Soundings East

Soundings East is the annual literary journal of Salem State University, published with support from the Center for Creative and Performing Arts. Founded in 1973, the journal is edited by graduate and upper-level undergraduate creative students under the aegis of an advisory editor from the writing faculty. Soundings East is dedicated to publishing high-quality poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. The magazine is distributed nationally, with recent press runs of 750 copies.

Editorial Staff

Managing Editor: Kelci Johnston
Assistant Managing Editor: Lauren DeLuca
Fiction Editor: Connor Perry
Nonfiction Editor: Tom Laaser
Poetry Editor: Gregory Glenn
Social Media: Melissa Carella
Faculty Advisor: Kevin Carey

Submission Guidelines

We accept simultaneous submissions but ask that authors label them as such, and contact us immediately if they are accepted elsewhere. Our reading period is September 1, 2019, to February 15, 2020; we'll do our best to respond within three months. Contributors will receive two copies of Soundings East Vol. 42. Upon publication, all rights revert to authors.

For all categories, please only submit once per reading period.

Please submit your work electronically using Submittable.

If you wish to submit hard-copy please send your work and a self-addressed stamped envelope to:

Soundings East
English Department - MH 249
Salem State University
352 Lafayette Street
Salem, MA 01970

Categories of Submissions Considered

Creative Nonfiction: Previously unpublished creative nonfiction works of up to 5,000 words.
Fiction: Previously unpublished fiction works of up to 5,000 words.
Poetry: Please submit up to five previously unpublished poems in a single file. Poetry submissions are reviewed blind.

Claire Keyes Poetry Prize

Submissions accepted December 1, 2019, through February 15, 2020.

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Soundings East will be given annually for a group of previously unpublished poems. Submit 8 to 10 pages of poetry poems (no more than one poem per page) with a $10/$15/$20 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Soundings East. Final Judge TBA.

Submissions should include a cover page with the author's name and contact info (address, phone, email) and the titles of all the poems submitted. The poems themselves should not have the author's name on them. 

Kevin Carey, Advisory Editor
Claire Keyes Poetry Award
Soundings East, English Dept., Salem State University,
352 Lafayette Street,
Salem, MA 01970.