General Submission Guidelines

The Bellingham Review is a nonprofit literary arts magazine affiliated with Western Washington University. The magazine is biannual, published spring and fall. Sample copies are available for $7.00 each.

Our general submission period is from September 15th through February 1st; although, contest submission dates may vary. Manuscripts arriving between February 2nd and September 14th will be returned unread. The editors welcome submissions of poems, stories, and essays. There are no limitations on form or subject matter. Prose must be under 9,000 words. The editors prefer poetry submissions of 3-5 poems. Please indicate the approximate word count on prose pieces. We do not currently accept electronic mail submissions.

All submissions should be accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE). Submissions from other countries should be accompanied by a sufficient number of international postal reply coupons. Submissions should be addressed to:

Fiction, Nonfiction, or Poetry Editor
Bellingham Review
Mail Stop 9053
Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA 98225

Simultaneous submissions are considered, as long as the Bellingham Review is notified immediately if the work is accepted elsewhere. All submissions must be previously unpublished in North America.

Reporting time normally varies from one to six months. We pay upon publication as funds permit.

Please click here for a printable version of our most up to date general submission guidelines.