Interim is seeking palimpsestic work for a special issue of prose, poetry, translation, and visual art. Writers and artists are encouraged to consider the idea of the palimpsest in its original, physical definition, and also to take it in other directions. We're eager to consider submissions of creative translation projects, ekphrastic fiction, erasure poetry, work that's aware of what it's been made on top of, work that renders history's constant company onto the page.

For prose, submit one story or essay. For poetry, up to five poems, all in one document. For visual art, up to three pieces, all in one file. For translations, please include the original text alongside your English version. 

Interim is seeking work that explores the feeling of being unwanted in a social or a physical space. We want to hear speakers, narrators, and characters whose existence inconveniences, annoys, burdens, disturbs, and/or disrupts the structures they live in. Have you ever felt that the world does not want you to exist? We want to feel what it means to be a clog in the machine with or without intention. We are particularly interested in the emotional aspect of being unwanted in social, cultural, political, and economic structures in the US and around the world. We also welcome work that focuses on the importance of “the unwanted” in the larger context of historical and societal change.  

Genre-Specific Submission Guidelines: 

Prose: one story or essay up to 5000 words

Poetry: 3-6 pages, all in the same document

Visual Art: up to 3 pieces, all in the same document

Translations: please include the original version of the text alongside your translation, along with permissions whenever relevant.

From the pastoral elegy, to the ecopoetics of the Anthropocene, writers from all times and places have been concerned with their relationship to the earth—and vice versa. This call seeks work which engages the natural world as dynamic; which incorporates the earth’s relationship to us, or to itself; which looks through Spinoza's lens of Natura Naturans, or “nature naturing.” In other words, we are hoping to see poems, prose and art that attempt to establish a dialogue with nature rather than merely talking to the natural world. 

Genre Guidelines

For prose, please submit one story or essay. Our ideal length is 2000 to 5000 words. 

For poetry, please send three to six pages, all in the same document. 

For visual art, up to three pieces in the same file. 

For translations, please include the original version of the text alongside your translation, along with permissions whenever relevant.

As our series title suggests, we’re looking for manuscripts that engage the perilous conditions of life in the 21st century, as they pertain to issues of social justice and the earth. The winning books will demonstrate an ethos that considers the human condition in inclusive love and sympathy, while offering the same in consideration of the earth. Because we believe the truth is always experimental, we’ll especially appreciate books with innovative approaches. 

Interim: A Journal of Poetry and Poetics publishes two books in our annual Test Site Poetry Series contest. One title will be publicized as The Test Site Poetry Series winner, and the other, thanks to a generous gift, will be publicized as The Betsy Joiner Flanagan Award in Poetry. The authors of the winning books will both receive $1,000 and the books will be published by the University of Nevada Press. 

The Test Site Poetry Series is open to all writers who are seeking to place an unpublished manuscript. All submissions must be at least 48 pages. We will consider “New & Selected” or “Collected” manuscripts including work from previously published books. If poems in the manuscript have been previously published, enclose an acknowledgments page.

Series editor Claudia Keelan, along with series board members Sherwin Bitsui, Donald Revell, Sasha Steensen, and Ronaldo V. Wilson will choose the winning books. The deadline for submissions is December 15, 2024. We prefer online submissions, but will accept mailed submissions, postmarked by December 15, and sent to:

Interim

Department of English University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Box 455011 4505

S. Maryland Pkwy.

Las Vegas, NV 89154-5011

The reading fee is $25 for each manuscript submitted. Please submit your manuscript with two title pages. One title page should include your name and contact information. The other title page should include only the title of your book. Your name and contact information must not be included anywhere else in the manuscript or it will be disqualified. This is done to ensure the transparency of the selection process. In the event that one or more of the board members recognize a manuscript as one from a student, friend, lover, etc. they will recuse themselves from casting a vote for that manuscript. The winning book will be announced in February and published by the University of Nevada Press in the Fall of 2025. 

Visit our website to read more about the series and Interim!

Choose from one of our award-winning poetry collections. We are always striving to publish manuscripts that engage the perilous conditions of life in the 21st century, as they pertain to issues of social justice and the earth. The winning books demonstrate an ethos that considers the human condition in inclusive love and sympathy, while offering the same in consideration of the earth. 

Purchase any of our back issues for $15!