Washington Writers' Publishing House
Washington Writers' Publishing House publishes poetry and prose (fiction or CNF) in a biweekly journal, WWPH Writes. The journal is featured on our website on the second and fourth Friday of every month. We are happy to consider never-published original prose (fiction or CNF) and poetry as well as reprints from recent or upcoming collections from writers living in Washington, D.C. Maryland and Virginia. We do not charge for submissions, but there is an optional tip jar to help us maintain the site.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Please read all of the following guidelines carefully.
Eligibility: You must be a resident of the District of Columbia, Maryland or Virginia.
Prose - either short fiction or creative nonfiction, or a novel excerpt: Send one story or novel excerpt up to 1,000 words. Double-spaced, standard 12-point font. Please identify on your manuscript fiction or CNF. Word doc is preferred.
Poetry: Send a single file containing 1-3 poems (max. 5 pages). Standard 12-point font.
PLEASE NOTE: You may re-publish your work that appears on the site after 60 days, and we ask that you credit us in future publications.
Be sure to withdraw your submission immediately upon acceptance elsewhere.
INQUIRIES: Email our editors at: wwphpress@gmail.com
The Washington Writers’ Publishing House, is a non-profit, cooperative literary organization that has published over 100 volumes of poetry since 1975 as well as fiction and nonfiction. The press sponsors three annual competitions for writers living in DC, Maryland, and Virginia, and the winners of each category (one each in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction) comprise our annual slate. In 2021, WWPH launched an online literary journal, WWPH WRITES to expand our mission to further the creative work of writers in our region. In 2024, WWPH launched our biennial works in translation series. More about the Washington Writers' Publishing House at www.washingtonwriters.org
We invite you to contribute to AMERICA’S FUTURE, an anthology of poetry and prose (fiction and creative nonfiction) by the Washington Writers’ Publishing House scheduled to be published in September 2025. We are the nation’s longest, continuously operating cooperative literary nonprofit press in the United States
We plan to explore our nation’s hopes, dreams, and challenges through a literary lens.
Why now?
To celebrate the Washington Writers’ Publishing House’s 50th anniversary and the Nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026.
As literary artists we believe that while the past should never be forgotten; it is also critical that imagine the possibilities of the future, in writings across genre and form.
We seek poems/stories that grapple with the past or present as they look toward tomorrow and the unknown. We want the realities of challenges and conflict and insights of America in 2025 and beyond resonant in your work.
We seek poetry and stories that enlighten us on what could be possible; what we wish could come next; or what we hope will never come next (but still dare to write about it). We aim to have this anthology be a mix of lighter and darker themes.
We seek creative works that bring America forth in setting, character, and/or themes.
We seek creative works focused on the future in any timeframe—one minute from now, a year, a decade, a hundred years, etc. We want forward-looking pieces. We are not looking back.
We are not seeking easy answers or inspirational work. We are looking for poetry and stories of the highest literary quality.
General Guidelines:
1. We do seek diverse voices. We aim to have America’s Future be an inclusive anthology representing the richness of the voices that have roots in DC, Maryland, and Virginia.
2. We acquire First North American serial rights, and payment is a $25.00 honorarium made possible by our grant from the Amazon Literary Partnership .
3. No simultaneous submissions please.
4. WWPH does not accept work that has been previously published or curated, in print or online—work cannot have been published in books, magazines, or similar collections open to the public. We want to be the first publisher to highlight the work s, but never want to discourage anyone from sharing their poems themselves. For more on this, read "Uncurated: The Case for a New Term of Art."
5. Please submit no more than 3 single-spaced poems at a time, with a maximum of 5 pages per total submission.
6. Any prose up to 2,500 words
7. Writers must have some connection to DC, Maryland or Virginia (i.e. a writer does not need to reside in the DMV at this time, but might have lived here at one point or have a close connection to the DMV)
8. All writers will be given the opportunity to participate in a reading (live or via zoom) to share their work and ideas
Please read our last anthology, This Is What America Looks Like: Poetry and Prose from DC, Maryland, and Virginia, edited by Caroline Bock and Jona Colson (the same editors for America’s Future)and WWPH Writes (https://www.washingtonwriters.org/wwph-writes/) for the kind of literary writing that we have published.
9. No AI-generated or AI-assisted work will be considered. You can use AI to research or make notes, but every line, word, and punctuation mark must come from you, or if it is inspired by another work or resource, you must provide attribution. Original work only.
10. Only ONE submission per category.
Cover Letter:
Include a brief cover letter. Be sure to list the title(s) of the piece (s) you are sending and a 50-word max. biographical statement. No simultaneous submissions please.
For inquiries or to be considered for a fee waiver, email our editors at: