Mānoa Journal

Mānoa Journal is looking for stories, craft essays, memoir, art, and poetry that engage with the theme of writing at the intersection of language, the threshold of mother tongue and assimilation, and how language lays the foundation of a multilingual perspective. How do we carry inherited language in English dominated environments? What are the challenges and blessings of growing up in a diaspora? How do multilingual experiences move and observe the world? How does language help to build bridges? We welcome writing that enters or furthers this conversation of what it means to write and witness a multicultural and multilingual world. We also welcome writing in bilingual and translingual forms. Your submission does not need to be in more than one language — we accept English-only submissions. 

Open Call until August 1, 2026.

Please review the following guidelines carefully:

• Include 1 to 5 poems per submission (no more than 15 pages), and submit all poems as one document.
• Format poems in 12 pt, Times New Roman font. 
• Include your name at the top right page of the document.
• Submit the document as a Word doc or PDF file.
• Poems must be the submitter’s own, original work.
• Work created, whether in whole or in part, with the assistance of Generative AI will not be accepted.
• Previously published work will not be accepted.

Mānoa Journal is looking for stories, craft essays, memoir, art, and poetry that engage with the theme of writing at the intersection of language, the threshold of mother tongue and assimilation, and how language lays the foundation of a multilingual perspective. How do we carry inherited language in English dominated environments? What are the challenges and blessings of growing up in a diaspora? How do multilingual experiences move and observe the world? How does language help to build bridges? We welcome writing that enters or furthers this conversation of what it means to write and witness a multicultural and multilingual world. We also welcome writing in bilingual and translingual forms. Your submission does not need to be in more than one language — we accept English-only submissions. 

Open Call until August 1, 2026.

Please review the following guidelines carefully:

• Submissions should be 3000 to 5000 words in length.
• Format submissions in 12 pt, Times New Roman font, double spaced.
• Make sure submissions are paginated.
• Include your name and the word count at the top right page of the document.
• Submit the document as a Word doc or PDF file.
• Fiction or nonfiction pieces must be the submitter’s own, original work.
• Work created, whether in whole or in part, with the assistance of Generative AI will not be accepted.
• Previously published work will not be accepted.

Mānoa Journal is looking for stories, craft essays, memoir, art, and poetry that engage with the theme of writing at the intersection of language, the threshold of mother tongue and assimilation, and how language lays the foundation of a multilingual perspective. How do we carry inherited language in English dominated environments? What are the challenges and blessings of growing up in a diaspora? How do multilingual experiences move and observe the world? How does language help to build bridges? We welcome writing that enters or furthers this conversation of what it means to write and witness a multicultural and multilingual world. We also welcome writing in bilingual and translingual forms. Your submission does not need to be in more than one language — we accept English-only submissions. 

Grounded in Mānoa’s identity as a journal of international writing, with a special interest in the Pacific, Asia and the Americas, "Literary Navigations" is a section devoted to exploring the craft and practice of literary creation and presentation in a global context of reading. These essays should examine challenges as well as opportunities in the practice of the literary when crossing boundaries of all kinds and at all levels from the word to the book. The section presents spirited reflections by writers, editors, and translators on the practice and presentation of writing between languages, audiences, cultures, nations, histories, and more.

Open Call until August 1, 2026.

Please review the following guidelines carefully:

• Submissions should be 2000 to 2500 words in length.
• Format submissions in 12 pt, Times New Roman font, double spaced.
• Make sure submissions are paginated.
• Include your name and the word count at the top right page of the document.
• Submit the document as a Word doc or PDF file.
• Literary Navigations piece must be the submitter’s own, original work.
• Work created, whether in whole or in part, with the assistance of Generative AI will not be accepted.
• Previously published work will not be accepted.

Mānoa Journal is looking for stories, craft essays, memoir, art, and poetry that engage with the theme of writing at the intersection of language, the threshold of mother tongue and assimilation, and how language lays the foundation of a multilingual perspective. How do we carry inherited language in English dominated environments? What are the challenges and blessings of growing up in a diaspora? How do multilingual experiences move and observe the world? How does language help to build bridges? We welcome writing that enters or furthers this conversation of what it means to write and witness a multicultural and multilingual world. We also welcome writing in bilingual and translingual forms. Your submission does not need to be in more than one language — we accept English-only submissions. 

Open Call until August 1, 2026.

Please review the following guidelines carefully:

Graphic Novel/Comic

• Please include 10 to 20 pages per submission, and submit all pages as one file.
• Include your name at the top right page of the document.
• Submit the document as a either a Word doc, PDF, JPEG, or PNG file.
• Graphic novel/comic must be the submitter’s own, original work.
• Work created, whether in whole or in part, with the assistance of Generative AI will not be accepted.
• Previously published work will not be accepted.

Art

• Please include 2 to 5 art pieces per submission, and submit all art pieces as one file.
• Include description of art pieces (i.e. medium, size, etc).
• Include a 250- to 400- word introduction to the pieces
• Format introduction in 12 pt, Times New Roman font. 
• Include your name at the top right page of the document.
• Submit the document as a Word doc, PDF, JPEG, or PNG file.
• Art pieces must be the submitter’s own, original work.
• Work and introductions created, whether in whole or in part, with the assistance of Generative AI will not be accepted.
• Previously published work will not be accepted.

Mānoa Journal is interested in book reviews that offer an insightful look into the entirety of a forthcoming or recently published work (within the last year). Since our reviews are short in length, it’s important to make connections and insights into the larger context of the piece. While the review should give a sense of the experience, we are looking deeper than just a summary of events. How does this book fit into the author’s career, a reader’s life, a writer’s craft, or a cultural context?

Before submitting, please see the following guidelines:

• Reviews should be 800 to 1000 words in length.
• Format review according to The Chicago Manual of Style.
• Include a citation with author name, book title, and publication year at the top of the
• review.
• Include your name and email at the top of the review.
• Submit the review alongside a cover letter with a short bio of the reviewer.
• Submit the review as a Word doc or PDF file.
• Previously published work will not be accepted.
• Simultaneous submissions are accepted.
• We will not consider submissions created with the assistance Generative A.I. in any form. 

If Submittable is not working, please submit by emailing manoa.journal [at] hawaii.edu