Lunate vol. 5 Submissions

We will be opening from 11th March - 10th May for submissions of fiction and non-fiction

The theme for our fifth volume is ‘Bodies’. Interpret as you see fit.

For this first themed edition, we are offering an extended submission window to allow writers the time required to develop new work.

That work should be between 2,000 and 10,000 words (please do treat this as a strict limit — submissions outside of this range will not be considered) and emailed as an editable Word doc attachment to submissions@lunate.co.uk. We welcome both fiction and essays (and work that occupies the intriguing hinterland between fiction and non-fiction.) One piece only per writer.

The best indicator of our preferred aesthetic is our published work, and the type of writing we cover in our reviews section — we encourage you to look at both to ensure your work is a good fit.

Fiction: we don’t publish genre/commercial fiction (eg action, fantasy, YA, romance), or work that features sexual violence.

Essays: we’re looking for work that lands largely within the realm of personal memoir and offers a compelling angle on the chosen subject. (The non-fiction content of our print editions is a good guide to what we like.)

Lunate’s aim, online, and now in print, is to provide a fitting showcase for exceptional writing. With our readership growing quickly, we encourage you to send us your best work.

Please enclose a brief, third-person bio as well as your social links. (Despite everything, Twitter remains a key promotional tool for us, as does, increasingly, BlueSky.)

Contributors receive a copy of the journal and a fee of £100 (paid on publication.) Lunate vol. 5 will publish summer 2024.

As part of the Crowdfunder we ran to fund vol. 4 and vol. 5, writers will be asked to sign bookplates for the ‘Friends of Lunate’ edition.

This call is open to writers (including those previously published by Lunate), based in the UK and Ireland only.

As a result of the Crowdfunder we ran in late 2023, and the subsequent direct sales of vol. 4, vol. 5 is fully funded and we will be able to pay our writers and printers. But... if you feel compelled to drop a pound or two in our Ko-fi, that generosity will be very much appreciated, and will contribute to further keeping the journal afloat. Thank you.

We will endeavour to respond to everyone by May 31st but if you haven't heard from us by then, please assume that your submission has not been successful this time. Submissions received outside of the above window will not be considered.