Submissions are scheduled to open in October 2026 in two stages as below, and will be considered for Issue 35 of MacQueen's Quinterly, as well as Issue 2027.1 (Series 2) of the streamlined MacQ. 

Stage One (3-4 October): Folks New-to-MacQ 

Stage Two (11-17 October): Solicited Mss. 

"Folks New-to-MacQ" refers to those whose works have not appeared in MacQueen's Quinterly, 2020 to the present, nor in her predecessor journal, KYSO Flash, 2014 through 2019. Please note that submissions for this category will close as soon as submission caps have been reached. 

Launch Dates: Issue 35 is scheduled to launch in late November 2026, and Issue 2027.1 (Series 2) in early January 2027. 

About MacQ: 

MacQueen's Quinterly is the updated name for the journal published as KYSO Flash from Fall 2014 through Summer 2019, for a total of 12 online issues (with six annual printed anthologies).  Beyond the name change and a more frequent publication schedule, five times per year and only published online, our editorial focus at MacQ remains the same. (More about that below, under "What we're looking for" and "TIPs")

Please send us previously uncurated literary works. That is, those which have not appeared in any curated collection, whether in print or online—such as anthologies, books, chapbooks, journals, magazines, newspapers, etc. 

(For more about the term "previously uncurated," see the essay by Rattle editor Timothy Green in Lit Mag News, 16 March 2023: "Uncurated: The Case for a New Term of Art.") 

General submission files are read "anonymously" to help ensure impartiality, and thus should NOT include author's name, contact info, and bio. Many thanks for entering  those details in the appropriate boxes provided by Submittable. (By the way, Submittable keeps track of everything by assigning an identification number to each submission file we receive.) 

What we're looking for: 

Polished, evocative literary works that balance “music and meaning”  (to borrow from poet Richard Hugo) within a max of 500 words* (including the title and any epigraphs and author footnotes), and created in these forms: 

⚡  Prose poems 

⚡  Literary hybrids such as cheribun, haibun forms, and tanka forms; for specific guidelines and tips, please see: MacQ Needs Cheribun, Haibun, and Tanka Tales! 

⚡  Micro-poems no more than 51 words long, such as these forms: 

cheribun; cherita and cherita sequences; duostitch sequence; gembun and gembun terbalik; haibun; haiku and haiku sequences; halfaku; hay(na)ku chain; one-bun; OWP haibun; OWP tanka prose; pantoubun; split sequences; tanka doha; tanka prose; tanka sequences; and tan-ku. 

For links to examples, please see Item 8 of MacQ's Guidelines. 

⚡  Ekphrastic works no longer than 500 words each, including title as well as any epigraphs and/or author footnotes. In particular, MacQ needs ekphrastic prose poetry, microfiction, CNF, and poetic hybrids such as cheribun, haibun, tanka prose, etc. 

Please, no free verse, but ekphrastic micro-poems such as those listed above will be gladly considered. Links to examples are included in MacQ's Guidelines. 

For details about the kind of ekphrasis that MacQ is looking for, please see this essay by Jack Cooper and Clare MacQueen: Ephective Ekphrastics: A Guide to Verbalizing Art. 

Robert L. Dean, Jr. also offers some excellent  recommendations on ekphrastic writing, in his NaB essay published in MacQ-13 (May 2022): Finding the Door: One Writer’s Approach to Ekphrasis. 

⚡  Flash-length book reviews, interviews, and NaB essays (i.e., Nuts and Bolts essays on the process of writing or the creation of hybrid artworks such as haiga and shahai) may be no longer than one thousand words each, including title and any epigraphs and/or author footnotes. Links to examples of essays and reviews are available at MacQ.

Tip 1: Because MacQueen's Quinterly is saturated with poems and fiction from the first-person point of view, Clare would love to see more pieces written from other perspectives. 😊 

Tip 2: While considering submissions to MacQ, awards such as the Pushcart Prize, Best Microfiction, Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions, Best Spiritual Literature (formerly the Orison Anthology), the Red Moon Anthologies, and The Touchstone Awards for Individual Haibun influence the decisions that Clare MacQueen makes. She continues to be guided by the philosophy described so beautifully by poet Jack Cooper, who was her co-editor at KYSO Flash: 

“We look for works that knock our socks off, that is, prize-worthy material. Regardless of the genre, we cherish a unique voice, fresh language, and the sly use of literary devices such as metaphor and irony. We hope to be side-swiped, poked in the ribs, and otherwise smitten by an arresting idea, a compelling narrative, an exquisite lyric, or a moving account, all of which thread the perfect line between the personal and the universal.” 

(More info is available in the Submission Guidelines at the MacQ website.) 

Thanks so much for your interest in MacQueen's Quinterly!  We look forward to seeing your works.