Start a fire.

Submission Guidelines

Show us the art you've been waiting to share. We want to see it all: the kindling for your fire; the most raw, open flame you can build; the letters you've kept hidden in a drawer; the painting that represents your deepest fears; the essay braiding joy and sorrow; the spoken-word piece that's as strange as it is captivating, and every other artifact of expression and existence that you'd like witnessed by the world. We'll treat your flames with care and will never let the fire go out.

Submit for un-themed, ongoing submissions here.

These submission guidelines are true for un-themed, ongoing submissions as well as our themed thrice yearly issues, which will have their own pages.

Writing

All writing submissions must follow one simple rule: No matter the style of writing, the submission must be five pages or less. If you're submitting multiple pieces of varying genres, that's fine -- just organize and title each piece clearly and make sure your total submission is five pages or less. See our FAQ page for any questions or clarifications on submitting.

You can submit your work for our ongoing, un-themed publications here (no submission fee and no pay) or for our themed thrice yearly issues (required submission fee and paid acceptance). Forms for themed issues will be linked once submissions for those specific issues open.

Writing we will review:

- Creative non-fiction (CNF); personal essays; flash CNF; diary entries; letters; political commentary; etc.

- Articles; book, music, art, and movie reviews; travel, nature, or food writing (that centers the self in the piece); original recipes; creative how-to manuals/tutorials; etc.

- Short stories; flash fiction; micro fiction; reworked fairy tales and myths; etc.

- Short plays or screenplays

- Poetry of any kind

- Translations

- Experimental works with intention

- Interviews of other artists or interesting people (interviews of non-famous yet inspiring people very welcome)

Writing we won't review:

Novel excerpts. Business/marketing/ad writing. Unoriginal works. AI-generated works. Art without the fire. Writing that's unpolished or a mess. Writing that is discriminatory, pro-Tr*mp, gratuitous, or otherwise problematic.

Art, Video, & Audio

All art submissions must follow one simple rule: No matter what genre of visual art you're submitting, it must be five pieces or less. Meaning, five photographs or less, five drawings or less, etc. The submitter is allowed to submit varying art forms in the same submission as well: two paintings and three photographs, for example. See our FAQ page for additional info.

For audio or video submissions, no matter the genre, they must be five minutes or less. Meaning, a short film, song, or spoken-word entry that's five minutes or less.

You can submit your work for our ongoing, un-themed publications here (no submission fee and no pay) or for our themed thrice yearly issues (required submission fee and paid acceptance). Forms for themed issues will be linked once submissions for those specific issues open.

Art, video, and audio we will review:

- Photography; paintings; drawings; collage; graphic design and illustrations; selfies and self-portraits (nudity is fine); and other types of visual art not mentioned here

- Images of physical art pieces like sculptures, jewelry, textiles, crafts, polaroids, pieces of ephemeral art, etc. (These types of art would be especially welcomed to be paired with writing to share the creative process or the art's meaning. Additionally, photos of these types of art should be of good quality.)

- Interactive media like video games and interactive stories

- Video interviews; dance and burlesque videos; video essays; creative how-to videos and tutorials; short films; filmed stories and scenes, experimental video media; performance art

- Audio; original songs sung or played by you; covers of songs (though original is preferred, and if covering a song, that must be clearly stated and credited), spoken word, speeches, monologues, conversations between two people (with consent of all parties)

Art, video, and audio we won't review:

Photography of unintentionally blurry or poor quality. Content that is not artistic in nature or commenting on something of importance or interest (example: a simple how-to video for curling one's hair would not be accepted, but a how-to video on hair and the culture of hair and its meaning to the artist could be accepted). Violent or overly graphic content (example, a video depicting self-harm without purpose). Unoriginal or stolen work. AI-generated work.