"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