In the ’70s, one of our most well-known poets, Jayanta Mahapatra, started a journal of Indian Writing in English called Chandrabhaga because there was no dedicated magazine for Indian poetry. He used to send his poems abroad which proved expensive and difficult.
For years, Chandrabhaga provided a platform for Indian writers. Many poets who are established today published their first poems in that magazine. Today, there is a growing number of literary magazines in the subcontinent that are either solely devoted to creative writing or run regular sections of original work.
At Helter Skelter, we focus on independent and alternative culture in India, but we’ve also been publishing original short-fiction and poetry as part of our New Writing series for close to three years. We thought it would be great to compile a list of a few other magazines that are interested in creative writing from the subcontinent. The publications listed below are all either based in India or actively seek work with a connection to the place. Each magazine has its own niche which one can get a sense of by reading some of their previous issues. Editors are often writers themselves and we have included their names here should you want to look up their writing.
Photograph by Nicole Lee.
Out of Print Magazine
Based out of India, this magazine provides a platform for writers of short fiction with a connection to the subcontinent. Since 2010, they have published an issue every quarter (March, June, September, December).
Editors: Indira Chandrasekhar, Samhita Arni, Leela Levitt, and Ram Sadasiv
Format: Online
Genre: Fiction (stories between 1,000 and 4,000 words)
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The Little Magazine
The Little Magazine has been publishing contemporary South Asian writing across genres since 2000. It is possibly the only place that publishes full-length novellas and scripts, complete with camera or stage directions.
Editors: Antara Dev Sen and Pratik Kanjilal
Format: Print
Genres: Fiction, poetry, novellas, film and theatre scripts
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The Caravan
They are an Indian magazine of politics and culture that is devoted to longform journalism, and publishes a fiction and poetry section.
Formats: Print and online
Genres: Poetry, fiction (short stories no longer than 5,000 words), and translations
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Antiserious
They look for work that “believes in the beauty of brevity” and struggles with the “authoritarian rule of the serious”. They are closed for submissions at the moment, but their reading period begins on August 1, 2016, and ends on January 31, 2017. They will be publishing an issue in July that they are working on at the moment.
Editors: Sumana Roy, Debojit Dutta, and Manjiri Indurkar
Format: Online
Genres: Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and translations
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Nether
Based in Bombay, Nether publishes literature, art, photography, and work that overlaps across these forms.
Editors: Avinab Dutta, Divya Nadkarni, Mohit Parikh, and Ujjal Nihil
Format: Print and online
Genre: Text across genres
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Vayavya
Based in New Delhi, Vayavya publishes poetry and art three times a year (February/ March for Spring, June/ July for Summer, and November/ December for winter). They confess a fondness for poets who have never published their work before.
Editors: Mihir Vatsa (poetry), Alex Nodopaka (art), Avradeep Bhowmik
Format: Online
Genre: Poetry
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Cha: An Asian Literary Journal
The first Hong Kong-based literary journal in English has a strong emphasis on Asia-centric creative work and work by Asian writers and artists.
Editor: Tammy Ho Lai-Ming, Jeff Zroback, Eddie Tay
Format: Online
Genres: Poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction
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Asia Literary Review
The Asia Literary Review publishes writing from, about, and related to Asia.
Editor: You can see the details of their entire editorial team here.
Format: Print and online
Genress: Poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, memoir, and travel writing
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Open Road Review
They are a South Asian magazine which has published more than 300 writers from more than 20 countries since 2011.
Editors: Kulpreet Yadav, Jhilmil Breckenridge (fiction), Pooja Garg Singh (poetry), Rachel Edwards (creative nonfiction)
Format: Online
Genres: Fiction (not more than 4000 words), creative nonfiction (not more than 2,000 words), and poetry
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Indian Literature (Sahitya Akademi)
This bimonthly journal has published Indian writing in English and 23 other languages for the last 58 years.
Format: Print
Genres: Poetry, fiction, and translations
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The Four Quarters Magazine
Each issue of this Indian literary journal has a theme which is announced a few months in advance.
Editors: Arun Sagar, Sohini Basak, Arjun Choudhuri, Uttaran Das Gupta, Mithun Mukherjee, Gayatri Goswami, Shan Bhattacharya, Avirup Ghosh, Abantika Debroy, and Abhimanyu Singh
Format: Online
Genres: Fiction and poetry
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The Bombay Literary Magazine
This magazine is interested in literary fiction (and sometimes poetry). It seeks writing from India (but also the world).
Editor: Tanuj Solanki
Format: Online
Genres: Poetry and fiction
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North-East Review
They are interested in work that is connected to any of the regions in northeast India, though they welcome all submissions. They also have a children’s section called Moina Mel which is open for submissions.
Editors: Uddipana Goswami, Sumana Roy
Format: Online
Genres: Poetry, fiction (at least 3,000 words), literary nonfiction, and memoir
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Muse India
Muse India is a literary magazine which aims to show Indian writing in English.
Editors: Ambika Ananth (poetry), Atreya Sarma (fiction)
Format: Online
Genres: Poetry and fiction
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Mithila Review
They’re looking for literary speculative fiction and poetry. They are interested in marginal experiences and the fluidity of reality and language. They pay for fiction in their upcoming anthology.
Editors: Ajapa Sharma, Salik Shah
Format: Online
Genres: Fiction and poetry
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Aainanagar
Published in English and Bengali, Aainanagar is focussed on activism, literature, and art.
Format: Online
Genres: Poetry, fiction, and travelogues
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Indian Review
They’re looking for writing connected to the subcontinent that reflects the transient nature of our times.
Editors: Tyrron Leo Whyte, Bijit Borthakur, Prabhat Bora, Lyra Neog Bora, and Leontia Whyte
Format: Online
Genres: Poetry, fiction, and translations
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The Bangalore Review
They’re looking for original fiction and poetry, particularly by new and emerging writers.
Editor: Arvind Radhakrishnan
Format: Online
Genres: Poetry and fiction
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The Madras Mag
Based out of Madras, they are committed to finding and promoting new literary voices. They also publish the work of established writers.
Editor: Krupa Ge
Format: Online
Genres: Poetry, fiction, and narrative nonfiction
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If you know of any other publication currently interested in work from the subcontinent, let us know in the comments.
Jaggery jaggerylit.com
The Caravan no longer accepts fiction submissions.
This is great! Thanks.
Prachya Review
This is very valuable information! Thanks
thetribejournal.com
Earthernlampjournal.com
Great list. Thanks.Ther eis also the http://lijla.weebly.com/ Lakeview Journal of Literature & Art.
https://literaturestudioreview.in/
Informative post.
Good to know there are number of sources from where emerging writers can also prove themselves.
Yes, there’s the new literary magazine The Byword too. It’s fantastic.
Contemporary Literary Review India http://literaryjournal.in/index.php/clri
Choose any picture from our posts on Facebook/Instagram or Tweets on Twitter. Craft a creative short story of 500 to 1000 words based on that picture. Submit your story to us at http://www.picnstory.com/submit.php
Telegram, a new-age literary magazine focussing on emerging Indian writing. It is bootstrapped and run by a team of three voracious readers and none-too-shabby writers themselves.
I guess Telegram can also be added to this list – https://www.magzter.com/IN/Talking-Books-in-Delhi/Telegram/Fiction/
Gratis.org.in – A space for creative writing publication. Check it out guys!
Gratis.org.in – Visit for independent stories written by writers across India
Thanks a ton:-)
If you write in English, you could consider https://www.shortstories101.com/. It’s a free, user-driven website where other users can read and give feedback.
Extremely helpful! Thanks :D
Thank you so much!!!!!!!
Thanks a tonne!
Sir if I make submission.. am I going to be paid for my work??
Great list for a lad who loves reading Indian poetry. Also, check out The Poetry Mail, they also have a free poetry competition, the RL Poetry Award open in two categories, national and international with a chance to win and have your book published.
You have missed two most prominent literary journals:
1 The Muse http://www.themuse.webs.com
2. Literature Today http://www.literaturetodayjournal.webs.com
Can’t actually see where the ‘Literature Today’ people publish their work. And there doesn’t seem to be any way of contacting them, other than by sending them a submission. Got any clues?
It was an awesome
post. I write short stories and in search of some genuine websites which
accept short stories. Hope the sites suggested by you are the ones I was
looking for. Going to give then a try!
Other then above
http://highlightstory.com is also a very good website.
http://maazepula.emyspot.com/
hello,
i have an habit of writing many poems,short stories and even beautiful lines.
let me show a story written by me
*a cute love story
A boy loved a girl who is the topper of his class.
The girl also loves the boy but never told her feelings to him
He tried many times to propose her..
But he was afraid that she may reject him as he was poor in studies.
He always feel difficult to hold his breath whenever he talks to her..
One day she entered the class..
his eyes were completely paying attention towards her..
she was messing with perfection and looked stunning..
she has a warm walnut hair colour,pastel white skin and pluffy cheeks.
her eyes were so attractive with black mascara and seeing her eyes he melt like a cold ice.
even in her school dress, she looked like a model for angels to him..
he was completely starring her small blue eyes and keenly observing the movement of the eyelashes which flutter like the wings of the butterfly..
he could clearly hear the clicking sound of her heels that add rhythm to his heartbeat..
and finally….
one day he asked her a doubt in mathematics…
He asked her to solve a problem of multiplication..
She said okay,write it on a paper and give it..
He gave the paper on which the question was written and he started to move back away from her..
She solved the problem and she felt blushy and looked around to see him…
He went away from her as he felt that she may slap him after asking that question..
She went in search of him and finally she succeeded in finding him.
rushed near him and hugged him and told “action speaks louder than words” but I love to hear those magical words from you..
And he took a paper and made a paper craft of flower..
sitting on his knees and lifted his head a little and looking into her blue eyes he gave her the paper flower and told “will you please hold my hand, I want to grow old with you.
Please be mine forever.
*The question on the paper was (11×13).
and approximately 82 beautiful lines are written by me
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b4557da132e7924f6574fd714f6df2de45c1ca7ef771a7f90cced83d3dac4434.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/eb7e79cd8a286aa9646a360215709507fd74c8329705a28b1bf2fc98c742fe15.png
The above is a very helpful information . someone who wish to work in the above magzines or any other should have the great knowledge of creative writing, for this you can consider Craft film school. http://www.craftfilmschool.com/course/creative-writing-screenplay-script-dailogue
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mulligatawnymag.com
it is very helpful for me.
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Best Acting School in Mumbai
The New Rationalist Magazine (https://newrationalist.com) also publishes short non-fiction and fiction.
This article was really useful to me. I’m so glad for this..
The Little Journal of Northeast India publishes art essays, photo essays, poems, fiction, and flash fiction based in Northeast India or inspired by it.