Orca publishes short stories, flash fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. We are a literary journal and we believe in the literary style of writing. We are open to almost any topic, as long as it’s written in a literary style.

We are committed to diversity of identities, origins, and perspectives on our pages. Many of our contributors are from other countries and cultures. But the main criterion by which we judge submissions is the quality of the writing. We seek work that is high concept: imaginative, thoughtful, even speculative, and open to possibilities. We look for deep, diverse characters, and narratives that blend genres, or connect seemingly disparate ideas. We currently pay $50 for published short stories and $25 for work under 2500 words.

We are also committed to the intentions of our contributors. Although we often work with writers to polish their stories, we also respect their original intent, and as much as possible retain the artist’s individual and local language, spelling, style, and vernacular.

Our current publishing schedule: June, speculative issue; October, literary issue; February 2024, literary issue. Submissions will remain open year-round. Literary stories with a speculative aspect are sometimes included in the literary issues.

Although we are relatively new, our fiction has already been honored with a reprint of Kristyn Dunnion’s “Daughter of Cups” in the anthology Best Canadian Stories 2020. Five of our flash fiction contributors have been selected for Best Small Fictions. In 2021: “July First and Last,” by Stephen Ground; “Life Underground” by Avra Margariti; and “A Fall Play: In One Act and Three Scenes” by David Luntz. In 2022: “Let Us Go and Serve Other Gods,” by Adam McOmber, and “Permeable” by sid sibo. “A Terrible Thing Has Happened” by Natascha Graham received an honorable mention in the Rotary Club of Stratford’s (Canada) 2021 Short Story Contest.

Fiction published in Orca may also be nominated for anthologies such as Best American Short Stories, Best Small Fictions, the Pushcart Prize, and others.