Mom Egg Review Open Call for Submissions: "MER 24: Mother and Family"

MER - Mom Egg Review publishes literary work on mothers, mothering, and motherhood.

MER will open from April 23, 2025 to July 15, 2025 for literary submissions to their annual print issue and to MER Online Quarterly.

Early Bird (free) submissions 4/23-4/30, or until they reach our Submittable limit.
Regular Submissions ($3 fee or free with subscription purchase) 4/23-7/15.
They will respond by November 2025. The issue will be published in April 2026.

MER 24 will be a themed issue. The theme is:

MER 24: Mother & Family
Often, as mothers, we are the nuclei of families—of the legacies, obligations, and stories that orbit around us. Family of heritage, family of birth, family of choice, our greater human family: our families can be sources of support, of exhaustion, of love, of pain. Our families can pass down to us lore or trauma. For MER 24, they are exploring poems that address the role as mother in these unwieldy units, how they embroider with and untangle these familial threads that can heal or hinder. Send them your poems, your family recipes, your generational myths, your memories that you’ve borne, your visions for the future.

Requirements

They publish poetry (up to 3 poems, no more than 5 pages), and fiction, creative prose/nonfiction, and hybrid works (up to 1000 words) on mothering or motherhood. They also seek mother-themed art. You need not be a mother to submit. Their calendar conforms to Eastern Time.

Submit work that has not been previously published online or in print. Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please let them know promptly if your submission is accepted elsewhere, by using your Submittable.com account to add a note to your submission telling them which titles are no longer available for consideration.

Submissions will be considered for the print issue and for MER Online on their website unless you specify that you are only submitting for one or the other. If you have previously submitted to MER online or print, they request that you submit work other than that previously submitted.

Application Instructions

They use Submittable for online submissions, and do not accept paper or email submissions.

• Early Bird Submissions: One free “Early Bird” submission per submitter. They will accept Early Bird submissions 4/23 – 4/30, or until they reach our Submittable limits. Select Genre, “Early Bird” when submitting.
• Regular Submissions: from April 23- July 15, 2025. There is a $3 fee for each poetry submission (of up to 3 poems), nonfiction/creative prose submission, art, and fiction or cross-genre submission (up to 1000 words total—can be several short pieces that total under 1000 words).
• Submit free if you subscribe to the upcoming issue for a special price of $15. When in Submittable, select the option you prefer.

Cover letter: Please include the title(s) of each individual work in the submission and a brief (50-75 word) third person bio.

Submit your work in one document named “Last name, First name, Genre.” They strongly prefer .doc, docx, .txt, or .rtf. If your work requires a pdf, please email them at mersubmissions@gmail.com and attach the pdf.

Poetry: Please submit up to 3 poems in a single word or text document of no more than 6 pages with the file name Last name, First name, Poetry. Please number your pages and start each poem on a separate page. Important: Please left justify your poem without indenting and single space your poem unless indenting or extra spacing is an integral part of the poem.

Creative Prose, Fiction, Cross-genre: Please submit one piece up to 1000 words, or several short-short pieces that total fewer than 1000 words in all, in a single word or text document with the file name Last name, First name, Genre. Please double space, number your pages, and put title of the submission (but not your name) on top of each page.

Visual Art: Please submit up to four works of art (drawings, paintings, photos, etc.) that relate to mothers or motherhood, in a .jpg file at 300 dpi. (MER cover is color; interior art is black and white. If your art is selected, they will request a larger file.

Scholarship Submissions: They have a limited number of submission scholarships available. If the submissions fee is a hardship, you may submit during the “Early Bird” period or email them at MERsubmissions @gmail.com with your submission, cover letter and bio. Please put “Scholarship Application” as subject line.

For more information and to apply, please visit https://themomegg.submittable.com/submit.