antae is an open-access creative writing journal, freely available to institutional and non-institutional readers alike. This journal provides immediate access to its content on the principle that making writing freely available to the public supports a greater visibility of creative endeavours and global exchange of knowledge, emotions, perspectives, and visions.
antae's advisors, editors, copy-editors, and proof-readers make no financial gain from the process of publishing your work. Submissions to our general issues are free.
There are three general submission windows open annually:
1st June - 31st August
1st October - 31st December
1st February - 31st April [**because of high response rate, this window will now be open only until 20th March, 2025**]
Work sent to us outside of our submission windows cannot be considered for publication. No feedback can be provided on unfinished drafts.
Please note that we cannot accept work that is simultaneously under review elsewhere. Reviewing a piece that is eventually withdrawn is an unnecessary expenditure of our limited resources. Writers may only submit work that is unpublished and not under consideration anywhere else.
Writers can submit only once per submission window. Multiple submissions across the categories listed below is not allowed.
ANTAE does not accept translations except from Maltese into English.
Work may be rejected solely due to the volume of submissions, and should not be taken as necessarily indicative of a lack of quality. Works not written in English cannot be accepted.
From time to time, submission windows for special issues, events, and competitions may open. Follow us here and on social media to keep yourself updated!
All submissions should be made solely via email to antae@um.edu.mt.
Further Authorial Guidelines
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
The selection of creative work for publication is based on a three-stage process, involving preliminary evaluation by the editors, review by the University of Malta’s Department of English, and subsequent refereeing by members of the Advisory Board. antae reserves the right to reject work at any of these stages of evaluation.
Your work should be sent in WORD format as an e-mail attachment. Submitting authors should include their full name, affiliation (if any) and/or nationality, and corresponding address in their email, along with a brief biographical note (60-90 words maximum).
No identifying information should be visible on the work itself. If necessary, such as for formatting reasons, a PDF document may accompany the Word document for reference.
Font should be Times New Roman (12-point) unless creative necessities dictate otherwise.
Other documents may be needed depending on the type of submission you're interested in.
Full colour images which are in the Creative Commons, or for which permissions have been sought and obtained, may feature in the submitted work. Images used should be in JPEG or PNG format, with a minimum resolution of 300dpi. Original art is, of course, fully permissible.
Submissions made for a particular issue of antae may be considered for publication in later issues of the journal, in which case contributors will be advised accordingly.
It will be assumed that authors will have retained a copy of their submitted work.
Your submission email header should include "Category: Prose" in its subject line.
For standard prose, your submission should be no less than 1000 words and no more than 4000 words.
Your prose piece can be of any genre/style. So long as it is within the word limit outlined above, we accept extracts from longer works.
For other modes of writing, we leave it up to you to follow the conventions of that mode. For instance, flash fiction/nonfiction should be no longer than 600 words; nonfiction which makes use of pre-existing research or data should use a referencing system; and so on.
Your submission email header should include "Category: Script" in its subject line.
For standard drama, your submission should be no less than 1500 words and no more than 4500 words (including stage or camera directions and other conventions).
Your drama piece can be of any genre/style. So long as it abides with the word limit outlined above, we extracts from longer works (ideally presented as a complete act/acts).
Your submission email header should include "Category: Poetry" in its subject line.
Your poems can be of any genre/style. We accept extracts from longer works.
No more than four poems may be submitted at a time (that is, in one submission window). If more than one poem is submitted, all poems should be collated in a single Word document.
There is no set length for poems. However, no more than one poem may be submitted if it exceeds three A4 pages.
Your submission email header should include "Category: Creative Criticism" in its subject line.
Creative criticism can take many forms. As such, there are no pre-set guidelines. Use your best judgment when submitting your work. You can also consult our 'Past Issues' to see what creative-critical works have been accepted in the past.
If your work makes use of academic conventions, follow the MHRA Style Guide.
antae accepts reviews of creative works (novels, essay collections, poetry anthologies, plays, and so on) which are published in English, Maltese, or any other language.
It is always advised that those interested in reviewing a creative work contact us before undertaking the review. If you would like your work reviewed with antae, do feel free to contact us.
Reviews should come in the form of formal prose and may make use of academic conventions. If footnotes and citations are going to be used, follow the conventions set out by the MHRA Style Guide.
Review entries that focus solely on one work should be between 500 and 1000 words long. Your submission email header should include "Category: Review" in its subject line.
Review essays that offer a wider context of the work, referring to other works or bringing in literary criticism and theory, should be between 2000 and 4000 words long. Your submission email header should include "Category: Review Essay" in its subject line.
If your review essay makes use of academic conventions, follow the MHRA Style Guide.
It may be the case that your submission does not fit neatly into any of the above categories, such as would be the case for interviews, artwork, videos, and so on.
In this case, liaise with us on antae@um.edu.mt in order to see whether antae can publish your work.
