Welcome to Ponder Review

Volume 5, Issue 2 is now available

Our reading period for Volume 6, Issue 1:

December 15, 2021-March 15, 2022

Ponder Review welcomes

Fiction
Flash Fiction
Creative Nonfiction
Poetry
Short plays
New media
Visual art

Required Format: Times Roman 12pt. All prose should be double-spaced. Poetry should be single-spaced. Include a brief (100 word) bio with your submission.

Ponder Review does not accept previously published material nor does it accept multiple submissions per issue. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but contact Ponder Review immediately if your work has been accepted for publication elsewhere. Do not withdraw your entire submission unless you no longer want Ponder Review to consider it; instead send us an edit request if part of your submission was accepted elsewhere. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in your submission being denied. Please make all submissions through Submittable.

Ponder Review will notify writers and artists of their submission status via email. The reading and acceptance process can take up to 4 months. By submitting, writers grant Ponder Review permission to publish their work and acknowledge that Ponder Review is currently a non-paying market. Ponder Review requires first-time North American publishing rights and retains the right to reprint accepted submissions in subsequent anthologies even after publication rights have reverted back to author.

Accepted work is subject for use in any future anthologies, both digital and print, and Ponder Review asks that any reprints give first publication credit to Ponder Review.

Students and alumni of Mississippi University for Women may not submit to Ponder Review for at least 5 years post graduation or last enrollment.

While we accept past contributors in each reading period, Ponder Review asks that contributors wait one year post publication to submit to us again.

More details for submissions on our Submit page or on Submittable:

10:4 TENN Ten-Minute Play Contest will open again September 2022.

Ponder Review, in partnership with the Tennessee Williams Tribute Festival, is launching our second annual 10:4 Tenn Playwright Contest! This competition seeks to recognize and honor the Southern experience and the legacy of Columbus’s native son, Tennessee Williams, through the craft of playwriting.

The top three playwrights will receive a cash prize, a festival pass, and have their 10-minute plays produced and performed in front of a live audience at the Tennessee Williams Tribute Festival. Directors and actors will be students from the Mississippi University for Women Department of Theatre.

Each play will be read by the staff of Ponder Review for the first round, then after carefully making their selections, the finalists will be sent off to the final judge, award winning playwright, Brett Neveu who will decide the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. Winners will be announced Spring 2022.

1st place winner will be awarded a $200 cash prize as well as an interview and publication in the Fall issue of Ponder Review.

2nd place will be awarded a $150 cash prize, and 3rd place will be awarded a $100 cash prize.

10:4 TENN 10-Minute Play Contest Submission Guidelines

Plays must be at maximum 10 minutes long and inspired by the work of Tennessee Williams, the South, or southern experience loosely defined.
Maximum cast of 5 characters
Play must include character and set descriptions.
Gratuitous language or violence are not encouraged.
Submissions should be Times New Roman 12pt font, double-spaced, in standard playwriting format
Limit 1 play per playwright
Along with submission, include a bio and brief synopsis of the play
Musicals will not be accepted
Plays should be unpublished. Ponder Review requires first-time North American publishing rights and retains the right to reprint accepted submissions in subsequent anthologies even after publication rights have reverted back to author.
By entering this contest, the playwright claims sole ownership of work submitted and accepts responsibility for any appropriated material. Mississippi University for Women and Ponder Review accept no liability for any work used without permission.
Multiple and simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please contact Ponder Review if your work has been accepted for publication elsewhere.
Manuscripts should contain no identifying information and must be submitted through Submittable only.
Students and alumni of Mississippi University for Women may not submit to Ponder Review for at least 5 years post graduation.