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We open for submissions in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art on February 8th, 2024. We look forward to reading your work then. Please acquaint yourself with our guidelines below. We are now a paying market and can offer our writers, poets, and artists a $20 honorarium per accepted work.

Our Issue 9 submission period is as follows:
Fiction - 02/04/24 to 05/03/24
Poetry - 02/04/24 to 05/03/24
Non-Fiction - 02/04/24 to 05/03/24
Visual Art - 02/04/24 to 05/03/24

1. Read our general guidelines below.
2. Make sure to select the correct genre for your submission from the dropdown. Submissions sent to the wrong genre will likely be rejected.
3. Fill in the title(s) of the work(s) you are submitting. If you are submitting multiple works, separate titles with commas.
4. Use the browse button to find the file on your computer that you would like to submit. Select the file and click on the open button. Your file will then appear in the “file” field.
5. If you wish you can fill in the comments field with any additional information you’d like to send, then click submit.
6. You will then have the option to review your information and confirm that it is correct. Hit continue and you’re done.

About Us

Invisible City is an online publication of the MFA in Writing Program at the University of San Francisco. Submit work that encourages us to see the world from new perspectives and different angles, ones that we may not have previously considered or imagined.

We consider poetry, creative nonfiction, fiction, and visual art (please note reading periods for these genres vary).

General Guidelines

1. We only consider previously unpublished works. No exceptions. Thank you.
2. We do not accept submissions via email or postal service. You can submit your work to us through our submission manager. If you run into any technical difficulties in uploading your submission, please contact us at invisiblecity@usfca.edu.
3. We do accept simultaneous submissions. However, we ask that you notify us as soon as possible if your work is accepted elsewhere.
4. Work may only be submitted once per submission cycle (no multiple submissions). Do not withdraw and resubmit; unless we’ve requested it, subsequent submissions will be rejected. Send us the thing that is polished and ready. (Also, we don’t care if you left out a comma. These are things that can be fixed.) The only exception is contests, when writers may also submit a contest entry.
5. If you are submitting to a contest, make sure to first read the rules here. Failure to follow contest rules means submissions may be automatically rejected.
6. If you’re submitting poetry, please submit to us no more than three poems. The best things come in threes: Olympic medals, wishes, Cerberus heads.
7. We read prose pieces up to 5,000 words. Flash is always welcome; for issue (not contest) submissions you may submit up to three flash pieces in a single document.
8. If you need to withdraw your work, please do so using our submission manager. If you would like to withdraw individual pieces from a collection of poetry or flash fiction, please contact us at invisiblecity@usfca.edu. Pelase note: unless invited to do otherwise, you may only submit once per issue/contest cycle.
9. Do not resubmit work which has been previously rejected, unless we have requested it with a rewrite.
10. At this time we do not accept novel excerpts, unless they function as standalone stories.
11. We ask that if your work is accepted to please wait three reading cycles before submitting again. For example, if your work is accepted in the Spring 2023 cycle, you will be eligible for Spring 2025 submissions. This waiting period allows us to best honor our mission of giving space to new voices.
12. For visual art: at the moment, there is no waiting period for visual art. We will consider submissions from artists who were published in recent issues. Please submit your art in either a .pdf or .jpg file format. If you would like to submit multiple pieces for consideration, you may upload a .zip file.
13. We do not accept work (other than visual art) from current students at the University of San Francisco. Alumni may submit work.
14. Please include content warnings when applicable.