Dead Letter

Our Story

Dead Letter is a magazine that features short fiction, creative nonfiction, criticism, reviews, and interviews. It is edited by Dylan Aguilera and Sabrina Vargas. While the majority of the selections in each issue are sourced from submissions, our contributing editors reserve the ability to include their own work if space allows.

At Dead Letter, we prioritize the publication of writers who did not attend an elite academic institution for undergrad or to earn an MFA. Many other literary magazines purport to be “holistic” in their selection of submissions, or their editors claim to be tired of “elitism” and its effects on the dissemination of good writing. Yet, invariably, the writers who earn the vast majority of the spots in their issues boast Ivy League bachelor’s degrees or advanced degrees in creative writing from equally respected (and primarily east coast) institutions. This is an easily verifiable fact. As is the fact that many of these self-described egalitarian editors who are supposedly searching for writing that is against the grain and fresh, themselves have Ivy league backgrounds, which seem to prevent them from discovering (or at least publishing) any talented writers who are not of the same ilk. This is not to say that quality submissions from writers with advanced degrees and/or elite educational backgrounds are disqualified from fair consideration. We welcome submissions from all.

Unlike other literary magazines, we do not have a dedicated section for poetry. This is because, frankly, most contemporary poetry is not good. The rise in popularity and accessibility of the MFA has allowed bad writers to call themselves poets based on their purchase of a diploma. At Dead Letter, there is little we despise more than corniness, and contemporary poetry is unfortunately fertile ground for the corny and uninspiring. Should you wish to submit a poem, feel free to do so. If we believe it has literary merit, we will include it in an issue.