Nonfiction Writing Contest 📖🪶
Ends on
Deadline
June 1, 2026
Prize
One winner receives $250, a featured publication online and in a print issue, comments from the judge and our staff, publicity on our social media channels, contributor copies, and is considered for an interview.
Judge
Marco Wilkinson is a writer and translator. His lyric memoir, "MADDER: A Memoir in Weeds," was published by Coffee House Press. His translation of "Divine Invention, or The Celebration of Love" by Franco-Uruguayan playwright Sergio Blanco was published as a chapbook by Albion Books. His work can be found in Kenyon Review, DIAGRAM, Seneca Review, Ecotone, ASSAY: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies, and elsewhere. He has received fellowships from the Breadloaf Environmental Writers' Conference, the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, Montalvo Arts, Craigarden, the Hemera Foundation, and the Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology. He is an Assistant Professor in the Literature Department at UC San Diego.
Check out:
MADDER: A Memoir in Weeds at Coffee House Press
A Gardener's Education (Plant Body) at themapisnot.com
A House of Swinging Doors: This Future Life (Calvatia gigantea) at DIAGRAM
Arctium Lappa in Kenyon Review
Being With What Is: An Interview with Marco Wilkinson, Interviewed by Ashlee Laielli at Lunch Ticket
and more!
What to Submit
Any work of nonfiction – critical, creative, experimental, or cross-genre – that fits the vibe of our journal (we often favor writing about literature, art, culture, politics, ecology, love, the body, feminism, and queer identity). We welcome braided essays, reviews, art writing, cultural critique, lyric essays, and everything in between. What we are NOT looking for: fiction stories, overly academic writing, rants, morality tales, purely family-oriented memoirs, or anything using AI. Your work should be around 1,000 to 3,000 words and can include any art, visuals, and audio you like (as long as we can publish it). If you have further questions, feel free to email us at theeditors@bicoastalreview.com.
Guidelines
- Please submit one submission at a time. You can submit up to 10 times. We prefer .doc or .docx files.
- Please do not include your identifying information (such as name or email) in the document file. Submissions for this contest will first be vetted by our staff, then finalists will be sent to the judge without the submitter's identity included.
- Anyone from anywhere in the world can submit, though our journal tends to gravitate toward topics relevant to the U.S. West Coast/East Coast.
- Writing must be in English. American spelling preferred. Weaving in words or phrases from other languages is fine.
- Simultaneous submissions are accepted as long as we are made aware of acceptance elsewhere - you can simply withdraw via Submittable. (Publishing in your own books or blog is fine.)
- If you win the contest, please respond promptly via email or Submittable (within a week or two) or we may defer to others. The winner will have time to make minor revisions if desired.
- We reserve the right to reject revisions/submissions at any time, cancel the contest, or get a new opinion from the judge if revisions are significant.
- Submissions should not infringe upon copyright or third-party rights. Submissions must be original and not plagiarized nor submitted without proper citations – including quotes, borrowed lines, etc.
- Bicoastal Review does not accept works created with ANY use of AI.
- Past or current students, close colleagues, close friends, and family of the judge are not eligible. (If you have met the judge once or twice, that's fine.)
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, please email us.
Thank you! We can't wait to read your poems💙
Find us on Instagram @bicoastalreview