We'd never encourage you to eavesdrop, but... Send us the best one-liners you've overheard—on the street, at the aquarium, in line for pastries—and you might see them in our next issue! Reply via form at geist.com/overheard

Geist 132 is out now! Notes & Dispatches from EMILY MOORE, SAGE TYRTLE, IAN ROY, and JESS HOUSTY Poetry by JADE RIORDAN and ERIN VOSTERS Fiction by ALEX LESLIE Essays from KATE REIDER COLLINS and NIKKI CELIS and more! Cover art by JAN CONN Pick up issue 132 at geist.com/subscribe-online/geist-132

In January, we started a fundraiser to help our non-profit operate smoothly in 2026. 💙 🩷 💜 THANK YOU readers, subscribers & lit-lovers who gave us a serious boost this year. It has been invigorating & hopeful to receive an influx of support for literature & print mags. 💙 🩷 💜

"In the empty lot across the street from my house, which was a mobile like the other homes on Turner Avenue, Bailey took off her training bra and flung it in a birch tree." —Jennifer Gossoo, Things Discovered and Un-, Geist 129 🌲 Read the dispatch in full at geist.com/fact/things-discovered-and-un

Two more days to contribute to our fundraiser! 💛 geist.com/donate/donate-to-geist-today 💛 We're a few steps closer to our goal—thank you to those who have shown support over the last several weeks. If you'd like to help, donate, subscribe, or share.

Look, we ate the doughnuts. But we still have gift boxes. Inside: great literature, Geist "section" hat, hot bevvy vehicle, zippered tote & more. Designed by Jia 何家嘉. Original art by Nora Kelly. Donate $250 or more by March 31, & we'll mail you a gift box. 🍩 geist.com/donate/donate-to-geist-today

Unswipeable, slow, deliberate. That's print, that's great literature, that's Geist. If that's the kind of thing you're into, donate by March 31. Donors of $250+ receive a limited-edition gift box, incl. merch w/ original art by Nora Kelly & designs by Jia 何家嘉. geist.com/donate/donate-to-geist-today

"There wasn't much to it at first glance. Just people recording themselves while stranded in the woods, trying to navigate absurd artificial scarcity of their own making." —CM Wain, COVID Cryptid, Geist 129 ⛺️ Read the comic in full at geist.com/comics/covid-cryptid

We believe in print. We believe in stories and great literature. We believe in humans and art. We believe the time is worth it, and the process is the point. If that's the kind of thing you're into, consider donating before March 31. 💗 Donate here: geist.com/donate/donate-to-geist-today 💗

"There’s power in a name. Yours is common, an easy bet in any graveyard. Sometimes there are more options than I care to consider: lavish monuments with butter soft carvings of angels, shabby rectangular stones shot through with cracks." —Courtney Buder, Revenant, Geist 129 geist.com/fact/revenant

Submissions close tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT 🐠 Send us your best, weirdest, most beloved works of non-fiction, comics, art, and photography. Read our full guidelines and find the link to submit at geist.com/submit

"The quality of writing that Geist publishes on the regular is fucking legit." —Conor Kerr, Geist contributor, author of 5 books of fiction & poetry 🩶 Donate by March 31: geist.com/donate/donate-to-geist-today 🩶 or share with someone who loves literature & good ol' human-curated print mags.

"'I’ve been alive for 76 percent of my life,' Jake tells me, and he lies on the living room floor, hands crossed over his chest. The collar of his shirt grazes his razor-reddened chin." —Finnian Burnett, Rejoice in His Name, Geist 129 ❄️ Full short story at geist.com/fiction/rejoice-in-his-name

Last photo dump from our 35th birthday. Full photo album now up on our website! 🌟 geist.com/blogs/photos-from-geist-at-35 Shoutout to: @thepleasantyvr @eventmags & @subterrain_magazine 🍰 @dangetsbaked 📸 Matt Sawatzky Get our anniversary issue 131 at geist.com/subscribe-online/geist-131

Calling all artists, photographers and collage-makers! Geist is open for ART & PHOTOGRAPHY submissions until March 12, 2026 🐠 We're looking for art and photography (traditional, digital, mixed media, etc.) to accompany written work in the magazine. Check out our full guidelines at geist.com/submit

We're rallying! Our fundraiser is now on until March 31. Perks: Limited-edition gift boxes, passes to Vancouver Art Gallery + the Museum of Vancouver. Details + donate: geist.com/donate/donate-to-geist-today Thanks MoV, Vancouver Art Gallery, Creative BC and the Province of BC for their support.

"Two of us were left behind: Moe, the surly / fire-swallower, and me. We shared no tongue. / I fetched the wood, he roasted the scallops." –Guy Elston, Geist 129 🔥 Read this delicious poem in full at geist.com/poetry/marooned

Submissions are open! Geist is currently reading for NON-FICTION and COMICS until March 12 at 11:59 p.m. PT ☀️ Please read our submission guidelines at geist.com/submit

Congrats to Katy McLean, who won the draw for free enrollment in the fiction course, How to Write a Novel. Thanks to UBC School of Creative Writing for their support, and to those who have donated to our fundraiser! Learn about our fundraiser & donate: geist.com/donate/donate-to-geist-today.

"It took less than two hours for a freight train to interrupt us. I counted. I’d been waiting for it. Not that there was an announcement explaining anything. None of us ever really knew what was going on on The Canadian." –Soraya Roberts, #129 Read the essay in full at geist.com/fact/silver-blue

Donate by 11:59 pm PST tonight for a chance to win a FREE seat in the creative writing course, How to Write a Novel, led by award-winning authors Annabel Lyon and Nancy Lee. Donate: geist.com/donate/donate-to-geist-today Details: geist.com/blogs/how-to-write-a-novel-donate-for-a-chance-to-win

More photos from our 35th anniversary party! We love you all. Check our website later in the month for the full birthday photo album :) 🌟

Denise Da Costa is a Geist contributor (issue 130) and author of the novel, And the Walls Came Down (Dundurn). 🧡 Donate: geist.com/donate/donate-to-geist-today 🧡 Until Feb. 23, all donors will be entered to win a free seat at UBC's writing course, How to Write a Novel. Details at the link!

CLOSES TONIGHT! Beware, the witching hour approaches. Submit your uncanny tales of under 500 words. Open to Canadian and international entrants. Deadline: Thurs, 19 February at 11:59 p.m. PT 👻 geist.com/contests

This is a big one! We are grateful to the UBC School of Creative Writing for their offer in support of our fundraiser. For details about our fundraiser, the UBC course, and to donate, visit: geist.com/donate/donate-to-geist-today

"Long before the pandemic lockdowns, I decided to cut my own hair in the privacy of my bathroom... to avoid the Chinese purity test that happened whenever I sat in front of a mirror with a plastic sheet over my chest." –Ginger Ngo, Geist 129 ✂️ Read the dispatch in full at geist.com/fact/strathcona

Much delayed, but delighted to see my poem, ‘I Want to Believe’, about grief & aliens in the 35th anniversary issue of @geistmag.bsky.social. What a beauty of a mag it is, too - look at that cover! Thanks to Emma again & the whole team. Pick up a copy to read the rest!

J.R. Patterson is a Geist contributor & Reading Collective member. For 35 years, Geist has provided a platform for a multitude of voices and perspectives. We've reached 13% of our fundraising goal! Can you help us get a little closer by Feb. 27? 🧡 Donate: geist.com/donate/donate-to-geist-today 🧡

We invite your spookiest tales, paranormal prose and haunted cartographies of 500 words or less. Both factual and fictional approaches welcome. Deadline: February 19, 2026. Visitations: geist.com/contests

We still have a few spots left in our 2-part writing workshop w/ José Teodoro! Part I: Sunday, Feb. 15. Part II: Sunday, Feb. 22. Details & Register: geist.com/blogs/dream-reportage Image: Laura Barrón

Already nostalgic for our 35th anniversary party! TY everyone who came out to celebrate—readers, writers, lit lovers, lit mags, friends, family! It's in our bones, no? To gather 'round, tell stories & break bread (in this case, funfetti cake). geist.com/subscribe-online/geist-131 📸 Matt Sawatzky

"The reason for my silence lies in the secret encoding of this letter. It’s a very simple code in fact: simply replace each use of “like” with “love." –Misha Solomon, Geist 129 💌 Read this gorgeous poem in full at geist.com/poetry/someone-elses-lavish-cake

Geist is part of an incredible ecosystem of writers, readers, artists, editors and literary magazines. If you can support Geist, please consider donating to our fundraiser by February 27 to help us operate in 2026. 🔻 Donate here: www.geist.com/donate/donat... 🔺

Dream Reportage, a writing workshop by José Teodoro: Use dreams as raw material for the crafting of writing, to probe the unconscious as a means of excavating personal histories, desires, and anxieties. Feb 15 + 22. Space limited! Register: www.geist.com/blogs/dream-... Photo: Laura Barrón

Geist is seeking NON-FICTION and COMICS submissions, as well as ART & PHOTOGRAPHY. We love innovative, thoughtfully researched and emotionally resonant narrative non-fiction in all its forms. Deadline: March 12, 2026 at 11:59 pm PT 🐠 Submission guidelines: geist.com/submit

Happy Groundhog Day! Here’s a poem inspired in a small way by the groundhogs who live on Mount Royal in Montreal. (It was also inspired by general pandemic ennui.) Thanks to @geistmag.bsky.social for giving it a great home: www.geist.com/poetry/the-g...

"The red maple my father planted behind our Toronto house was to celebrate my brother’s birth. The silver maple put in the ground a few years earlier for me would later be cut down. Its roots snaked into the basement and heaved up through the concrete." –Helen Humphreys, #129 geist.com/fact/botany

Geist needs your support. We are launching a fundraising campaign to help our non-profit operate smoothly for the rest of the year, with a goal to raise $20,000 by Feb. 27. Your donation is a vote for literature and art, for the weird and the wonderful. Donate: www.geist.com/donate/donat...

Congratulations on 35 years, Geist! 🎉✨ Also, welcome to Bluesky!

This Friday, Geist is joined by our friends at subTerrain and EVENT to celebrate our 35th anniversary. Three Geist authors will read from their work, published in 131, our 35th Anniversary Issue. 🔶 Morgan L. Ventura 🔶 Erika Thorkelson 🔶 Adèle Barclay See you Friday, January 30 at The Pleasant!

This Friday, Geist is joined by our friends at subTerrain and EVENT to celebrate our 35th anniversary. Two EVENT authors will read from their work: 💎 Adèle Barclay 💎 Jade Y. Liu See you on Friday, January 30 at The Pleasant for the Geist 35th Anniversary Celebration!

This Friday, Geist is joined by our friends at subTerrain + EVENT to celebrate our 35th anniversary. Two subTerrain authors will read from their work, published in subTerrain 101, their Dreams issue. 🌟 Erin Ashenhurst 🌟 Natasha Sanders-Kay See you Friday, January 30 @ The Pleasant in Vancouver!

Trick or treat? Fact or fiction? Send us your eerie prose, haunted moments, and uncanny tales, from the strangeness of the everyday to the sublime. The PolterGeist writing contest is open to Canadian and international entrants. 500 words max. Deadline: Feb 19, 2026 at 11:59PM PT geist.com/contests

Geist presents Dream Reportage, a creative writing workshop facilitated by José Teodoro, writer, artist, curator, & musician. This workshop takes place over two consecutive Sundays, February 15 + 22. Details + Register: www.geist.com/blogs/dream-... Image: Laura Barrón, laurabarron.ca

We'd never encourage you to eavesdrop, but... Send us the best one-liners you've overheard and you might see them in our next issue! Pssst... want to get creative? Draw a one-panel comic of your Overheard and upload it along with your submission (optional). Reply via form at geist.com/overheard

Issue 131 is out now, marking 35 years of Geist 🔮 Notes & Dispatches from ANDREW UNGER, ADÈLE BARCLAY, KATHERINE J BARRETT + WILLIAM BESSAI-SAUL Poetry by OWEN TORREY + MORGAN LEATHEM VENTURA Essays from ERIKA THORKELSON + KASIA VAN SCHAIK Cover art by ALENA WEBBER & much more! buff.ly/tMP9Ocl