Friday, March 6th 2026
Ninth Letter: Reaction
The theme for their web edition is Reaction. At the time of writing, they were open for nonfiction only. “We find ourselves in a moment of American Reaction. But what sparks that reaction, and what is born out of it? Send us your stories, poems and essays that react without or before forethought, or deal with its spurious repercussions. Render reactivity in digital and material and spiritual spaces in all its spectacle and earnestness. Show us poignant moments of unexpected emotion, or sudden bodily reflexes or the mind's recoil. We want characters caught in unforeseeable moments and narrators that drop their guard, or poems that embody one action’s equal and opposed reaction. We welcome writing that spans the spectrum of reactions – chemical, physical, biological, psychological and political – and pieces that capture reaction in all its possibility and detriment.” They pay $75 for creative non-fiction of up to 3,500 words. Please note, they have a submission cap, and could close earlier than the deadline of 1st April 2026. Details here.
(Ninth Letter is also open for literary awards in various genres, for which there is a submission fee.)
Deadline: April 1st, 2026
We are pleased to announce the results of the Ninth Letter Literary Awards for 2026. The winners in each genre will be published in our Fall/Winter 2026-27 print issue and on our website. Honorable mentions will be published on our website. Online publication will be concurrent with the release of the print issue. Poetry Winner: Meg Day [...]Read More... from Literary Awards 2026
Selected by Jane Wong Jumpers The longer you live in Pittsburgh, the more people you’ll know who have jumped from the city’s bridges. I was born here, suspended in-between northeast and midwest, a city tumbling down a hillside, built around and above the three rivers. The parent of someone I went to elementary school with [...]Read More... from Leah Mensch
Selected by Derrick Austin Aubade Where Nobody Leaves My husband’s thumb on the edgeof his lip. A tiny pool of spitdarkening his pillow, his mouth always open. He slips into deep sleepso damn easily, like a childwho hasn’t experienced fear. A bruised grapefruit from the fridgecut in half and spiked with sugar. A startleof sparrows [...]Read More... from Mickie Kennedy