AGNI is a literary magazine housed at Boston University and known “among readers around the world,” as the writers group PEN put it, “for publishing important new writers early in their careers, many of them translated into English for the first time.”
The print magazine appears twice yearly, in late April and late October. A very small portion of each is reprinted on this site, but you’ll also find a trove of writing published exclusively online, including categories like reviews and interviews that we tend not to feature in “the print.”
Most of the writing we publish comes to us unsolicited. Our authors and translators include Sharon Olds, Patricia Smith, Stephen Dixon, Donald Quist, Joan Wickersham, Michael Mejia, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Rita Dove, Victoria Lancelotta, Jo Ann Beard, Peter Balakian, Noah Warren, Jenny Xie, Kaveh Akbar, Magdalena Tulli, Marilyn Hacker, Dorthe Nors, Bruce Smith, Cyrus Cassells, Melanie Rae Thon, Susan Bernofsky, Jill McDonough, Robert Long Foreman, Paisley Rekdal, Patrick Modiano, Lia Purpura, Anna Journey, and Maggie Smith.
Cherishing our differences as much as the verities we share, we are drawn to writers of every creed, race, orientation, gender, ethnicity, culture, national origin, age, and experience. We’re especially proud when we can lay claim to being the first to publish a new writer or translator.
FAQ
If you are curious how writing competitions work, or it's your first time entering one, we recommend reading our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page first.
Sudowrite
We’re keen to encourage quality, so we recommend writers refine their stories before submitting using Sudowrite - a creative writing tool designed to help you rewrite, expand, and enhance your prose with ease. Whether you need help overcoming writer’s block, finding the perfect phrase, or strengthening your story, Sudowrite offers tools that support your creative flow. Visit their website to explore Sudowrite — free trials are available.
Salamander is a literary organization that publishes a biannual magazine of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and works in translation. It was founded in 1992 and aims to publish work by writers deserving of a wider audience at any stage in their careers as well as to focus intentionally on inclusivity and… Find out more
Kweli’s mission is to nurture emerging writers of color and create opportunities for their voices to be recognized and valued. By creating a community of Black, Indigenous and POC artists and programming based on artistic excellence and rigor, Kweli empowers writers to share stories that engage and impact our communities.… Find out more
The purpose of The First Line is to jump start the imagination--to help writers break through the block that is the blank page. Each issue contains short stories that stem from a common first line; it also provides a forum for discussing favorite first lines in literature. The First Line is an exercise in… Find out more
