Submit
The best way to submit your stories, poems, creative nonfiction, writing for stage and screen, and writing for children/young adults is through our online system. Please read the submission guidelines below; then go to the Hunger Mountain online submission manager.
This page is about general submissions. You can also enter our contests using the online submission manager. To learn more about Hunger Mountain’s five annual contests, click here.
What We’re Looking For
We’re looking for art with vision, intent, craft, and an ability to transport the viewer/reader into the world of the artist. We believe in the arts as essential keeper and conveyer of culture and history, as well as the best method for understanding, developing, and deepening our humanity.
We accept original, unpublished poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and writing for children (see detailed guidelines below). Interviews and reviews are assigned, so please don’t submit those. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.
The best way to submit is via our online submission manager. Simply log in to your account, or create a new account, click the correct genre (poetry, fiction, stage and screen, etc…) and upload your manuscript. Your manuscript should be attached as a .doc, .docx, or .rtf. These are the only files we can read. Any other files will be rejected unread. Please submit only one piece at a time, and wait to hear back from us before submitting another piece.
You may also submit by mailing a manuscript to the Hunger Mountain editorial offices. It may take us longer to get back to you if you submit through the mail. Include a cover letter and SASE for our response. Please indicate on the outside of your envelope what kind of a submission you’re sending (poetry, fiction, etc.) and send to:
Hunger Mountain
Vermont College of Fine Arts
36 College Street
Montpelier, VT 05602
Fiction
Please submit a typed, double-spaced manuscript, no more than 10,000 words. We look for work that is beautifully crafted and tells a good story, with characters that are alive and kicking, storylines that stay with us long after we’ve finished reading, and sentences that slay us with their precision.
Poetry
Please submit 3-10 poems at a time. If you’re using the online submission system, all poems should be in one document. We look for poetry that is as much about the world as about the self, that’s an invitation, an opening out, a hand beckoning. We like poems that name or identify something essential that we may have overlooked. We like poetry with acute, precise attention to both content and diction.
Creative Nonfiction
Please submit a typed, double-spaced manuscript no more than 10,000 words. We welcome an array of traditional and experimental work, including, but not limited to, personal, lyrical, and meditative essays, memoirs, collages, rants, and humor. The only requirements are recognition of truth, a unique voice with a firm command of language, and an engaging story with multiple pressure points. We agree with Joy Williams that a “good piece of writing startles the reader back into Life. . . . It can and should enchant while it explodes in the reader’s face.”
YA and Children’s Writing
We accept picture book, middle grade, YA and YA crossover work (text only—for now). We’re looking for polished pieces that entertain, that show the range of adolescent experience, and that are compelling, creative and will appeal to the devoted followers of the kid-lit craft, as well as the child inside us all.
Stage and Screen
Please send a print submission consisting of a a typed, double-spaced manuscript no more than 10,000 words, or a video submission, consisting of a description of your project and a link to the video (we cannot accept files over 500KB). We welcome an array of examples of and responses to work on “stage” or on “screen”: film, theater, performance art, dance, dance film, animation, television, etc. We’re looking for both traditional and experimental work, including, but not limited to, video art/short film/recorded performances; excerpts from plays/screenplays; interviews of artists working in the field; critical reviews; and lyrical, personal or critical meditations about the genre/s. We like work that demonstrates an engagement with the world beyond its borders, clear stakes, and a beating heart.
We accept submissions all year round. It may take us six months or more to review a manuscript we receive in the mail. We’ll make our best effort to reveiw a manuscript received online in four months. Please understand—we receive a high volume of submissions every month, and it’s important to us that we give every piece our full attention.
