Poetry Submissions – Growth – 2026 Superlative Literary Journal

Superlative is accepting poetry, and short stories (500-5,000 words) for their 2026 ‘GROWTH’ issue. Submissions are open via Submittable. 1st prize £500.

Submitted work should be:

• Fiction or poetry of any genre, but must follow the theme of ‘GROWTH’.
• The right length for the chosen submission category.
• Previously unpublished.
• Your own – not written by any kind of AI software.
• Edited and formatted correctly in standard British English.

Upon acceptance, Superlative publishes contributors’ work in the international online journal, or print journal, shares bio and social media handles, and pays contributor prizes. We also nominate contributors for major prizes (Pen America, Pushcart, Best of the Net, etc) and continue to promote contributors.

We take great pride in literary loyalty, and try to give our authors the best possible experience, promoting them as widely and fully as we are able.

Additional information:

• Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.
• We respond to every submission and, for annual competition submissions, you will hear from us according to the annual competition schedule.
• We encourage transgressive and experimental work.
• We accept extracts from longer pieces of work, provided they still meet the submission criteria and stand as a comprehensible piece of writing in their own right.
• The editors’ decision is final.  However, we offer feedback wherever possible, and always upon request, at no extra cost.
• Submission fees are purposefully nominal, and only cover the journal’s running costs and competition prize money.
• If you are unsuccessful, please do not be deterred from submitting new work in future! We receive a lot of submissions, and standards are always very high. Please persevere!