Yolk is currently ACCEPTING submissions for our:
-Montreal Fiction Prize (May 15th–June 15th, 2025)
-Digital Publication (open to international artists until May 31st).
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).
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Yolk is a Montreal-based literary journal that publishes fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and visual arts in our print (Canadian) 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 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 personal blogs).
- 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 once every three months 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!
Yolk's 2025 Montreal Fiction Prize
Prize Money: Worth a total of $3000
Submissions Closing: June 15, 2025
Judged by: Billy-Ray Belcourt
Yolk welcomes entries to the Montreal Fiction Prize, a Canadian award for original short stories written in English. We are accepting submissions from May 15 to June 15, 2025. The winner will receive $2,000 and publication in our Fall 2025 print issue, Vol. 5.1; second and third place will receive $500 each and publication in Vol. 5.1. The prize 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
This year, Billy-Ray Belcourt, Giller-shortlisted author and finalist for the Amazon First Novel Award, will be our guest judge for the prize! Belcourt has also been awarded the Griffin Poetry Prize and named finalist for the Governor General Award for Non-Fiction.
Billy-Ray Belcourt is from the Driftpile Cree Nation in northwest Alberta. He is an Associate Professor in the School of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of five books, most recently A Minor Chorus and Coexistence.
Yolk warmly acknowledges the generous support of the Conseil des arts de Montréal in making this contest possible.
General Rules, Formatting, and Information:
- We seek original short stories up to 4,000 words on any subject and in any style.
- We will only review self-contained works. Excerpts or chapters from a larger body of work will not be accepted.
- The entry fee is $20. Contestants can submit more than one story, but will have to submit them individually and pay the entry fee for each story submitted.
- The longlist will be announced in the first week of September, and the winners shortly afterwards. Do not contact us about the status of your submission until after this period if you haven't heard from us.
- For all written works, use a legible font and 1.5 line spacing. Though yolk is especially fond of Garamond, 12-point, we do not discriminate against other styles. Should you be compelled to justify your text, do so knowing that you will be choosing a side in a tireless internal dispute at yolk.
- Do not include any personal information in your text or file name. Our readers evaluate anonymously—any submissions including personal information (name, email, etc.) within the text will not be considered.
A Q&A With Billy-Ray Belcourt:
Q: What are you looking for in a winning story?
Billy-Ray Belcourt: An element of the unexpected, something I can’t anticipate in advance, but overall a commitment to concept, subject matter, and language.
Q: How much does your personal enjoyment figure in the assessment of a story’s quality, and how do you separate personal taste from literary acumen?
Belcourt: My personal taste is important in the sense that it encompasses a wide range of possibilities – from the campy to the serious to the theoretical to the erotic. But “quality” is subjective, even when we think we’re operating according to agreed-upon metrics. Matthew Salesses’s book, CRAFT IN THE REAL WORLD, helps us dismantle the supremacy some craft norms have held over us. Craft is how we validate one another’s tendencies and instincts and whether or not we agree to participate in them as well. Which is to say that I don’t read in order to have my tastes affirmed every time; that would be a boring way to be a reader!
Q: In A History of My Brief Body you write: “To be alert to freedom and doom is what I make of my job as a writer.” Is this general advice you would offer to emerging writers? What other advice do you have for emerging writers?
Belcourt: I think this is the job of writers interested in reimagining our conditions of living via literature. I wrote the essay from which this quote comes in the wake of the Gerald Stanley trial in Saskatchewan. I felt called to account for the violence of that trial and the original violence – the death of Colten Boushie – that preceded it. I wanted to write something to remind us we don’t have to reproduce those violences. We can insist on our freedom and our capacity to care for each other outside colonial forms of being. Writing can remind us we aren’t a courtroom, that the world isn’t private property that needs to be defended.
My advice for emerging writers is to think about what motivates you to write beyond the publishing industry. What claims are you making about the world? How might you write toward your own freedom?
Q: What is the importance of literary prizes and what role can they play in a writer’s trajectory?
Belcourt Literary prizes are important because they are a way for writers to encourage each other. Peer validation is something that can keep us going when other things slow us down.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Is this prize only open to Montreal writers?
A: No. Despite the name, this prize is open to all Canadian writers. For our publication, we consider this to be: Anyone with Canadian citizenship or permanent citizenship, residing here or abroad; and anyone that currently resides in Canada.
Q: Is there a theme for the prize?
A: No. Although the winners will be published in a print issue with a theme, the contest is handled separately, and no submissions are expected to adhere to a theme.
Q: Can I submit multiple entries to the Fiction Prize?
A: Contestants can submit more than one story, but will have to submit them individually and pay the entry fee for each story submitted.
Q: Can I submit to the Fiction Prize and to regular print consideration?
A: Yes, though you'll have to submit to them separately and pay the separate submission fees.
Q: Can I submit the same story to both the Fiction Prize and to regular print consideration?
A: Yes, though we recommend submitting separate stories to increase your odds of publication.
Q: When will I hear back about my story?
A: The shortlist will be announced the first week of July, and the winners the following week.
Q: Are submissions read anonymously?
A: Yes. Therefore, do not include any personal information in your text. Our editors read anonymously—any submissions including personal information (name, email, etc.) within the text will not be considered.
Last Year's Winner:
Read last year's winning story and an interview with last year's winner, Sabrina Fielding.
Our digital publication is open to Canadian + international submissions.
FORMATTING
- Writers may submit up to two stories, but will have to submit them as separate entries.
- We will only review self-contained works. Excerpts or chapters from a larger body of work will not be accepted.
- Do not exceed 4,000 words.
- For all written works, use a legible font and 1.5 line spacing. Though yolk is especially fond of Garamond, 12-point, we do not discriminate against other styles. Should you be compelled to justify your text, do so knowing that you will be choosing a side in a tireless internal dispute at yolk.
- Do not include any personal information in your text or file name. Our editors read anonymously—any submissions including personal information (name, email, etc.) within the text will not be considered.
"In Transit" is a collection of work representing the culture of Montreal’s underground in relation to the 68 metro stations. The STM is the beating heart of the city, the transitory pulmonary vein that breathes life into each borough. We are looking for visual art, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction that convey the subterranean particularities of our city.
To submit to "In Transit", simply mention this in your cover letter and at the top of your submission.
Before submitting, we strongly encourage you to read our general submission guidelines. Thank you for submitting to yolk!
Our digital publication is open to Canadian + international submissions.
FORMATTING
- Writers may submit up to two individual pieces, but will have to submit them as separate entries.
- We will only review self-contained works. Excerpts or chapters from a larger body of work will not be accepted.
- Do not exceed 4,000 words.
- For all written works, use a legible font and 1.5 line spacing. Though yolk is especially fond of Garamond, 12-point, we do not discriminate against other styles. Should you be compelled to justify your text, do so knowing that you will be choosing a side in a tireless internal dispute at yolk
- Do not include any personal information in your text or file name. Our editors read anonymously—any submissions including personal information (name, email, etc.) within the text will not be considered.
"In Transit" is a collection of work representing the culture of Montreal’s underground in relation to the 68 metro stations. The STM is the beating heart of the city, the transitory pulmonary vein that breathes life into each borough. We are looking for visual art, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction that convey the subterranean particularities of our city.
To submit to "In Transit", simply mention this in your cover letter and at the top of your submission.
Before submitting, we strongly encourage you to read our general submission guidelines. Thank you for submitting to yolk!
Our digital publication is open to Canadian + international submissions.
FORMATTING
- Submit a maximum of three poems; do not exceed 6 pages.
- For all written works, use a legible font and 1.5 line spacing. Though yolk is especially fond of Garamond, 12-point, we do not discriminate against other styles. Should you be compelled to justify your text, do so knowing that you will be choosing a side in a tireless internal dispute at yolk.
- Do not include any personal information in your text or file name. Our editors read anonymously—any submissions including personal information (name, email, etc.) within the text will not be considered.
"In Transit" is a collection of work representing the culture of Montreal’s underground in relation to the 68 metro stations. The STM is the beating heart of the city, the transitory pulmonary vein that breathes life into each borough. We are looking for visual art, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction that convey the subterranean particularities of our city.
To submit to "In Transit", simply mention this in your cover letter and at the top of your submission.
Before submitting, we strongly encourage you to read our general submission guidelines Thank you for submitting to yolk!
Our digital publication is open to Canadian + international submissions.
FORMATTING
- Submit a maximum of 10 pieces of visual art, each as separate files with the name of the work included in the file name
- Submit your work in JPEG and provide a brief description of the work's intention in your cover letter
- Should you be uncertain about placing your work in this category, do not hesitate to inquire (themail@yolkliterary.ca)
- Do not include any personal information in your submission or file name. Our editors view anonymously—any submissions including personal information (name, email, etc.) within the text will not be considered.
- There is no separate submission for cover art. All visual art submitted is considered for the cover.
"In Transit" is a collection of work representing the culture of Montreal’s underground in relation to the 68 metro stations. The STM is the beating heart of the city, the transitory pulmonary vein that breathes life into each borough. We are looking for visual art, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction that convey the subterranean particularities of our city.
To submit to "In Transit", simply mention this in your cover letter and at the top of your submission.
Before submitting, we strongly encourage you to read our general submission guidelines Thank you for submitting to yolk!
MONTHLY CAP REACHED. CLOSED UNTIL OUR NEXT CALL FOR DIGITAL PUBLICATION (AUGUST 1).
Our digital publication is open to Canadian + international submissions.
Yolk is proud to offer an Inclusive Access category for those who might otherwise be unable to submit due to financial barriers. We can only consider a limited amount of unpaid submissions, so please only use this form if you would otherwise be unable submit to yolk. To this end, there will be a monthly cap of 15 submissions. Once the monthly cap is met, submissions for Inclusive Access will be closed until the following month. Yolk is a registered NPO and the $3 submission fee goes towards sustaining operating costs and maintaining publication.
Further, yolk encourages submissions from Indigenous writers living across Turtle Island/Canada. In recognizing the additional cultural and socioeconomic barriers Indigenous people overcome, we waive fees for submissions by Indigenous people.
Make sure to signal which genre you are submitting to in your submission form. For individuals looking to submit in multiple genres, please submit each genre as individual submissions.
FORMATTING
- For prose submissions, do not exceed more than one piece of 4,000 words; only .doc and .docx formats will be considered.
- For poetry submissions, do not exceed 3 poems or 6 pages; only .doc and .docx formats will be considered.
- For visual arts submissions, the scope of acceptance covers all forms of visual art, i.e., photography, illustrations, multimedia, collages, paintings, drawings, etc.; submit no more than 10 pieces; only .jpg format will be considered
- Do not include any personal information in your text or file name. Our editors read anonymously—any submissions including personal information (name, email, etc.) within the text will not be considered.
"In Transit" is a collection of work representing the culture of Montreal’s underground in relation to the 68 metro stations. The STM is the beating heart of the city, the transitory pulmonary vein that breathes life into each borough. We are looking for visual art, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction that convey the subterranean particularities of our city.
To submit to "In Transit", simply mention this in your cover letter and at the top of your submission.
Before submitting, we strongly encourage you to read our general submission guidelines. Thank you for submitting to yolk!