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We read every submission with care, looking for urgency, originality, and voice.
Current Status
Now Open
Submissions for Issue 05: Noise are now open. Please review the prompt and guidelines below before submitting.
How to Submit
All submissions are accepted through Submittable. The Issue 05 submission window is now open.
Submit writing via Submittable →Art Submissions
Cover art & general art for Issue 05: Noise are now open through Submittable. Window closes October 10, 2026.
Submit art via Submittable →We look forward to reading your work.
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Issue 05 — Theme
Noise
Submissions now open
Noise is what we hide behind when silence is too honest.
It takes shape as sound, internal chatter, distraction, interruption, and the volume people create before something difficult can be said. It is the subtext beneath conversation, and the pressure of living in a world that makes endless demands. We live inside it so continuously that we often tune it out.
But noise can also be a declaration. Proof that someone was there. A refusal to disappear. Sometimes what is dismissed as noise is the most direct communication available, while what gets called signal is often simply what has been most carefully controlled.
This issue is interested in what gets heard, what is ignored, and who gets to decide the difference. We invite work about private noise and public noise, noise as avoidance or resistance, noise created by grief, desire, technology, memory, family, crowds, bodies, institutions, or the mind itself.
We are drawn to writing that listens closely, not only to what is said, but to what remains unsaid. Writing that explores the difference between what is merely loud and what carries weight.
A piece does not have to be about sound to be about noise. It has to know what it is trying to drown out.
Rights & Publication
By submitting to Navy Pen, you grant us First North American Serial Rights and non-exclusive digital and print rights to publish your work as part of the issue in which it is accepted, including on our website, digital platforms, and in our print edition. Copyright remains with you. If your work is republished elsewhere after appearing in Navy Pen, we ask that you acknowledge Navy Pen as the original publisher.
We also retain non-exclusive print rights to include your work in future Navy Pen anthologies, collections, or other print publications.
We may use brief excerpts, titles, author names, and bios for promotional purposes related to Navy Pen and the publication of your work.
By submitting, you confirm that you are the sole creator of the work, that it does not infringe on the rights of others, and that it is not under exclusive contract elsewhere.
AI-generated or AI-assisted submissions are not considered. Navy Pen is committed to original, human-authored work. If the use of AI is suspected in the generation or drafting of a submission, it may be disqualified from consideration.
Simultaneous submissions are permitted. If your work is accepted for publication elsewhere, please withdraw it promptly by notifying us through Submittable.
Submission Guidelines
"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."
— Jack London
Short Stories
Up to 4,000 words. Please limit submissions to one story at a time.
Poetry
Up to 5 poems per submission, each poem no longer than 3 pages.
Essays
Up to 3,000 words. Submit only one essay per submission window.
We encourage concise, polished work that fits comfortably within these limits. Submissions that go slightly over may still be considered, but please respect the spirit of the guidelines.
Response timeline — We aim to respond to all submissions within two weeks of the submission window closing. We appreciate your patience and will be in touch.