Our Mission

Dawn means renewal. Dawn means the erasure of boundaries.

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Founded by poet Ziyi Yan, The Dawn Review is an international literary magazine publishing striking, original work. Instead of adhering to restrictive notions of what makes "good literature," we promote written and visual work that truly surprises us, whether through new language, new ideas, or new forms. Our issues are not split into genres, because we believe that creative expression is most powerful without the constraint of categorization. We love pieces that show us the truth by refracting it– that not only meditate on lived experiences, but amplify them, and force us to reckon with with the full scale of our humanity. As part of this ethos, we accept submissions on all themes, from creatives of all ages and demographics.

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We are dedicated to eliminating barriers for writers and artists throughout the editorial process. This is why we offer free, detailed feedback for all submissions and work closely with contributors to refine their submissions. This is also why we never have– and never will have– submission fees. Our issues are completely free to the public, and our annual contest, the Dawn Prize for Poetry, exists specifically to highlight emerging writers. Since we were founded, we have reviewed over 5,300 submissions from 60 countries, providing over 780 pages of free feedback. Our work helps hundreds of writers to continually rediscover their unique voices.

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All submissions to the Dawn Review are read blindly, and all of the writing we publish is unsolicited. Each of our issues features accomplished authors alongside high schoolers and creatives who have never been published before. In our blog features and nominations for the Pushcart Prizes and Best of the Net, we hope to preserve that same diversity.