Brackish waters are sites of mixing, places where diverse waters come together to form something entirely unique. Like the seven cities that make up the Hampton Roads, brackish waters form habitats that are both dynamic and transitional, abundant and rich with life, corridors for migration and nurseries harboring new growth.

Our mission is to publish and promote a body of literary work that celebrates and explores the varied and diverse character of Hampton Roads. We are seeking works deeply imbued with a sense of place, with roots that run deep in the Tidewater region. 

We are open to submissions of poetry, fiction, and creative-nonfiction, as well as hybrid and experimental works, from both emerging and established writers. Writers need not be current residents of Hampton Roads as long as their work engages with the area in a meaningful way. 

We are open for submissions until March 31, 2026. 

Along with your submission, please provide a brief cover letter and third-person bio. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please note this in your cover letter, and notify us immediately if your work has been accepted elsewhere.

All submissions should be formatted in Time New Roman, 12 pt. font, with standard margins. 

For prose, please submit one short story or essay of no more than 4,000 words. For flash fiction or non-fiction, you may submit up to three pieces of no more than 1,000 words each. All prose should be double spaced. 

For poetry, please submit no more than three poems in a singular document. 

We use Submittable to process submissions. Your submission must be in Word or Rich Text (.doc or .rtf) format. The system will not accept other formats, including .pdf. You can find the link to our Submittable at the bottom of this page. 

We accept both previously published and unpublished work. Please indicate in your cover whether your work has been published elsewhere and if so, where. For previously unpublished work, Brackish Waters acquires only the first serial publication rights of accepted work. Copyright is asserted on behalf of the author; all reprint rights (print or electronic) revert to the author upon publication, but we ask that you mention Brackish Waters as first publication appearance.

By "lit comic" we mean a narratively driven work with literary elements. Although we are open to all forms, we are not likely to accept Sunday comics, political cartoons, or superhero comics.

To get an idea of our interests, I would suggest you look at the work we published recently by E.G. Shields, The Joy of Keeping Chickens.

Other exemplar literary comic artists (not published by us) include Alison Bechdel, Daniel Clowes, Joe Sacco, Dash Shaw, Teddy Goldenberg, and Jeffrey Brown.

We are not currently considering AI-generated work. 

You may submit up to 15 pages. If your work has not been accepted, please wait at least one calendar year before resubmitting.
 

Up to three flash pieces (<500 words each). 

Manuscripts must be 12 point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins all around. The word count must be included on the first page. Paragraphs must be indented. Please avoid any nonstandard formatting.

One essay (<4000 words). Excerpts from longer works are acceptable as long as they adhere to our word maximum and can stand alone as essays independent of the larger work. 

Manuscripts must be 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins all around, and the word count must be included on the first page. Paragraphs must be indented. Please avoid any nonstandard formatting.

Up to Three poems. Please submit all poems in one document.

Up to three flash pieces (<1000 words each).

Manuscripts must be 12 point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins all around, and the word count must be included on the first page. Paragraphs must be indented. Please avoid any nonstandard formatting.

One short story (<4000 words). Must be double-spaced, and the word count must be included on the first page.

Manuscripts must be 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins all around, and the word count must be included on the first page. Paragraphs must be indented. Please avoid any nonstandard formatting.

Barely South Review accepts artwork submissions year round. Your original works of art including photography, painting, graphics, sculpture, video work, and multimedia could be featured in BSR. Works must not have appeared elsewhere (other than on the artist's personal website). 

We are not currently accepting AI generated work. 

You may submit up to 15 works. If your work has not been accepted, please wait one calendar year before resubmitting. 

Formats accepted include .jpg, .gif, .tiff, .png., .mov, .mp4.