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Welcome to Paper Dragon

Paper Dragon is the literary journal of Drexel University’s MFA in  Creative Writing program. It is managed and edited by MFA students and published with generous help from the Drexel Publishing Group.

Through civic engagement, our mission is to provide a platform for the amplification of and discourse amongst communities that have historically been underrepresented in literature. Paper Dragon will achieve this goal by showcasing high-quality creative work from authors and other artists in these communities and coordinating virtual discourse through the material’s shared theme and focus.

Paper Dragon is committed to publishing poetry, short stories, creative nonfiction, and artwork that resonates with contemporary readers. We are committed to showcasing exciting and inclusive work across genres. Paper Dragon seeks work that challenges us to see the human experience in new and honest ways through both established and emerging voices.

Requirements:

We cannot accept submissions from individuals currently affiliated with Paper Dragon or Drexel University as a volunteer screener, intern, student, staff member, or faculty member.

Fiction: Original fiction must be previously unpublished in print or online. Fiction must be submitted as a Word document (.doc or .docx) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) file. We accept micro and flash fiction with a maximum word count of 4000 words. If you are submitting more than one, please submit each story separately. Only one story per author will be considered for publishing. 

**All submissions over 4000 words will be automatically deleted and not considered. No exceptions.**

Nonfiction: Original non-fiction must be previously unpublished in print or online. Nonfiction must be submitted as a Word document (.doc or .docx) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) file. Nonfiction should be no more than 4000 words. Only two nonfiction submissions will be considered at a time. Please submit each story separately.

**All submissions over 4000 words will be automatically deleted and not considered. No exceptions.**

Poetry: Original poetry must be previously unpublished in print or online. Poems must be submitted as a Word document (.doc or .docx) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) file. Only one poem may be submitted at one time, so please send us your very best. No individual poem should exceed 50 lines or 250 words.

**Any submission containing multiple poems or additional submissions after the first will be deleted and not considered. No exceptions.**

Art: Original artwork must be previously unpublished in print or online. Artists of any level – professional, student, amateur – are welcome to submit. Original photography, paintings, illustrations, digital art, and graphic design will be considered. AI art will not be accepted. Submissions may include up to 5 image files in .jpeg format with a  minimum resolution of 300 dpi and a minimum of 1,024 pixels on the longest side. Files should be no larger than 7MB. Artists must include the title of the work and medium(s) used. Please submit each file separately. Some files may not come through if the size limit is exceeded.

**All files over 7MB will be automatically deleted and not considered. No exceptions.**

 

Additional Requirements: 

  • Documents should be sent in 12-pt Times New Roman font & double-spaced
  • Include your name, contact information (address, phone number, email), and the title of your piece in the top left corner of the document
  • Your file name should be:  Title_FullName
  • Submission Categories are: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, & Art
  • Please include a print-ready bio, written in the third person
  • All submissions not formatted per requirements will be automatically deleted.

Simultaneous Submissions: We find it acceptable if you are submitting your work to other publications, but please let us know if it has been accepted elsewhere as soon as possible.

Rights: If your work is accepted for publication on Paper Dragon, we ask for the following rights:

  • The right to edit the work
  • 90-day exclusivity to publish the work on Paper Dragon
  • The right to archive the work and host the work on Paper Dragon in perpetuity
  • The right to publish the work in different media in the future, such as in an anthology and/or PDF/epub files
  • The right to use the work for purposes of publicity and promotion

 

Accepted Work:

When work is accepted for publication, we will send a congratulatory email with a contract attached to be signed and returned to Paper Dragon by the date listed in the email. Instructions in the email must be followed so we can produce the journal on time. Contracts will not be accepted after the due date. If we do not receive your signed contract by the listed due date, your work will not be published and you will have to resubmit during the next submission call.

FINAL NOTE: Submissions must adhere to all stated requirements. Any requirement not satisfied will be considered an automatic rejection. If you have questions not covered here, please contact paperdragon@drexel.edu with “Paper Dragon” and the submission category in the subject line. You will hear back about the publication status of your submission within 90 days of receipt.