, ones that scrape out your soul when you read them, ones that make you happy and sad and fulfilled and lost and found at once. You’ll like it, I promise.” —Scaachi Koul
18. Glimmer Train
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What it features: Short fiction, with a strong emphasis on emerging writers.
How to read it: Print only ($38/one-year subscription, $15-25/issue)
Why it’s great: They straight-up publish great stories — theirs have been featured inThe Best American Short Stories, The PEN/O.Henry Prize Short Stories, and thePushcart Prize anthology. (Recommended by Jonathan Fiedler, Facebook)
19. Room Magazine
nigitstil / instagram.com
What it features: Fiction, poetry, reviews, profiles, and art, by and about women.
How to read it: Print only ($35/one-year subscription)
Why it’s great: Since launching in 1975, Room has been a place for writers and readers to explore all of the many and diverse experiences of women.
“It’s Canadian, feminist, and one of my favorite things ever.” —bucketofrhymes
20. Winter Tangerine Review
What it features: Poetry, prose, and art which their mission statement describes as “electric.”
How to read it: Print ($15/issue), online ($10/issue)
Why it’s great: Winter Tangerine is disruptive, subversive, and fresh, dedicated to messing with the status quo. (Recommended by Saeed Jones.)
21. Conjunctions
jpholinka / instagram.com
What it features: Innovative writing — fiction, poetry, criticism, drama, and interviews — from established and new writers.
How to read it: Print ($18/one-year subscription, $12/issue) and online
Why it’s great: “Conjunctions is a twice-a-year journal — a hefty paperback book, really — of interesting and often weird fiction, poetry, and nonfiction that’s put out by Bard College. It’s a great place to catch writers who are about to be big names and then get to say obnoxious stuff like, ‘Well, I loved Karen Russell before Swamplandia.’ You should also check out their cool Audio Vault of authors reading their own work.” —Rachel Sanders
22. Five Dials
What it features: Short fiction, essays, letters, lists, poetry, and international reporting they call “current-ish events,” usually organized by theme.
How to read it: Online only (for free!)
Why it’s great: The London-based digital mag has an irreverent feel, from its writing to its name (a now-extinct neighborhood described in the introductory Letter from the Editor as “a den of iniquity, a haven for criminals”) — which means it’s always a blast to read. Also, it’s just beautiful to look at. (Recommended by Daniel Dalton.)
23. Granta
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What it features: Fiction (short stories, novel excerpts), poetry, international translations, investigative journalism — ranging from debut novelists to Nobel laureates.
How to read it: Print ($40/one-year subscription, $16/issue) and digital ($16/one-year subscription)
Why it’s great: “A lot of incredible writers (Zadie Smith, for one) began their careers with submissions to the magazine, and its Best Young Novelist issues are well worth a read. As an aspiring writer I read Granta to set the standard for my own work and submissions.” —tillyb4be3ab1bb
24. The Offing
What it features: In their words — “work that challenges, experiments, provokes” whether that be in creative writing (of all genres) or art (in all media).
How to read it: Online only (for free!)
Why it’s great: A branch of the Los Angeles Review of Books, The Offing is dedicated to work that contests artistic tradition and pushes boundaries, and actively seeks and supports diverse perspectives. (Recommended by EC Martin, Facebook.)
25. Lapham’s Quarterly
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What it features: Historical texts (fiction and nonfiction), full color reproductions of classic art, and contemporary essays that actively merge the past and the present — organized around themes.
How to read it: Print ($49/one-year subscription) and digital ($29/one-year subscription)
Why it’s great: Lapham’s is all about history — using the wisdom of past writers, philosophers, and artists to reconsider current themes.
26. Guernica
What it features: Fiction, poetry, interviews, and art under the broad umbrella of art and politics.
How to read it: Online only (for free!)
Why it’s great: Guernica is dedicated to global perspectives, featuring work of writers from around the world, in multiple languages.
“I’ve never been bored with an issue of Guernica.” —Kevin Tang, Facebook
27. Literary Orphans
What it features: An online platform for collaborative writing and art, aiming to broaden the minds of its readers and helping to build a diverse and progressive media landscape.
How to read it: Online only (for free!)
Why it’s great: “Literary Orphans smacks you with gorgeous work, every single issue.” —Tammy Sherwood, Facebook
“It’s gorgeous. The visual aesthetics compliment the top-notch writing in a way that few other literary magazines can match.” —Ben Spencer, Facebook
28. BāJiā
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What it features: Text (fiction, criticism, interviews, poetry, theoretical analysis, and even recipes) and images (photo essays, sketches, maps, and collages) from primarily Chinese writers and artists.
How to read it: Print only ($8/issue here)
Why it’s great: Beijing-based BāJiā doesn’t like labels, describing itself as “part literary journal, part visual almanac.” The result is an immersive experience — experimental, thought-provoking, and eclectic. (Recommended by Niela Orr.)
29. The Lifted Brow
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What it features: Fiction, cultural commentary and criticism, comics, and reviews.
How to read it: Print ($90/one-year subscription, $13.95/issue) and digital ($29.99/one-year subscription, $4.49/issue)
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