HAPPY RELEASE DAY! #Homecoming is here 🏠 ! This 7th issue of Awake is all about finding your way back—back to self, back to community, back to what feels like home. Celebrate the places that leave the light on for us and say, come on in 🫂 Cover Art: Jordyn Flood luckyjefferson.com/awake-issue-7

We’ve got a publication coming out this weekend! About a year in the making.

Honored to have my poem named a finalist in the 2025 Lucky Jefferson Poetry & Prose Contest! It’ll appear in the 365 Collection this January. Thank you to @luckyjefferson.com for believing in my work.

Eeeeee! Nothing and we mean nothing could have prepared us for a mailbox OVERFLOWING with submissions for our forthcoming book #Bond — a publication that highlights the relationships of those currently and previously navigating our criminal justice system.

The latest story from our newsroom @15west.org!

This one’s for anyone seeking softness, kindness in a world that grows more scary each day. In collaboration with #826NYC, #MakingtheWorldSoft is an otherworldly fantasy anthology shaped by the minds of 9 young writers who dared to dream beyond the ordinary. Who dared to create new worlds.

At La Cocina de Irma in Little Village, “Grandma Irma” feeds everyone—no matter what language they speak or how much money they have. ⬇️ Swipe for the TLDR or head here to read more: www.15west.org/grandma-irma...

It has been a pleasure working with Lucky Jefferson again for Estallido! I hope everyone takes some time to check out this issue full of inspirational pieces.

#poetryoftheday is my brilliant friend Disha Trivedi's "be here to mother me at the end of the world" in the latest issue of @luckyjefferson.com "Weather-green, that book, the cover, like chutney, or the slick mint sari for a wedding I won’t have." luckyjefferson.com/fissure/ #poetry

FREE WORKSHOP ALERT! Join Lucky Jefferson and Jasmine Barnes on Saturday, September 6th, for a free 1.5-hour virtual writing workshop designed for writers interested in using poetry to explore our connections to others. ✍️📝💌 Register here: events.humanitix.com/letters-to-o... jasbarnes.com

Starting off Sunday with the release of our second Latine issue, #Estallido! #Estallido centers 6 Latin-American and Latin-identifying writers, poets, and artists, each of them inviting the radical act of protest into their work. luckyjefferson.com/estallido

Read WILDFLOWER from @luckyjefferson.com for #DisabilityPrideMonth! This digital issue celebrating eight autistic BIPOC writers features writing by J. D. Harlock, Shel Moring, Greta McGee, and more: luckyjefferson.com/wildflower/

👋🏽 We’re hosting media literacy workshops for anyone curious about misinformation and community journalism. Over 3 weeks you’ll learn to: • decode misinformation • critically engage with media • write your own narratives through hands-on training in digital publishing and community journalism

Still so grateful for IFF’s support! 🥹 This is our largest gift to date. And with everything going on in the world, it feels surreal to be included among this list of organizations fighting for the arts. Learn more about our plans at the link below

Man self-promo is tuff but here goes. If you’re seeing this, I’ve started a newsroom called 15 West (@15West.org)! This wouldn’t be possible without a grant from Cook County and @citybureau.bsky.social.

We launching a newsroom (@15west.org)! Please support with a follow or share.

We have two FREE virtual workshops happening in July! REGISTER here: luckyjefferson.com/programs/

Paying for #contests sucks. Sooo don't? For the third year, we're calling all poetry and prose writers to submit to our summer contest! Two finalists will win a cash prize and LJ swag pack. Plus, it’s FREEE to enter. More info: luckyjefferson.com/poetry-prose...

Ain’t no party like a speculative poetry party! Learned so much from Katherine Quevedo in today’s generative writing workshop.

Calling all emerging photographers in Chicago! We just opened applications for a new 1-month fellowship we’re launching with Buddy in The Chicago Cultural Center. Fellows will receive: - $250 stipend - Workshops - Mentorship - An exhibition - Plus some APPLY BY JUNE 1: bit.ly/EmergingPhot...

🗣️ Make some noise for our FREE, virtual #NationalPoetryMonth writing workshops! Check out our lineup, then register: luckyjefferson.com/programs/

awesome foundation met at @beermiscuous.bsky.social tonight and heard from last months grantees about @luckyjefferson.com 's bonds behind bars issue and Seneca's Dream girl studios sewing workshop.

New Year New Latin American focused sub call! I'm guest editing an issue with @luckyjefferson.com again for "Estallido." Paid opportunity! We accept prose, poetry and visual artwork. luckyjefferson.submittable.com/submit/31971...

New poem in @luckyjefferson.com 🕺🏾 luckyjefferson.com/for-the-litt...

We don’t open up the rest of our calls until 2/1, but that doesn’t mean the fun has to stop. If you’re a D&D lover @anodynemag.bsky.social has a friggin cool workshop that‘ll get the words flowing. 🎲 Get your roll on: anodynemag.com/event/roll-f...

This year I published my third chapbook, 6 individual poems, 2 essays, and a hybrid lyric essay. Thankful for @ghostcitypress.bsky.social @luckyjefferson.com @feversof.bsky.social @fahmidanjournal.bsky.social for making it possible 🙏🏽 Can’t wait for 2025

WHAMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYY! Thanks to all who voted. And thanks to @chillsubs.bsky.social for spotlighting lit mags and arts orgs year after year!

whoever suggested deleting the “discover” feed on here…THANK YOU

Please, if you are able, support Independent bookshops. They are the literary & social hubs of our high streets and communities. Without their continued support, we simply wouldn't be around to publish . Thank you.

For anyone looking to follow other lit mags, presses 👇🏽

If you can write a poem, creating your own world, you can survive. It doesn’t have to be a good poem, but it’s yours and no one can hurt you while you are in its world. It’s like a secret passage from danger, from prison. This is how I got through my teenage. There was no coming of age for me

This place is like therapy.

I guess it’s about that time to begin dusting off this account

it’s soooo quiet here, compared to the dumpster fire that is Twitter/X.

🤠 this ain’t Texas….it’s release day! #HowTheWestWasBlack, the fifth issue in our #Awake Collection, illustrates the transformative power of Blackness in shaping the history of the West. Enjoy here: luckyjefferson.com/awake-issue-5/

👏quick shout-out to CLMP for stepping up and making things happen for presses hit by the catastrophic SPD closure. Thank you!

rewrote this first post a zillion times...is it still Tuesday?