descant seeks high-quality work in either innovative or traditional forms. We usually prefer poems to be sixty lines or fewer, but we do, however, occasionally accept submissions exceeding this length. descant specifies no particular subject matter or style. Please submit no more than five poems at one time. 

Writers must confirm that work accepted by descant has not been previously published and that they will credit descant as the original publisher whenever and wherever else the work may be placed.

Submissions are considered from 3/10/25 through 4/30/25.

The process for reviewing submissions can take time, and the editors appreciate your patience as we look over your work. Decisions on submissions can take between four and six months. Please do not query before five months have passed.

descant seeks high-quality work in either innovative or traditional forms. We usually prefer fiction to be 5000 words or fewer, but we do, however, occasionally accept submissions exceeding this length. descant specifies no particular subject matter or style. Please submit only one story. 

Writers must confirm that work accepted by descant has not been previously published and that they will credit descant as the original publisher whenever and wherever else the work may be placed.

Submissions are considered from 3/10 to 4/20/25.

The process for reviewing submissions can take time, and the editors appreciate your patience as we look over your work. Decisions on submissions can take between four and six months. Please do not query before five months have passed.

Special call for descant 2025: Memory Mining

Memory is a fickle beast—comforting one moment, deceiving the next. It allows us to relive shared experiences, yet it can also blur the lines between what is real and what is fabricated. In our post-truth era, where narratives are shaped by perception and social media algorithms, memory takes on a life of its own.

Have you and someone else experienced the same event but recalled it in completely different ways? Do you find yourself second-guessing what is a fact and what is fiction within the stories you consume? If you could rewrite the past, how would truth transform into fiction? Give us your wildly true tales of memory or distorted tales of fiction that leave us questioning what is real and what is imagined.

We invite you to share your truth, whatever that may be, however memory has shaped it.

Submissions are open for Memory Mining. Please indicate whether your work is Fiction or Creative Nonfiction when submitting.