Call For Submissions
- Plath. The imagery of those shoes on the cover of The Bell Jar provokes a squirrelly feeling in the back of my throat. We’re choking on flattened pink, the docility of patent leather pumps against the pale sliver of moon-white ankle. The background’s cornflower blue depressive; the image–now universally recognizable–is one of commodified womanhood, but we know that’s only a front, just 1960s overextended sparkle. There’s deeper business, here. Plath’s Bell Jar is our November theme—send us Plathian prose and jewel-box poetry half punctuated to death, and Peptobismol art set against gloomy telecasts of the heart (or the grainy, febrile insides of the head). Her anger and craft cut a diamond path through the backbone of modern literature. Let us celebrate being trapped, all of us. We’d like to see prose, essays, poetry, and artwork that acknowledge the bell jar in ways that rattle, expand on the metaphor, or pay tribute. This can be subtle, careful stuff—let’s find avenues to write around that elephant in the room. No gas or suicide; let’s celebrate Plath as she lived, the way her intellect nearly vibrates through the page, how she lived on the edges of razors, wrote like a hellhound; the sheer volume of work credited to her is proof of her genius, a demigoddess of literature in all respects. Remember how dizzying it was the first time you read “Daddy”–go from there.
- General Submissions Information: Our white whale of a submission is one that bravely tinkers with the fundamental language that comprises mental illness writing. We’re seeking writing & art that dares to take on this kind of capricious subject matter with candor, transparency, humor, & a discerning eye. Libre’s a small vessel, bent on publishing writing and art that wrestles with starlight, confronts madness, while letting us see the sweat. Repurpose the myth for our modern day melancholy. Provoke your demons—call them by their proper names & send us stories about the glorious aftermath. Pills & pain have a place in literature, just like everything else. We’re especially in love with a lyrical turn of phrase & writing that reddens with Prophetic wisdom. We’re interested in essays that bravely look beneath the Baklavaic nature of genre, that aren’t afraid of light research or the well-placed realist anecdote in mythic context. Write to us about phenomena of the mind, steep her in scene & symbol. Tell us about the time your brain went sideways. We’re here to prove the existence of ourselves.
- Please keep longer prose submissions (both fiction and CNF) bearable–our max word limit is 1,500.
- Poetry submissions have no word count, but we consider 5 poems per submission our sweet spot.
- If you consider your prose piece “flash”, do consider mentioning that in your cover letter.
- As for formatting, please use Times New Roman, size 12 pt font, a color like black will do.
- Double-spacing is a friend for our weary eyes, unless otherwise stated.
Submission Period
September 3, 2024 - November 11, 2024
Submissions Guidelines URL
Contact Name
Mary Buchanan
Contact Title
Editor-in-chief
Contact Email Address
Contact Website
Poetry Fiction Nonfiction Reviews Translation Art Online Magazine
