General Submissions are currently closed
Work from the HLR has been featured in Best Canadian Poetry, Best Canadian Essays, and has been nominated for a National Magazine Award. We are always looking to publish and promote more emerging artists.
Previous issues of the HLR have included original work from:
Alberto Manguel // Anakana Schofield // Amber McMillan // Cassidy McFadzean // Leesa Dean // Cherie Dimaline // Corinna Chong // Douglas Coupland // Emily Schultz // Eufemia Fantetti // Billy-Ray Belcourt // Jennifer Lovegrove // Eva H.D. // George Elliott Clarke // Jen Sookfong Lee // Jowita Bydlowska // Kate Beaton // Karen Solie // Kim Dorland // Krista Foss // Lisa Walter // Mariko Tamaki // Rosena Fung // Padloo Samayualie // Matt Cahill // Phoebe Wang // Michael Fraser // Naben Ruthnum // Priscila Uppal // Russell Smith // Sarah Nind // Stevie Howell // Souvankham Thammavongsa // Teva Harrison // Travis Shilling // Liz Howard
The magazine has also featured interviews with Eden Robinson, Miriam Toews, Emma Donoghue, Wab Kinew, Marina Endicott, David Chariandy, Elisabeth de Mariaffi, Miranda Hill, Sean Michaels, Sheila Heti, Ann-Marie MacDonald and more.
submission windows are announced here and on social media
General Submission Guidelines
HLR was launched with the intent to provide emerging writers with an opportunity to receive editorial guidance and publication credit. All Canadians are encouraged to submit. We strongly encourage BIPOC and 2SLGBTQIA+ writers to send us their work.
Also note, HLR is published twice a year with Calls for Submissions posted in January and late August. We do not hold on to submissions past the length of the specific call made for the Spring/Summer or Fall/Winter issues. This period lasts about 4 months. Writers are welcome to resubmit during the next submission call.
All submissions must be previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable as long as you let us know right away if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
Identify the genre of your submission, as well as all relevant information (bio, contact info) on the first page of your document. Word files are preferred.
All submissions may be submitted electronically via Submittable. There is no submission fee.
Thank you for your interest in and support of HLR. For more specific information on submitting to each genre, please scroll down.
FICTION
Short stories should range from 2,500 to 5,000 words; longer pieces are much harder to place. We would appreciate not receiving emails about whether we would accept 6,000- or 7,000-word counts, as the submission information is posted here. Shorter pieces will be considered. This ensures we can uphold the spirit of our publication’s genesis to publish as many emerging writers as possible alongside established voices. Please send only one story per submission.
POETRY
We accept 3-6 previously unpublished poems per submission.
ESSAYS
Essays should run from between 2,000 and 5,000 words. We welcome lyric and non-traditional essay forms. Please note: we would appreciate not receiving emails about whether we would accept 6,000- or 7,000- word counts, as the submission information is posted here. Shorter pieces will be considered. This ensures we can uphold the spirit of our publication’s genesis to publish as many emerging writers as possible alongside established voices.
REVIEWS
We publish 4 to 6 reviews of books by Canadian writers in each issue. If you are a reviewer interested in publishing a piece with HLR, the word count range is 600 to 800 words. Please send us a pitch (optimal times are January or September) noting the author, book title, publisher, and your bio. If you are interested in having your book reviewed by HLR, you can send us an email. Please note that we receive many more requests for reviews than we are able to accommodate. If a reviewer selects the pitch, you will be contacted by HLR.
ART
We will accept a sample of 3-6 illustrations, photographs, cartoons, collages, or other artistic work. High-contrast images work best. PDF, JPEG, TIFF, PSD files are preferred. Please ensure that your submission is smaller than 2MB (if larger, please query us in advance).
Each issue of HLR showcases a single featured artist. We may request additional images if your work is selected by the editors.
***comics submissions will be considered separately from featured artist portfolios***
contributor compensation
We purchase first North American serial rights, and pay $100 each for essays, fiction, and reviews. Poets are paid $100 for 2 to 3 poems. Our featured artist and comic contributors are also compensated. Contributors will receive one copy of the issue in which their work appears plus a one-year subscription to the HLR.