## Background Ninth Letter is published by the creative writing program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, growing out of the university's MFA program in the early 2000s. Its first issue appeared in spring 2004, and early editors leaned on personal connections to draw contributions from established writers like Robert Olen Butler and Yann Martel alongside newer voices, helping establish its credibility quickly. It publishes in print twice a year and has run additional online-only issues since 2013, and is known in part for its strong visual/design sensibility alongside its literary content, treating the journal itself as an object of design as much as a text. Ninth Letter reviews submissions anonymously (no author-identifying information on the manuscript itself), which is a distinctive and writer-friendly practice that levels the field somewhat for those without existing name recognition — a meaningful plus for a writer building a track record rather than trading on an established name. ## Submissions - Print issue reading period: September 1 – February 28. - Poetry: 3–5 poems per submission, max 8 pages. - Fiction/creative nonfiction: one story or essay, up to 8,000 words. - Submissions reviewed anonymously — no identifying information on the manuscript. - Pays $25 per poem, $100 for prose, plus two contributor copies. - Acquires First North American Serial Rights. Full guidelines: [ninthletter.com/submit](https://ninthletter.com/submit/) Submission manager: [ninthletteronline.submittable.com/submit](https://ninthletteronline.submittable.com/submit)