POETRY:

Scholars & Rogues is looking for poems we didn’t know we were looking for. We invite new and established voices writing in all styles. Some observations:

* If we compare poetry to music, we might conclude that there’s a lot more Americana and Folk out there than there is Metal, Industrial and Goth. We love poetry that connects profoundly with nature, but we also revel in the energy of the city, so poetry that expresses or emerges from the technological and/or the urban is encouraged.
* S&R is open to both free and formal work, but we encourage meticulous attention to craft.
* We think contemporary poetry often prefers the pedestrian to the ambitious. Small victories are fine, but we love poets who swing for the fences. Grand failures are the price we pay for epic success, and sometimes the grand failures are more interesting, anyway.
* We don’t worry about how poetry is categorized. We’re okay with “street” and “academic” and everything “in between.” All that matters is a love of language and an ability to use it to connect the reader to the intuitive “click” that takes us places only art can access.
* All great artists are products of their influences, but we also understand the difference between influence and imitation. As such, we’re looking for an artistic maturity that has assimilated the influences and translated them into a voice that is uniquely that of the writer.
* We regard poetry as primarily a written form, but we also recognize the genius of many spoken word artists. If you'd like to submit multimedia, query the editor at drslammy@scholarsandrogues.com.

These observations do not mean that S&R excludes on the basis of style or genre or subject matter. Good is good, great is great, and our personal preferences don’t keep us away from talent. Period. Instead, please read these guidelines as an attempt to open the doors more widely than some other publications do. Surprise us. Impress us. Blow us away. S&R can be bafflingly diverse as a blog, and we hope that our poetry selections never get to be narrow or predictable.

Please submit 3-5 poems of short to medium length (one page or less) and no more than two long poems (three pages or more) at a time. Please do not submit more than once every three months unless the editor specifically requests it.

FICTION AND NONFICTION:

Every literary journal has its biases. We privilege some characteristics in writing and abhor others as what our old friend, George Gordon Byron called “cant.” Scholars & Rogues is no different. Above you’ll see Sam Smith’s biases concerning poetry submissions. Below are mine concerning fiction and nonfiction:

* Fiction should tell a story. We don’t care how you tell the story, but you must tell a story. If we can’t discern a clear story in what you’ve written, we will not accept it.
* As noted elsewhere, we privilege literary fiction. This means we prefer fiction that emphasizes character and style in storytelling more than action and plot. We like action and plot – we simply don’t think they are as important as character development and mode of expression in the telling of a story. Remember this.
* We are not opposed to genre submissions if they are literary takes on the genre in question. Poe wrote detective stories, you know.
* We are open to short stories, short-short stories and flash fiction. We like the former most and the latter least. If you want to know what we consider a great flash fiction, read August Strindberg’s “Half a Sheet of Paper.”

Here are a few biases concerning nonfiction:

* We like creative nonfiction: memoir, personal essay, reflection, humor. Think about Frank McCourt, E.B. White, Annie Dillard, James Thurber. Or look at our own Pat Vecchio and Terry Hargrove. Or at my stuff. I’m very biased in favor of my stuff.
* What we’ll be looking for in nonfiction is literary interest. What that means is that the same sorts of style biases that will apply to our choices of fiction will also apply to our choices in nonfiction.

NOTE: This page is labeled "Scholars & Rogues Poetry," be we use the same engine for fiction and nonfiction.

* We do not accept stories that have been previously published except in special cases. If you'd like us to consider work that has been previously published inquire with the editor before submitting.
* Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please let us know if something you have submitted here is accepted elsewhere.
* We will reply to submissions as quickly as we can. We publish on an ongoing cycle, so accepted work will appear immediately instead of weekly, quarterly, etc.