Bicoastal Review is a journal of poetry, nonfiction, photography, and art. We aim to foster cross-genre conversations between readers and contributors, often on (but not limited to) topics related to the East Coast and West Coast. We publish writing that offers a lens into varied schools of thought and showcases epiphany and mastery of language. Our collective of voices encompasses a study of American writing, highlighting the movements, ruptures, and allegiances unfolding simultaneously at opposite ends of the nation. Writers and artists from anywhere in the world are welcome to submit, though we prefer American English spelling.
We offer a Fast Response option if you would like to hear back from us as quickly as 2 to 14 days. There is also an option to receive in-depth edits, feedback, and suggestions on your submission from our readers and editor-in-chief.
Thank you for your support!
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
POETRY
5 poems max, in .Doc or .Docx. Please separate poems by page. Titles are preferred. No need to put your contact info in the document. If your poems are haikus or otherwise very short, feel free to submit more than 5.
Please read our past issues (free online) to get a sense of our vibe. We particularly appreciate political poetry, ecopoetry and nature poems, love poems, poems about the body, feminist poetry, queer poetry, and poems that engage with history, literature, art, and/or modern culture. Hybrid, experimental, and cross-genre work is welcome. No covid/quarantine poems, please. We are wary of alternating rhyme schemes. We also don't usually accept light verse.
We accept translations into English with the permission of both author and translator.
NONFICTION
We accept creative nonfiction, critical essays, reviews, interviews, think pieces, and similar works.
1,000-3,000 words preferred, though this is not a hard rule.
FICTION
Occasional short fiction (or hybrid works) may be considered if you think it matches the tone and themes of our journal.
PHOTOGRAPHY & ART
Submit up to 10 photos or works of art using the highest image quality possible. Feel free to include a few sentences explaining materials, process, theory, and/or anything else you would like to share about the art. Please don't select Fast Response if you're submitting photography or art.
*** We do not accept anything created with AI tools, prompts, or edits. We do not accept writing that espouses bigotry, hate speech, discrimination, or harmful stereotypes targeting any group or individual based on their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, etc. We value accessibility and social progress, and seek to represent a diversity of voices across the U.S. literary landscape.
Simultaneous submissions are fine. Please notify us and/or withdraw your submission if your work is accepted elsewhere. We generally do not publish reprints, but we may consider doing so with permission from the prior publication. Upon acceptance with us, kindly withdraw your work from consideration elsewhere.
We may charge a reading fee, as our journal is unaffiliated with a university, is free to read online, and we pay judges as well as contest winners. If the posted fee presents an economic burden, email us at theeditors@bicoastalreview.com.
Deadline
August 1, 2026 (may be extended)
Prize
One winner of Bicoastal Review's single-poem contest receives $250, a featured publication in a print issue, a uniquely designed physical and digital broadside of their poem, publicity on our social media channels, and an optional interview. Finalists receive publication and publicity on our social media channels and are considered for interviews and reviews.
Check out our 2025 contest winner (Issue 10), and the 2024 contest winner (Issue 4) + our interview.
Meet the Judge
Sarah Ghazal Ali is a Pakistani American writer and editor. She is the author of the poetry collection Theophanies (Alice James Books, 2024), winner of the GLCA New Writers Award, California Book Award, and Julie Suk Award, and a finalist for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, among others. A finalist for a 2025 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship, she has been awarded The Sewanee Review Poetry Prize, and her poems have appeared in journals and outlets including The American Poetry Review, The Kenyon Review, Poetry, and the Academy of American Poets' Poem-a-Day series. Sarah is a Stadler and Kundiman fellow, the poetry editor for West Branch, and an Assistant Professor of English at Macalester College. She lives and teaches in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Check out:
Theophanies at Alice James Books
"Apotheosis" at American Poetry Review
"Matrilineage [umbilicus] "at Poem-a-Day
"The Origin of Species" at Yale Review
"My Faith Gets Grime under Its Nails" at Poetry Foundation
and more!
Guidelines
- Please submit one previously unpublished poem of any length, style, or form. You can submit up to 10 times, with one poem per submission. We prefer .doc or .docx files. (Please read our past issues to get a sense of the topics we appreciate.)
- Do not include identifying information, such as your name or email, in your file. Submissions will be vetted by our staff, then finalists will be sent to the judge without the submitter's identity included.
- Please note that we ask winners and finalists to record audio of their poem. Audio files help us expand the accessibility of poetry to anyone who prefers to listen to works. You can find many great examples of recordings in our digital issues.
- Anyone from anywhere in the world can submit, though our journal appreciates topics relevant to the U.S. West Coast and East Coast. Writing must be in English, with American spelling preferred. Weaving in words/phrases from other languages is fine.
- Your submission should in no way infringe upon any copyright or third-party rights. Writing must be entirely original and not plagiarized nor submitted without proper citations, including quotes by other authors, borrowed lines, etc.
- Bicoastal Review does not accept submissions created or edited with the use of AI.
- If you win the contest, kindly respond promptly via email or Submittable (within a week or two), or we may defer to runners-up.
- The winning poet will have time to make minor revisions if desired. Bicoastal Review reserves the right to reject revisions or to get status approval from the judge if revisions are significant.
- Simultaneous submissions are accepted as long as we are promptly made aware of acceptance elsewhere – you can simply withdraw your poem(s) via Submittable.
- Past or current students, immediate colleagues, family members, or close friends of the judge are not eligible. (If you have met the judge once or twice at a reading or event, this is not considered a “close friend.”)
Bicoastal Review abides by the CLMP Code of Ethics. The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses.
We may charge a reading fee, as our journal is unaffiliated with a university, is free to read online, and we pay judges an honorarium. If the posted fee presents an economic burden, email us at theeditors@bicoastalreview.com.
Thank you! We can't wait to read your poems💙
Find us on Instagram @bicoastalreview.
Book & Chapbook Editing
Need an experienced, credentialed editor to refine your fiction, nonfiction, or poetry manuscript for clarity, voice, cohesion, impact, and more? Initial consultations are free. I edit in Word or Google Docs.
Fill out the form below or email me at theeditors@bicoastalreview.com with a bit of info on your project, goals, concerns, and timeline. I love working with manuscripts! As this is not my day job, I will not overcharge, or take on work I'm not the best fit for.
I look forward to reading your writing!
Marina
Note: This is not Bicoastal Review's Fast Response option (if you would like to hear back from us quickly on your general submission, with feedback and suggestions.) Hiring me has no impact on your submissions to or relationship with Bicoastal Review or any of our contests or editorial decisions.