Guidelines for Contributors

Geist is a magazine of ideas and culture made in Canada with a strong literary focus and a sense of humour. The Geist tone is intelligent, plain-talking, inclusive and offbeat. Each issue reflects a convergence of fiction, non-fiction, photography, comix, reviews, little-known facts of interest, poetry, cartography and the legendary Geist crossword puzzle. At the heart of our enterprise is the imaginary country that some of us inhabit from time to time, and which often has something to do with Canada.

Before submitting work, please read an issue of the magazine, and while you’re at it, why not read (or reread) George Orwell’s pertinent essay “Politics and the English Language”?

We are always on the lookout for:

Notes and dispatches Non-fiction, usually personal narrative, 200 to 1,000 words.

Findings Excerpts from works in progress and published work: short stories, poetry, non-fiction, 300 to 1,500 words. Also drawings and photographs.

Features Longer essays and stories, 2,000 to 5,000 words. We don’t usually publish reviews, except by Geist staff and correspondents in the Endnotes section, but we will always read critical essays dealing with issues of the imagination as reflected, for instance, in the work of one or more authors.

Photographs, drawings, graphics and comix We always need great visuals. We try for thematic and tonal compatibility. When submitting artwork, send photocopies only–no originals–or a link to your website.

Please send your manuscript as hard copy in an envelope, not by e-mail or fax. (We’ll just return it and ask you to send it again the old-fashioned way.) And please include SASE with Canadian postage or IRC.

Send submissions to:

Editorial Board, Geist
#200-341 Water Street
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada V6B 1B8