General Submissions for BIPOC writers (no fee)

Geist offers no-fee general submissions for Black writers, Indigenous writers, and writers of colour. 

• It is our mandate to publish writers and artists from across CANADA. Work by international writers will only be considered if it has a strong connection to Canada or would be relevant to a Canadian audience.
• Please submit one piece and wait to hear back from us before submitting more work.
• Geist buys First North American Serial Rights. We only accept work that is ORIGINAL and PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED. Copyright reverts to the author after publication. 
• If your piece is selected for publication, you can expect to work with the editor-in-chief to revise and edit the piece in a manner consistent with the Geist house style, audience, as well as the author’s intention for the work. The editorial process may consist of several drafts and revisions until the piece is ready for publication.
• Your cover letter should include your name, complete mailing address and email.   

NON-FICTION: We publish short (under 2000 words) non-fiction, usually personal narrative, in the Notes and Dispatches section. Longer (up to 5000 words) non-fiction pieces are published as Features. Send one piece at a time.   

COMICS: We publish shorter comics in the Notes & Dispatches section, and publish longer comics as features, max. 8 pages. Send up to three strips or one longer comic at a time.   

POETRY: Send a maximum of 5 poems, all in the same document. We publish 1-2 poets per issue.

FICTION: We publish short stories (up to 5000 words) in the Features section. We usually publish one story per issue, so please send only your best work. Send one story at a time.

HYBRID FORMS: We like work that crosses genres or that surprises us in other ways. Send us your photo essays, maps and poetry comics! Your interdisciplinary forms and your visual-textual mashups!