We are currently accepting submissions of smart, original Southern humor, professionally written with a creative and distinctive point of view.
What We’re Looking For
The Leghorn publishes humor shaped by Southern voices, perspectives, or sensibilities.
Some pieces are explicitly about Southern culture, places, or experiences. Others are written by Southern creators and carry that voice, even if the subject is broader or not tied to the region at all. We welcome both.
What defines “Southern humor” for us isn’t just subject matter. It’s a tone, a rhythm, a way of seeing the world. We’re interested in work that reflects the complexity, contradictions, and surprising beauty of the modern South: its language, its characters, its heart, and its dark corners. We avoid caricatures. We avoid cheap shots. But we’re not here to police ideas and images either.
We don’t avoid stereotypes because they’re uncomfortable. We avoid them when they’re ignorant. If you grew up in Mississippi and want to make fun of Mississippi, go for it. As the saying goes: “Nobody makes fun of my family but me.”
If your piece is about the South, great. If your piece is from a Southern voice and the humor lands with honesty, originality, and style, also great. If it’s neither, but still aligns with our tone and goals, we might still consider it.
We aim to elevate work that redefines what Southern humor can be, not what it’s always been.
What to Submit
We Are Interested In:
• Essays (600–1000 words)
• Short humor and comic monologues
• Single-panel cartoons
• Reviews (funny, insightful, or both)
• Observational or intellectual humor
• Sharp social/political satire
• Fresh takes on familiar topics
• Southern angles on non-Southern subjects (and vice versa)
• Humor that breaks or reimagines Southern stereotypes
We Are Less Interested In:
• Old-style Southern humor (e.g., Hee Haw, hillbilly burlesque, cornpone)
• Satirical news pieces (a la The Onion, Babylon Bee, etc.)
• Topical humor with a short shelf life
• “You might be a redneck/hillbilly/Southerner if…” style jokes
• Punchlines built on outdated or condescending Southern stereotypes
• Work that ridicules the South unfairly or reduces Southerners to simple caricatures
• Anything mean-spirited, cruel, racist, misogynistic, or anti-LGBTQ+
We know what we’re looking for. A rejection doesn’t necessarily mean we dislike your work, just that it’s not the right fit for The Leghorn. If we like your style but not the piece, we might invite you to send something else.
How to Submit
Before sending finished work, we prefer an introduction with a brief bio and a short description of your proposed submission. If you have a completed draft ready, you’re welcome to send it.
Written submissions should be pasted in the body of the email for easy reading. For safety and security reasons, we do not open emailed documents from senders we do not know.Please, no Google Docs or links to blogs/websites, please. We do not open unsolicited links.
Send no more than three pitches or completed pieces at a time (600–1200 words or less). We prefer unpublished work but feel free to ask us to change our mind.
Email submissions to: editor[at]theleghorn[dot]com Subject line: SUBMISSION: [Title of your piece]
We aim to respond within two weeks. If you don’t hear back, feel free to ask what the heck is going on. But gently.
For Cartoonists:
We like:
• Single-panel gag cartoons (New Yorker-style)
• Southern-flavored visual humor
• Light political satire
Please check captions for spelling and clarity. At this time, we don’t accept serial strips, character-based comics, or traditional editorial cartoons.
Payment & Credit
You retain full rights to your work. Upon acceptance, you grant The Leghorn unlimited rights to:
• Publish your piece in The Leghorn online humor magazine
• Use it for promotional purposes
• Include it in future digital or print collections of The Leghorn
We do not currently pay, but we’re working toward it. In the meantime, we’re happy to include donation links (PayPal, Ko-Fi, Patreon, etc.) on your published work.
Edits: Minor typos may be corrected without notice. Bigger edits will be discussed. Major edits will be sent back for revision.
AI: You may use AI tools to brainstorm or edit, but we do not accept AI-generated pieces. Let the weirdness be human.
Schedule: We publish pieces online on a rolling basis year-round.