Barely South Review is a literary magazine affiliated with the University of North Carolina Wilmington, a program with a longstanding commitment to the literary arts. The journal publishes poetry that attends to craft, image, and the possibilities of language. For the Fall 2026 issue, the editors seek poems that demonstrate a command of their medium and a seriousness of purpose, whether through formal innovation, narrative compression, or lyrical investigation. The journal operates without a submission fee, reflecting an institutional ethos that prioritizes access to publication. While no monetary prize is attached, inclusion in Barely South Review places a poet's work alongside that of other emerging and established voices in a respected university-affiliated review. The journal's readership includes poets, editors, and readers of contemporary poetry who look to such publications for work that is both intellectually rigorous and emotionally resonant. The curatorial vision for this issue is not prescriptive; the editors are open to a range of aesthetic approaches. What unites the work they publish is a dedication to the art of poetry itself—poems that reward rereading, that surprise with their language, and that engage with the world in ways that are both personal and broadly resonant. Submitters should consider how their poems might contribute to a conversation that values precision, risk, and the pleasures of the well-made line.