Established 1967
The Malahat Review, established in 1967, is among Canada’s leading literary journals. Published quarterly, it features contemporary Canadian and international works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction as well as reviews of recently published Canadian poetry, fiction, and literary nonfiction. On occasion, it also publishes interviews, essays, and issues on a single theme or author.
The Malahat Review was established in 1967 by University of Victoria English professors Robin Skelton and John Peter. Thereafter, editors have included Constance Rooke, Derk Wynand, Marlene Cookshaw, and John Barton. Micaela Maftei served as interim editor from January to July 2018. Iain Higgins is the current editor (as of July 2018).
Malahat originally bore the subtitle “An International Magazine of Life and Letters,” reflecting the founding editors’ background in European literature and connections in the international literary community. Under succeeding editors and in step with the growing of a truly national literature, the journal became more strongly Canadian, with a focus on Canadian and international poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction rather than belles lettres and critical work.
The Malahat Review is dedicated to excellence in writing. Its aim is to discover the most promising of the new writers and publish their work alongside the best established writers, to present work accurately and attractively to readers, and to increase awareness of Canadian writing in general through perceptive critical comment.
Genres Published
The Malahat Review welcomes submissions of poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction, as well as translated work in any of these three genres, by new and established writers from Canada and abroad. We particularly welcome submissions from those writers who for reasons of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, geography, class, culture, or religion have been historically under-represented in Canadian literary contexts. The best way to know what kinds of work we might publish is to order a print or digital issue, or subscribe.
Submission Policy
- Submissions from Canadian writers are accepted for consideration from January 1 to June 30 each year.
- Submissions from international (including US) writers are accepted for consideration from February 14 to February 28 or until our submission cap is reached for the month. *Please note there will be a small submission fee of CAD$7 (approximately USD$5) per regular submission for international (including US) submissions.*
- We also run four contests per year, all of them open to Canadian and international writers alike, and these contests have their own separate guidelines.
- Excluding any of our contests and theme issues, we ask that writers submit only once per genre (poetry, fiction, cnf, translations) in each calendar year. Contest submissions are unlimited, provided you pay the contest fee(s).
- We don’t publish any work that has previously been published, whether in print or online, even if the print run or online audience was small. No work that has been excerpted elsewhere is eligible for submission, nor is any work that has been revised since its original publication.
- For regular submissions, please inform us if you’re making a simultaneous submission, and please update us as soon as possible with any changes to the status of your submission. For contests, we do not accept work simultaneously submitted for consideration elsewhere.
We pay CAD$70 per published page plus a one-year print subscription and two copies of the issue in which your work appears. Contest winners receive a fixed prize instead of a per-page payment. We purchase first world serial print and digital rights for publication in English; copyright remains with the author.
Reading Fee
Canadian submissions: Free
International submissions: $7 CAD