Covert Literary Magazine Issue 5 open for submissions

Submissions are invited in the form of original poetry, prose (fiction and non-fiction), theatrical scenes, audio/visual and artwork.

Issue 5 guest editors Akila Richards and Sea Sharp are offering the following guidance on the theme. “What does rest taste like? How does it feel to let rest embrace you? What is it like to play and experience rest, euphoria and abundant joy? Is it remembering freedom?

“We challenge you to wander beyond the usual meaning of rest, beyond laying down and exhaling. So consider this: Rest may come to you in daydreams with a message. Rest may be a form of protest or political act or sacred practice. Or could it be that rest is a vision of the impossible or the act of travelling back to rectify or mend something – possibly something damaged generations ago? Rest may peel you back to another self to reveal another.

“And where does rest lay itself – on the rest of us – who carry melanated bodies, people being targeted for stress? Is there an urgency for rest beyond surviving? When do we lie fallow? How do we rest collectively and for each other? Maybe rest is a guilt trip to the incessant demands on us and we avoid it. And how dare we rest in a world that is in conflict, in a crisis, exerts cruelty and commits genocides? What happens after rest?

“Run with these ideas, and we will follow you the rest of the way!”

Submissions guidance

The submissions portal will be open from 10am, Monday 10 March until 10am, Monday 7 April 2025. Publication decisions will be shared on Monday 5 May. There will then be an editing period, and the deadline for sending final pieces will be Monday 26 May.

For this issue, we are accepting original fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, audio/visual and artwork.

For all written entries, please upload as .doc or .docx files. In the interests of accessibility, where possible, please use size 14 font and 1.5 to double line spacing (single line spacing for poetry).

For visual art, we only consider high-resolution images. If you are submitting larger works with high megabytes, please consider sending via WeTransfer or Google Drive.

• Poetry (free verse, formal verse and anything in between): a maximum of 40 lines per poem and a maximum of five pages, submitted in the same document.Please be aware that our magazine is published in A5 size which may affect poetry with very long lines.
• Fiction: A maximum of two pieces per entrant. Maximum of 2,500 words. For short stories maximum of 750 words.
• Non-fiction: A maximum of two pieces per entrant. Creative non-fiction – maximum of 2,500 words. Flash creative non-fiction, maximum of 750 words.
• Drama: A maximum of two pieces per entrant. Stage plays – maximum of two A4 pages. Screenplays – maximum of two A4 pages. Play extracts and monologues are welcome.
• Audio-visual: Maximum two minutes each piece. Maximum of two pieces.
• Visual art (photographic images, drawings, sketches, paintings, collages): Maximum of three works submitted in .png/.jpg/.jpeg format. For your artwork/photo to be considered for the cover art please submit in A4 format or aspect ratio 1:2.

Submit your work

Submissions must be received by 10am on Monday 7 April 2025.

Successful contributors will be offered a fee of £35 per person (we currently do not have the resources to pay for multiple successful submissions, only per artist selected).

Submissions portal – please submit your work here
Submissions guidance in PDF form

Best of luck!

Find out more about Covert Literary Magazine