2026 Literary Magazine Ranking–Fiction

Below is the 2026 Literary Magazine Ranking for Fiction. To understand the Rationale, Methodology, and Calculation for the Rankings, and to access Rankings for Nonfiction and Poetry, please go here.

Note that every effort has been made to verify the website links, but magazines do sometimes change their web addresses, and occasionally you will encounter a broken or incorrect link. If that happens, please let me know by emailing info@cliffordgarstang.com.

If you find these rankings useful, please consider supporting this website by making a donation or by purchasing one or more of my books.

2026 Literary Magazine Ranking for Fiction

Note the following:
© means that the magazine/press is closed
(H) means that the magazine/press is on hiatus
(?) means that it’s unclear what’s going on with the magazine/press

2026 Rank	Magazine	2025 Rank	2026 Score
1	Ploughshares	1	67
2	Paris Review	2	50
2	Zoetrope: All Story	2	50
4	Conjunctions	4	42
5	New England Review	10	36.5
6	Missouri Review	6	33
6	One Story	5	33
8	Narrative	7	32.5
9	Threepenny Review	8	29.5
10	Southern Review	8	29
11	Kenyon Review	12	27.5
12	Noon	11	26.5
12	Virginia Quarterly Review	15	26.5
12	Wigleaf	17	26.5
12	Yale Review	13	26.5
16	American Short Fiction	21	23
16	Sun	14	23
18	Iowa Review	23	22.5
19	Cincinnati Review	18	20.5
19	Story	33	20.5
21	Idaho Review	16	19
22	Colorado Review	25	18.5
22	McSweeney’s	18	18.5
22	Santa Monica Review	21	18.5
25	Chicago Quarterly	44	17
25	Georgia Review	31	17
27	Boulevard	29	15.5
27	Granta	25	15.5
29	ZYZZYVA	24	15
30	Bomb	25	14.5
30	Gettysburg Review ©	20	14.5
32	Sewanee Review	25	14
33	Ecotone Magazine	34	12.5
33	Tin House ©	30	12.5
35	Image	39	11
36	A Public Space	37	10.5
36	Agni	34	10.5
36	Harvard Review	57	10.5
36	New Orleans Review	40	10.5
40	Bellevue Literary Review	36	10
40	Copper Nickel	37	10
40	Revel		10
43	Oxford American	41	9.5
43	Pleiades	44	8.5
43	Prime Number Magazine	81	8.5
46	Alaska Quarterly Review	43	8
47	Glimmer Train ©	32	7.5
47	Jewish Fiction	48	7.5
47	New Letters	46	7.5
50	Epoch	48	7
50	Fiction	48	7
50	Hudson Review	41	7
50	StoryQuarterly	108	7
50	Witness	48	7
55	Berkeley Fiction Review	108	6.5
55	n+1	48	6.5
55	Southampton Review (?)	48	6.5
58	American Scholar	54	6
58	Brick	54	6
58	Mississippi Review	57	6
58	Tint Journal		6
62	Baffler, The	57	5.5
62	Electric Literature	61	5.5
64	Bennington Review	46	5
64	BOA Editions		5
64	Common, The	56	5
64	Fractured Lit	61	5
64	Leapfrog Press	61	5
64	New World Writing Quarterly		5
64	Post Road	57	5
64	Pushcart Press	61	5
64	Tin House Books		5
73	Five Points	73	4.5
73	Pinch	61	4.5
73	Swamp Pink (fka Crazyhorse)	68	4.5
77	Hopkins Review	92	4
77	Ninth Letter	68	4
78	Michigan Quarterly Review	70	3.5
78	Raritan	70	3.5
78	Sarabande Books	70	3.5
81	Catapult ©	73	3
81	Joyland	108	3
81	Shenandoah	73	3
81	Zone 3	73	3
85	Another Chicago Magazine	92	2.5
85	Arts & Letters	81	2.5
85	Black Lawrence Press	81	2.5
85	Egress ©	81	2.5
85	Harvard Advocate	61	2.5
85	Hysterical Rag ©	61	2.5
85	Litmag	158	2.5
85	New Ohio Review	73	2.5
85	Paper Darts ©	81	2.5
85	Prairie Schooner	73	2.5
85	River Styx	92	2.5
85	Southern Indiana Review	81	2.5
85	Stillhouse Press	81	2.5
85	West Branch	81	2.5
99	Black Warrior Review	108	2
99	Catamaran	81	2
99	Consequence Magazine	108	2
99	Epiphany	73	2
99	Fairy Tale Review	92	2
99	Grist	108	2
99	Iron Horse Literary Review	108	2
99	Juked ©	81	2
99	Notre Dame Review	92	2
99	One Teen Story	92	2
99	Orion	108	2
99	Salamander (H)	92	2
99	Southwest Review	108	2
99	Terrain	92	2
113	Chautauqua	100	1.5
113	failbetter.com	158	1.5
113	Gulf Coast	100	1.5
113	Indiana Review	158	1.5
113	Pembroke Magazine	100	1.5
118	Adroit Journal		1
118	Alta Journal	108	1
118	Antioch Review (H)	100	1
118	Arrowsmith		1
118	As You Were	108	1
118	Autumn House Press	108	1
118	BkMk Press	108	1
118	Boston Review		1
118	Broadkill Review	108	1
118	Center for Appalachian Studies	108	1
118	Chestnut Review		1
118	Cleaver	108	1
118	Drift, The	108	1
118	Examined Life		1
118	FC2	108	1
118	Florida Review		1
118	Grand Journal	108	1
118	Greensboro Review	108	1
118	Healing Muse	108	1
118	Lake Effect	108	1
118	Laurel Review	108	1
118	Massachusetts Review	108	1
118	Normal School		1
118	Oxford Magazine	108	1
118	Oyster River Pages	108	1
118	Phoebe	108	1
118	Puerto del Sol	108	1
118	Quarterly West	108	1
118	Ragaire		1
118	Reed Magazine	108	1
118	Ruminate ©	108	1
118	Scoundrel Time ©	108	1
118	Smoke Long Quarterly	108	1
118	Transition	100	1
118	Willow Springs	108	1
118	Woven Tale Press	108	1
118	Wrath-Bearing Tree		1
155	About Place Journal	108	0.5
155	African American Review	158	0.5
155	Barrelhouse	158	0.5
155	Bat City	158	0.5
155	Blackbird	100	0.5
155	Blue Fountain (?)	158	0.5
155	Broadkill River Press	158	0.5
155	Brooklyn Rail	158	0.5
155	Chapter House (fka Mud City)	158	0.5
155	Chattahoochee Review ©	100	0.5
155	Chicago Review	100	0.5
155	Cola (fkaYemassee)	158	0.5
155	Confrontation	158	0.5
155	Crab Orchard Review	108	0.5
155	December ©	158	0.5
155	East (?)	158	0.5
155	Exile	108	0.5
155	Fiction International	158	0.5
155	Fifth Wednesday ©	158	0.5
155	Fjords	158	0.5
155	Gascony Writers Anthology (?)	158	0.5
155	Gigantic (?)	158	0.5
155	Glossolalia (?)	158	0.5
155	Graywolf Press	158	0.5
155	Green Mountains Review ©	108	0.5
155	Hunger Mountain	158	0.5
155	J Journal	108	0.5
155	Kweli	158	0.5
155	Leaf Litter (?)	158	0.5
155	Literal Latte (H)	158	0.5
155	Literary Review (?)	158	0.5
155	Meridian	108	0.5
155	Mid American Review	158	0.5
155	Midwestern Gothic ©	158	0.5
155	Minnesota Review	158	0.5
155	Moon City	158	0.5
155	Mythium ©	158	0.5
155	New Delta Review	158	0.5
155	New Madrid (H)	73	0.5
155	Nimrod	108	0.5
155	Obsidian	158	0.5
155	Outlook Springs	108	0.5
155	Per Contra ©	108	0.5
155	Potomac Review	158	0.5
155	Prism	108	0.5
155	Provincetown Arts	158	0.5
155	Pulp Literature	158	0.5
155	Quiddity	158	0.5
155	Reservoir Journal (?)	158	0.5
155	Rumpus	108	0.5
155	Rupture (fka The Collagist) ©	158	0.5
155	Salt Hill	158	0.5
155	Shade Mountain Press	108	0.5
155	Sixfold	158	0.5
155	Spectacle	158	0.5
155	Third Coast	158	0.5
155	Upstreet ©	108	0.5
155	Vassar Review	158	0.5
155	Western Humanities Review	158	0.5
155	Worcester Review	108	0.5

Comments

Pingback: 2026 Literary Magazine Rankings by Clifford Garstang + submission strategy tips – Trish Hopkinson
Ross Doree says:

February 15, 2026 at 8:28 am

Thanks for another great list. Why is Guernica never on here?

1. Cliff says:
  
  February 15, 2026 at 8:45 am
  
  The simple answer is that Guernica hasn’t won a Pushcart Prize or Special Mention–ever, apparently. Why they haven’t won, I don’t know. According to the 2026 volume, Guernica didn’t nominate any work for the Prize (that’s for work from 2024) and they can’t win if they don’t nominate. I checked the 2025 volume, and they DID nominate for that volume (2022 work), but didn’t win. I haven’t checked earlier volumes.

Clifford Garstang

2026 Literary Magazine Ranking–Fiction

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