We’re still open for your best long stories! Send us your fiction or nonfiction (up to 40 pages). The gates are open until October 15th. Don’t wait until the last moment! Submit: ironhorse.submittable.com

🌸 We’re still accepting submissions for our NaPoMo Contest Issue! 🌸 Send us your best work—up to 5 poems—for a chance to win: $1,000 for the winner $150 & $100 for runners-up $50 for finalists Deadline October 15th. Submit: ironhorse.submittable.com

LAST DAY to submit to our First Book Contest!! We're searching for collections of short fiction or essays. Submissions close TONIGHT. Submit here: ironhorse.submittable.com/submit/33048...

Found a free minute in the office to return to this wonderful book by Dough Emory. I genuinely love the work that's been selected for the IHLR First Book Contest. If you haven't gotten your copy, get yours here: ironhorse.submittable.com/submit/21471...

Last week to submit to our First Book Contest!! We're searching for collections of short fiction or essays. Winner will be published and receive a $1000 prize! Submit here: ironhorse.submittable.com/submit/33048...

🌸 Submissions for NaPoMo Contest are Open 🌸 Each year, we celebrate NaPoMo by curating an issue of ten unforgettable poems. Winner receives $1000. Nine finalists will also receive prize and publication. Submit up to 5 Poems. Deadline is Oct 15th. For details: www.ironhorsereview.com/napomo

Gates are open for our Long Story Contest! Send us your long prose: manuscripts between 20 and 40 pages. Winner gets $1000 & publication in an an e-single issue! Deadline is October 15th For details: www.ironhorsereview.com/longstory

We're extending our Photo Finish Contest. New deadline is October 1st! Image for the contest reshared below. We're seeking ekphrastic work that pushes beyond a literal read of the photo Please submit via this link: ironhorse.submittable.com/submit/32636...

We've extended the deadline for our Book Prize until September 15th! We're seeking short story and essay collections between 150-250 pages from emerging writers. Please submit at this link: ironhorse.submittable.com

📢 Call for Readers! Iron Horse Literary Review is looking for new Readers to join our team! If you’re connected to Creative Writing through a graduate program, teaching, or publication experience, we’d love to hear from you. Interested? Send a brief application to [email protected]

Just now seeing questions about our Photo Finish Contest. Apologies, we're still out of the office so things can slip by. Yes, the contest is open. Image for the contest reshared below Please submit via this link: ironhorse.submittable.com/submit/326362/2025-ihlr-photofinish

"For $150 plus tip every 6 to 8 weeks, I could age the way all American women are taught. Very slowly." #gogrombre Read the 2025 IHLR Long Story, "Last Dye: An Essay," by @amymonticello.bsky.social! It's free! tinyurl.com/568cvsw9

Resharing this year's Photo Finish Prompt! We're seeking ekphrastic work that pushes beyond a literal read of the photo Submissions open in one month: July 1- August 15. Winner receives $250. Nine finalists receive $50 & publication For more information: www.ironhorsereview.com/photofinish.

Along with all our creative pieces, get a glimpse into Mubanga Kalimamukwento's writing space in our newest "In the Saddle" Read it and the great creative pieces in IHLR 27.1! Purchase a copy here: tinyurl.com/57u4exnn

"the bloom of bruises on our/ bodies in all the different colors : reds and purples : / blues and yellows : seemed inevitable" Pick up IHLR 27.1 to read "Geranium" by Michael Battisto and the other great pieces! Purchase a copy here: tinyurl.com/57u4exnn

This poem had such a beautiful moment that made me think, I wish I could write that good. Read "Bath" by Meg Reynolds and the other great pieces in IHLR 27.1! Purchase a copy here: tinyurl.com/57u4exnn

"the missed curfew, you better/ get home, nothing mattered before/ the first one" Pick up IHLR 27.1 to read "Ode to Kisses" by Haley June Gross and the other great pieces! Purchase a copy here: tinyurl.com/57u4exnn

"Ekphrasis of My Father's Face on the Anniversary of his Death" What a title, right? The piece lives up to that promise. Pick up IHLR 27.1 to read Jordan Ranft's poem and the other great pieces! Purchase a copy here: tinyurl.com/57u4exnn

It's a slow Monday, but reading our newest issue got my energy up. You should order a copy and see these pieces for yourself! Pick up IHLR 27.1 to read "Believer" by Jennifer Anderson and the other great writing! Purchase a copy here: tinyurl.com/57u4exnn

"Remember her?... That crazy-haired chick from the outskirts of campus" - "Legend" by Lisa Slage Robinson This piece is strange in the best way and so worth a read. Pick up IHLR 27.1 to read it and our other creative pieces! Purchase a copy here: tinyurl.com/57u4exnn

While putting together an issue, we have to read pieces over and over, and "Calla's Song" by Angie Chatman was a joy every time! Read it and the other pieces in IHLR 27.1! Purchase a copy here: tinyurl.com/57u4exnn

The Iron Horse office is closing for the Summer, but we'll still check in on our social media accounts. Our latest issue, IHLR 27.1, is shipping in a few weeks (you should order a copy 👀 ) We'll be posting our Photo Finish Prompt soon, and the call for the IHLR Book Prize will be posted in June.

Here is this year's Photo Finish Prompt! We're seeking ekphrastic work that pushes beyond a literal read of the photo Submissions accepted July 1 - August 15. Winner receives $250. Nine finalists receive $50 & publication For more information: www.ironhorsereview.com/photofinish.

So excited to reveal the cover for the long awaited IHLR 2025 Open Issue! It's as beautiful as the writing inside 😍 Purchase a copy here tinyurl.com/57u4exnn Cost: $10

Read the last of our finalists: "Skin Hunger" by Julia Kolchinsky And be on the lookout for our next NaPoMo contest this Fall! Winner receives $1000 and all the finalists will be published in our next issue! issuu.com/ironhorserev...

Sometimes poems sit with us long after we read them, and this one left an impression that we won't forget (not that we'd want to) Read "On my first mention of Divorce" by Shannan Mann and our other finalists here: issuu.com/ironhorserev...

It might be spring but we're catching fall vibes in the office Read "Autumn, Amherst" by Jason Gray and the other finalists from our 2025 NaPoMo Issue here: issuu.com/ironhorserev...

In the mood for some poetry? We got you. Read "Le Trappiste" by Greg Sevik, and the other finalists from our 2025 NaPoMo Issue here: issuu.com/ironhorserev...

What a great month to read some beautiful poetry, huh? Why not start with "My Academic Training Wants me to Title This Southern Pastoral" by Tara Ballard" Read it and the other finalists from our 2025 NaPoMo Issue here: issuu.com/ironhorserev...

Our 2025 NaPoMo Issue includes "Love in the Time of Company Towns" by Ian Hall. Read it and our other finalists for FREE: issuu.com/ironhorserev...

Dive into our 2025 NaPoMo Issue! A vibrant collection of poems, including "Hanky" by Jennifer R. Edwards! Read it and the other finalists for FREE: issuu.com/ironhorserev...

The 2025 NaPoMo Issue is live and includes "On my first mention of Divorce" by Shannan Mann! Read it and the other wonderful finalists for FREE: issuu.com/ironhorserev...

Read two powerful pieces by Lindsay D'Andrea in our 2025 NaPoMo Issue: "Ferragosto" & "Fossil Record Reveals Early Cambrian Origins" issuu.com/ironhorserev...

So excited to read the whole thing!

The only thing better than reading poetry is reading poetry by a friend who knows the right words: "Earth is the first home, the only one | to which you can ever return." Congrats, @lindszd.bsky.social, and the other finalists and winner!

"Museums" by Katie Hartsock is the winner of our 2025 NaPoMo Contest! For such an incredible piece, Katie won $1000 and publication in our newest #NaPoMo issue! Read her poem and the eight finalists here for FREE: issuu.com/ironhorserev...

Our 2025 NaPoMo Issue is HERE! Celebrate National Poetry Month by reading poems by our eight finalists and winner! Read FREE: issuu.com/ironhorserev...

Call my year complete when I get a story into an issue of @ironhorselitrev.bsky.social called Unlawful Acts.

LAST DAY! #AWP25. Come see is at Booth 523. Grab a free toy in honor of our Toy Issue.

Next year’s theme is TOYS—so we brought some fun to AWP! Swing by Booth 523 to visit the IHLR Toy Shop and grab a free toy (yes, really). While you're there, say hi and get access to our exclusive AWP submission portal for our current Open Issue and Chapbook Contest! #AWP2025

AWP Exclusive! Our submission gates are officially closed for the year—except for you, AWP attendees! Stop by Booth 523 and say hello to gain access to our special AWP portal, where you can still submit to our Open Issue and Chapbook Contest. See you there! #AWP2025

AWP Bookfair is Open! Come see IHLR at Booth 523! Submission info! Giveaways! Buy an Issue! #AWP2025

Come say hi if you're at AWP!

Read our interview with Laura Evers and more great writing in IHLR 26.2, coming soon! ironhorse.submittable.com/submit/21485...

"He’d come into the empty walk-in closet, as his son used a butane torch to heat up the nail of a dab rig" Read On Merrimac Street by Garth Robinson and more in IHLR 26.2, coming soon! ironhorse.submittable.com/submit/21485...

"[A]t the end of the road, another graveyard, a fact that I suspect is lost on none of us, least of all Louie" Read Wrong Side of the Road by David Starkey in IHLR 26.2, coming soon! ironhorse.submittable.com/submit/21485...

One week left—send us your poetry chapbooks!! 💖

Writers, its the FINAL WEEK to submit to our Poetry Chapbook Contest! Send us your chapbooks for consideration for publication and a $1000 prize! The deadline is MARCH 15—get those submissions in! ironhorse.submittable.com/submit/31890...

Writers: its the FINAL WEEK to submit to our Open Issue! We want to read your poems, essays, & stories, so make sure to submit them by the MARCH 15 deadline via ironhorse.submittable.com

"With his swinging, bulky arms and long strides, pedestrians coming from the other direction dodge out of Hank’s way, as if avoiding a careening truck" Read Little Bandits by Bill Gaythwaite in IHLR 26.2, coming soon! ironhorse.submittable.com/submit/21485...