Isele Magazine Submissions/ How to Submit (Payment: Publication)

Isele Magazine is currently seeking submissions of the best fiction, poetry, essays, art and photography.

Isele Magazine, founded in July 2020, publishes notable fiction, poetry, essays, interviews, and book news/reviews from writers on the African continent and around the world. They believe that literature and the arts are an integral part of the daily conversations that uplift and/or shape our thinking. They publish writers and artists who hold a mirror to our society, who challenge conventional expectations about ways of being, how to be, and who decides who should be.

Also, they seek fresh and dynamic voices. Isele Magazine wants to bring its readers the best of new fiction, poetry, essays, interviews, and book reviews. As part of their commitment to fostering a vibrant community, they will publish a bi-monthly web magazine, a quarterly series, and a seasonal blog that will bring their readers the best of the topical conversations within and outside of their literary spheres.

Submissions Guidelines for Isele Magazine

For its upcoming quarterly issue, Isele Magazine is seeking submissions that explore the theme of rituals—both the quiet, personal habits that shape individual lives and the communal, cultural ceremonies that connect generations. These may include the scent of incense in a grandmother’s kitchen, a whispered prayer before crossing a threshold, the choreography of grief at a burial, or the simple ritual of a morning coffee. Contributors are invited to consider how rituals sustain us, how they evolve with us, what occurs when they are broken—or when they break us. How do rituals inform identity, and in turn, how does identity influence ritual?

The magazine welcomes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, photography, visual art, and hybrid works that engage with this theme. Submissions may explore daily routines and meditative habits, spiritual practices, ancestral ceremonies, and cultural traditions. Work centered on queer, diasporic, neurodivergent, or embodied rituals is encouraged, as are pieces that delve into invented or imagined rites—speculative, surreal, or otherwise.

To improve your submissions, learn about writing based on a theme .

• All submissions for the quarterly issue should be submitted to quarterly@iselemagazine.com.
• The email subject line should read Genre: Lastname (eg Poetry: Angelou).
• For fiction and nonfiction, submit max. 5000 words of prose.  Learn how to write short fiction properly.
• For poetry, submit max. 3 poems in a single document.
• For photography and visual art, submit max. 5 images in JPEG or PNG format and include a short note detailing the concept and relevance of your work. Only submit work that you still retain the rights to. They DO NOT accept AI-generated images or artwork. 

Payment

They pay a modest token for accepted work.

Deadline

Submissions close on the 30th of June, 2025. 

If interested, ensure to visit the Isele Magazine Website to peruse their previously accepted submissions.