We founded Dominique because we believe there are more deserving submissions than there are literary magazines to publish them. We came to this conclusion after working for several other literary magazines and having to be part of that rejection process. While Dominique aims to publish artful writing, our blog format, rolling submissions, and personalized rejection letters are intended to make this a writer friendly venue.

That is to say, we feel no pressure to limit the number of acceptances we make. Our issues are published whenever we have a decent number of accepted stories (usually eight prose pieces and however many poems we’ve accepted in the same time) and everything we publish is also available on our website. So if we have two great pieces, we don’t have to choose. We can take both. And we are also open to reprints.

Dominique especially aims to publish young and beginning authors. All of us are at this stage in our own careers, or we have just recently emerged from it, and we have a great appreciation for what it means to be published. First and foremost, publication is a validation of a writer’s value. Writing is an intensely personal process. The huge amounts of self-worth invested in a writer’s finished product make rejection from literary magazines sometimes feel like a judgement on the validity of the author’s experience, perspective, and voice. But this also means that the opposite is true. Publication affirms the author’s belief in their own work.

In this economy, in these political times, we all need reassurance.

Our literary magazine is entirely self-funded and run by volunteers, all writers I have met through my time in undergrad and completing an MFA at Old Dominion University, which is the “Dominion” being alluded to in Dominique. We are an imperfect organization.

But we are also honest. If we like your work, we will tell you we like your work, and we will support you throughout the publication process. Some of our contributors have published books since they were published by us, and we work to promote their work even after their initial publication. We also maintain our blog Marginalia to discuss the behind-the-scenes aspects of running a literary magazine, including our decision-making process.

In terms of what we want to publish, don’t worry too much about that. Write something with heart, with compelling characters, where something happens, in a specific time and place, that shows us something about ourselves in a new way. You know, whatever it is that makes good literature. If you still want specifics, then here is our mission statement.

Our mission is to discover and publish exceptional and spirited writing that speaks to your lived experience. We publish writing that is beautiful, truthful, and willing to experiment with form and subject. While we do not discriminate in who we publish, we are particularly interested in debut authors and voices who are not already represented in other literary magazines. As readers of Roberto Bolaño, Han Kang, Octavia Butler, J.M. Coetzee, and Oe Kenzaburo, we appreciate dangerous work dealing with taboo subjects that you may have had trouble placing elsewhere. But while we are hard to offend, we also have a hard line for what we tolerate. We will not read work that glorifies or revels in violence, hate speech, and any form of discrimination — and this list is not exhaustive. Please consider before submitting any work whether you are comfortable with it being read by people who are similar to the characters you depict.

From our former “About” page

To my point about imperfection, the incredible Devika Rege, author of Quarterlife, was kind enough to let me know that the original version of this quote had misspelled J.M. Coetzee’s name! But we edited and learn and try not to make the same mistakes twice.

This is an exciting opportunity, and we thank you for joining on this journey. So send us your writing, and please query if you haven’t heard back from us in two weeks.

I look forward to reading your work.

On behalf of Dominique‘s incredible team,

Thank you for your support.

–Henry Stevens, Editor-in-Chief