Paper Brigade, the annual print literary journal of Jewish Book Council, is pleased to announce this year's open call for submissions for fiction and poetry. The submission period will end at midnight ET on February 12, 2025.

We encourage authors to familiarize themselves with Paper Brigade before submitting. Submissions will be considered for both the print journal and Paper Brigade's digital arm, PB Daily. All authors will be paid for published work.

We read all submissions carefully, which means it can take six months or sometimes more for us to respond. We understand and accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately if a piece is accepted for publication elsewhere. There is a reading fee of $3.00.

About Paper Brigade

Paper Brigade, the annu­al print jour­nal of Jew­ish Book Coun­cil, pro­vides a snap­shot of the pre­vi­ous year’s Jew­ish lit­er­ary land­scape while also explor­ing the his­to­ry of Jew­ish lit­er­a­ture in Amer­i­ca and abroad. The pub­li­ca­tion is com­prised of arti­cles, inter­views, per­son­al essays, fic­tion, poet­ry, pho­tog­ra­phy, and illus­tra­tions that, togeth­er, high­light the breadth and diver­si­ty of Jew­ish books today.

We are com­mit­ted to giv­ing voice to Jew­ish-inter­est authors of all back­grounds, includ­ing those from mar­gin­al­ized com­mu­ni­ties and writ­ers in trans­la­tion whose work may not oth­er­wise be avail­able in Eng­lish. Paper Brigade also seeks to expand the com­mon­ly held idea of what con­sti­tutes the ​“Jew­ish expe­ri­ence.” We are com­mit­ted to help­ing authors con­nect with as broad a read­er­ship as pos­si­ble by strik­ing a bal­ance between schol­ar­ship and con­tent that will be acces­si­ble to read­ers, Jew­ish and non-Jew­ish, lay and academic.

$3.00

Paper Brigade, the annu­al print literary jour­nal of Jew­ish Book Coun­cil, is named in hon­or of the group of writ­ers and intel­lec­tu­als in the Vil­na Ghet­to who res­cued thou­sands of Jew­ish books and doc­u­ments from destruc­tion by the Nazis. Com­prised of arti­cles, inter­views, fic­tion, poet­ry, and artwork, the journal celebrates the breadth and diver­si­ty of today’s Jew­ish literary land­scape in America and abroad.

Paper Brigade’s editors are com­mit­ted to amplifying the voices of Jew­ish-inter­est authors of all back­grounds, includ­ing those from mar­gin­al­ized com­mu­ni­ties and writ­ers in trans­la­tion whose work may not oth­er­wise be avail­able in Eng­lish. We seek to expand com­mon­ly held ideas of what con­sti­tutes the Jew­ish expe­ri­ence, and to emphasize ties between Jewish books and the wider literary world.

Stories should be between 1,500 and 7,000 words. We encourage authors to familiarize themselves with Paper Brigade before submitting.

Submissions must be previously unpublished. Please send only one story, together with a $3 reading fee. Additional submissions will not be read. Stories will be considered for both print and Paper Brigade's digital arm, PB Daily. All authors will be paid for published work.

We read all submissions carefully, which means it can take up to six months or more for us to respond. We understand and accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately if a story is accepted for publication elsewhere.

$25.00

Purchase the current print issue of Paper Brigade, the literary annual of the Jewish Book Council.

$3.00

Paper Brigade considers original, unpublished poetry. Please submit a maximum of two poems, along with a $3 submission fee. Poems will be con­sid­ered for both Paper Brigade and JBC’s online poetry series, Berru. The submission period for poetry closes February 12, 2025.

Paper Brigade