FAQ

  • Our core belief is that everyone deserves the opportunity to have their voice heard. We uphold this by fostering diversity (supporting marginalized creators and being made up of an entirely BIPOC-student staff), prioritizing accessibility (free submissions, 72-hour response time, multidisciplinary), and creating a community where everyone can feel welcome.

    Read more about our story here.

  • Our submission window is currently:

    January 1–March 15

    April 1–June 15

    July 1–September 15

    October 1–December 15.

  • One piece from each issue will be awarded The Aperture Award: a $20 monetary payment, selected by the editors for outstanding work. Pieces will be judged on craft, creativity, and skill, regardless of genre/medium.

  • We nominate for Best of the Net, the Pushcart Prize, Best New Poets, Best Microfictions, and Best Small Fictions.

  • We are proud to have a 3 day response time here at the Bokeh Review. After 5 days, you may query your submission through our Contact form.

  • In alignment with our mission of diverse voices, we accept many different types of artistic work across multiple disciplines. We are a by-youth-for-youth magazine, so we do have a soft spot for more experimental contemporary work.

    Some of our favorite pieces include:

    “Beautiful Short Loser” by Ocean Vuong

    “Birthday Poem” by Ivi Hua

    “The Hunted” by Kaya Dierks

  • The Bokeh Review reserves the right to ignore work that expresses any amount of racism, sexism, xenophobia, antisemitism, homophobia, ableism, or any other form of hate speech. Offensive writing or art will automatically be disqualified from consideration and is not tolerated.

  • Artificial intelligence actively harms creators, artistry, jobs, critical thinking, humanity, and the planet. The use of it to generate, modify, or otherwise be involved in the production of any part of the submitted piece is strictly prohibited.

  • We offer feedback for writing only for a $5 fee per piece. Detailed feedback is provided by the Editor-In-Chief in collaboration with multiple editors. Select “I would like feedback on my work” in the submission form and pay through our ko-fi under the same name https://ko-fi.com/s/cbf491ece7. Feedback must be purchased for each piece you would like feedback on (1 purchase will not cover the entire submission.)

  • The Bokeh Review is currently entirely funded by the Editor-in-Chief & Founder and operates as a not-for-profit publication. Feedback purchases and donations are greatly appreciated and help sustain the magazine and its mission. We accept donations through Kofi.

  • If your piece has not been previously published, we ask for First Serial Rights upon publication and for you to kindly credit The Bokeh Review as the piece’s first place of publication in future reprints. Rights revert to the creator upon publication. For re-publications, The Bokeh Review receives non-exclusive reprint rights. All writers/artists are responsible for making sure they have the rights to their work before submitting.