Black Warrior Review

ABOUT

Black Warrior Review was founded in 1974 at the University of Alabama and is edited entirely by graduate students in the university's MFA program, making it the country's oldest continuously running grad-student-edited literary magazine. The masthead rotates as students cycle through the program, but the journal has built a durable reputation for eclectic, contemporary work in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, comics, and visual art, publishing writers like Kaveh Akbar and Melissa Faliveno alongside emerging voices. Issues are numbered by volume and half (e.g., 51.2, 52.2), reflecting a twice-yearly print schedule, and each issue features a dedicated artist alongside a mix of poetry and prose contributors.

Submissions go through Submittable, with guidelines posted at bwr.ua.edu/submit/guidelines; the site does not post specific fee amounts, payment rates, or response-time windows, so writers should check current Submittable listings for reading-period dates and any fees before sending work. BWR runs periodic contests (referenced in its news posts) and solicits donations directly through Submittable, suggesting the magazine operates on a lean, university-subsidized budget typical of academic-affiliated journals. Because the editorial staff turns over with each incoming MFA cohort, aesthetic preferences can shift somewhat year to year, so recent issues are the best guide to current taste.