The Rumpus publishes original fiction, poetry, literary humor writing, comics, essays, book reviews, and interviews with authors and artists of all kinds. We publish new work five days a week. Our mostly volunteer-run magazine strives to be a platform for risk-taking voices and writing that might not find a home elsewhere. We lift up new voices alongside those of more established writers our readers may already know and love. We want to bring new perspectives into the conversation that will make us look deeper.
Over our 15 year history, the writing we’ve published has been nominated for and won many of the major literary awards and prizes including inclusion in numerous Best American anthologies, Best of the Net best of lists, the PEN Robert J. Dau Prize, the Pushcart Prize, and more. Frequently, work that debuts in the magazine ends up in anthologies and book collections of all sorts or becomes a part of an author’s first book. We are proud to help shape the work of thousands of authors throughout our existence and help them find their audience.
The Rumpus launched in San Francisco in 2009 and now has editors all over the United States. In January 2017, The Rumpus was purchased by Marisa Siegel, who previously served as Managing Editor from 2014–2017. In January 2022, Alyson Sinclair became the new owner and publisher and Marisa Siegel continues at The Rumpus as an editor-at-large. In May 2025, Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman became the new owners and publishers of The Rumpus.
We believe that literature is community—and if reading The Rumpus makes you want more, we’ve got more! Sign up to participate in the Letters in the Mail from authors and join us as a Rumpus Member—each of these programs helps to keep The Rumpus in existence.
We offer monthly and yearly Membership programs with exclusive content and perks for Members.
Writers: contribute to The Rumpus by submitting your writing (check our Writer’s Guidelines) to keep our pages filled with goodness.
You can find our TOS and privacy page here.
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Who Are We
Where did you get the name The Rumpus?
Legend has it that it was Katie Crouch’s idea. Rumpus is the name of the dog in her novel Men and Dogs. After launching The Rumpus, our founders were informed there is also a student humor magazine at Yale called Rumpus Magazine, which is no longer publishing.
Do you run original fiction and poetry?
We do run original fiction and poetry, and you can find our reading periods for both here. Please note that we do not accept unsolicited fiction and poetry outside of those reading periods.
How do I submit my work?
We accept submissions through our submissions manager powered by Submittable. Please read our Writer’s Guidelines before sending us your work.
Does The Rumpus pay for writing?
The Rumpus is a lean, mostly volunteer-run organization but we firmly believe writers should be paid for their work. We pay a modest $100 for prose and comics and $50 for poetry. We will increase these rates when we can.
Where do I buy Rumpus merch?
We’ve got your swag right here!
Submissions must be directed to our submission manager powered by Submittable. Please submit to the appropriate category. Submittable only displays categories that are open for submission. If you do not see a category, please reference the below reading periods for information on when you can submit.
- All work must be previously unpublished. This includes personal blogs and social media.
- Please only send one submission to a given section at a time; when we’ve responded with a decision, you are welcome to submit to that section again.
- We accept simultaneous submissions to other publications. Please promptly withdraw your submission, if your work is accepted at another publication. And congratulations!
Please allow three months before sending submission status queries. Your patience is appreciated.
Agents and publicists: we strongly prefer that writers submit their own work to us. The Rumpus has an exceptional an diverse editorial team; bypassing Submittable results in fewer readers and editors looking at your work.
GUIDELINES FOR PUBLISHERS/PUBLICISTS
If you would like The Rumpus to consider a forthcoming or recently published book for possible review or preview list, please see this page for more information on what we’re looking for and submit your titles here.
For customer service issues, please contact Meg at store@therumpus.net.
For advertising inquires, please contact hello@therumpus.net.
For all other inquires, contact hello@therumpus.net.