Publications
What we call “the submission grind” is brutal. In order to illuminate the process for emerging writers like myself, and to make my own journey more transparent, my publication history is detailed below, including submissions, rejections, acceptances, payments, and, in relevant cases, how the payment was or will be used. If you'd like to read any of the unlinked pieces, please e-mail me at [Work AT RiveraErica DOT com]. You can see a list of the magazines and presses on this page, with additional info and links to submissions pages/portals, on my List of Magazines and Presses page.
I start writing her story and she feels so real—so much like me—I resolve to be her. She is my glimpse into a future that cannot yet exist, except here she is—here I am—existing.
from The Ecology of Art, Strike!, forthcoming from tRaum Books
The Ecology of Art, Strike!
Book, collection of essays Forthcoming from tRaum Books, 2025 Royalties will go towards maintaining Art, Strike!'s website, shipping outstanding Art, Strike!deliveries, and funding future mutual aid projects like Art, Strike! Selected by Split/Lip Press as a finalist during their 2023 Nonfiction/Hybrid open reading period; withdrawn from Sundress Publications, Feminist Press, Rescue Press, and Blair upon acceptance
The Post-Enlightenment period, with its commitments to multisubjectivity, fluidity, and the unity of past and future, is perhaps equal only to abolitionism in its impact on writing and text collections.
from “there is no art without arms, no text without teeth, and there is no such thing as erica rivera,” forthcoming in Mizna Online
there is no art without arms, no text without teeth, and there is no such thing as erica rivera
Incarnation of an excerpt from Laura Raicovich’s Culture Strike: Art and Museums in an Age of Protest Forthcoming in Mizna Online, 2025 Payment of $100
“Terrorist” is a misnomer, a straw man; an invented conceit intended to drum up support for endless, omnipresent wars.
from “everything i know about genocide, part two,” forthcoming in Broken Antler Magazine
everything i know about genocide, part two
Creative nonfiction, essay Forthcoming in Broken Antler Magazine, 2025 Payment of $20, will be distributed to mutual aid funds Withdrawn from Griffith Review, Mizna, Defunkt Magazine, and X-R-A-Y upon acceptance; declined by House of Gamut
Almost sixty years ago, at a moment of great upheaval in the imperial core, I had yet to understand what was ahead of me.
from “there is no intuition without revolt, there is no movement without a turn, and there is no such thing as speculation,” published by fifth wheel press's GARLAND
there is no intuition without revolt, there is no movement without a turn, and there is no such thing as speculation
Incarnation of Arianne Zwartjes’s “Autotheory as Rebellion: On Research, Embodiment, and Imagination in Creative Nonfiction” Published by fifth wheel press's GARLAND, September 2024 Payment of $5, declined in exchange for a free contributor copy Support fifth wheel press by buying the full issue at any price here
a well can be fracked three times / before everybody’s poisoned
from “six miles southeast of rupaul's mansion (extracted from Morgan Thomas's 'Surrogate')” published by The Offing
six miles southeast of rupaul's mansion (extracted from Morgan Thomas's “Surrogate”)
Poem Published by The Offing, July 2024 Payment of $50 Withdrawn from Ninth Letter and The Ex-Puritan upon acceptance; declined by fifth wheel press for their secrets in the garden anthology and Eco Punk Lit; early version declined by The Drift and The Marrow; withdrawn from Guernica in solidarity with those resigning and withdrawing their work over the publication of settler apologia
Download PDF of “six miles southeast of rupaul's mansion” [608 KB]
Sometimes you settle for virtual reality when reality reality isn’t enough.
from “Sim City,” published by HyphenPunk Magazine
Sim City
Fiction, short story Published by HyphenPunk Magazine, June 2024 Payment of $25 Withdrawn from The Tales Between and Nightmare Magazine upon acceptance; declined by Seize the Press, Ninth Letter, and Augur Magazine Support HyphenPunk Magazine by buying the full issue for $2.99
Download PDF of “Sim City” [84 KB]
What happens when you can forget that you're trans? That you’re on stolen land? That your ability to breathe and drink and eat and think and love and mourn and write and cry is built on someone else's grave?
from “statement of plans,” published by Osmosis Press
statement of plans
Creative nonfiction, essay Published by Osmosis Press, June 2024 No payment Withdrawn from Fugitives & Futurists upon acceptance
Download PDF of “statement of plans” [1 MB]
From the gym, running on the treadmill, you could see in the center of the park a shimmery blue-green haze, shaped into peculiar, unstable forms, ever morphing slightly, distorting your perception of what was by and behind it at its edges, like the flames of a large, dancing fire.
from “The Hologram,” published by The Emerson Review
The Hologram
Fiction, short story Published by The Emerson Review, June 2024 Payment of $5, declined for personal reasons Declined by The Drift
Download PDF of “The Hologram” [3 MB]
there's no biomedical roadmap to cure my disdain for expression, except maybe stories of sisters refusing to speak—to anyone but each other, in a language their own.
from “ends,” published by beestung
ends
Creative nonfiction, prose poem Published by beestung, May 2024 Payment of $20, will be distributed between a GoFundMe fundraiser for a friend of a friendand a GoFundMe fundraiser for fungkiigrrl's first movie
Download PDF of “ends” [203 KB]
Unlike the other main characters of the shows you watch, the main character of this show looks like she's always on the verge of tears, and is always being forced by her circumstances to hide them. This is new to you, and appealing: it is a joy to see someone on TV who's as perpetually devastated as you.
from “The Trans Girl’s Guide to Grey’s Anatomy,” published by Under the Sun
The Trans Girl's Guide to Grey’s Anatomy
Creative nonfiction, essay Published by Under the Sun, May 2024 Payment of $50; received thorough comments from a large team of readers, as well as multiple rounds of editing Withdrawn from Gulf Coast and Porter House Review upon acceptance
Let's make writing do what it’s supposed to. Let's figure this out for good.
from “everything i know about genocide, part three,” published by Isele Magazine
everything i know about genocide, part three
Creative nonfiction, essay Published by Isele Magazine, April 2024 Payment of $10, was redistributed to a mutual aid fund Withdrawn from Foglifter and The Rumpus upon acceptance
Download PDF of “everything i know about genocide, part three” [123 KB]
She vanished history and superstructure and became a party of one, abating the unanswered questions: would a vaccine come, when would she get it, when would she go outside again. When would she get to be herself.
from “Pandemic Story,” published by Sophon Lit
Pandemic Story
Fiction, flash Published by Sophon Lit, March 2024 No payment; requested to receive free feedback provided regardless of acceptance, and received response within 24 hours Withdrawn from Split Lip Magazine, The Worcester Review, and New Delta Review upon acceptance; declined by Variant Lit and Big Whoopie Deal Available to read at Sophon Lit
Download PDF of “Pandemic Story” [411 KB]
text is meaningless. colors flow in different directions; to and from where is anybody's guess.
from “self-portrait,” published by manywor(l)ds
self-portrait
Mixed media, series of four images with image descriptions Published by manywor(l)ds, February 2024 Payment of $10, gifted to manywor(l)ds in support of their mission Available to view and read at manywor(l)ds
Download PDF of “self-portrait” [18 MB]ds in February 2024”)
november 20 is the day they invented the word: the first day of the last day of the rest of our lives.
from “november 20,” published by JAKE
november 20
Creative nonfiction, prose poem Published by JAKE, December 2023 No payment; received response within three days Early version declined by beestung and Stanchion Zine Available to read at JAKE
Download PDF of “november 20” [206 KB]
and she laughs kind of hysterically, and i laugh kind of hysterically, hyster comes from the greek hystéra meaning womb, am i woman enough to transition yet?
from “can't sleep when i think about the year that i was born into,” published by en*gendered
can't sleep when i think about the year that i was born into
Creative nonfiction, series of three prose poems Published by en*gendered, November 2023 No payment; received response within 24 hours Declined by CRAFT and Cutleaf Journal; withdrawn from Peatsmoke Journal upon acceptance Available to read at en*gendered
Download PDF of “can't sleep when i think about the year that i was born into” [43 KB]
Residencies, Workshops, Conferences, Grants, and Prizes
2025
2025 Periplus Fellow (Fiction)
Virtual/remote Focus: Yearlong mentorship and community for BIPOC writers in the U.S., will be mentored by Denne Michele Norris
2024
2024 Off Assignment Masters' Series
Virtual/remote November 3 – November 24, 2024 Focus: “Writing This Warming World,” with Meera Subramanian; featuring guest lectures by Emily Raboteau, Elizabeth Rush, J. Drew Lanham, and Helen Macdonald Cost: $400, received full scholarship to attend
Docu-poetics: Between the Stanza and Archive
Virtual/remote October 23 – November 20, 2024 Focus: Exploring research and archival practice through poetry, led by Ajanaé Dawkins Cost: Free
2024 Brooklyn Poets Fellowship
Virtual/remote September 29 – November 3, 2024 Focus: “Poetry and Legalism: Articulating the Forbidden,” with Starr Davis Cost: $395, received full scholarship to attend
Granta 2024 Nature Writing Workshop
Virtual/remote September 16 – November 10, 2024 Focus: Nature and environmental writing with Jessica J. Lee Cost: £1000; declined due to financial inability
The Shipman Agency 2024 Master Class
Virtual/remote October 19 and October 26, 2024 Focus: “How to Read and Write Palestine,” with Fatima Bhutto; featuring guest speakers Raja Shehadeh and Eman Basher Cost: $50, received full scholarship to attend
Arizona State University's 2024 Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers Conference
In-person October 10 – October 12, 2024 Focus: Classes, workshops, panels, and talks on literary craft, technique, and the business of writing Cost: $220 plus travel and accomodations, received $395 grant from California's Center for Cultural Innovation Quick Grant to attend
2024 Off Assignment Masters' Series
Virtual/remote October 2 – October 23, 2024 Focus: “Navigating Literary Publicity,” with Lauren Cerand; featuring guest lectures by Andre Banks, Dan Sinykin, Kathleen Schmidt, and Sonya Chung Cost: $400, received full scholarship to attend
School for Poetic Computation Fall 2024 Session
Virtual/remote September 21 – October 19, 2024 Focus: “TO THE STREETS!” with Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo, Sarah Al-Yahya, and Paige Fulton Cost: $750, received $650 scholarship to attend; declined for personal reasons
Kenyon Review 2024 Summer Online Writers Workshop (Creative Nonfiction)
Virtual/remote June 23 – June 29, 2024 Focus: Intensive generative workshops, as well as community critique and readings Cost: $895, received $500 scholarship from Kenyon Review; declined due to financial inability
Abode Press 2024 Virtual Summer Retreat (Fiction)
Virtual/remote June 9 – June 30, 2024 Focus: Anti-racist craft and generative workshops with Diamond Braxton Cost: $200; declined due to personal reasons
Los Angeles Review of Books 2024 Publishing Workshop
Virtual/remote June 4 – July 26, 2024 Focus: Recruitment, training, and mentorship of aspiring publishing professionals Cost: $3000; declined due to financial inability
Kolaj Institute 2024 Poetry & Collage Residency
Virtual/remote May 1 – May 30, 2024 Focus: Pushing the boundaries of the definitions of poetry and collage Cost: $500, will barter five collages as payment in lieu of paying residency fee; resigned on May 21 for personal reasons
Tin House 2024 Online Seminar (Nonfiction)
Virtual/remote May 4 – June 8, 2024 Focus: “On Collage,” with Aisha Sabatani Sloan Cost: $600, received full scholarship to attend
Waitlisted or Finalist
Washington Square Review Fall 2023 New Voices Award (Poetry)
Kenyon Review 2024 Winter Online Writers Workshop (Creative Nonfiction)
Kenyon Review 2024 Winter Online Writers Workshop (Fiction)
Tin House 2024 Summer Workshop (Nonfiction)
Kenyon Review 2024 Residential Writers Workshop (Creative Nonfiction)
Fall 2024 Orion Online Environmental Writers' Workshop (Nonfiction)
Kenyon Review 2025 Winter Online Writers Workshop (Creative Nonfiction)
Kenyon Review 2025 Winter Online Writers Workshop (Poetry)
Kenyon Review 2025 Winter Online Writers Workshop (Fiction)
Submitted
Quarterly West 2024 Prose Contest
Stanford University 2025-2027 Wallace Stegner Fellowship (Poetry)
2024 Otherwise Fellowship
The Maureen Seaton Poetry Prize 2025
2025 Ann Friedman Weekly Fellowship
2025 Welcome to My Homepage Digital Artist Residency Program
Rejected
Latinx in Publishing 2025 Mentorship Program (Poetry)
Tin House 2024 Summer Residency (Poetry)
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Mt. St. Angelo Summer 2025 Residency (Creative Nonfiction)
Brooklyn Poets 2025 Mentorship Program
FSG 2024 Writer's Fellowship (Fiction)
2024 Granum Foundation Prize
Center for Book Arts 2024 Small Press Incubator
Tin House 2024 Winter Residency (Nonfiction)
Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources 2024 Critical Minerals Institute
Tin House 2024 Autumn Workshop (Fiction)
2024-25 Roxane Gay Books/Grove Atlantic Fellowship
Portland Community College 2024 Carolyn Moore Writing Residency
Tin House 2024 Fall Residency (Nonfiction)
Sewanee 2024 Writers' Conference (Nonfiction)
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Mt. St. Angelo Fall 2024 Residency
MacDowell Fall 2024 to Winter 2025 Residency
Adroit Journal 2023-24 Anthony Veasna So Scholars
The de Groot Foundation 2024 COURAGE to WRITE Grant
Princeton University Press 2024-25 Publishing Fellowship
Stanford University 2024-2026 Wallace Stegner Fellowship (Fiction)
Kenyon Review 2024 Developmental Editing Fellowship (Fiction)
Gulf Coast 2023 Toni Beauchamp Prize in Critical Art Writing
Epiphany 2024 Fresh Voices Fellowship
Periplus Collective 2024 Fellowship (Fiction)
Tin House 2024 Winter Workshop (Fiction)
Witness 2024 Literary Award (Fiction)
Tin House 2024 Summer Residency (Fiction)
Latinx in Publishing 2024 Mentorship Program (Literary Fiction)
Curationist 2024 Critics of Color Fellowship
Porter House Review 2023-2024 Editor's Prize Contest (Fiction)
Guernica 2024 Poetry Fellowship
Gulf Coast 2023 Toni Beauchamp Prize in Critical Art Writing
Withdrawn
Blair/Carolina Wren Press 2024 Bakwin Award for Full-Length Prose
Porter House Review 2023-2024 Editor's Prize Contest (Nonfiction)
2024 Milkweed Fellowship, withdrawn in solidarity with Su Hwang's open letter about Milkweed Editions
Unpublished works
The Girls from Pasadena
Book, collection of short stories Submitted to Host Publications; declined by LittlePuss Press and nine literary agents; earlier versions declined by Unnamed Press, Apocalypse Party, Persea Books, Split/Lip Press, Madrona Books, and 26 literary agents
the((hi)st)ories
Book, hybrid collection of prose, poetry, and visual art Submitted to new words {press}
(Me and) My Surgeons
Poem Submitted to The Ex-Puritan and Strange Horizons
Patient
Poem Submitted to Poet Lore; declined by Foglifter
A GENOCIDE OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE IS OCCURRING AT THE HANDS OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL AND AMERICA HAS FINANCED IT WITH YOUR TAX DOLLARS
Poem Submitted to Poet Lore and The Drift; declined by Foglifter and Rattle Payment will be distributed to mutual aid funds for Palestinians
The ocean
Poem Submitted to The Drift; declined by Rattle
fill in the blanks
Poem Submitted to Poet Lore, The Ex-Puritan, and The Drift; declined by Rattle
art markets (centralization x scamminess)
Digital art, image with image description Submitted to Underblong; declined by MEMEZINE Available on my website
Murder Mystery
Fiction, short story Declined by Fahmidan Journal and Apparition Lit
Archivist's statement
Poem Declined by The Offing
pcosryh/isetsoyp
Poem Declined by The Offing
trans girl as a metaphor for western hegemony
Poem Declined by Rough Cut Press, The Offing, ANMLY, and Barrelhouse
Upward (1929), Among Us (2020)
Poem Declined by Barrelhouse, Poet Lore, and ANMLY
After the art show
Poem Declined by Barrelhouse, Poet Lore, and ANMLY
The Harvest
Fiction, flash Submitted to Apex Magazine; declined by Neon Hemlock and X-R-A-Y
Rosetta Stone
Fiction, flash Declined by The Kenyon Review, MYRIAD, Astrolabe, trampset, If There's Anyone Left, The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, Flash Frog, Fahmidan Journal, Cursed Morsels, Metastellar, Radon Journal, and Seize the Press
The essayist
Fiction, prose poem Submitted to The Paris Review; declined by Barrelhouse, Astrolabe, Flash Frog, Poet Lore, If There's Anyone Left, The Future Fire, Smokelong Quarterly, The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, and ANMLY
Excisions
Fiction, flash Declined by The Kenyon Review, Flash Frog, Fahmidan Journal, and trampset
for Vassily et al
Creative nonfiction, prose poem Declined by SICK
The Television Writer
Fiction, short story Declined by PRISM International, Tahoma Literary Review, and Seize the Press
the year that i was born into
Chapbook, collection of prose poems Submitted to kith books, Querencia Press, and Prismatica Press, declined by Papeachu Press, Abode Press, and Bottlecap Features, and selected by Essay Press as one of ten finalists for their 2023 Chapbook Open Reading Period
(Me and) My Surgeons
Fiction, short story Declined by Foglifter, khōréō, The Rumpus, Witness, Radon Journal, Brink, Joyland, and Porter House Review
TRUCRIME presents: A Murder in the Metaverse (1x01, “Trust in the Numbers”)
Fiction, short story Shortlisted by Good Pointe for their Someone Just Like You audio fiction anthology
A theory of fiction
Poem Declined by Barrelhouse, Ninth Letter, and Protean; withdrawn from The Ex-Puritan for personal reasons, and withdrawn from Guernica in solidarity with those resigning and withdrawing their work over the publication of settler apologia
The Dead
Fiction, flash Submitted to Briefly Zine, Alternative Milk Magazine, and The Good Life Review; declined by Sans. Press, Fahmidan Journal, and Smokelong Quarterly
dysphoria (reprise)
Poem Submitted to Kweli Journal; declined by The Offing, ANMLY, Protean, Ninth Letter, ONLY POEMS, and Rattle; withdrawn from The Ex-Puritan for personal reasons, and withdrawn from Guernica in solidarity with those resigning and withdrawing their work over the publication of settler apologia
Los Anaranjados
Fiction, short story Submitted to FICTION and Bennington Review; declined by Seize the Press, The Ex-Puritan, and Joyland; early version declined by Michigan Quarterly Review, The Georgia Review, Southeast Review, TriQuarterly, American Short Fiction, Indiana Review, Ploughshares, AGNI, and Massachusetts Review; withdrawn from The Masters Review in solidarity with Sarah Ghazal Ali's open letter about Discover New Art
THIS CITY
Creative nonfiction, flash Declined by Alien Magazine, Ninth Letter, SAND, Split Lip Magazine, trampset, and Fahmidan Journal; withdrawn from Chestnut Review in solidarity with A.R. Arthur and others
The Girls from Pasadena
Fiction, short story Early version declined by Analog Magazine, Canthius, The Rumpus, Radon Journal, and NonBinary Review
everything i know about genocide
Creative nonfiction, essay Declined by Protean, The Malahat Review, The Baltimore Review, and Foglifter; withdrawn from CRAFT in solidarity with Sarah Ghazal Ali's open letter about Discover New Art Payment will be distributed to mutual aid funds for Palestinians Available to read on my website
.
Hybrid, prose poem/lyric essay/story-in-verse Submitted to The Kenyon Review; declined by Foglifter, Passages North, Graywolf Lab, and theHythe Payment will be distributed to the LA Trans Defense Fund and other mutual aid funds Title is pronounced as a pause without sound
editing/transparency
Poem Declined by Foglifter
like a sub/scribe
Poem Submitted to Chismosa Literary; declined by new words {press}, ONLY POEMS, Rattle, Wasteland Review, and The Ex-Puritan
what my mother gave me
Poem Submitted to Chismosa Literary; declined by Wasteland Review
everyone thinking
Poem Submitted to Chismosa Literary; declined by Wasteland Review Available to read on my website
this may be proof
Mixed media, photograph of poem Submitted to The Paris Review; declined by Protean, Poet Lore and The Ex-Puritan
essay
Creative nonfiction, essay Declined by HAD Available to read on my website
First-Person Shooter
Fiction, short story Declined by The Georgia Review, River Styx and Alien Magazine; early version declined by Peatsmoke Journal and Guernica
The People vs. John F. Kennedy-North
Fiction, short story Declined by ergot.
A Brief History of Fear
Fiction, short story Declined by Prismatica Press for their Good for Her anthology
the company u keep
Fiction, short story Declined by The Maine Review
the company u keep
Criticism, essay Declined by Denver Quarterly
neocolonial data capital extraction model
Digital art, image with image description Submitted to The Drift; declined by Protean, Wasteland Review, Rattle, and Alien Magazine; early version declined by Cutbow Quarterly Available on my website
Her Own Personal Jesus
Fiction, short story Submitted to Open Minds Quarterly; declined by Sonder Lit Early version available to read on my website
Platformer
Fiction, short story Submitted to Prolit Magazine and n+1; declined by Radon Journal, Funicular Magazine, and Untenured Available to read on my website
biography
Creative nonfiction, prose poem Declined by new words {press}, Rough Cut Press, SAND, SICK, and ONLY POEMS
Artist
Fiction, short story Declined by One Story, Anarchist Fictions, Conjunctions, and Malarkey Books; early version submitted to The Baffler, declined by The Offing, A Public Space, The Missouri Review, Joyland, and Gulf Coast
descendance
Creative nonfiction, prose poem Submitted to Exposition Review; declined by SAND and Zero Readers
Transcript
Creative nonfiction, script Submitted to The Rumpus; declined by Tolka, Foglifter, The Loveliest Review, and Topograph
Station Twelve
Fiction, flash Declined by Astrolabe, Paranoid Tree, Apparition Lit, and Apple Valley Review
Cuts
Fiction, flash Declined by Wigleaf, If There's Anyone Left, New Delta Review, Variant Lit, Fractured Literary, and Apple Valley Review
how to write a short story, part one / how to write a short story, part two / how to write a short story, part three
Creative nonfiction, series of three essays Declined by The Kenyon Review and The Broadkill Review Early versions available to read on my website
how to write a short story, part three
Creative nonfiction, essay Declined by The Forge Early version available to read on my website
An Exhortation
Fiction, flash Submitted to The Common; declined by Minor Literature[s] and Fahmidan Journal; early version declined by New Delta Review, Variant Lit, StreetLit, and The Worcester Review
Assignments
Fiction, short story Declined by The Ex-Puritan; early version declined by Smokelong Quarterly Early version available to read on my website
this is not for/about me, it is for/about the fish; stop feeding it data, stop using it (you are, indeed, using it (everyone)) until it's not for/about you and is only for the fish (i.e., never; i.e., burn every parasite motherfucker alive)
Creative nonfiction, interview Declined by Full House Literary
burst
Poem Submitted to Arboreal; declined by ONLY POEMS and Rattle Available to read on my website
advertisement
Creative nonfiction, prose poem Declined by Canthius and Foglifter