The quarterly literary journal of the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University, our mission is to publish today’s vital voices and visions in literature, culture, criticism, public-facing scholarship, and the arts.

The Hopkins Review is a quarterly literary journal that publishes fiction, poetry, memoirs, essays on literature, drama, film, the visual arts, music, and dance, as well as reviews of books, performances, and exhibits. 

Established in 1947 by Professor Elliott Coleman, it was the first university literary journal published by a degree-granting creative writing department. 

The journal ceased production in 1953 due to funding and staffing challenges. In 2007, Professor John T. Irwin revived The Hopkins Review as a joint venture between the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University and the Johns Hopkins University Press. 

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The Hopkins Review

General call

Submit one personal essay, memoir excerpt, or piece of creative nonfiction at a time (generally not exceeding 8,000 words). We do consider work in translation; however, it is the translator's responsibility to have secured all necessary permissions, and any associated permissions fees are the responsibility of the translator. We do not consider previously published writing. Translated writing can be previously published in its original language or by other translators, but your submitted translation should be previously unpublished.  
Our submission fee is waived for subscribers. If you are interested in taking out a subscription to the Review, click here. If you subscribe, please email thehopkinsreview@gmail.com and request a fee-waived link for subscribers.  
If this would be your debut publication (or debut in this genre), please note that in your cover letter. If you or your work would be eligible for any specific post-publication awards or anthologies (for example, the Best American Science and Nature Writing), we encourage you to note that in your cover letter.  
For a sense of what we publish, we encourage you to subscribe, buy an issue, check out our open-access web features, or take a look at the year's sample print issue on Project MUSE.

Creative Nonfiction / Personal Essay

Submit up to five poems (no more than ten pages total). We also welcome poetry in translation; however, it is the translator's responsibility to have secured all necessary permissions, and any associated permissions fees are the responsibility of the translator. We do not consider previously published poetry. Translated poetry can be previously published in its original language or by other translators, but your submitted translation should be previously unpublished. 
Our submission fee is waived for subscribers. If you are interested in taking out a subscription to the Review, click here. If you subscribe, please email thehopkinsreview@gmail.com and request a fee-waived link for subscribers.  
If you have not yet published a debut book of poetry, please note that in your cover letter, so we can consider it for nomination for the Best New Poets anthology, if accepted. If you would be eligible for other specific post-publication awards, we encourage you to note your eligibility in your cover letter.  
For a sense of what we publish, we encourage you to subscribe, buy an issue, check out our open-access web features, or take a look at the year's sample print issue on Project MUSE.

Poetry

Please include only one story (generally not exceeding 8,000 words) or up to four pieces of flash fiction per submission. We also welcome fiction in translation; however, it is the translator's responsibility to have secured all necessary permissions, and any associated permissions fees are the responsibility of the translator. We do not consider previously published fiction. Translated fiction can be previously published in its original language or by other translators, but your submitted translation should be previously unpublished. 
Our submission fee is waived for subscribers. If you are interested in taking out a subscription to the Review, click here. If you subscribe, please email thehopkinsreview@gmail.com and request a fee-waived link for subscribers.  
If this would be your debut fiction publication, please note that in your cover letter, so we can consider it for nomination for the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers, if accepted. If you would be eligible for other specific post-publication awards (for example, the Caine Prize for African Writing), we encourage you to note your eligibility in your cover letter. 
For a sense of what we publish, we encourage you to subscribe, buy an issue, check out our open-access web features, or take a look at the year's sample print issue on Project MUSE.

Fiction

We consider book reviews and literary essays/criticism, public-facing scholarship, and arts criticism (film, dance, theater, performance, visual art, and beyond) year-round. We welcome reviews of work in translation, books published by smaller presses and university presses, and work that has received less critical attention. If you are including work by another artist or artists (visual art or a substantial literary excerpt, for example) in your review or essay, it is your responsibility to obtain permission and cover any permissions fees. Submit one work at a time, but feel free to let us know in your cover letter if you would be interested in contributing critical writing on a more regular basis.
Please do not submit fiction, poetry, translation, or personal essays and creative nonfiction without a critical or craft connection; we consider those during our yearly open reading period for creative work in September and October.
We publish both web features and a quarterly print journal; while we can consider a preference for web or print, we cannot accommodate all such requests, and we will offer digital or print publication based on our current publishing needs. Regardless of platform, you can expect a payment of $100 for prose. (This may increase in the event of increased funding or special initiatives.)
Our submission fee is waived for subscribers. If you are interested in a subscription, click here. If you subscribe, email thehopkinsreview@gmail.com to request a private, fee-waived “Subscriber Submission” portal to submit your work. Subscribers can submit in any genre at any time of year.
For a sense of what we publish, buy an issue, check out our open-access web features, or take a look at the year's sample print issue on Project MUSE.
Thank you for your interest in The Hopkins Review.

Critical Writing

We are actively seeking essays that engage with the seventeen years of literature and culture in The Hopkins Review’s quarterly print archive, available on Project MUSE. These essays could take a number of different forms including but not limited to essays that . . .

contextualize a piece first published in The Hopkins Review aesthetically, historically, or in its author’s body of work
give a close reading of a particular piece
provide a pedagogical framework to encourage and enable instructors to incorporate work from The Hopkins Review in their teaching of creative writing or literature
memorialize an author’s passing and celebrate their body of work using their work in The Hopkins Review as a jumping-off point
draw attention to a newly published book that includes a piece or pieces first published in The Hopkins Review
continue a conversation begun in a piece first published in The Hopkins Review

Special Call: From the Archive

Our second Fiction Made to Read & Investigate (fMRI) Writing Prize contest cycle is open! This time, we invite flash fiction from Baltimore writers, both youth and adult, that plays with "causal structures"; what makes what happen when? How are events related? Rather than a step-by-step chain of events, we encourage writers to get wild with their stories, using flashbacks, interwoven storylines, twists and turns that surprise or shed new light on what came before, and other literary techniques that complicate the narrative. Experiment and get creative—within 500 to 1500 words. The Hopkins Review team will be leading some generative community writing workshops, and the contest opens November 15.

Adult writers (18+) who are residents of Baltimore City (including students currently enrolled in in-person college or graduate programs in Baltimore City) are eligible to submit work to the fMRI Writing Prize. 

High school writers (14 – 18) who live in Baltimore City are eligible to submit work to the fMRI Youth Writing Prize. 

a Flash Fiction Contest for Baltimore Youth and Adult Writers

Made possible by a generous gift from Dixon and Frydman’s daughters, Antonia and Sophia Frydman, the Stephen Dixon Fiction Prize and the Anne Frydman Translation Prize honor the memory of two literary luminaries with deep roots in the Johns Hopkins University community. Stephen Dixon, influential writer of innovative fiction and beloved Writing Seminars professor, passed in 2019, and Anne Frydman, accomplished poet, professor, translator, and scholar, passed in 2009. Through the prizes, we are proud to celebrate the literary legacy of these two incredible individuals.
As Professor Dixon enjoyed connecting with students both in and beyond the Writing Seminars department at JHU, The Stephen Dixon Fiction Prize is open to all current students, all current employees, and all alumni of Johns Hopkins University. This year's judge is ZZ Packer.
The winner of each prize is awarded $1,500. The Hopkins Review editorial team may also select additional pieces for publication, which will receive standard THR contributor payment and appear in the print journal or online. Current THR editorial team members, close friends and former students of this year's judge, and previous contest winners are not eligible. Please do not submit work you have previously published elsewhere. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but work accepted elsewhere must be withdrawn immediately. Contest results will be announced by the end of the same calendar year and will be published in the following calendar year.
Entries should include a single work of fiction, up to 8,000 words. Cover letter should note details of JHU affiliation. Please provide identifying personal information and contact information, along with a brief author bio, in your cover letter, NOT on the story itself.
The reading fee is waived for current subscribers. You can subscribe to The Hopkins Review HopkinsReview.com/subscribe, then email thehopkinsreview@gmail.com for your fee-waived link. You can also email to request a waiver in the case of financial hardship.

Stephen Dixon Fiction Prize

Made possible by a generous gift from Dixon and Frydman’s daughters, Antonia and Sophia Frydman, the Stephen Dixon Fiction Prize and the Anne Frydman Translation Prize honor the memory of two literary luminaries with deep roots in the Johns Hopkins University community. Stephen Dixon, influential writer of innovative fiction and beloved Writing Seminars professor, passed in 2019, and Anne Frydman, accomplished poet, professor, translator, and scholar, passed in 2009. Through the prizes, we are proud to celebrate the literary legacy of these two incredible individuals.
To recognize Anne Frydman’s championing of literary translation, the Anne Frydman Translation Prize is open to all emerging and early-career translators of fiction or poetry, regardless of affiliation with Johns Hopkins University. This year's judge is Lily Meyer.
The winner of each prize is awarded $1,500. The Hopkins Review editorial team may also select additional translations for publication, which will receive standard THR contributor payment and appear in the print journal or online.

    Writers can submit their work to these contests throughout the month of April through Submittable. Each entry must be accompanied by a $10 reading fee, which supports contributor payments. (Current subscribers can submit for free and should email thehopkinsreview@gmail.com for a private submission link.) Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but work accepted elsewhere must be withdrawn immediately. Please do not withdraw single poems from this contest submission if you are submitting poems, as the judge is judging a whole submission, not parts of it. Contest results will be announced by the end of the same calendar year and selected work will be published the following calendar year.
We are defining emerging and early-career translators as those who have published no more than one full-length book in translation. Entries should include a single work of fiction in translation, up to 8,000 words, OR a selection of up to eight poems. If possible, English translations should be accompanied by the original text in the same document. Whether or not this is possible, please note the original language and provide identifying personal information and contact information, along with a brief bio for both author and translator, through Submittable, NOT on the submission itself. Translators are responsible for having secured publication permission from the appropriate author, publisher, or estate. THR cannot pay reprint fees for translated work. Co-translations are allowed; the prize will be split evenly between co-translators. Close friends and former students of the judge, current members of the editorial team, and previous contest winners should not apply. Do not submit previously published translations.
In the case of financial hardship, you can email thehopkinsreview@gmail.com and request a fee waiver.

The Hopkins Review

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Special Call: From the Archive

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