Hippocampus Magazine and Books
There are presently no open calls for submissions.
NOTE: If you're not already on our mailing list, please consider subscribing so that you'll always be up to date on submissions announcements including open reading periods, special calls, etc.
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Please read our full submission guidelines, here, before submitting.
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What we publish in Hippocampus Magazine
During our regular submission periods we accept the following:
- Personal Essays/Memoir Excerpts, max 4,000 words.
- Flash Creative Nonfiction, max 800 words.
Reviews, interviews, craft articles, and writing life articles by invitation/pitch to our editors directly, NOT via Submittable. Send to articles@hippocampusmagazine.com and we will forward to the right person.
Regular submissions come with a $3 submission fee. However, for those unable to cover the fee, we maintain a Submission Fund. To access the fund, contact us here.
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Dates & Deadlines: Submission Periods
We have two regular submission periods per year, which vary by category; please note we updated dates and duration in May 2025:
FALL
- Essay: closed for fall 2025; taking a one-time, much-needed pause for queue clean-up
- Flash: Sept. 1 - Nov. 30
SPRING
- Essay: March 1 - April 30
- Flash: March 1 - May 31
What are we looking for in submissions?
True tales from your life. Honesty that possesses both the situation AND the story. Intensely personal experiences that reflect universal truths about what it means to be human. Firsthand accounts from the full spectrum of humanity – writers of all genders, backgrounds, experiences, lifestyles, and identities.
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What we publish elsewhere:
Our small press division Books by Hippocampus publishes book-length creative nonfiction, including:
- Memoirs
- Essay Collections
- Craft (of Writing) Books
Additionally, we occasionally publish themed anthologies, including through our The Way Things Were series.
Submission guidelines, as well as open anthology calls, are listed at our Books by Hippocampus submissions page.
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Reminder
Please read our full submission guidelines, here, before submitting.