Submissions
Submission guidelines
Read this before sending work to TSQ.
Send all submissions to submissions@thescandinavianquarterly.com. Use a clear subject line such as Poetry Submission — Your Name or Art & Photography Submission — Your Name.
General
- We aim to respond to submissions within 48 hours.
- Send work that is complete and ready for editorial consideration.
- Include a short third-person biography in the body of your email.
- Attach written work as a DOC, DOCX or PDF unless a specific call says otherwise.
- For art and photography, send low- or medium-resolution review files or a portfolio link first. We may request publication-quality files after acceptance.
- Simultaneous submissions are welcome; tell us promptly if the work is accepted elsewhere.
- Do not send work you do not have the right to publish.
- For translations, identify the original author and source language and confirm the permissions status where relevant.
- Tell us whether the work has been published before. If it has, include the name of the original publication, the date where known, and a link where available.
- Previously published work is welcome for publication on the TSQ website, provided you retain the rights needed for republication and disclose the first publication.
- Only work first published by The Scandinavian Quarterly is eligible for inclusion in our issue compilations. Reprints published on the website are not included in issue compilations.
Previously published work
We accept reprints for the website. In your submission email, state clearly that the work has been published before and identify the original publication. You must hold the rights necessary for TSQ to republish it.
Reprints are not eligible for TSQ issue compilations. Issue compilations are reserved for work first published by The Scandinavian Quarterly.
Categories
Poetry
Send up to 5 poems in one document.
Fiction
Send one piece at a time. Short fiction is preferred.
Essays & Criticism
Send one essay, review or work of cultural criticism at a time.
Translation
We consider literary translation from English into a Nordic language, from a Nordic language into English, or from one Nordic language into another. Send the translated work and enough information for us to assess permissions and attribution.
Art & Photography
Send up to 10 images or a portfolio link. Include titles, dates and media where applicable.
In the Original — Nordic-language writing
We welcome poetry, fiction, essays and literary work written originally in the languages of the Nordic region, including Swedish, Danish, Norwegian (Bokmål and Nynorsk), Finnish, Icelandic, Faroese, individual Sámi languages, Greenlandic, Meänkieli, Kven and other Nordic languages. In the Original brings these works together without separating them from their literary categories.
Submit the work in its original language and identify that language in your email. An English translation is not required; a brief English synopsis is helpful for editorial and reader accessibility. If you provide a translation, include the translator's name and confirm that you have the necessary translation and publication rights. Original titles, diacritics and line breaks will be preserved.
What happens after you submit
We aim to respond within 48 hours. We read submissions editorially rather than by automated scoring. If we want to publish your work, we will contact you by email with any edits, rights information and publication details.
Rights
Any rights requested will be stated clearly at acceptance. Copyright remains with the creator except for the publication rights specifically granted to TSQ.
Compensation & contributor pages
TSQ does not currently offer monetary payment. Every published contributor receives a dedicated contributor page on the TSQ website. The page can include a full biography, portrait, links to books they have written, a personal website, social media accounts, and links to their work published in The Scandinavian Quarterly.
Eligible work by TSQ contributors is also considered by the editors for external awards, anthologies and annual nominations. Writers, translators, artists and photographers do not need to submit their published TSQ work again to be considered.
Awards & nominations
Work published in The Scandinavian Quarterly may be selected by the editors for awards and annual recognition opportunities, subject to each award’s eligibility rules, dates and nomination limits.
For writing, this may include the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions and other appropriate genre-specific opportunities. For visual contributors, we may nominate or enter eligible art and photography for Best of the Net’s Art category and other appropriate visual-art or photography awards and annuals where publication or editor entry is permitted.
Publication by TSQ does not guarantee a nomination. All nomination and entry decisions remain editorial.
Questions
If a call has special requirements, the call takes precedence over this page. Otherwise, use submissions@thescandinavianquarterly.com.