Exquisite Corpse

We'll accept submissions in poetry, essay, fiction, travel, subversion, inside scoop, mixed genre media, and art. Below are our submission guidelines. We prefer works of language genius, provocation, malignant brilliance, practical utopianism, profound terror, sexual delirium, and resolute enmity against commonplace, cliche, and convention. Would-be contributors should look up previous issues of Exquisite Corpse in their libraries for an idea of how we cause damage and promote health. Our contributors have included superstars such as James Broughton, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Edouard Roditi, and Ted Berrigan, all of whom have now gone supernova, but are currently serving on our Inner Governing Board. The living greats, such as Anselm Hollo, Mike Topp, Harriette Surovell, Mark Spitzer, Will Alexander, and Alice Notley, are frequent contributors. On the other hand, we love new writers.

1. All submissions must be sent as attachments readable by Microsoft Word 6.0.1 for Macintosh, (or standard web browsers such as Netscape,) which would include plain text files, html files, and rich text format (rtf) files. Most word processing programs include the option to "save as" these formats. Be aware that the translation process into web format may not do justice to documents with complicated tabs, indents, and other formatting. Saving as html will give you the most control over the final document's formatting. (Note: You need not send an attachment if you are just sending a quick e-mail or comment in the heat of passion!)

How to send attachments in Windows or Macintosh:

a. Compose and save your document. Did you make sure that all of your contact information is in the document? If not, please add it, and save again. If so, continue.

b. Address an e-mail to us.

c. In your e-mail program, click the file attachment button on the toolbar. Almost universally, the file attachment button includes a picture of a paperclip. If you do not have a button, look in the menus for a command like "Attach File," and choose it.

d. A dialog box will open. Browse to the directory in which your document is saved, and double click quickly on your document's icon. Your document should now be attached to your e-mail.

e. Click "Send."

2. All submissions must have all of your contact information listed within the attachment because we will delete the e-mail and save the attachment. Therefore, if your contact information is not in the attachment, we will not know who wrote the piece.

3. All submissions must include any and all footnotes within the main body of the document. If you are using your word processor's footnote, header, or footer feature for your document, add the information again manually to the body of the document, including the numbers or custom marks. The conversion process to web page format will otherwise eliminate your footnotes, header, and footer information. We are working on a way around this problem, but, as of now, please take the time to enter any and all footnotes manually.

4. All submissions must contain no more than 15 pages of fiction or poetry at a time. We will occasionally make exceptions for essays of greater length.

5. Note: If we publish your submission, we may provide a hyperlink to your e-mail address (or website) if you explicitly request one. We do not assume any responsibility for possible misuse of your e-mail address, should you decide to request a link. Possible misuse could include third parties sending harassing e-mail to or "flooding" your e-mail account, or marketers harvesting your address to "spam" (e-junkmail) you. Such misuse would obviously beyond our control but may be a reasonable risk, considering the possible benefits of offering your audience immediate communication with you. Feel free to request an e-mail or web link to your site.

6. Art submissions should be sent in JPEG or GIF format. Please do not send more than about 300kb at a time. The editors have modem connections, and must set their e-mail programs to ignore messages over 300kb because of time constraints. Although you may send 300kb, the smallest file size that gets your idea across will be easiest for us. However, we may request a higher resolution copy should we decide to use your piece. If you would rather send us your artwork via snail-mail, we will scan it provided it is no larger than 8.5" X 14". We cannot take any monetary responsibility for lost or damaged artwork and cannot return any items without return packaging and postage.

Our mailing address is:

Exquisite Corpse P.O.
Box 25051
Baton Rouge, LA. 70894

Email: submissions@corpse.org

Andrei Codrescu, Editor
Laura Rosenthal, Contributing Editor
Rex Rose, Daniel McNamara, Assistants to the Editor

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