Bacopa Literary Review is an annual international print journal published by the Writers Alliance of Gainesville.* Our Bacopa Literary Review Editors’ blog shows the quality of writing we seek by highlighting work we respect from previous Bacopa issues as well as other sources.

Submissions for our annual contest are now closed. 

If you want, follow us on social media for updates regarding our 2024 edition of Bacopa and when our next open submissions period will be.

Facebook & Instagram @bacopaliteraryreview 

Twitter @BacopaLitReview

Contest Rules

• Submission dates: March 4 - May 2, 2024
• No submission fee
• $200 Award and $100 Honorable Mention in each of six categories
• Authors submit to only ONE category (see below).
• Submissions to more than one category can result in disqualification.
• Bacopa Literary Review does not accept previously published material in any category of submissions.
• Note for recent (2022 & 2023) prizewinners: Please be aware that if you won a prize or received an honorable mention last year, work that you submit this year will not be eligible for either the prize or honorable mention in any of this year’s categories. We love your work, but we’d like to give others a chance to impress us with their best and be rewarded as well.

Category Descriptions

Fiction (up to 2,500 words): Bacopa Literary Review is looking for engaging and original pieces of short fiction capable of capturing and engaging the reader. Unique descriptions, vivid language, and original ideas are appreciated. Use precise language, make sure your work is as polished as possible before submitting, and most of all, enjoy the writing process!

Flash Fiction (up to 1,000 words): We welcome flash fiction pieces that tell an enthralling story in 1,000 words or less. Unique descriptions, vivid language, and thought-provoking subject matter are appreciated!

Creative Nonfiction (up to 2,500 words): We publish true stories, written beautifully, and based on the author’s experiences, perceptions, and reflections in the form of personal memoir or literary essay (for example, nature, travel, medical, spiritual, and food writing).

Formal Poetry (1-3 poems): Sonnets, villanelles, pantoums, haiku, and other established forms. We are seeking words that illuminate the human condition, tell us something new, or just entertain. Send us your best. Please note the specific form of each poem you submit. All voices are welcome, and we are interested in reading poems on all themes and subjects.

Free Verse Poetry (1-2 poems): Free verse, visionary poems, the strange and unusual. Absurd, thoughtful, experimental, political, romantic, funny, entertaining. Give us your best work, unfettered, unrestrained, free from forms—or make up your own form. All voices are welcome, and we are interested in reading poems on all themes and subjects.

Visual poetry (1 poem): Having enjoyed this category so much over the past two years, we are seeking more visual poems. We can only accept images in black and white that can fit within a 6 x 9-inch page. We don’t know exactly what we are looking for—surprise us! Please submit only one visual poem.

Editorial Staff

Editor in Chief J.N. Fishhawk is a poet and freelance writer. He is the author of two poetry chapbooks and Postcards from the Darklands, ekphrastic poems accompanying artwork by artist Jorge Ibanez. The second book in his and illustrator Johnny Rocket Ibanez’s ongoing World of Whim Sea children’s series is forthcoming in 2023 (info at fishhawkandrocket.com).

Managing Editor T. Walters is a poet, writer, and musician living among the orange trees. Their work appears in Nymeria Publishing’s Descendants of Medusa. Books, baking bread, and pulling needle through thread make up a significant portion of their life. They live to connect, create, and marvel at nature’s many wonders.

Poetry Co-Editor J. Nishida holds a BA, Ma, and EdS, as well as a TESOL graduate certificate. She is active in the local poetry community as an organizer, teacher, editor, and performer, and is a co-host of the Thursday Night Poetry Jam at the CMC.  She was Bacopa 2021’s Creative Nonfiction editor, and will lead a poetry workshop for the 2024 Bard & Broadside North Central Florida Poetry Festival.

Fiction Editor Alec Kissoondyal is an undergraduate at the University of Florida pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English. His fiction has been published in Zephyr Literary Journal, Bacopa Literary Review, The Bookends Review, Roadrunner Review, Let’s Stab Caesar! Magazine, Retro Press Magazine, Drunk Monkeys Magazine, The Centifictionist, and The Los Angeles Review. He has a forthcoming short story to be released in Cornice Magazine.

Poetry Co-Editor Oliver Keyhani is a visual and performance artist, poet, and writer. He is a member of the Gainesville Fine Arts Association and a founding member of the Carousel of Souls Curiosities Circus Troupe (CoSCCT). His short experimental poem-play “Children of Gaia” has been produced at the Tank Theater in NYC. His hybrid visual-poetry works the “dada manuscripts”: thé avec dada and the book of dada dandies have received international acclaim, with forthcoming releases planned.

Creative Nonfiction Editor Stephanie Seguin studied English Literature and French at the University of Florida. She has published humor, short fiction, and personal memoir and spent over 15 years as a freelance editor and teacher of languages.

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You do not have to be a member of Writers Alliance of Gainesville (WAG) to submit. To join WAG click here. Membership ($36) includes a copy of the most recent Bacopa Literary Review.