What We Publish

PEN International publishes short stories, poems, excerpts from longer works and essays. (‘Essays' is a very broad topic and can include (but is not limited to) memoir, biography, travelogue, journalism, commentary and much more.) Longer works that may be excerpted include novels, plays or screenplays and works of nonfiction. Narrative graphic art or excerpts from graphic novels will also be considered.

We do not publish book reviews, though essays of literary criticism are accepted.

Submissions that have been previously published or that are published simultaneously elsewhere, are accepted. Publication will have preferably occurred within two years of the issue of PEN International for which the work is being offered. The author of a submitted work must take care to ensure that he or she holds the rights to submit the work in question, or has obtained permission to do so. This is true in the case of all submissions, but especially those that have previously been published elsewhere (in whole or in part) or that will be published in the future. Anyone submitting work of which they are not the author (e.g. a translator or someone submitting the work of a deceased writer), is likewise responsible for ensuring they have permission to do so.

Please note that PEN International is unable to provide remuneration for any work submitted and/or published. However, we do offer contributors five complimentary copies of the magazine.

The rights to any work published will remain with the author, and may be re-published elsewhere. If a given work (excepting excerpts) is re-published elsewhere after first appearing in the magazine, the inclusion of the following line (or similar) at the end of the text is appreciated.

This story/poem/essay/article first appeared in PEN International, vol. XX, no. X, autumn/winter/spring/summer 20XX.

We cannot publish everything we receive. You will be notified of the status of your submission within six weeks of its receipt.

Each issue is published in a full-length printed edition and as an abridged online edition. Your submission may either appear in one edition only, or in both.

Please include a short biographical paragraph with your submission, for the magazine's ‘Contributors' section and indicate whether you are a member of any PEN Centre worldwide.