Submission Guidelines

Issue 3 submissions are now OPEN

General Rules 

• All work must be original. Please don't send us anything that's AI-generated, AI-assisted, or plagiarized. 

• We are a youth literary magazine. Submissions are open to individuals aged 13–25.

• Work must be previously unpublished (including, but not limited to, personal blogs, social media platforms, and other digital or print publications).

• Submissions should be formatted in a readable font (e.g., Times New Roman, Garamond), preferably 12 pt. 

• If your work is rejected, we ask that you wait until the next reading period to submit again. 

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Content Restrictions

• No graphic depictions of violence, gore, or physical harm

• No sexually explicit content, including pornographic or highly suggestive material

• No hate speech, including language or imagery that targets individuals or groups based on identity

• No discriminatory content, including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, ableism, or religious intolerance

Genre Specifics 

Please note that you may only submit to one category per submission cycle. For example, if you already submitted poetry, you may not also submit art. Submit written work in a single document (either a .doc, .docx, or .pdf), and submit visual work in separate files (either .pdf, .jpg, or .png). Please don't send us any screenshots.

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Poetry / Prose Poetry
We welcome work that experiments with form, structure, and language. We are particularly drawn to vivid, striking imagery and a strong, distinctive voice. Traditional rhyming poetry is less aligned with our style. 
Up to 3 poems per submission,  no more than 100 lines each. 

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Prose (Fiction/Micro Fiction/Creative Nonfiction)
We are interested in compelling, original narratives that offer fresh perspectives or explore new ideas. Please include your prose in a single doc, docx, or pdf. No screenshots.
Up to 2 pieces per submission, with a maximum of 2,000 words per piece.

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Hybrid
For work that blends genres or resists classification. If you are unsure where your piece fits, we encourage you to submit it in this category. Please include your hybrid work in any format that you see fit. 

Up to 2 pieces per submission. No word count limit, but nothing over 3 pages. 

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Art / Photography
We accept visual work that aligns with the aesthetic and tone of Lacuna Vox. Black and white imagery is preferred.
Up to 3 pieces per submission. 

Lacuna Vox receives First Serial Rights of your work upon publication. All rights revert back to the author upon publication. We ask that you credit us as your piece’s first place of publication in any reprints. 

White space is absence, silence, and restraint. White space can be emptiness or possibility. It suggests distance, isolation, or clarity. It lives in pauses, in margins, in the distance between thoughts. Is white space a form of erasure, or a form of care? Does it create distance, or does it make room for something new?

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For this issue, we invite work that engages with absence, fragmentation, minimalism, and the void. Consider how silence, structure, and negative space shape meaning in our lives. We encourage you to interpret the theme in your own way.

Submissions are not required to adhere to the theme.

"Citizen: “You are in the dark, in the car..."

Claudia Rankine