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Pandan Weekly is a bi-annual zine and weekly email newsletter for hearty writing from Asia and the diaspora. We accept works that have and have not been published before. We want the works you wish someone out there would resonate with; works you write for fun, for your peace of mind, or for you to understand the world or yourself better; works you wish you had grown up with—works that beg for connections, or empathy.
We want your prose, written and spoken poetry, comics, script for a play and screenplay, and English translations of your local literature. See genre-specific guidelines below.
Each published work comes with an artist statement, which may be about the writing process, creative choices, intentions, and more. For the email newsletter, all texts are accompanied by audio recordings to spotlight each author’s voice. Please wait for us to contact you for your audio recording.
If submitting a previously published piece, please be sure you hold all the rights to your work prior to submitting it to Pandan Weekly. If you’re unsure, you can check with the publication’s submission guidelines or editors.
For pieces that will be published in Pandan Weekly for the first time, authors retain all rights to and ownership of their work. By submitting to Pandan Weekly, you allow Pandan Weekly to publish your piece in its digital zine and its newsletter. For reprints, we simply ask that you acknowledge Pandan Weekly for publishing your work first.
If you have any questions, please check our FAQ.
Genre-specific guidelines for works not published or produced before
While most lit mags rely on an editorial board to accept or reject pieces, Pandan Weekly aims to publish all submissions. Authors of unpublished work simply have to take the opportunity to workshop their pieces with SEA Lit Circle, our warm and supportive online community of Southeast Asian writers. Similar to the “feedback option” of some lit mags, the workshop with SEA Lit Circle will give authors the feedback they need to further refine and be confident with their work—and with guaranteed publication in Pandan Weekly.
Registration to the Writers Workshop opens in July–August, and then again in January–February.
Registration period: July 22nd to August 29th (2024)
Slots are limited!
To submit a piece that has been workshopped in SEA Lit Circle, go here. The form will open on October 1st (2024).
Prose
You may workshop and submit 1 work to Pandan Weekly.
Your piece can be up to 4,000 words long.
For the moment, we can only receive pieces that are predominantly in English.
Your piece must be workshopped with SEA Lit Circle, our warm and supportive online community of Southeast Asian writers. Similar to the “feedback option” of some lit mags, the workshop with SEA Lit Circle will give authors the feedback they need to further refine and be confident with their work—and with guaranteed publication in Pandan Weekly.
Unless you’re already a member of SEA Lit Circle, there is a workshop fee of 6.99 USD. If you’re a student (up to undergraduates only), the workshop fee is 2.99 USD; please email us for the student discount. The fee includes a 1-month membership to SEA Lit Circle, a writers workshop for your submission, and guaranteed publication in Pandan Weekly. For more information about the writers workshop, read our FAQ.
Register for the Writers Workshop here—slots are limited! The submission form to Pandan Weekly will be available to you after your workshop.
Poetry
You may workshop up to 3 poems, but submit only 1 for publication in Pandan Weekly.
For the moment, we can only receive pieces that are predominantly in English.
Your piece must be workshopped with SEA Lit Circle, our warm and supportive online community of Southeast Asian writers. Similar to the “feedback option” of some lit mags, the workshop with SEA Lit Circle will give authors the feedback they need to further refine and be confident with their work—and with guaranteed publication in Pandan Weekly.
Unless you’re already a member of SEA Lit Circle, there is a workshop fee of 6.99 USD. If you’re a student (up to undergraduates only), the workshop fee is 2.99 USD; please email us for the student discount. The fee includes a 1-month membership to SEA Lit Circle, a writers workshop for your submission, and guaranteed publication in Pandan Weekly. For more information about the writers workshop, read our FAQ.
Register for the Writers Workshop here—slots are limited! The submission form to Pandan Weekly will be available to you after your workshop.
Script (Play or Screenplay)
You may workshop and submit 1 work to Pandan Weekly.
Your piece for workshop can have up to 1 act. For publication in Pandan Weekly, you will only need to submit 1 scene (10 pages maximum); please make sure that the excerpt can stand on its own.
For the moment, we can only receive pieces that are predominantly in English.
Your piece must be workshopped with SEA Lit Circle, our warm and supportive online community of Southeast Asian writers. Similar to the “feedback option” of some lit mags, the workshop with SEA Lit Circle will give authors the feedback they need to further refine and be confident with their work—and with guaranteed publication in Pandan Weekly.
Unless you’re already a member of SEA Lit Circle, there is a workshop fee of 6.99 USD. If you’re a student (up to undergraduates only), the workshop fee is 2.99 USD; please email us for the student discount. The fee includes a 1-month membership to SEA Lit Circle, a writers workshop for your submission, and guaranteed publication in Pandan Weekly. For more information about the writers workshop, read our FAQ.
Register for the Writers Workshop here—slots are limited! The submission form to Pandan Weekly will be available to you after your workshop.
Comics
You may workshop and submit 1 work to Pandan Weekly.
Your comic should have no more than 64 panels.
For the moment, we can only receive pieces that are predominantly in English.
Your piece must be workshopped with SEA Lit Circle, our warm and supportive online community of Southeast Asian writers. Similar to the “feedback option” of some lit mags, the workshop with SEA Lit Circle will give authors the feedback they need to further refine and be confident with their work—and with guaranteed publication in Pandan Weekly.
Unless you’re already a member of SEA Lit Circle, there is a workshop fee of 6.99 USD. If you’re a student (up to undergraduates only), the workshop fee is 2.99 USD; please email us for the student discount. The fee includes a 1-month membership to SEA Lit Circle, a writers workshop for your submission, and guaranteed publication in Pandan Weekly. For more information about the writers workshop, read our FAQ.
Register for the Writers Workshop here—slots are limited! The submission form to Pandan Weekly will be available to you after your workshop.
Genre-specific guidelines for previously published works or previously staged or produced works
Previously published, staged, or produced pieces do not need to be workshopped. They can be submitted for reprints during our submission periods.
Upcoming submission period: October 1st to 30th (2024)
Prose
Submit 1 work. Please wait until you hear back before submitting another.
Your published piece can be up to 4,000 words long. Submit your piece through a Google Doc link. If your piece experiments with formatting, please link to the PDF version.
Your artist statement about the piece should not be longer than 300 words.
Words from the publication about your piece are more than welcome. These can be tweets, other social media posts, or appraisals in the acceptance email; if you’d like, you may request a blurb from the publication.
If applicable, please also include content warnings.
Name of publication. (As much as we respect self-publication, we do not consider self-published works in one’s blog or social media accounts in this category.)
Date your work was published (you can give the month + year if you don’t have the day).
Your third-person bio, maximum 100 words.
You may submit a piece in a language other than English, but please provide your own English translation.
After you’ve submitted your piece, we will contact you for your audio recording.
Submit all requirements here.
Poetry
Submit 1 work. Please wait until you hear back before submitting another.
Submit your piece through a Google Doc link. If your piece experiments with formatting, please link to the PDF version.
Your artist statement about the piece should not be longer than 300 words.
Words from the publication about your piece are more than welcome. These can be tweets, other social media posts, or appraisals in the acceptance email; if you’d like, you may request a blurb from the publication.
If applicable, please also include content warnings.
Name of publication. (As much as we respect self-publication, we do not consider self-published works in one’s blog or social media accounts in this category.)
Date your work was published (you can give the month + year if you don’t have the day).
Your third-person bio, maximum 100 words.
You may submit a piece in a language other than English, but please provide your own English translation.
After you’ve submitted your piece, we will contact you for your audio recording. If your piece is spoken word or performative, you may send us a video instead.
Submit all requirements here.
Script (Play or Screenplay)
Submit 1 work. Please wait until you hear back before submitting another.
Your script should consist of 1 scene only, maximum of 10 pages. Please make sure that the excerpt can stand on its own.
Your artist statement about the piece should not be longer than 300 words.
Words from the theater company, production company, producer, or director about your piece are more than welcome. These can be tweets, other social media posts, or appraisals in an email; if you’d like, you may request a blurb from any of the mentioned entities.
If applicable, please also include content warnings.
Name of theater company or production company. (As much as we respect self-production, we do not consider self-produced works in this category.)
Date your work was staged or released (you can give the month + year if you don’t have the exact dates).
Your third-person bio, maximum 100 words.
For the moment, we can only receive pieces that are predominantly in English.
After you’ve submitted your piece, we will contact you for the recording.
Submit all requirements here.
Comics
Submit 1 work. Please wait until you hear back before submitting another.
Your comic should have no more than 64 panels. Submit by linking to the PDF version.
Your artist statement about the piece should not be longer than 300 words.
Words from the publication about your piece are more than welcome. These can be tweets, other social media posts, or appraisals in the acceptance email; if you’d like, you may request a blurb from the publication.
If applicable, please also include content warnings.
Name of publication. (As much as we respect self-publication, we do not consider self-published works in one’s blog or social media accounts in this category.)
Date your work was published (you can give the month + year if you don’t have the day)
Your third-person bio, maximum 100 words.
You may submit a piece in a language other than English, but please provide your own English translation.
Submit all requirements here.
English Translation
Please link to the work in its original language. (If a link is not available, please give the title and the author of the work.)
Submit 1 work. Please wait until you hear back to submit another.
Your published translation can be up to 4,000 words long. Submit your piece through a Google Doc link. If your piece experiments with formatting, please link to the PDF version.
Your artist statement about the piece should not be longer than 300 words.
Words from the publication about your piece are more than welcome. These can be tweets, other social media posts, or appraisals in the acceptance email; if you’d like you may request a blurb from the publication.
If applicable, please also include content warnings.
Name of publication. (As much as we respect self-publication, we do not consider self-published works in one’s blog or social media accounts in this category.)
Date your work was published (you can give the month + year if you don’t have the day)
Your third-person bio, maximum 100 words.
After you’ve submitted your piece, we will contact you for your audio recording. If your piece is spoken word or performative, you may send us a video instead.
Submit all requirements here.