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P=Poetry, N=Nonfiction, F=Fiction
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PFN – Nat Brut Magazine: Blood & Water
English-speakers often say that “blood is thicker than water” when talking about the bond of biological families. And yet, for those who cannot survive by this adage, there is the echo of a longer proverb: “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.”
This hidden inversion, offering the possibility of a future more stable than our beginnings, is a lifeline for survivors of developmental trauma. Without a stable past to tether us, we float through life in a grief-state unnamable to those who have not lived within this space. We learn to speak in a shorthand of half-truths, trying to translate the intimate loss of our childhood into terms intelligible for daily human interaction.
Blood & Water is a rejection of this sanitized translation. Developmental trauma lives in a pre-linguistic space, which means our experiences are bound to no recognizable shape or form. Here, we invite survivors of all types of early trauma to create without fear of the truth. In this folio, we believe that our wounds can be both grotesque and beautiful, past and present, universal and utterly unique, if only we look long enough.
We encourage writers of all identities who carry the experience of developmental trauma to submit their work, though we are particularly interested in the inherent queerness of creating chosen families in circumstances where biological families are unsafe. In any case, this is a space for honesty and healing, whatever that may look like for you.
Folio Submission Guidelines
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We aim to have a turn-around time of three months for all open submissions.
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Please note that we are currently an online-only publication and are no longer releasing biannual print issues. Work accepted for publication online will, however, be considered for publication in any future Nat. Brut print anthology.
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Please only send poetry, stories and essays that are previously unpublished. We do accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know in your cover letter and be sure to withdraw your piece promptly (via an email notification to folio@natbrut.com) if it’s accepted elsewhere.
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For poetry, please submit one to five poems in a single document (max of 10 pages).
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For essays, please send one submission (max of 10 pages).
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We consider stories of any length. Please limit one story per submission.