Landlocked accepts on a rolling basis contributions and submissions from writers all over the world. We want stories that explore what it means to be Zimbabwean wherever you're based. This includes interviews with people doing noteworthy work, in-depth reporting on relevant topics, historical narratives, first-person essays, oral histories, cultural critiques and commentary, and the like. We welcome all your ideas, big and small!

If you're Zimbabwean, based in Zimbabwe or want to write about Zimbabwe in any way, we want to read it. All feature writing, reporting, and commentary should be previously unpublished and should employ a balanced and nuanced take, while essays, fiction and poetry are at your discretion. We also accept work by photographers, illustrators and other multimedia creatives.
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How to submit a story

Submissions for the features and culture section should be sent as a pitch, i.e. tell us what you want to write about and why. Essays, fiction, and poetry can be submitted as complete works without a pitch. Please include a working title for your story. Before submitting your work, be sure to read the Writer’s Guidelines and Style Guide below.

Please send pitches, stories and general inquiries to landlockedmagazine@gmail.com.

As our goal is to encourage and support original writing, we strictly do not accept stories or multimedia generated, in any part, using AI tools such as ChatGPT.
Not all feature stories need to be about Zimbabwe, but we ask that they be related to the Zimbabwean or, at the very least, Africa and its diaspora. Please keep in mind that we aim to reach an international audience, so your writing should be tailored to such where relevant.
For feature stories and other reported work, please approach your writing with a balanced and thoughtful lens. Whether you’re submitting non-fiction or fiction, please check your biases while writing.
Feature stories should include content from interviews with at least two sources. We ask that you provide audio recordings of interviews if possible. As a writer, you should be able to back up any statement or factual claim you make with data or interview material.
Word counts:
- Short features should be 600 to 1,000 words while in-depth features can range from 2,000 to 3,000 words.
- Reviews and culture writing should be 600 to 1,000 words.
- Essays, poetry and fiction can vary in length, although we ask that you keep them under 5,000 words.
- We also welcome excerpts from longer works. We are happy to discuss word count on a case by case basis.

Please submit a high resolution photo or illustration with your submission, if possible and if applicable. You should have explicit permissions to use the multimedia you submit and should provide the appropriate credit and caption. Your caption should include the full name or place of the person or people identified, what they’re doing and the date the photo was taken and where.
- e.g. Singer Jane Doe performs at the International Festival of the Arts in Harare on April 26, 2026. Image credit: John Doe
Please include your bio with your submission, and let us know where you’re based.
In most cases, we will send unpublished links to writers for final review before publication.
We're here to help. If you're stuck, let us know. We're happy to offer any guidance and support we can.

As a Zimbabwean publication, Landlocked aims to approach its operations from a decolonial lens. This means challenging media conventions and creating new guardrails within which Zimbabwean writers and media professionals can operate. While we cater to international readers, we acknowledge that the media tends to be Eurocentric. We want to change this.

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For now, Landlocked mostly follows the Associated Press Style Guide where relevant. Apart from fiction and poetry submissions, which guarantee creative license, features, essays and culture stories should follow the AP Style Guide, including the following:

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Use sources’ and subjects’ first and last names on first reference. Thereafter, use only their last name
Titles should be lowercase, e.g. art director, unless they come before a name
Numbers one to nine should be spelt out. For numbers 10 and above, use figures
Do not use the Oxford comma except when omitting it could cause confusion
Spell out acronyms and abbreviations in full on the first reference and use the acronym or abbreviation thereafter without punctuation
Put quotation marks around the names of books, songs, poems, TV shows and works of art. Do not use quotation marks for names of magazines or newspapers
Capitalise Black, Indigenous and other similar identifying terms

There are some exceptions:

When writing dates, put the day before the month, e.g. 1 July 2025, and don’t use suffixes (i.e. st, nd, th)
Use 24-hour clock with a colon, e.g. 13:00
Use British English spellings in journalistic writing. This includes feature stories and culture writing. You are free to publish personal essays, fiction and poetry in any language you choose, although we do ask that you provide an English translation or interpretation. Words or phrases in languages other than English should be italicised and explained or translated in parentheses if necessary and relevant. We hope to one day be able to offer Landlocked in multiple languages, including Ndebele and Shona.
Mentions of cities, towns and neighbourhoods in Zimbabwe do not need to be followed by the country. Locations outside Zimbabwe should include the country on first reference. e.g. Bulawayo. Harare. Gweru. e.g. London, UK. Melbourne, Australia.

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We are always open to conversations about Landlocked's standards. As such, this style guide is bound to change over time.