Annual Submission Windows:

Spring Print: January 1st–⁠January 31st 

Digital: February 1st–⁠May 31st

The Montreal Fiction Prize: May 15th–⁠June 15th 

Fall Print: July 1st–⁠July 31st

Digital: August 1st–⁠November 30th

We do no accept submissions of any kind during December and June (except for The Montreal Fiction Prize in June). 

Our print publication is open to all Canadian writers. For our publication, we consider this to be:

-Anyone with Canadian Citizenship or Permanent Resident status, residing here or abroad

-Anyone that currently resides in Canada

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Yolk is a Montreal-based literary journal that publishes fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and visual arts in our print (Canadian citizens and residents of Canada) and digital (Canadian + international) publications. Our mandate is to publish fine work by established and emerging artists. 

We encourage submissions from all artists and writers, including those from marginalized communities and those generally under-represented in literature, in particular Indigenous writers, writers of colour, LGBTQ+ writers, and writers with disabilities.

PAYMENT AND COPYRIGHT

• Yolk believes in paying artists. We offer a $100CAD honorarium for our digital publication. For print, we offer $30 per page up to a maximum of $200. We also pay $200 for our cover art. Prizes are handled separately.
• All contributors whose work has been selected for publication in our print issues will also receive a free copy of the journal.
• Yolk does not accept written work that has been previously published in print or online (we also will not consider work that has previously appeared on social media or on public personal blogs). For visual arts, we do not accept work that has been previously published in print. We will consider visual art that has appeared on personal blogs/social media and in galleries/exhibitions. 
• Yolk acquires First Serial Rights and the right to archive your work on our website, though copyright reverts to the author upon publication. 

There is a nominal $3 submission fee. Yolk is a registered NPO and these charges will go towards sustaining operating costs. We will always have a free submission option available for those for whom the submission fee is preventative. In recognizing the additional cultural and socioeconomic barriers Indigenous people overcome, we are waiving submission fees for submissions by Indigenous people for print and digital publication (see "INCLUSIVE ACCESS" below). 

RESPONSE TIME/SUBMISSIONS

• Please do not inquire about the status of your submission. Each submission will be carefully reviewed by our editorial committee, and you will receive a response within two to five months. 
• Though we accept simultaneous submissions, notify us immediately should your work be accepted elsewhere.
• Artists and writers may only submit once per genre per submission window. For the purposes of our publication, this means twice a year for digital publication, and once per print issue. Note that this restriction does not apply to contests.
• Per submission window, prose writers may submit up to two pieces as separate submissions. Poets may submit up to three poems as a single submission. Visual artists may submit up to ten pieces as a single submission.

Please ensure you carefully read all of these general submission guidelines before submitting.

We submit work published in our journal to the National Magazine Awards, the Best Canadian Anthology series, the Best American Anthology series, Best of the Net, and for Pushcart prizes.

For all other general inquiries, please contact us at themail@yolkliterary.ca

Thank you for submitting to yolk