Good River Review is the journal of the School of Creative and Professional Writing at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky, which sits on the Ohio River. Ohio is Seneca for good river. We publish two issues a year and feature book reviews, craft essays, and other important literary news on a rolling basis on our website.
Good River Review is a home for writing that launches quickly, speaks to the universal through the particular, and is layered with meaning. We also love work that doesn’t fit neatly into genre categories. Our editors are attracted to writing that blurs boundaries, and so contributors will find their work published as prose, lyrics, or drama. In addition, we want to publish the most compelling writing for children and young adults that we can find. The editors of GRR work in collaboration with Spalding School of Writing graduate students who work in an editorial capacity.
Our submission period is open and ongoing. Please submit in the category where you think your work best fits. We allow simultaneous submissions, but please access your submission and withdraw it if it is accepted elsewhere. We do not consider previously published material or work currently in press elsewhere. Please do not submit entire book or chapbook manuscripts. Current students at the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University are not eligible to submit.
Questions? Email goodriverreview@spalding.edu.
Prose writers should submit one story, one longer-form essay, memoir, or immersive journalism (no more than 5000 words typically), or two shorter stories or essays (less than 2000 words).
Lyric writers should submit up to five poems or micro pieces, no more than ten pages.
Dramatic writers may submit scripts for 10-minute stage plays or short films, including TV. We will also consider publishing video of produced scripts.
Those writing for children and young adults may submit work in any of our categories: prose, lyric, drama. See guidelines in each area for specifics on length and content.