We are open year-round, with rolling deadlines.
We’re looking for short stories, poems, personal essays or excerpts (that stand alone) from any genre of writing. We’re willing to consider any form of writing that is well-written and from the heart. We especially love writing that has some connection to writing for wellness – narrative medicine, medical memoir, writing the self, healing writing, etc.
Please also see our call for Book Reviews, our three yearly contests, or take advantage of Editorial Critiques from our Editor-in-Chief, Kat McNichol.
We are open year-round, with rolling deadlines. If this form is open, you can submit.
Submit your short stories, poems, personal essays or excerpts (that stand alone) from any genre of writing. We’re willing to consider any form of writing that is well-written and from the heart. We especially love writing that has some connection to writing for wellness – narrative medicine, medical memoir, writing the self, healing writing, etc.
We prefer short pieces. Range is 15 to 2500 words, excluding works cited. Please submit one narrative or essay at a time, or up to 3 poems. Simultaneous submissions are fine.
We no longer accept previously published work. Please immediately withdraw your submission if your work is accepted for publication elsewhere.
All pieces will be published on our website and author’s will be paid a one-time honorarium of between $20 and $60 CAD. Three times yearly, we’ll select the best from among all the submissions we receive for publication in our magazine. All authors whose work is chosen for this magazine will receive 1 printed copy and 1 electronic copy.
*This form collects funds in USD however the amount(s) in USD are adjusted to equal our CAD price list.
Dreamers Micro Nonfiction Story Writing Contest
Submit a nonfiction story "from the heart" of between 100 and 300 words for your chance to win! The winner will receive $120 plus 2 copies of the Dreamers Magazine Spring Edition (1 print, 1 digital). We’re interested in micro nonfiction from any genre, as long as it's heartfelt or involves healing writing. If your story is superciliously clever with little emotional depth, we're probably not interested, but if it pulls at the heartstrings, then you should definitely submit it!
The winning story will be published online and in print in our spring magazine!
We will select up to 3 honourable mentions (at the Editors sole discretion) that will be published online. Each runner-up will be paid our standard $20 CAD honorarium.
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Motivation:
We've introduced this nonfiction story writing contest to celebrate the launch of our first online and on demand Writing to Heal Workshop!
People who routinely “write to heal” experience increased confidence, a sense of calm, and a deeper appreciation for the life they’re living.
We'd love it if you took some time to learn more about this workshop. And we'd REALLY love it if you submitted some of your healing nonfiction writing to this contest! We're all about the feels over here at Dreamers.
Entry Fee:
$9 USD, plus all entrants receive 1 copy of the Dreamers eMagazine Spring Edition.
Guidelines:
- Final due date: March 31
- This contest's deadline will not be extended past March 31st, so get your entries in now!
- Submit 100 to 300 words of nonfiction, 1 story per entry only. You may enter as many times as you choose but must pay for each entry you submit.
- Submit only unpublished, original writing (prior publication on a personal blog or social media is fine).
- By accepting publication, you grant Dreamers Creative Writing non-exclusive electronic and print publication rights, including the right to publish on our website, in our archives and anthologies, and in our magazine.
- Authors retain copyright and may republish following publication with us. Dreamers asks for exclusivity for 30 days.
Dreamers as a term has come to represent undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children. Although Dreamers Creative Writing’s name has a different meaning and origin, this contest is intended to honour “Dreamers” as it applies to migration, and our sense of place and home.
Submit your stories (or poem, essay or comic) of migration and/or your sense of place, of home or lack of, and your empathy to the plight of migrants around the world. Please feel free to interpret the theme of this contest in any way that is fitting for you personally, keeping in mind the overarching theme of Dreamers Creative Writing – that of heartfelt stories. You do not need to be a migrant to enter this contest – you only need to empathize with the theme in some way and have a heartfelt story to tell on the topic.
This contest is open to the world.
Submit one piece per entry; enter as many times as you want however the entry fee is required for each piece submitted.
Deadline:
Extended to February 15
Entry Fee:
$20.00 USD (approx. $25 CAD). Entry fee includes a 1 year electronic subscription for Dreamers Magazine.
Prizes:
The winning entry will receive $250 CAD, two copies of our magazine, and publication on www.dreamerswriting.com and in our winter/spring magazine.
Up to 6 runners-up will also receive online publication and a $20 honorarium.
Guidelines and Terms:
- Enter a poem, a nonfiction or creative nonfiction piece, a personal essay, an article, a fiction story, a children’s story, a dramatic piece, a comic or an experimental piece.
- Entries should be between 15 and 4000 words.
- We are looking for unpublished, original writing (previous publication on a personal blog or social profile is fine).
- Please submit as a single file and do not include your name anywhere in the attachment.
- By accepting publication, you grant Dreamers Creative Writing non-exclusive electronic and print publication rights, including the right to publish on our website, in our archives, in any future anthologies and in our magazine.
- Authors retain copyright and may republish following publication with Dreamers. We ask for exclusivity for 30 days.
Deadline: May 31
Submit up to 3 Haiku per entry for your chance to win! The winner will receive $120 CAD ($100 prize + $20 honorarium), and 2 copies of our magazine (1 print, 1 electronic).
Submit up to 3 Haiku per entry; enter as many times as you want.
The winning Haiku will be published on www.dreamerswriting.com, and in our next magazine!
We will select up to 6 honourable mentions (at the Editor's sole discretion) that will be published on www.dreamerswriting.com and in our spring magazine. Each runner-up will be paid our standard $20 CAD honorarium.
Entry Fee:
$10.00 USD (approx $13 CAD). Entry fee includes an electronic copy of the Dreamers Magazine in which the winners appear.
Guidelines:
- Include all haiku in a single document.
- We are looking for unpublished, original haiku (previous publication on a personal blog is fine).
- By accepting publication, you grant Dreamers Creative Writing non-exclusive electronic and print publication rights, including the right to publish on our website, in our archives, on a keychain and in our magazine.
- Authors retain copyright and may republish following publication on www.dreamerswritig.com. Dreamers asks for exclusivity for 30 days.
- Rolling deadlines to appear in Submittable. Submission form will reopen within 24 hours following each rolling deadline, excluding final deadline.
Welcome to the Dreamers Creative Writing Book Review submission form!
As per our our general submissions, our Book Review deadlines are rolling. Please use 12 pt. font and double-spaced formatting, 2-3 pages. Include the book price and publisher. Multiple submissions are fine.
Dreamers pays $60 CAD for book reviews that we publish.
Deadlines are rolling. If this form is open, you can submit.
**All Book Reviews submitted must have a Canadian component - authors can be from anywhere in the world, but the book reviewed must either be by a Canadian, or published by a Canadian Publisher, or feature a Canadian main character or setting. Please make sure you describe what aspect(s) of your review are Canadian in your cover letter.
In keeping with the theme of the website, that of heartfelt and/or healing writing, we’re accepting reviews of books of any kind—short story collections, poetry collections, novels, memoirs, chapbooks, or first-hand accounts.
Here's some advice received from a poetry professor recently:
Firstly, it's not really worth your time to write a negative review. What’s the point? It’ll be more enjoyable for you and for us to write a kind and positive review and it may even facilitate a dialogue with the author you’re reviewing. By all means, you can find issues with a work—the best pieces of art, no doubt, leave us conflicted—but if it isn’t for you, then it likely isn’t for us.
Secondly, the book review functions on film-trailer logic: entice, but don’t spoil. Describe and recommend memorable scenes that struck you, but if those scenes hinge on shock or twist, leave those for the reader.