Carnegie Mellon University Press Announces an Open Reading Period for Poetry and Fiction from August 15 to September 15, 2025
Poetry Submissions
Eligibility: Submissions to the Poetry Series are open to any poet writing in English who adheres to the guidelines detailed on Submittable and pays the $25 reading fee.
Manuscripts must be complete and at least 48 pages, exclusive of front matter.
Submitting: Manuscripts for the Poetry Series should be sent during the open reading period of August 15 – September 15. All submissions must be sent through Submittable, a platform that allows you to enter your manuscript, provide your contact information, and check the status of your submission.
Reading Fee: Each manuscript must be accompanied by a $25.00 reading fee, payable through Submittable at the time of your submission.
Simultaneous Submissions: Manuscripts being considered by other publishers are allowed, but if a manuscript is accepted for publication elsewhere, please notify the Press, and withdraw your manuscript through Submittable, as soon as possible.
Results: The Press receives hundreds of manuscripts during each open period. Each manuscript is read with the care it deserves, but the large number of submissions means that we are unable to provide critiques or enter into correspondence of any sort with writers other than those whose manuscripts are accepted for publication. Thank you for understanding.
If you have any questions about these guidelines, please email cmupress-literary@andrew.cmu.edu.
Fiction Submissions
Eligibility
Collections of short fiction and full length novels will be considered if they meet the following criteria:
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The submitted work must be in English, regardless of the first language of the author.
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Eligible submissions include an unpublished manuscript of short stories; two or more novellas (a novella may comprise a maximum of 130 double-spaced typed pages); a combination of one or more novellas and short stories; or a complete novel. Novellas are only accepted as part of a larger collection. Manuscripts may be no fewer than 150 and no more than 300 pages. Prior publication of your manuscript as a whole in any format (including electronic) makes it ineligible.
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Stories or novellas previously published in magazines or journals or in book form as part of an anthology are eligible.
Submissions: Manuscripts for the Fiction Series should be sent during the annual submission period of August 15 – September 15. All submissions must be sent through Submittable, a platform that allows you to enter your manuscript, provide your contact information, and check the status of your submission.
Submission Fee: Each manuscript must be accompanied by a $25.00 fee, payable through Submittable at the time of your submission.
Simultaneous Submissions: Manuscripts being considered by other publishers are allowed, but if a manuscript is accepted for publication elsewhere, please notify the Press, and withdraw your manuscript through Submittable.
Results: The Press receives hundreds of manuscripts during each open period. Each manuscript is read with the care it deserves, but the large number of submissions means that we are unable to provide critiques or enter into correspondence of any sort with writers other than those whose manuscripts are accepted for publication.
If you have any questions about these guidelines, please email cmupress-literary@cmu.edu.
Carnegie Mellon University Press Announces the Winners of its 2025 Translation and New Play Prizes
Translation Prize
First place in the literary translation contest went to From the Diary of Madame Mao, a reimagining of the life of Jiang Qing by Venezuelan poet Maria Teresa Ogliastri, translated from the Spanish by Yvette Neisser and Patricia Bejarano Fisher. The runners-up were La Maison de Claudine by Colette (“the most beloved French writer of all time” per the BBC), which is given new life and a new framing in Carol Mastrangelo Bove's fresh translation from the French, and Rock Arrangement by Yan An, translated from the Chinese by Chen Du and Xisheng Chen. We're excited to bring An’s collection of poetry, which was awarded the Lu Xun Literary Prize, one of China's most prestigious literary honors, to English-language readers.
New Play Prize
In our new play prize, the winning submission was Logistics of Another Life by Shyama Nithiananda, an exploration of the complex cultural negotiations of a Sri Lankan couple across time. The two runners up were The City Women by Mallorie Sievert, a queer historical romance between two nuns in 17th-century Peru, and The Half of It by Domenick Scudera, the story of Bert Savoy, an early drag artist who made waves in the vaudeville scene.