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 February 14th to May 1st, 2024.

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 2024: The Time Capsule

In addition to seeking general fiction submissions during the spring for our 2024 issue (Volume 63), the editors of descant welcome prose narratives (of both fiction and creative nonfiction) up to 5000 words, relating to the theme of The Time Capsule. See the call below, from current graduate Managing Editor Lori Salazar, for details and inspiration.

The Time Capsule

A keepsake to put away for the future, a token of childhood, a triumphant memory… the time capsule is a means to share wishes, hopes, dreams, and memories within an archive. How can a piece of writing signal to future readers how we live now: how we love, scorn, fear, aspire, and experience the world and its wonders. What do you want to say that cannot be said, seen, or heard unless it is unearthed for our descendants to discover twenty, fifty, or one hundred years from now? What does intelligence mean in the era of smart appliances, iPhones, Amazon, Reddit, TikTok, and ChatGPT? With polar ice caps melting, pollution clouding our air, rainforests being deforested by the hour, and war raging across the world, we still carry on with busy workweeks, and sink into beds dreaming of a better future when we rise. The time capsule will hold a kaleidoscope of human happenings, preserved in pages for future generations to read with fresh eyes.

Please be sure to submit to The Time Capsule, if you are answering this call.

Please be sure to indicate if the work is Fiction or Creative Nonfiction. 

Deadline: May 1st, 2024