Articles (6,000-10,000 words): Articles should speak to the broad interests of the MLS subscribers. We are particularly interested in, and welcome submissions of, unpublished letters; annotated writers' notebooks or other primary documents of literary historical interest; edited and annotated translations of poems, short stories, and plays by writers in literatures of the modern languages; and interviews with writers and artists.
Profession & Pedagogy (4,000-7,000): Profession & Pedagogy articles may address pedagogical theory, practical teaching strategies, faculty/student collaboration, curriculum development, information technology, small college/research university dynamics, interdisciplinary work, institutional politics, graduate and faculty unionization, part-time faculty, tenure and promotion, and other related topics. Creative non-fiction that explores and dramatizes similar terrain, and that observes and articulates what is at stake in these issues for people and communities, is also welcome.
Reviews (2,000-5,000): Reviews must be of significant, intriguing, or unusual primary and secondary source materials. These reviews will assess and underscore those materials' importance either for various research profiles or for curricula and classroom syllabi. Of particular interest for this section are short reviews of scholarly editions, hypertext/internet literatures, visual culture, popular culture, and, of course, novels, short stories, poetry, plays, films, comic books, and creative non-fiction.
During July and August 2025, Modern Language Studies will be open to free submissions of creative writing until we hit our cap of 250 submissions. Modern Language Studies publishes fiction, poetry, narrative nonfiction and autotheory, graphic narratives, hybrid-form work, multimodal/multimedia work, creative audio projects, and blended genres.
We welcome simultaneous submissions for creative work only. If your work is a simultaneous submission, please notify us of that in your cover letter. In the event that your work is accepted for publication elsewhere, we kindly ask that you withdraw your submission as you're able. We also ask that you submit only once per reading period.
All submissions to the creative writing section will be considered for publication in the magazine and/or on the website. We're a small team, and we read all creative submissions; response time can be up to 6-8 months. Please see our submission guidelines below for genre-specific requirements.
Fiction We publish microfiction, flash fiction, short stories, and novelettes/novellas in any genre, tradition, or mode. For microfiction and flash fiction, please submit a packet of up to three pieces. For short stories, novelettes, and novellas, please submit only one piece at a time. Submissions longer than 10,000 words will be considered for publication in our MLS Serials feature.
Poetry We publish conventional verse-form and experimental poems, especially work that probes the intersections of language, lived experience, and contemporary events. For short-form poems, please submit a packet of up to five poems. We also will consider long-form poems or poem sequences over fifteen pages in length for publication in our MLS Serials feature.
Narrative Nonfiction, Autotheory, and Blended Genres We publish narrative nonfiction, autotheory, and other blended nonfiction genres. For micro- and flash-length work, please submit a packet of up to three pieces. For longer works, please submit only one piece at a time. Submissions longer than 10,000 words will be considered for publication in our MLS Serials feature.
Graphic Narratives and Hybrids We publish graphic narratives and hybrid-form work. For the traditional magazine, our interests include (but are by no means limited to) comics, illustrations, digital art, collages, and more. For publication on the MLS website, we are especially interested in multimodal and interactive graphic and hybrid forms, as well as creative audio projects. We welcome graphic narratives and hybrid work that meld genres, including (but not limited to) graphic autotheory.