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Ninth Letter
@ninthletter.bsky.social
2.7K followers 250 following 56 posts
Ninth Letter is a literary magazine edited and produced at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. We aim to present original literary writing of exceptional quality, illuminated by cutting-edge graphic design.
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We're open for print AND web submissions & eager to read your work! No theme for the print edition. "Performance" theme for web edition. Link in bio for guidelines & details!
#creativewriting #fiction #poetry #creativenonfiction #litmag
September 1, 2025 at 12:23 PM
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Ninth Letter is excited to present the poem “The Masks above the Proscenium" by Richard Hoffman as our August feature. Read it on the website for free! Link in bio.
August 12, 2025 at 2:27 PM
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The poetry finalists are: Jaia Hamid Bashir, Jordan Hamel, Lucas Jorgensen, Jenny Molberg, Sandra Tan, Eliongema Udofia, and Constant Laval Williams. The fiction finalists are: Connie Chen, Christopher Chilton, Amina Gautier, Jonathan Gleason, Tracy Neiman, Cyn Nooney, Reema Rao, and JD Schraffenberger. The creative nonfiction finalists are: Connor Beeman, C.R. Calabria, Andrew King, Keya Mitra, BC Reynolds, Sarah Safsten, Katie Schmid, and Julia Oschwald Tilton. The guest judges were K-Ming Chang for fiction, Jane Wong for creative nonfiction, and Derrick Austin for poetry.
August 8, 2025 at 5:23 PM
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🥁Drumroll, please...🥁 We are thrilled to announce the winners and finalists of the 2025 Ninth Letter Literary Awards. Thank you to all submitters for trusting us with your words. And much gratitude to our contest editorial staff and our fabulous guest judges for their hard work! ✨
9L Literary Awards Results 2025. The winners are Maeve Barry for fiction, Leah Mensch for creative nonfiction, and Weijia Pan for poetry. The honorable mentions are Mickie Kennedy for poetry and Julie Marie Wade for creative nonfiction.
August 8, 2025 at 5:23 PM
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Check out "Sundogs" by Meghan E. O'Toole live on our website. Meghan was the 2024 Regeneration Contest winner as chosen by Stephanie Anderson, and this story originally appeared in print Vol. 21.2. Link in bio!
July 24, 2025 at 1:41 PM
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Ninth Letter is honored to feature Tylea Richard’s essay “Caribbean Gothic,” which is the Disquiet International Literary Award’s Nonfiction Prize winner for 2025. Read it for free at ninthletter.com. Link in bio!
June 24, 2025 at 2:05 PM
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Ninth Letter, in partnership with I-Regen, is accepting submissions to the 2025 Regeneration Literary Awards. The great Scott Chaskey serves as our guest judge. Submit work that explores the “regeneration" as it relates to food and food systems. Link in bio! #regenerativeagriculture #writingcontest
Text reads "9L Regeneration Literary Award $1,000 prize" overlayed on a photo of a wheat field. Deadline: June 30 Prize: $1,000 to one winner + print and web publication + two contributor copies Theme: We invite poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction responding to or exploring the subject of "regeneration," specifically as it relates to food and food systems. All interpretations of this theme are welcome. Photo of a wheat field. Text reads: Full details linked in bio. Check out past winners on our website. For accessibility help, please email ninthletter9@gmail.com.
June 9, 2025 at 1:55 PM
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We’re back to share more incredible writing! Don’t miss Anne Pritikin’s short story “Hold Hands, Children,” which received an honorable mention for fiction in our 2024 Literary Awards chosen by Lena Valencia. Live now on our website. Link in bio.
Excerpt from Anne Pritikin's short story "Hold Hands, Children" reads: "The Portuguese man has tightroped in sleet, snow, two cyclones, a sandstorm, dense fog, sunshowers, and boiling heat. But he has never missed a step. He has walked the globe in the air, Georgie thinks, and now he will walk it in my little part of the world.” Live now at https://ninthletter.com/2025/05/09/anne-pritikin/ 2024 Literary Award Honorable Mention - Fiction Anne Pritikin for story "Hold Hands, Children" Selected by Lena Valencia
May 10, 2025 at 12:21 AM
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We're thrilled to feature the work of Daniel Uncapher, whose three collage essays won the 2024 Ninth Letter Literary Award in Creative Nonfiction selected by Kristen Millares Young. Check out this genre-bending work live on our website and coming soon in print in Vol. 21.2. Link in bio!
2024 Literary Award Winner - Creative Nonficiton. Daniel Uncapher - Three Essays Selected by Kristen Millares Young Excerpt from Daniel Uncapher's essay "Promiscuous Young Men" reads: "I am writing this anonymously,[2] with phrases and sentences that[3] I have borrowed from the library,[4] so nobody knows who did it.[5] If you recognize me[6]-no, you don't.[7]" Numbers in the text represent footnote citations that are available at https://ninthletter.com/2025/05/07/uncapher/
May 7, 2025 at 3:49 PM
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We’re proud to share this fantastic poem by Michelle Phương Hồ which will appear in print in Volume 21, Issue 02. Check out “Facing It,” and stay tuned all week for more work from out 2024 contest winners. Link in bio.
2024 Literary Award Winner - Poetry. Michelle Phuong Ho - "Facing It" Selected by Sara Borjas Excerpt from Michelle Phuong Ho's poem "Facing It" reads: “I can almost say my name. Am almost/someone I know. They say I was sold// by my own mother. Call me traitor, sellout, prostitute/ to the empire. What is a girl but an easy// sin to pin down.”
May 6, 2025 at 6:33 PM
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(23 of you) asked, we listened! The 2025 9L Literary Awards deadlines is extended until May 10 at 11:59 p.m. CDT. Last chance to win 1 of 3 $1000 prizes + publication. Stay tuned as we drop free web access to 2024 winners all week. We can't wait to read your work!
Text reads: Ninth Letter Literary Awards in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, deadline is extended to May 10. $3,000 in prizes. Entry includes free print subscription.
May 3, 2025 at 2:07 PM
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New story just dropped! Read "Three Plagues" by @ivygrimes.bsky.social for free on our website. Link in bio!
Quote from story reads "We saw some of our neighbors fly by, and we tried to catch them, but the wind took them just beyond our reach. Finally, we saw Grandmother, clinging to the post of her bed, whipped into our lives again. Her bed settled on the roof beside us, and then her body." Attributed to Ivy Grimes's short story "Three Plagues." Photo of Ivy Grimes with text that reads "Featured Writer #122, Ivy Grimes, live at ninthletter.com"
May 1, 2025 at 5:05 PM
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Today's the day! Send in your last minute submissions for a chance at $1,000. ✨ Link in bio ✨
Ninth Letter Literary Awards. Today's the day! Send in your last minute submissions for a chance at $1,000. Link in bio. $3,000 in prizes. Deadline April 30th.
April 30, 2025 at 3:43 PM
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Only one week left to submit! Send us your work by April 30th
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First prize is $1,000 for each genre, print and web publication, and bragging rights! Every U.S. entrant receives a free, one-year print subscription per submission.

Full guidelines on our website + link in bio ✨
Ninth Letter Literary Awards Deadline April 30th $3,000 in prizes Only one week left to submit! Send us your work by April 30th First prize is $1,000 for each genre, print and web publication, and bragging rights! Every U.S. entrant receives a free, one-year print subscription per submission. Full guidelines on our website + link in bio
April 23, 2025 at 5:36 PM
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📣 Announcing our annual Literary Awards and this year’s fantastic judges 📣

Send us your unpublished work and get a free 1-year subscription to Ninth Letter—oh and the chance to win $1,000!

Deadline: Midnight, April 30th. For more information, link in bio ✨
Ninth Letter Literary Awards in Fiction, Poetry, and Creative Non-Fiction, submissions open March 1st, $3,000 dollars in prizes K-Ming Chang is the Guest Judge for Fiction. She is a Lambda Literary Award winner, a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree, and an O. Henry Prize Winner. She is the author of the New York Times Book Review Editors’ choice novel Bestiary (One World/Random House, 2020), which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and others. Her latest books are Organ Meats (One World, 2023) and Cecilia (Coffee House Press, 2024), and her next two books are forthcoming from Simon & Schuster. Jane Wong is the Guest Judge for Creative Non-Fiction. Jane Wong is the author of the debut memoir, Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City, out now from Tin House (2023). She is also the author of two books of poetry: How to Not Be Afraid of Everything from Alice James (2021) and Overpour from Action Books (2016). She is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Western Washington University. Her poems and essays can be found in places such as The New York Times, Best American Poetry 2015, The Kenyon Review, McSweeney’s, POETRY, and others. Derrick Austin is the Guest Judge for Poetry. Derrick Austin is the author of Tenderness (BOA Editions, 2021), winner of the 2020 Isabella Gardner Poetry Award, and Trouble the Water (BOA Editions, 2016), a finalist for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry, and others. His third collection, This Elegance, is forthcoming in Spring 2026. A Cave Canem fellow, he is the recipient of a Ron Wallace Poetry Fellowship, a Stegner Fellowship, and an Amy Lowell Poetry Traveling Scholarship.
March 6, 2025 at 8:18 PM
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We are proud to announce the Winter 2025 web edition of Ninth Letter, "de/composition," is now live on our website. A huge thank you to our contributors for trusting us with their work and to our editorial team for their efforts. Always free, always fantastic, give it a read today. Link in bio!
Pictures of photo-edited mushrooms on green background. Text: "De/composition. Web issue, Winter 2025." Featuring: Julie Cadman-Kim, Apollo Chastain, Clara Collins, Taylor Ebersole, Adam Gianforcaro, Laura Hartenberger, Amanda Lin Hayes, Sophie Hoss, kat kluegel, Natalia Martinez, Kate Arden McMullen, Anastasios Mihaloupoulos, Seth Peterson, Kate Welsh. Visit ninthletter.com/decomp to read.
February 28, 2025 at 6:16 PM
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Did someone say free submissions? We are now accepting subs for a "Reversal" themed web edition of Ninth Letter. Send us work that portrays reversal in form or content (or both)! Submissions will close when we hit our cap of 325 subs per genre. Link in bio for full guidelines.
February 1, 2025 at 7:02 PM
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This is your sign to submit to Ninth Letter's print issue! Subs are open until the end of February, and we pay our contributors. No theme for print submissions. Link in bio to submit + more info. Your work is ready. We're ready. We can't wait to read your work. #litmag
image of hand-drawn faces with mouths open under a green banner. Text reads: "Submissions Open. See your work in print. Submit your poems, stories, essay. (They're ready) to Ninth Letter (We're ready). Ninthletter.com/submit/
January 29, 2025 at 4:35 PM
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Check out the new feature live on ninthletter.com feature poems from the eight poetry fellows of Elizabeth Kostova Foundation's 2024 Koprivshtitsa Poetry Conference in Bulgaria. Thank you to the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation and the poets for allowing us to run this international feature!
Piece of paper taped over a photo of a Bulgarian village in the mountains. Paper reads: "Special Feature: Koprivshtitsa Poetry Conference; Eight poems from the 2024 Koprivshtitsa Poetry Conference Fellows; Featuring: Antoniya Atanasova, Jen Rouse, Anastasiya Stoeva, James Appleby, Svilen Ivanov, Sean Carlson, Kamelia Panayotova, and Nica Giromini" Visit ninthletter.com for the full feature.
January 7, 2025 at 5:47 PM
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We <3 our submitters. We’ve opened for 100 more FREE submissions. Please only submit ONCE per category. When we hit our cap, submissions will be open with our regular $3 fee. Thank you for all your support and love! Link in bio or visit our website for guidelines.
Yellow text on black background. Text wraps in a circle and reads: "Free Submissions. Poetry and fiction re-opened. Submit only once per category. https://ninthletteronline.submittable.com/submit "
December 16, 2024 at 2:46 PM
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Submit to our print edition for FREE this December or until we reach our cap! Send your lovelies and your daring darlings. Full submission guidelines on our website and Submittable. Link in bio!
Image of a two-dimensional globe with the words "Submit 4 Free" centered.
December 3, 2024 at 6:52 PM
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Happy pub day to Stephanie Anderson for her new book FROM THE GROUND UP (The New Press 2024)! Check out an exclusive excerpt + interview with the author about regenerative agriculture, food systems, and writing literary nonfiction. Live now at ninthletter.com. Link in bio. Photo: NKB Photo
November 20, 2024 at 10:15 PM
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We’re open for submissions and ready to read your work! Send us your poems, short stories, and cnf for consideration for our print magazine. Link in bio for full guidelines and at ninthletter.com. #literarymagazine #callforsubmissions
September 2, 2024 at 1:33 PM
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7 more days left to submit!!!!
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#creativewriting #writingcontest #poetry #fiction #creativenonfiction #literarymagazine #literaryawards
April 23, 2024 at 9:04 PM
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Send these amazing judges your work!! Deadline is approaching April 30th!!
April 11, 2024 at 11:46 PM