Copper Nickel

ABOUT

Copper Nickel is the literary journal of the University of Colorado Denver, founded in 2002 by poet Jake Adam York. After York's death in 2012, the magazine paused publication before being relaunched in 2015 under editor Wayne Miller, who has steered it since. The journal has built a reputation for pairing established and emerging voices in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and interviews, and it is particularly known for its recurring folios of poetry in translation, which foreground international and multilingual work alongside the general submissions.

Writers submit through Submittable (linked from the site's Submit page), with the journal typically reading during a defined window each year rather than accepting work year-round; check the current call before sending, as dates shift issue to issue. Copper Nickel pays contributors—historically around $30 per printed page, with a per-piece cap—and publishes two issues annually (spring and fall). Beyond open submissions, the magazine runs an annual Poetry & Prose contests and a book prize, and its site archives full text of many featured pieces, interviews, and reviews, which is useful for gauging house taste before submitting.