Please visit our website for more detailed submission guidelines.  Thanks!

General Submission Guidelines

At The Upper New Review, we are seeking out place-based creative works around the globe.

These are the general submission guidelines for the Upper New Review, both online and in print.

We need to know who is responsible for creating the work.  Please provide your name and contact information with the submission.  If the work is collaborative, information for all primary contributors involved with the completion of the work should be included.  We want to give credit where credit is due.

Every submission is required to have a well-conceived cover letter.  Please, no boilerplate forms.  Please, do not copy and paste.  Tell us what we need to know about the pieces or creative works you are submitting. Tell us “the why.” Take anywhere from one paragraph to two pages, whatever works for you.

If you're looking for inspiration to help you write your letter, please check out our Foundations and Prompts and our Creator Categories.

Send only complete works that are ready for publication.

Simultaneous submissions...

If you are resident of the Upper New River basin, or a neighbor, or a continental, or a global: we welcome simultaneous submissions, and we request that you notify us immediately (and withdraw your submission) if your work is accepted for publication elsewhere.

If you are a visitor to the Upper New River basin: please, no simultaneous submissions.  We want work specific to the Upper New River Basin.

Anyone is welcome to make multiple submissions at once, so long as they are in different categories.  For example, you could submit a short story, and one or more paintings of a hummingbird sipping from a native flower. (e.g., prose vs. visual art).  

If you wish to make multiple submissions in the same category, please wait until you have a response from us before making an additional submission.  For example, please don’t submit a short story and an essay at the same time.

Submissions must be previously unpublished, in print or online.  This does not include personal blogs, social media posts, etc.

Currently, due to UNR staff limitations, submissions must be written in English.

We’re open to all subject matter, with the exception that we will not publish erotica or anything containing gratuitous sexual content.  For example, we would happily read a personal reflection on the annual mating habits of river otters in the North Fork of the New River.

Response Times

Responses for any submission can take up to six months, with variations depending on the contents of the submission.  Typically,  we will strive to have a response for your submission within two months.  If it has been six months since you submitted, and you have not heard from us, please do send us a follow-up inquiry!

Who should submit work to the Upper New Review?  

We’re happy for anyone creating work that aligns with the Upper New River guidelines to submit their work.  For the sake of clarity, we have four separate categories for people submitting work: residents, neighbors, continentals, and visitors.

Residents are people who live in the Upper New River basin.

Neighbors are people who live in one of the nine basins that border the Upper New River basin: Watauga (06010103), South Fork Holston (06010102), North Fork Holston (06010101), Middle New (05050002), Upper James (02080201), Upper Roanoke (03010101), Upper Dan (03010103), Upper Catawba (03050101), Upper Yadkin (03040101).

Continentals are people who live anywhere else in North America: Canada, The United States, and Mexico.

Globals are people who live in Central and South America (which we define as every nation and watershed south of the Mexico border), Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and Antarctica.

Visitors are people who live anywhere in the world who have been physically present in the Upper New River Basin for any duration of time, even a short day trip.

For a more detailed overview, please visit the creator categories page on our website.

(We are working on our “Global” category.  It’s taking us some time to map out the watersheds of the other continents.  If you’re keen to help us with this task, please drop us a line!)