We've tried to make these guidelines as clear and honest as possible. If something is still confusing, email us — we'd rather answer a question than receive a submission that didn't need to be rejected.
Aporia publishes work by current school and college students anywhere in the world. There is no age restriction beyond that — whether you are 14 and in secondary school or 26 and finishing a postgraduate degree, if you are currently enrolled, you are eligible.
We also accept work from students who graduated within the last 12 months, on the condition that the work was written while they were still studying.
We actively encourage submissions from writers whose first language is not English, from writers in the Global South, and from writers whose cultural backgrounds are underrepresented in English-language literary publishing. Aporia was built to be global — and that means we mean it.
We accept original, previously unpublished work in the following genres. Work published on personal blogs or social media that has not appeared in a formal publication may still be eligible — contact us to discuss.
| Genre | Word / Line Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Poetry | No limit | Single poems or short sequences welcome. Submit up to 3 poems per submission. |
| Short Fiction | 500 – 5,000 words | Stories under 500 words should be submitted as Flash Fiction. |
| Flash Fiction | Under 1,000 words | We love flash that makes the compression do work, not just trim fat. |
| Personal Essay | 800 – 4,000 words | We are looking for essays that think, not just essays that describe. |
| Creative Non-Fiction | 800 – 5,000 words | Memoir, reportage, lyric essay, travel writing. The writing must be central, not incidental. |
| Literary Criticism | 800 – 3,000 words | Reviews, close readings, cultural essays. Must engage with a specific text or body of work. |
We read blind where possible — your name should not appear within the document itself. All identifying information is collected separately through the submission form.
| Element | Requirement |
|---|---|
| File format | .doc, .docx, or .pdf. We cannot accept .pages or .odt files. |
| Font | Any readable 12pt serif or sans-serif. Times New Roman, Garamond, Georgia, Arial all fine. |
| Spacing | Double-spaced for prose. Single-spaced for poetry, with stanza breaks preserved. |
| Margins | Standard 1-inch / 2.5cm margins on all sides. |
| Author name | Do not include your name in the document. It should appear only on the submission form. |
| Title | Title should appear at the top of the document. Titles are not anonymised. |
| File name | Name your file after the title of the piece, e.g. "the-cartographers-daughter.docx" |
Poetry submissions with specific visual or spatial requirements should include a note explaining the intended formatting. We will do our best to reproduce it faithfully in publication.
We want the process to feel transparent, not opaque. Here is exactly what happens after you hit submit.
You will receive an automated confirmation email within 24 hours of submitting. If you don't receive one, check your spam folder — and then email us.
Every submission is read in full by at least one editor within the first two weeks. We never skim. We never use AI to pre-screen. A human reads your work.
Pieces that pass the first read go to a second editor. Strong work is discussed by the full editorial team. This takes time — and it should.
You will receive a response within 6–8 weeks. Acceptances come with a brief editor's note explaining what moved us. Rejections, where possible, come with a sentence of genuine feedback.
Accepted work is edited in collaboration with you. We will never change your work without your approval. Publication date will be confirmed once editing is complete.
You retain full copyright of everything you submit to and publish with Aporia. We ask for first worldwide digital publication rights only. This means we ask to be the first to publish the work online. After publication, you are free to republish it anywhere — in print, in other journals, in a collection — as long as you note it was first published in Aporia.
We will never sell, license, or use your work for AI training purposes. Your writing belongs to you. We are just honoured to be its first home.
Absolutely. We actively encourage it. We are not looking for grammatically perfect English — we are looking for a voice that is alive. If your English is imperfect but your writing has power, that power is what we care about.
That's exactly who we're here for. First publications are not a disadvantage at Aporia — they are the point. Some of our favourite pieces have been writers' very first submissions anywhere.
Email us at any time and we will remove it from consideration immediately, no questions asked. We only ask that you don't withdraw accepted work after we've begun the editing process.
We aim to include at least one genuine sentence of feedback with every rejection. We cannot guarantee in-depth editorial notes for every submission — but we will never send you a form letter that tells you nothing.
Not the same piece unrevised. But if you've substantially revised it based on the feedback we gave you, we welcome a resubmission — and we'll note in our system that we've seen a previous draft.
The guidelines are clear. The form is waiting. The editors are reading.
All that's left is you.