Submit work that is experimental in nature. “Experimental” will here be defined according to the working definition offered by William Paterson University’s Map Literary:

Experimental fiction is fiction that refuses to stay within the boundaries laid out either by traditional realistic literary fiction or by the standard genres of thriller, mystery, sci-fi, romance and so forth. We might say that experimental fiction is non-escapist literature in that it does not seek to seduce its readers into a dreamy forgetfulness. It is fiction, instead, that often unsettles, that makes one feel uncomfortable or liberated, because it breaks rules and invents new ones. Ideologically, it undermines the common conceptual categories by which we understand and navigate the world; it rejects the normal rhetoric of how we describe things.

A submission may contain ONLY ONE title. A submission may contain no less than 2000 and no more than 2100 words, not counting its title, byline and any epigraph. Submissions must be in one of the following file formats: .doc or .docx. Simultaneous submissions are accepted in this category with the understanding that O:JA&L will be notified promptly if a piece under consideration here is accepted elsewhere. Follow other general guidelines that may apply.

Previously published works are not accepted.

A cover letter should include the writer’s contact information and the writer’s professional biography of up to 100 words in third person.

O:JA&L claims first international rights, first North American rights, and the right to archive the accepted works on its website and to consider them for inclusion in future experimental collections and anthologies to be compiled and published by the O:JA&L imprint BUTTONHOOK PRESS.

All other rights revert to the author upon publication. OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters asks to be identified as first publisher if published works are reprinted elsewhere.

Expedited evaluation of submissions is not available in this category.