Art submissions currently open: SUBMIT ART HERE.
Literary Submissions
Thanks for your interest in MER! We publish creative work on mothers, mothering, and motherhood, in all its forms. We publish pieces on the decision to mother, conception issues, pregnancy, nurturing children, working and mothering, creative work and mothering, caring for the elderly, adoptive parenting, gay parenting, single parenting, etc. We are interested in the intersection between other identities and the mother identity, and in the interactions between cultural expectations and the actual experience of mothering. Well-thought out and carefully crafted pieces are appreciated, as are nuanced and layered works. The vast majority of our published work comes from submissions; we only solicit a small percentage of work for each print issue. You need not be a mother to submit, as long as your piece is focused on motherhood.
Submissions for the print issue are currently closed, and will open in Spring 2024 (last week in April is free “early bird” submissions aimed at allowing people with financial hardships to submit; paid ($3) submissions run from end of April to July 15th). In addition, we offer several “short calls” throughout the year for online quarterly folios published on our website, merliterary.com. The calls are advertised on our website and social media (Facebook, Instagram, etc.), on Chill Subs, Duotrope, and through our newsletter, which you can sign up for here: http://eepurl.com/ihpw8X
We also publish book reviews (of literary works that focus on motherhood or women’s lives) throughout the year. We have lists of books available for review and also accept queries. If you would like to write a review for MER, check out some of the current reviews on our website and then email us at [email protected]. Lastly, we always accept pitches for craft essays, which can be submitted at [email protected].
Thanks again for checking us out! We hope to read your work.