Please review these important guidelines prior to submitting your creative work to Beyond Bars.

Submission Guidelines for Beyond Bars: A Journal of Literature and Art

Beyond Bars celebrates the rich, diverse talents of individuals affected by the carceral system and those within the carceral system.

We encourage you to send us your Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Art, subject to the following guidelines:

1. Beyond Bars cannot offer payment, but will provide a year subscription and two copies of Beyond Bars to our contributors.
2. We are open to a wide variety of creative work, including artwork, rap lyrics, drama, etc., but we are not looking for genre fiction or scholarly nonfiction.
3. Work that embraces racist, homophobic, xenophobic, slanderous, defamatory, or offensive language will likely be declined.
4. Swear words may be used for a purpose, but we will not publish hate speech.
5. Please make sure your name appears on all pages of your manuscript.
6. Manuscripts will not be returned. Please keep a copy for yourself.
7. Please send a cover letter with your submission that includes a brief biographical note, and two to five sentences of context, if needed.
8. Our response time varies and may range from four weeks to four months or more. We thank you for your patience.

We are grateful for your interest in Beyond Bars. Please click the button below for submission addresses and additional instructions.