Windward Review, Vol. 24: Power, Presence, Perspective (2026)

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"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

-Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Power, Presence, and Perspective invites writers to explore external/internal influences across all landscapes (personal, social, cultural, emotional, political, etc.). We invite writers to be critical of authority. To consider its influence on perspectives such as truth, identity, and responsibility.

How do we hold space in a world that demands our silence? In this Volume, we invite writers to resist that silence, to speak their piece. Each human interaction is within the negotiation of these three forces. Writing is an act of reclaiming power, defining the boundaries of our world from who is heard, who is silenced, and who holds the pen. Presence is our foundation in a current moment; it is the refusal to be an abstraction and a demand to be seen within a physical, emotional reality. Perspective is the anatomy of the soul. The specific, unrepeatable vantage point from which we view our universe. We hope to see pieces that occupy uncomfortable gaps between these themes; writing that establishes a haunting presence, works that deconstruct how authority is built, maintained, and dismantled, as well as narratives that force a change in perspective that remind us each truth is situated.

Just as powerful as the words you write is the impact they carry through their very existence, allowing others to see and engage with your perspective. Power, Presence, and Perspective are concepts that hold deep significance for each of us, shaping our identities, experiences, and communication. While you are writing consider these guiding prompts for writers to consider under Power, Presence and Perspective:

Who or what holds the power?
How is presence experienced or denied?
How is perspective shaped, challenged, or reclaimed?
Without fear of judgment, what story is difficult to write and why?
Who benefits from historical and current environmental or lawmaking policies, and who bears the burden?
When does control and protection mutually exist? Where do they conflict?
When have you felt powerful? When have you felt powerless? What power do you have over yourself?
How do language, identity, environment, or culture shape your voice?

"I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept." -Angela Davis

Our goal is not to limit your work to a specific theme but to inspire exploration of power, presence, and perspective as you understand them, whether on a personal, local, or global scale. We recognize your power, presence, and perspective as writers and hope to see them reflected boldly in your work.

Deadline is March 18, 2026 by 12:00PM CST (noon).

Submission Guidelines

For all submissions: You may submit a set of 3-5 poems, or 1-3 flash fiction, flash creative nonfiction, flash hybrid works (1200 words each), or short fiction, short cnf, hybrid, script, or screenplay (up to 5,000 words or 15 pages double-spaced).

Submit your work via our Windward Google Submission Form
Work should be your original creation, not AI-generated.
Work submitted should be previously unpublished in order to prevent copyright concerns. Work can be “published” informally through social media accounts, etc., but please remove the work from the internet while we consider it for publication. (You are permitted to share the work on social media after we publish it, if it is accepted.)
We accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if the work in your submission is accepted by another journal or press and/or becomes no longer available.
We accept bilingual work and work in translation (with permission from original author).
To prevent biased viewing, personal information should not appear anywhere on the submitted document(s).
If you include images in your submission document(s), we assume these are meant to be considered with the rest of the submission, but please let us know if the images are optional.
Collaborative submissions: We review collaborative pieces (i.e. works with multiple authors or a writer and an artist), but please provide names and email addresses of all artists.

We are creative, open-minded, and considerate, but please contact us if you have any questions!

Submissions By Genre

We suggest 12 point font with 1 in. margins on all sides, with clear formatting: please ensure that we are not confused about what the title of a piece is how it should be formatted (if it has sub-titles, etc.)
Writing should be generally free of typographical and grammatical errors.
Maximum length of 5,000 words (approximately) – word count should be included in the submission if possible. Email us for more information.

You may submit a set of 3-5 poems or up to 3 flash (1200 words max) or 3-5 micro (500 words max).
Multiple poetry submissions should be included in a single document, with each poem on a new, titled page.
Please ensure that formatting is clear: ensure that we are not confused about the titles of pieces, line breaks, etc.
- For visual poetry or concrete (shaped) poetry, submit a PDF to ensure that what we see is correctly formatted.
Writing should be free of typographical and grammatical errors.

Submissions should be no more than 5,000 words or approximately 10 minutes of material or less. Excerpts from longer material can also be reviewed, (please indicate in your email that the work is an excerpt). Monologues are also acceptable.
- You may submit more than one piece, but we don't typically accept more than one longer piece per writer, per volume.
Please make sure that there is no identifying marks on the manuscripts (your name or school, etc.). But if you need to provide context, please email thewindwardreview@gmail.com to provide context to a script/ screenplay submission.
You are permitted to include an Artist's Statement/ Memo if you feel that your work needs an introduction (in order for readers to understand how it relates to the theme, for example).
You may submit work that has been previously produced or is in production. But please ensure that you are comfortable giving us first publishers rights.
- You can publish your work elsewhere after we publish it, so long as you acknowledge us as the first publisher. You can also produce your plays after publishing with us (rights revert back to you after we publish it).

We consider art and art collections in any medium. Visual poetry is also considered.
You may submit up to 5 pieces, not including alternative visuals of the same piece. Our preferred presentation style is to showcase a collection of work from a single artist, one that illustrates our theme. So please be sure that your pieces complement one another.
Our ability to review your work is contingent upon the quality of photos/ scanned documents that you send us.
Please provide an Artist’s Statement to complement your work/ collection, unless you believe that you work must absolutely speak for itself.
- This statement should help us to understand the impulse behind your work and enrich our appreciation of it, as well as connect it to our theme more explicitly.
- Generally, these statements are between 200-500 words.

We believe that "standard English" archetypes of language are just one form of expression. We accept works that explore alternative literacies and multiple literacies. We especially look to publish Spanish language works.
Translations: we accept translations, but the translation must be approved by the copyright holder. Otherwise we don't have permission to publish it. For original works of translation, please submit both versions of the work if possible.
For genre-related conventions, please look at the guidelines listed for Prose and Poetry.

Deadline: March 18, 2026 @12PM Central Time

Windward Review, Vol. 24: Power, Presence, Perspective (2026)

Deadline is March 18, 2026 by 12:00PM CST (noon).

Submission Guidelines

Submissions By Genre

Submitting Prose (Fiction/ Creative Non-Fiction)

Submitting Poetry/ Flash Prose

Submitting Scripts/ Screenplays

Submitting Art

Multilingual Work/ Translation