Literary Journal

Kansas City Review

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Journals & literary magazines1 open opportunity listed

About the magazine

The Kansas City Review is a literary and arts journal founded in 2015 with the conviction that rigorous, independent publishing can thrive outside coastal cultural centers. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, it publishes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art on a rolling basis, with a deliberate emphasis on work that is formally alert and emotionally precise. The journal operates as a print and digital hybrid, releasing biannual issues that are distributed nationally, and it maintains a small, editor-led reading team rather than a large volunteer pool. Its mission is to provide a durable platform for writers and artists whose work might otherwise be overlooked by larger commercial or academic presses, without sacrificing editorial standards.

Editorial focus

Founded in 1994, Whispering Prairie Press produces Kansas City Review , formerly known as Kansas City Voices , a magazine that highlights regional talent and welcomes creative work from around the globe.

PoetryFictionCreative Nonfiction

Submitting your work

Reading periodJan 1 to Apr 15

Reading feeNo

PaymentContributor copies only

Response time3 to 6 months

Simultaneous submissionsYes

Unsolicited submissionsYes

Before submitting, read at least one full issue to understand the journal's aesthetic range—it favors work that balances craft with risk, and it is not a venue for genre fiction or polemical essays. Submit only through the website's Submittable portal during open reading periods, which are announced on the site and via newsletter. Include a brief, professional cover letter with prior publications if any, but avoid flattery or lengthy biographical narratives. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but notify the editors immediately upon acceptance elsewhere. Expect response times of three to six months; do not query before that window. The journal does not charge submission fees for standard categories, though it offers a optional expedited tier—this is not a factor in editorial decisions.

We want to feel something when we encounter a piece. We want to be excited, surprised, thoughtful, and interested. We want to have a reaction. We want to share the best voices we find. Send us that one.

Read official guidelines

Submission calls

1 listed

OpenDeadline · 2027-01-01