“my dear,
we are all made of water.
it's okay to rage. sometimes
it's okay to rest. to recede.”
― Sanober Khan, A Thousand Flamingoes
“The river is time, and we are always
within it – even when we think we’re standing dry-footed on the bank, watching the current pass.”
— Robert Macfarlane, Is A River Alive?
For this quarterly issue of Isele Magazine, we are seeking submissions that revolve around the theme of water. Rivers, seas, oceans, rain, drought, reefs, mermaids, pirates… we want all things water. We welcome fiction, nonfiction, poetry, photography, visual art, and hybrid works that explore this theme.
Submission guidelines:
- All submissions for the quarterly issue should be submitted to quarterly@iselemagazine.com. The email subject line should read Genre: Lastname (e.g. Poetry: Angelou). Include your third-person bio with your submission.
- We DO NOT accept multiple submissions. Please submit to one genre only.
- We DO NOT accept AI-generated work.
- For fiction and nonfiction, submit max. 5000 words of prose.
- For poetry, submit max. 3 poems in a single document.
- For photography and visual art, submit max. 5 images in JPEG or PNG format and include a brief note detailing the concept and relevance of your work. Only submit work that you still retain the rights to.
- For prose (fiction and nonfiction) and poetry, we DO NOT publish previously published works (by this, we mean any piece that has appeared on the web or in print, including your personal blog). However, we will consider a translated version of the work if the original language wasn’t English. For photography and visual art, we may publish works that have been previously published, posted, or exhibited as long as the artist still retains the rights.
- We accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us as soon as your work is accepted elsewhere so that we can withdraw it from consideration.
Submission fees and payment of contributors:
- We DO NOT charge submission fees. All submissions are free of charge.
- Isele Magazine pays all its contributors a modest token.
Rights:
- Isele Magazine requests the first serial rights of your published piece. However, all rights will revert to you after publication. If your work is republished elsewhere, please indicate that it previously appeared in Isele Magazine.
The Isele Prizes
- All accepted submissions are automatically considered for The Isele Prizes.
Deadline: 7th November 2026We will respond to every submission no later than two months from the submission deadline. If you have not heard from us within two months, please feel free to send a query to quarterly@iselemagazine.com.