MARY: A Journal of New Writing

MARY: A Journal of New Writing is a student run online arts journal sponsored by Saint Mary’s College of California’s MFA in Creative Writing program. Since its inception in 2002, MARY has published contemporary poetry and prose from a diverse group of talented emerging writers and established artists, including D.A. Powell, Gillian Conoley, Bruce Smith, Elizabeth Robinson, Rebecca Curtis, Carol Snow, K. Silem Mohammad, Matthew Zapruder, and Dorathea Lasky. MARY has also conducted interviews with award-winning writers such as Michael Palmer, Nick Flynn, Susan Steinberg, Michael Pollan, John D’Agata, Jo Ann Beard, Mary Roach, Forrest Gander, and Kent Johnson. 

Submission Guidelines

MARY accepts previously unpublished fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and hybrid genres. We’d also like to make room for further hybrid forms in the artist community. Consider graphic narratives, illustrations, minimal line art, visual art, digital paintings, and 3D digital sculpture. Blend the forms by creating a visual aid for your pages of prose. Anything you believe tells a story. 

Please send no more than four poems (six pages maximum), 15 pages of fiction (preferably a short story) or creative nonfiction, 5-7 pages of graphic narrative, or up to 3 pieces (photos at least 300 dpi, in .png or .jpg format) of artwork per submission. We are committed to prioritizing artists of color. 

Attention to writing as craft is vital, and sentence-level details should be refreshing. We appreciate exploration of the complex, the familiar, and non-traditional forms of writing. Feel free to think outside the box—we’re into new things / styles / formats. Work should be thoroughly fact-checked, if necessary. Please apply trigger warnings if applicable. 

*Submissions for the Spring 2022 issue are now closed.

For any questions or notes on the Spring 2022 issue, please contact Hannah Wohlenberg at hew6@stmarys-ca.edu. 

MARY Submission Form 

2021-22 MARY Staff

Editor-in-Chief

Hannah Wohlenberg

Deputy Editor

Kehinde Badiru

Creative Nonfiction Editors

Sanne Bergh

Faith Hanna

Fiction Editors

Katie Doarn

Bobbi Solano

Poetry Editors

Liala Zaray

Roz Naimi

Faculty Editor

Matthew Zapruder

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If you would like to donate to MARY, please visit our Giving Page and remember to direct your Gift to MARY!