Meanwhile, in the queue @variantlit.bsky.social, we seek narrative long-form fiction (see past issues for our editorial sensibility), flash prose, and micro (themed) series. Send us your beauties, the weirds, and the aches!

Day One of my residency week in Tamaqua, PA. What a bright, quiet place to write!

Send us your literary stories heavy with strange metaphor and liminal stands, grounded in narrative and ethereal beauty. Check out prior issues and submit here: variantlit.com/issues/

We seek micros in a series of three, like this excellent prizewinner by @melissabowers in @fracturedlit.bsky.social: fracturedlit.com/bowers/

Congrats to @queercomrades.bsky.social on the performance! Read the original story here: variantlit.com/zizzi/

Performed in my short play 'Zizzi' with Altus Chan at the Birmingham Hippodrome New Earth theatre makers showcase two weeks ago. Thanks to everyone involved for the support! www.birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/new...

And just like that, we are open for submissions. The world needs art and beauty, so send us yours. Guidelines @variantlit.com

Issue 22 will rock your world!

@megjnic.bsky.social and the wonderful folks of Lemon Grove Writers are hosting—come for the prompts, stay for the community!

Meet me at the intersection of FREE! POETRY! under the the tutelage of the wonderful @ashlogophile.bsky.social

Want to know if we can go home again? Read this gem from @joeyhedger.bsky.social in the new issue of @variantlit.bsky.social

Don’t miss this bittersweet and timely story from @thewritelifeliz.bsky.social in the new issue of @variantlit.bsky.social

Alligator by David Ryan is out today from Cash4Gold Books. Can’t wait to read!

We’re thrilled to announce our Pushcart Prize nominations for 2026: “On Craft” by Erica Dawson “Clutch” by Stephanie Frazee “Holes” by Nicole Desjardins Gowdy “Cooking Lesson” by Shira Haus “Five O’Clock Shadow in Philly” by Allen Means “The Opposite of Dusk” by Ron Riekki

It’s that time of year again!

Can’t wait to read this! Out 11/30 from Cash4Gold books. Preorder here: bookshop.org/p/books/alli...

“Poor Historian” by @rriekki.bsky.social haunts long after the read.

New remote classes starting this week with David Ryan: Studies in Shadow Form (starts tomorrow, Thursday, 7/24) and Irrealism: Surrealism and the Lyric Essay (starts Sunday, 7/27). His classes are so inspiring and generative! More info and signup here: curiovox.com/185-2/

What's in the box?

@variantlit.bsky.social’s own @barbaralockmd.bsky.social Her story’s sunlit-subtle menace will have you looking over your shoulder in a literary way!

What an honor! Thanks @variantlit.bsky.social for seeing something in this story!

A delightful and tender piece that I could read over and over and over again.

Congratulations Elijah! In case you missed it, read this @wigleaf.bsky.social Top 50 here:

"The mouse in the grass gains confidence, and it is harder and harder to keep track of her. She runs around and starts to remember herself, the part of her that ran through grasses in past lives." Read "Red White Fur" by Sonny Fillmore, about a snake, a mouse, a boy variantlit.com/red-white-fur/

"She presses her glossy lips together over a folded white napkin. When she pulls the paper from her mouth, there’s a perfect print of two coral lips—a Rorschach test: a butterfly. a boy. a blowfish. an ocean." Read this Micro Series by Laci Mosier from issue 21 variantlit.com/micro-series/

@derekshirae.bsky.social ‘s “Terminal” serves up strange snacks and an unlikely protagonist.

Yikes. Wondering where we’ll be even a year from now on this front.

One urgent care visit takes an unexpected turn in @beebs44120.bsky.social ‘s “Nothing Dead in Your Ear.” Read it in Issue 21 from @variantlit.bsky.social here: variantlit.com/nothing-dead...

Cannot recommend David Ryan’s classes strongly enough! His revision course is 🔥, the craft classes so generative! Check out the what’s starting soon along with other opportunities here: curiovox.com

Prose, lighthearted and somber—little somethings for everyone in Summer Issue 21!

This one catches you midsteam and pulls you under. If only it didn’t hit so close to home. 🧚

Wonderful work in this issue, check it out!

A bit late to the party, but wow! Whoa! What a way to kick off summer reading.

I've designed the cover already for Issue 19 & I've drafted an article explaining the several key changes to Stanchion Magazine. All I need is your brilliant prose & poetry. Who's gonna send in something on June 16th for Stanchion's first ever guest editor, @fbereaud.bsky.social, to read?

I’ve found @esmewang.com’s free guides helpful and generative. This class could help get your memoir started!

A new neat thing from Lemon Grove Writers! I’ve created 30 poetry prompts for April, and I’ll be emailing one out each morning (around 6am Central) for the whole month. Here's the link if you want to join in! lemongrovewriters.com/april-prompts

Sign up for this co-writing session! We had lots of poets in the last one, some short story writers, a novelist! Bring a current project or write something new: www.eventbrite.com/e/1257239500...

Let us help your story love you back! Imagine if your writing could treat you to a cup of coffee and pastry, or a drop in the rent bucket! We’re open for subs until April 5, and we pay! variantlit.com/submit/

"asking me again what kind of bird & yes for me a reason to wear the red wool mittens my mother knitted forty years ago" Read "Beyond the Frost" by @rich-jordan.bsky.social from Issue 20 🍓 variantlit.com/beyond-the-f...

"I spun quick as a whip, and there I saw him. Flopped on the floor, the chair overturned. I stared blankly—like a dog who’s finally caught his tail." Maybe you've seen him too? Read "The Man in the Corner of My Eye" by Nathaniel Mumau, from Issue 20 variantlit.com/the-man-in-t...

A story about two kids seeking redemption in the spirit world: variantlit.com/the-spirit-f...

Cluster flies are waking up for spring. Get vibing with it—read this buzzy piece from @variantlit.bsky.social’s own @megjnic.bsky.social!

Don’t pass up this chance to write in community!

Send us your most best, most gorgeous prose. Can’t wait to read it!

“He doubted she could really talk to spirits, but part of him really wanted to believe.” Manifesting something true, centered in this tale from Tom Lee: variantlit.com/the-spirit-f...

“I couldn’t even find the word that was my sister’s name. I wanted to run out that door into the night and keep on running. The cold and wind would hurt more than anything, but that’s what I deserved.” Haunting tale from @pahoehoe.bsky.social : variantlit.com/soft-and-war...

“The things you say to me now are only for now. If you teach the bird, she will continue to say them for years to come.” All the ways love endures in this story by Thom Hawkins: variantlit.com/a-legacy-of-...

“They moved into the little house that stood quietly between two pine trees. Inside, they made small meals in a tiny kitchen. Inside, they slept fitfully in dark rooms. Inside, no one could tell the truth.” Read e. säfverblad nelson’s magical realist tale here: variantlit.com/spine-of-har...