Eden’s Lantern
Where untainted beauty illuminates divine elegance.
Eden’s Lantern seeks to publish exceptional creative work rooted in authentic Christian faith and imagination. We also welcome writing that may not name the sacred outright but chases goodness, truth, and beauty — wherever such light is found.
This journal is about illuminating beauty, honoring genuine faith perspectives, and revealing truth through the power of story and verse.
Who can submit?
Submissions are open to all creative writers, including undergraduates.
What we are looking for?
We are interested in well-crafted literary prose and poetry that explores themes of Christian faith, as well as creative works that are invested in “the Good, the True, and the Beautiful” (but may not be obviously religious or Christian).
Please see below for aesthetic details and submission requirements that are specific to fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.
Formatting
For prose, please use double-space formatting with your title and page numbers appearing on each page. Poetry formatting is up to you. For all submissions, please use a professional/legible 12-point font colored black.
Blind Submission Requirement (IMPORTANT)
To ensure fairness, all submissions will be read “blindly” by our readers and editors without knowledge of the author’s identity. Therefore, DO NOT include your name or other identifying information anywhere in the document containing your creative work.
Do I Need a Cover Letter?
Cover letters are not required; however, our submission portal will ask you for a short 3rd-person bio.
Simultaneous Submissions
We warmly allow simultaneous submissions to other journals, but if your work is accepted elsewhere, you must immediately withdraw your submission by emailing edenslantern@regent.edu (subject heading: “Withdrawal: [Title of Your Work]; [Genre: Fiction, Poetry, or Creative Nonfiction].”
Option A
Submit one full-length short story (751 words – 3000 words). Note: We will occasionally consider a short story that reaches an upper limit of 4000 words, but it must be of extremely rare quality.
OR
Option B
Submit 1 to 3 flash fiction stories (750 words or fewer per story). Please submit all flash fiction works in the same document.
Fiction Aesthetic:
- At heart, Eden’s Lantern is a literary journal seeking to publish literary works. However, we are open to publishing fiction that takes inspiration from genre traditions (such as high fantasy and science fiction), while expressing the truth that radiates throughout our real world with a sense of literary depth and nuance.
- We love introspective stories that make you think, but they should be accessible to thoughtful readers without sacrificing plot or tension at the expense of theme or message.
- We are not interested in “safe” stories that go out of their way to ignore the presence of sin; nor are we interested in stories that merely preach. We also appreciate stories that seek to depict authentic depravity while still offering glimmers of hope, renewal, or evidence of Natural Law.
- All submissions must be stand-alone short stories (not chapters of a larger work).
A few of many authors whose works exemplify our aesthetic tastes in fiction:
Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, Marilynne Robinson, Wendell Berry, Frederick Buechner
Submit: Between 1 and 3 poems; do not exceed 6 pages of poetry in total.
Poetry Aesthetic:
- We are open to diverse forms of traditional and modern poetry, including free verse.
- As for our desired aesthetic, Emily Dickinson says it well: “If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.”
- That said, we’re also interested in thoughtful, “deceptively simple” poems that radiate truth through their own sacred cleverness and humor.
Submit: Creative Nonfiction submissions should be no longer than 3000 words.
Nonfiction Aesthetic:
- For nonfiction, we are seeking personal narratives and first-hand investigative journeys, primarily. We love creative nonfiction that takes cues from modern fictional techniques such as engaging dialogue, building tension, a vivid climax, and — above all — showing versus telling.
- Note: We are not pursuing academic research, political commentary, or literary criticism at this time.
All editorial decisions reflect the mission of Regent University as a Christian institution.
Eden’s Lantern Application
After reviewing the “Submission Guidelines,” please submit your work here: