Submit to The Oral Tradition

The Oral Tradition is a literary magazine which publishes both poetry and short fiction emphasizing the beauty of the spoken word. We encourage both emerging and established artists to submit. Only previously unpublished work will be considered, and we discourage simultaneous submissions. The Oral Tradition acquires first world serial rights only, and all copyrights return to the original author upon publication.

Since we do not charge for issues of the magazine, we cannot, at this time, pay for accepted submissions.

The Oral Tradition publishes 3 times a year: April 30th, August 31st, and Dec. 31st. We accept submissions all year round; however, submissions for a particular issue must be submitted a month before publication.

Please send all submissions to: submissions@theoraltradition.ca

Please Follow These Guidelines

• We give preference to submissions that contain audio recordings.
• 3-5 poems (or up to 10 pages for long poems) in a single Word document.
• Only submit a single short story under 2000 words.
• Original Translations of works in the public domain are encouraged.
• We do not accept essays, interviews or reviews.
• We do accept submissions of photographs and/or artwork; however, these will only be used to compliment the magazine's content (i.e. as a cover page).
• Only submit in one genre at a time, and wait until you receive a response before submitting to us a second time.
• You will typically receive a response during the month before the issue you submitted to is released.
• If you are sending a recording, please make sure it is in .mp3 format.
• Please include a short (less than 100 words) bio along with your submission.