The Columbus Review is a new nonprofit experimental literary magazine and publisher based in Columbus, Ohio. We publish raw, weird, boundary-pushing poetry, prose, scripts, and satire that doesn’t fit in traditional outlets. Our focus is literary alchemy — mixing messy, contradictory human experiences into strange, urgent, and timeless work inspired by early cinema, Dada, and surrealism.

We publish innovative, experimental work including poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, one-act plays, short screenplays, and sharp absurdist/satire (“Bite me” category). We especially love hybrid forms, flash pieces, grotesque humor, prototypes, inversions of form, and anything that feels urgent, playful, over-the-line, or unexpectedly brilliant. We want writing that makes the everyday feel strange or uncanny — no social manifestos or agenda-driven pieces.

Yes — submissions for our inaugural Issue № 01 are open year-round. We have two main reading periods: February–May (Summer issue) and August–November (Winter issue). All work is read during these windows.

Email your previously unpublished work as one .docx or .pdf file to thecolumbusreviewsubmissions@gmail.com (mailto:thecolumbusreviewsubmissions@gmail.com).

• Remove all identifying information (blind reading process).

• Optional: include a short third-person bio in the email body.

• Clearly title the file and separate pieces inside it.
  Full category-specific guidelines are on our submissions page.

• Up to 5 poems per submission

• Each poem: 5-line minimum (beyond haiku) to 40 lines maximum

• One .docx or .pdf file, 12 pt legible font

• Blind submission (no name or bio on the poems themselves)

• Short Prose (fiction & nonfiction): up to 3 pieces, ~5–15 double-spaced pages (flash ~3,000 words welcome; max ~5,000 if the energy demands it)

• Scripts (stage or screen): up to 2 scripts, 20 pages or less (Courier 12 pt preferred)

• Bite me (absurdist & satire): up to 3 pieces, 3–12 double-spaced pages (~1,000–3,500 words)
  All in one clearly titled .docx or .pdf, double-spaced where noted, blind submission.

No. The Columbus Review is completely free to submit to — no reading fees or submission fees ever.

As a budding nonprofit preparing our inaugural issue, we do not currently offer monetary compensation. All rights revert to the author immediately after publication.

Yes, simultaneous submissions are welcome. If your piece is accepted elsewhere, please notify us immediately at thecolumbusreviewsubmissions@gmail.com so we can withdraw it.

We aim to respond within 4–6 weeks during our reading periods. Every submission receives a careful read through our blind process.

Yes — we use a fully blind reading process. All identifying information is removed before editors see your work so every piece is judged purely on merit.

We especially welcome new, underpublished, and unpublished voices from all walks of life. If you write experimental, weird, hybrid, urgent, or risk-taking work — defiant, tender, niche, or over-the-line — this is the place for you. No prerequisites to being an artist.

We acquire First North American Serial Rights. All rights immediately revert to the author upon publication.

Email thecolumbusreviewsubmissions@gmail.com for submissions or general inquiries. Follow us for updates on the inaugural issue, future calls, and events. (Add your social links here when live.)