We are NOW CLOSED for Submissions
for our Winter 2023-2024 Issue #14 – Acceptance

Please note: Our Mental Health Awareness Issue and Writing Contest
is scheduled for our Summer 2024 Issue #15 – Theme TBD
We will begin taking Submissions once Issue #14 is Out

General Guidelines

We seek previously unpublished, creative, and high-quality work in the form of poetry, creative nonfiction/essays, fiction/short stories/flash fiction, scripts and digital media (photography, drawings, podcasts, and short films). Patients, students, family members, caregivers, nurses, physicians, healthcare consumers, artists, mental health providers, physical therapists, writers, clergy—all of us will be patients one day and all are welcome to submit work. We are especially looking for content from vulnerable populations and those who care for them; content that connects us with every community, makes us feel something, helps us see illness, wellness, health, or the healthcare environment differently, and inspires equality in healthcare and the world.

Theme Guidelines: Acceptance

Acceptance, or lack thereof, comes in all forms and in its own time. Psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler Ross developed the Five Stages of Grief after observing people coping with terminal illness for years which were later adopted for coping with grief. It’s no surprise that Acceptance is the final stage, though Ross advises these stages are far from linear and are often repeated. Learning to accept what life throws at us, what we inflict upon ourselves, and even those we love can be challenging at times but oh so rewarding if we have the courage or curiosity to stay the course.

We witness all too often of late that the road to acceptance of those unlike us can be ugly, inhumane, and non-existent. Anger and fear can provide convenient excuses preventing growth that might open a mind or a heart. What have you learned to, or had to, accept? Struggled to accept? Failed to accept? These are the stories in all forms–creative nonfiction, short stories, poetry, film, photography and digital art–we are curating for Winter Issue #14.

As always — the canvas is yours to paint with the words and images that ring true to you! We look forward to seeing what our audience of writers, patients, physicians, psychologists, patient advocates, artists, and healthcare consumers have to say! Every one of your stories matter to us. We’re listening and we hope to be expanding our platform in the coming year to allow for even more vulnerable populations, as well as those who care for them, to be heard.

As always, we aim for the highest literary and artistic standards.

All Submissions, once active, can be made through Submittable.

Compensation

Genre Guidelines

Poetry

Please submit a maximum of three poems at a time. If you submit more than three, we can only read the first three.

Fiction

Please submit short stories no more than 4,000 words in length. Flash fiction, up to 1,000 words, is welcome and encouraged. Submissions should be double-spaced in 12pt Times Roman or other serif font with 1″ margins. We will look at excepts of longer works on a case-by-case basis; please query us with a description of your project before submitting if greater than 4,000 words.

Creative Nonfiction

Please submit nonfiction pieces no more than 4,000 words in length. Submissions should be double-spaced in 12pt Times Roman or other serif font with 1″ margins. We will look at excepts of longer works on a case-by-case basis; please query us with a description of your project before submitting if longer than 4,000 words.

Films

Please submit links to your short films for review, and up to five minutes in length.

Other Media

We welcome submissions of photography, podcasts, and other media. All digital media will should be hosted by the creator, and shared by a link. Photography and still images can be attached to submission in a .jpg file sized suitable for web upload on WordPress.