Flyway Journal: Poetry
Overview
Flyway: Journal of Writing & Environment, based at Iowa State University, occupies a distinct position among literary journals: it is dedicated to writing that considers environment not as scenery but as a contested, constructed, and politically charged condition. The journal publishes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, short scripts, and visual art, and its editorial scope extends across rural, urban, and suburban landscapes, as well as built and wild spaces. This is not a venue for nature poetry in the conventional sense; it is a forum for work that examines how environment—social, political, ecological—shapes and is shaped by human and more-than-human life. The current call seeks poetry for the Winter/Spring 2026 issue. Submitters may send up to five poems, with one poem per page and prose poems between 500 and 750 words, all combined into a single document. The journal charges a nominal $3 fee per submission. While no monetary prize is offered, publication in Flyway carries the weight of association with a university-affiliated journal that has, over the years, built a reputation for serious engagement with environmental questions. The journal also maintains a year-round reading period for visual art and drama, signaling a broad curatorial interest in interdisciplinary and cross-genre work. For poets, Flyway represents an opportunity to place work within a conversation that is both literary and environmental, and one that is attentive to the social and political dimensions of place. The journal's affiliation with Iowa State University situates it within a broader academic and regional context, but its online distribution and open reading periods make it accessible to writers regardless of geography. The editorial vision is one of complexity and implication: environment as a word that contains multitudes, and poetry as a form capable of registering them.