
About Us
The Berkeley Fiction Review is a UC Berkeley undergraduate, student-run publication. We look for innovative short fiction that plays with form and content, as well as traditionally constructed stories with fresh voices and original ideas. We invite submissions of previously unpublished short stories year-round and publish annually.
We nominate to O. Henry, Best American Short Stories, and Pushcart prizes.
History
The Berkeley Fiction Review is one of several descendants of UC Berkeley’s Occident literary journal, which was published from 1881 to the 1960s. Established in 1981 by Julia Littleton, Jenne Mowry, Joe Sciallo, and Paul Wedderien, BFR is now UC Berkeley’s oldest prose journal.
In 2012, the Berkeley Fiction Review was named “Best Literary Publication” on campus by the Associated Students of the University of California.
DeCal
Our DeCal class takes place during both semesters of the school year. Members of the class read submissions for the journal and discuss them in class.
Over the course of the semester we will determine qualities of a good story, as well as learn about the publishing process. The class is graded pass/not pass, and can be taken for 1-2 units. No experience is necessary; all Berkeley students are welcome. We also welcome auditors.
Berkeley students interested in enrolling in our DeCal class can check out our listing here!
Meet Our Team
The Berkeley Fiction Review has two to four managing editors, who oversee a large team of assistant editors divided into multiple departments: Administration, Publicity, Distributions, and Magazine. Our design staff create graphics and visuals for our journal. Our staff writers write content for our online magazine ranging from book reviews, personal essays, and commentary pieces.
Managing Editors
Lead Editors
Assistant Editors
Design Staff
Staff Writers
Notable Contributors
- Ellen Akins
- Jacob Appel
- Tamsen Armstrong
- Peter Bichsel
- Charles Bukowski
- Amina Cain
- Virginia Cerenio
- K-Ming Chang
- John Michael Cummings
- Kenneth J. Emberly
- Will Eno
- Seamus Deane
- Mark Dery
- Jürgen Fauth
- Sergey Gandlevsky
- Alisa J. Golden
- DeWitt Henry
- Michael A. Hollister
- Sherril Jaffe
- G. Davies Jandrey
- Neil Jordan
- Paul Kafka
- Perri Klass
- Jeanne M. Leib
- Karin Lin-Greenberg
- B.K. Loren
- Scott Malcomson
- Valerie Miner
- John Montague
- Jess Mowry
- Álvaro Mutis
- Scott Nagele
- Claudia Nogueira
- Joyce Carol Oates
- Dmitri Prigov
- Lev Rubinshteyn
- Olga Sedakova
- Hal Sirowitz
- W. A. Smith
- Elena Shvarts
- Julia Vinograd
- Gerald Vizenor
- Glen Weldon
- Nellie Wong

Address
Berkeley Fiction Review
c/o ASUC Student Union FMO
432 Eshleman, MC 4500
Berkeley, CA 94720
Contact
Ads: bfradvertising@gmail.com
Magazine: bfronlinemag@gmail.com
General / Submissions:
berkeleyfictionreview@gmail.com