Literary Journal

Packingtown Review

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About the magazine

Packingtown Review is a literary and arts journal founded in 2009 and affiliated with the University of Illinois at Chicago. Taking its name from the historic Chicago neighborhood once dominated by the Union Stock Yards, the journal is animated by a commitment to work that is formally ambitious, socially engaged, and attentive to the textures of urban and working-class life. Its pages bring together poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art, with a particular openness to writing that crosses borders—linguistic, generic, and geographic. The journal has long positioned itself at the intersection of the university and the wider literary community, publishing both emerging and established voices without regard for reputation alone. Its editorial ethos is one of curiosity and rigor: work is chosen for its capacity to unsettle habits of reading, not for its conformity to prevailing trends.

Editorial focus

Comrades, sisters, brothers, and members of the human family: Packingtown Review has long joined the struggle to destroy the imperialist white supremacist capitalist heteropatriarchy. They resist sentimental urges of the national and canonical. They refuse joyless institutional programs. Nonaffiliated and promiscuous, they embrace translation, adaptation, outsider art, and experimentation. They offer radical solidarity with the subaltern. Skeptical, paradoxical, and always with a sense of humor, they believe that another world is possible.

PoetryFictionCreative NonfictionTranslation

Submitting your work

Reading periodJan 1 to Dec 31

Reading feeNo

PaymentNo payment

Response time3 to 6 months

Simultaneous submissionsYes

Unsolicited submissionsYes

Packingtown Review accepts submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art through its online submission system, typically during reading periods announced on its website. Before submitting, read at least one recent issue to understand the journal's range and editorial sensibility; work that feels generic or merely competent is less likely to find a home here than work with a distinct voice and a sense of stakes. Follow the guidelines precisely—length limits, file formats, and simultaneous submission policies are enforced. Include a brief, factual cover letter; there is no need for flattery or lengthy biography. Response times vary, but the editors are known for considerate communication. If rejected, consider submitting again in a future cycle; the journal's tastes are broad enough that a single decision does not define your fit.

Read official guidelines