• Spring Issue: Open Winter 2025

• Fall Issue: Open Summer 2026

• When our submission window closes, our editorial team will begin reviewing submissions. Whether your work is accepted or rejected, you will receive an email from us letting you know about the status of your work. Please allow 60 days after the submission window closes before contacting us about your work, as our editorial team is small and we are working with a large volume of submissions.

• Accepted pieces will be published digitally in our Spring 2026 issue of The Uncommon GRACKle, which will be posted on the GRAC website.

We are currently seeking literary fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual art.
Genre fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, romance, erotica, etc.) is generally not accepted—unless your piece truly defies the rule.

• Fiction: One piece up to 3,000 words

• Creative Nonfiction: One piece up to 3,000 words

• Poetry: 2-3 poems, reasonable length

• Visual Art: 2-3 pieces of any medium (photography, collage, painting, etc.)

We seek works with deep, emotional resonance and empathy for the human experience. We love to be surprised or caught off guard by the work we’re reading. If you’ve got a story, poem, or piece of art that feels like it doesn’t quite belong anywhere else, it might find a safe haven with us. If you can play our heartstrings, even better. We want to share stories, poetry, and art that challenge and diversify our minds and the minds of our readers. We welcome all creators from all demographics, including marginalized writers/artists who identify as neurodivergent, LGBTQIA+, and/or BIPOC, to name a few.

While rooted in the Gateway region of Kentucky, submissions are welcome from everywhere.

We currently cannot offer payment for publication.
However, selected work will be featured online and promoted through GRAC social media and events.

• No previously published or reprinted work (blogs and social media count as published).

• Previously rejected work, even revised, is not eligible.

• No AI-generated content.

• Work that is needlessly violent, offensive, or appropriative will not be considered.

• While our max word count is 3,000 words, our sweet spot for fiction/nonfiction exists between 1,200-2,000 words. In that same hand, we also prefer shorter, tighter poems. (Odes and epics might not be the right fit for us.)

• We admire, appreciate, and respect visual art in all its forms, we usually receive photography submissions the most, and we would love to see other forms of art.

• We’re keen on Kentucky/Appalachian writers/art, but it’s not exclusionary.

• We greatly admire debut/emerging writers/artists. If you’ve got a couple of published books under your belt, your work might be best suited elsewhere.

• We do read cover letters in emails, but the impact/quality of your work is what we are paying most attention to. We love a simple, concise cover letter—keep the egos at bay, please, and let your work do the talking for you.

• File formats accepted: .doc, .docx, .pdf, .jpeg, .png

• Simultaneous submissions allowed—notify us immediately if accepted elsewhere.

• Follow Shunn Manuscript Format

• Submissions must be submitted via the required Jotform. Email submissions are not allowed.

• All submissions are due by 11:59 PM, December 31, 2025.

For questions about submissions or anything related to The Uncommon GRACkle, please email us at uncommongrackle@grackentucky.org