About the Guild

Three things
we believe in.


Southern

Not a monolith. A permanent, undulating argument with itself — polyglot streets where software engineers debate barbecue sauces with lifelong locals, heirloom butterbeans sharing menu space with gochujang-glazed fried chicken. The old caricature gathers dust. The South is here, restless, still becoming.

Writer

Someone who cannot not write. An obstinate soul compelled to wrestle the chaos of the world onto the page — not for glory or ease, but because silence feels like betrayal. A writer notices. Remembers. Disturbs the peace just enough to let the light in.

Guild

A covenant of craft. Both shelter and forge — a place to warm raw hands after the page has bled them, and a place to hammer drafts into sharper steel. We hold one another accountable to truthfulness over trend, to language that earns its music.


Open to Southern Writers

We read everything. We publish selectively.
Those two sentences can coexist.

What we're looking for

  • Essays — personal, cultural, reflective, lyrical
  • Fiction — short stories, excerpts, strange hybrids
  • Poetry — tight, loose, or feral, but deliberate
  • Criticism and commentary — thoughtful, grounded, alive
  • Work that resists easy categorization but knows what it's doing

If your piece feels like it had to be written, we want to see it.

What we are not looking for

  • Agenda-driven work or party-line writing
  • Writing that relies on flattening or scapegoating
  • Performative outrage or moral posturing
  • Work that hasn't been finished thinking

This isn't about politeness. It's about depth.

How to Submit

Submit one piece at a time. Include a brief cover note if you like — keep it human. Previously published work should be clearly labeled. Simultaneous submissions are fine — just let us know if it's accepted elsewhere.

We aim to respond thoughtfully, not instantly. Silence does not mean indifference. It means reading takes time.

Submit your work →

Contact

General Inquiries

Questions about the Guild, the Porch, membership, or anything else.

hello@southernwritersguild.com →

Publishing & Rights

Reprint requests, licensing, and rights inquiries for any published work.

hello@southernwritersguild.com →