Submissions
Contributors must have spent a significant portion of their life in the Southern states which include- Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Submissions will be considered from those from eastern Texas and Oklahoma, southern Missouri, and West Virginia. If, whenever outside of the South, others ask, “What part of the South are you from?” based on your accent, you are the type of Southerner Live Oak Review wishes to exhibit.
We accept simultaneous submissions with the understanding that we will be contacted immediately should your work be accepted elsewhere.
General Guidelines
All submissions MUST come with a one paragraph biography emphasizing your connection to Southern culture. We do NOT accept multiple submissions. We do NOT accept reprints. Please limit your submissions to TWO per genre per year unless invited to do otherwise. Submissions not following these guidelines as well as the genre-specific ones listed below will be rejected outright.
Art and Photography
We are looking for figurative art and photography about the South. Please e-mail a single jpeg under 1MB in size for consideration to art@liveoakreview.com. If we are interested in seeing further work, we will contact you directly.
Columns
Columns can include My Hometown and The Southern Palate.
My Hometown concerns a person, place, event, or a thing unique to your hometown. Examples might include Nellie Lutcher, McNeese State University Auditorium, Contraband Days, and the Sallier Oak from Lake Charles, Louisiana. Length 1,000 words or less. E-mail entire submission in the body text of the e-mail with the subject line My Hometown to editors@liveoakreview.com.
The Southern Palate includes a favorite food or beverage you have discovered and its associations with the South. Examples include your grandmother’s sweet potato pie or a review of a dish or restaurant that features unique or quintessentially Southern food. Length 750 words or less. E-mail entire submission in the body text of the e-mail with the subject line The Southern Palate to editors@liveoakreview.com.
Fiction
We seek a strong Southern voice, as well as a strong narrative approach for fiction submissions. We are first paragraph readers. Whet our literary appetite for your piece in a single paragraph and if we are interested in reading further, we will contact you directly about submitting the entire story. Length of completed short stories should be between 3,000 and 6,000 words. We do not publish flash fiction. Please e-mail the first paragraph only in the body of the text of the e-mail with the subject line Initial Fiction Submission to fiction@liveoakreview.com. We also accept self-contained novel excerpts; please contact us if your novel is published or has been accepted for publication and you wish to submit.
Interviews
Queries for interviews of published Southern authors will be accepted at editors@liveoakreview.com.
Non-Fiction
We seek non-fiction exploring Southern issues and themes, culture and people. We are first paragraph readers. Whet our literary appetite for your piece in a single paragraph and if we are interested in reading further, we will contact you directly about submitting the entire story. Length of completed essays should be less than 6,000 words. Please e-mail the first paragraph only in the body of the text of the e-mail with the subject line Initial Nonfiction Submission to nonfiction@liveoakreview.com.
Poetry
We seek poetry from Southerners concerning Southern life. Submit a single poem, your best, and if we are interested in reading more poems, we will contact you directly about submitting others. Please e-mail one poem only in the body of the text of the e-mail with the subject line Initial Poetry Submission to poetry@liveoakreview.com.
Reviews
We seek reviews of Southern books, either those written by Southerners or books concerning Southern life. Please query if you have a review submission- editors@liveoakreview.com.
