Geist is a magazine of ideas and culture with a strong literary focus and a sense of humour. The Geist tone is intelligent, plain-talking, inclusive and offbeat. Each issue represents a convergence of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, photography, comics, reviews, little-known facts of interest, cartography and the legendary Geist crossword puzzle.  

Our mandate is to publish emerging and established writers and artists from across Canada, bringing them to a wide audience.

We encourage submissions from writers of colour, writers with disabilities, LGBTQIA2S+ writers, and writers from other intersectional and marginalized groups.

Submissions are currently open. Deadline to submit is 11:59PM PDT on Monday, May 6, 2024.

What to Submit

Before submitting work, read several issues of Geist, or dig into the archives at geist.com, to get a sense of the kind of the work we publish.

Geist is always seeking short non-fiction (around 800-1500 words, flexible), typically personal narrative, for the Notes & Dispatches section. We are especially interested in writing grounded in a sense of place, historical narrative, personal essays on art, music and culture, profiles of ordinary people with extraordinary stories, fascinating fields of work, practices or hobbies, and everyday occurrences that show the humour and strangeness of life. Read examples here. Pay is commensurate with length, usually $300-500. 

Longer non-fiction pieces (up to 5000 words) are published as Features. We pay up to $1000.

Comics: We’re interested in comics that are weird, funny, unexpected or experimental. We pay $100 per page. We publish shorter comics in the Notes & Dispatches section (example here) and publish longer comics as features (example here), max. 8 pages. Please send up to three strips or one longer comic at a time.

Fiction: We publish short stories (up to 5000 words) in the Features section. We usually publish one story per issue, so please send only your best work. We pay up to $1000. Check out our recent short fiction.

Poetry: Send a maximum of 5 poems. We pay $100 per page.

Hybrid forms: We like work that crosses genres or that surprises us in other ways. Send us your photo essays, maps and poetry comics! Your interdisciplinary forms and your visual-textual mashups!

Findings: We reprint excerpts from published work and works-in-progress in the Findings section, along with documents and interesting items found online, or anywhere in the real world. We appreciate suggestions from writers, artists and publishers. Please email geist@geist.com. Due to the volume of suggestions we receive, you may not hear back from us. Thanks for your understanding.

With the exception of Findings, all submissions should be original and previously unpublished. 

How to Submit

We accept submissions via Submittable and by mail, though Submittable is preferred. Please send only one submission at a time, and wait to hear back from us before submitting again. Please note: our mandate is to publish writers and artists from across Canada.

Geist offers no-fee general submissions for Black writers, Indigenous writers, and writers of colour. Please submit through the “General Submissions for BIPOC writers” form. 

We also offer a limited number of no-fee general submissions to low-income writers per submission period. Please contact editor@geist.com to access these spots, which are allocated on a first-come basis. Use the subject line “No-fee Submissions.” Please do not attach your submission to the email. We welcome these requests and will make them available whenever possible. 

Click here to submit your work through Submittable. 

We do not accept submissions by email. Thank you.

Print submissions can be sent by mail to:

Editorial Board, Geist
#210 - 111 West Hastings St.
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada V6B 1H4

For responses, please include your email address or a SASE with Canadian postage or IRC. We accept simultaneous submissions, but please note it in your cover letter and let us know if your submission is accepted elsewhere. We buy first North American serial rights for most original work, and second or third serial rights for previously published work (including work published on the internet).

Wait six months before emailing to check the status of your submission. And please, no phone calls.