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...
Image announces journal Variant Lit is open for submissions, see guidelines on variantlit.com
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!
Variant Literature 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
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/
Whose head is in the box?
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.
It was my pleasure! Glad to home your words @variantlit.bsky.social!
Congratulations Dan!
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/
Devastation in the details.
@derekshirae.bsky.social ‘s “Terminal” serves up strange snacks and an unlikely protagonist.
