Virginia Quarterly Review publishes criticism, poetry, photography, and fiction (short stories).
They publish stories and ideas from diverse voices and are looking to “spark conversation” with “good friends over greasy food.” So if this at all intrigues you, check out their very eclectic catalogue of free stories. Midnight Breakfast is a free online literary magazine that publishes short stories, essays, and nonfiction. Paper Darts is a “magazine of LIT + ART fueled by volunteers and imaginary money since 2009.” They also have great, original short stories, and you should read the stories that they offer free online, but if you can, you should also buy the print copy of the magazine.
They argue that, although science fiction is very popular in TV and movies “there’s a distinct dearth of science fiction in its purest, arguably its original, form-short fiction.” So if you’re nostalgic for the science fiction of yesteryear, try Terraform. Terraform (from Vice) publishes science fiction short stories. Writers like Roxane Gay, Ottessa Moshfegh, and Lydia Millet, have all had stories published by Joyland. The magazine splits their stories into regions, so there’s stories from: New York, the Pacific Northwest (PNW), the South, the Midwest, the West, and Canada. It you’re from a specific region of the United States that you think is underrepresented within the publishing industry, Joyland would be a perfect place to start hunting for stories from writers from all over the country. You will inevitably find something wonderful to read from Guernica. Guernica is a nonprofit digital magazine that publishes just about everything from poetry to fiction, comics, interviews, and essays.
You don’t have to download any special apps to read their content the books or short stories will download to whatever you use to read other digital books. The best source for public domain books, short stories, and poetry Project Gutenberg boasts over 60,000 free ebooks. I’d recommend Helen Phillips’s ( The Need and The Beautiful Bureaucrat) short story “ The Wall.” Project Gutenberg You can access stories from the current issue of the magazine, or from their archives. The Atlantic is recognized for their journalism, but they also publish great short stories from well-established and emerging writers. Many of their stories have appeared in the end-of-year collection The Best American Short Stories. American Short FictionĪ triannually published literary magazine that publishes short fiction by established and emerging writers American Short Fiction has published Laura van den Berg and Roxane Gay. But, if you’d rather dabble and choose not to subscribe, there’s still a ton of free content available.
You can choose to subscribe for 12 months, which will get you access to over 100 short stories, plus you have access to author interviews, and other nonfiction content. Like Tor.com, Lightspeed is a digital magazine that publishes short stories by authors like Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, N.K. This is consistently one of my favorite places to find new writers. You can also find stories from Seanan McGuire, Jonathan Carroll, Mary Robinette Kowal, and JY Yang (to name a few). One of my favorite Tor.com short stories is Rachel Swirsky’s “ A Memory of Wind“, which is about Iphigenia prior to Agamemnon’s sacrifice. Tor.com is a fantasy/sci-fi website that allows free access to short stories that are published on their website. In their own words: “ Granta does not have a political or literary manifesto, but it does have a belief in the power and urgency of the story and its supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make real.” So basically, it’s worth the price if you’re willing to subscribe. But like The New Yorker, Granta publishes the best writing. Like The New Yorker, Granta is a literary magazine that limits the number of articles you can read free digitally. There’s a little bit of something for everyone. If you’re more interested in reading than writing, topics range from adventure to teen fiction to fan fiction to poetry and horror. The site is open to anyone, at any level of writing experience. It’s also a great place to submit short stories if you’re interested in writing. Wattpad is a reader/writer interface that allows people to easily access over three million different stories through their website, or by downloading the app. Their “recommended reading” section has great short stories or you can find “poetry, essays, and graphic narratives” in “The Commuter.” Electric Literature is a nonprofit, and much like Narrative they work hard to promote new and emerging writers. By signing up you agree to our terms of use Electric LiteratureĪ great resource to find information about new books, old books, and upcoming books Electric Literature is also a great place to find short stories. Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox.