The theme of our Spring 2026 edition is:
A FORMAL FEELING
Submission period: August 1, 2025 - September 30, 2025
August 1 - 14, 2025: Free submissions (may close early if Submittable's caps are reached)
August 15, 2025 - September 30, 2025: Paid submissions ($3)*
Translation submissions are free throughout the entire period
Guest Editors for Poetry:
Sherre Vernon & Jeremy Teddy Karn
“After great pain, a formal feeling comes,” Emily Dickinson noted. Writers have long employed formal constraint to contain intense emotion. Sometimes, the feeling itself is formal, static, stiff, ceremonious. Time collapses and “the Feet, mechanical, go round” until we can let go.
For this issue, send us formal experimentation and traditional forms; send your work of letting go and your work in the wake of great pain; send us your mechanical feet and your compressed time; the intensity that can barely be articulated and the cavities carved out by the heat of the moment after they’ve hardened and cooled.
General guidelines:
We welcome your previously unpublished stories, essays, poetry, graphic art, and genres that have no name. (We consider self-published work and work posted on internet venues, personal websites and social media as previously published.)
- Only one submission per reading period, please! Multiple submissions (including submissions to multiple genres) will be automatically disqualified.
- We will consider simultaneous submissions but ask that you retract your work immediately if it is accepted for publication elsewhere.
- If your work appears in our current or previous issue, we kindly ask that you refrain from submitting to our upcoming issue.
- Please include a short bio (50 -100 words) with your submission.
- We welcome unpublished translations of original work, provided the translator has obtained permission from the author. Please include a copy of the original work.
- We welcome work that challenges conventions of form, style, and content.
- We retain first serial rights to work published in The Ilanot Review. At the time of publication, all rights revert back to the author. However, The Ilanot Review retains the right to publish the piece(s) in any subsequent issue or anthology, whether in print or online. Should you decide to republish the piece elsewhere, we kindly ask that you cite The Ilanot Review as a place of previous publication.
- See individual submission categories for specific guidelines.
* The Ilanot Review is a volunteer operation. Submission fees go towards our web hosting fees and Submittable service fees.
We are currently accepting submissions for our A FORMAL FEELING issue.
Reading Poetry for this Issue: Guest Editors Sherre Vernon & Jeremy Teddy Karn; Poetry Editor Marcela Sulak
Submit up to five poems, not exceeding 7 pages, in a single Word file. Each poem should begin on a separate page. Please include your name and contact information on each page. Please include a brief (75-100 word) author bio.
We welcome simultaneous submissions, but please inform us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
We do NOT allow multiple submissions during the same reading period (including submissions to multiple genres). Multiple submissions will be automatically disqualified. We receive a high volume of work and try very hard to respond quickly. If your work is declined, please wait for the next issue of The Ilanot Review to submit again.
We are currently accepting submissions for our A FORMAL FEELING issue.
Reading Fiction for this Issue: Editors Taylor Johnston-Levy, Karen Marron, and Nadia Jacobson
Please submit one story up to 3,000 words long or 1-3 works of flash/microfiction, up to 500 words each.
Please note that we do NOT allow multiple submissions during the same reading period (including submissions to multiple genres). Multiple submissions will be automatically disqualified. We receive a high volume of work and try very hard to respond quickly. If your work is declined, please wait for the next issue of the Ilanot Review to submit again.
We are currently accepting submissions for our A FORMAL FEELING issue.
Reading CNF for this Issue: Jane Medved & Karen Marron
Submit one essay up to 4,000 words long or 1-3 works of flash/micro-CNF, up to 500 words each
We welcome work that challenges conventions of form, style and content.
Please note that we do NOT allow multiple submissions during the same reading period (including submissions to multiple genres). Multiple submissions will be automatically disqualified. We receive a high volume of work and try very hard to respond quickly. If your work is declined, please wait for the next issue of the Ilanot Review to submit again.
We are currently accepting submissions for our A FORMAL FEELING issue.
Paintings, drawings, comics, photography and other forms of visual art are welcome. Artwork submitted to this category will be considered for inclusion within the journal’s pages and as cover art. Up to six images per submitter.
Please note that we do NOT allow multiple submissions during the same reading period (including submissions to multiple genres). Multiple submissions will be automatically disqualified. We receive a high volume of work and try very hard to respond quickly. If your work is declined, please wait for the next issue of The Ilanot Review to submit again.
**PLEASE NOTE** This category is for translations ONLY. Original work that is not in translation will be declined unread.
We are currently accepting submissions for our A FORMAL FEELING issue. We welcome unpublished translations into English from any language, provided the translator has obtained permission from the author (or vice versa, if the author is submitting). Please include a copy of the original work.
Word limits:
- Poetry: Up to 5 poems, not to exceed 7 pages. Please submit all work + bio in a single Word file, with each poem beginning on a separate page. Please include your name and contact information on each page.
- Fiction: One story of up to 3000 words, or up to 3 flash pieces up to 500 words each.
- Creative Nonfiction: One essay of up to 4000 words, or up to 3 flash pieces, no longer than 500 words each.