Events

We want to hear from poets who publish in non-traditional ways, who hold unusual beliefs, who write what isn't popular, or feel that they don't fit in.

This issue  invites contributors to consider the emotional, political, and physical dimensions of home in flux. We’re especially interested in work that addresses displacement and alienation in their many forms.

This issue will explore the vagaries of nationalism, citizenship lost and found, what it means to have more than one national identity or passport, and to have none. So, who, what, where is your tribe?

For October, we invite you to explore Rite in all its forms: sacred or secular, celebratory or unsettling, personal or collective. What happens when a rite is denied, disrupted, or transformed? Explore the power that rituals hold over us when the candles burn low and we think no one is watching. 

Everyone deserves a second chance, but that chance is not always freely given. How does redemption affect the human experience– or does it not? 

We are interested in work that reflects on the  systems we unearth around us.  Living as we are, we are interwoven and defined by the systems we support, fight against, and ponder about.

Show us what it means to love something unironically and to risk sincerity in a world that rewards cynicism. How do we “kill the part that cringes” so the part that loves can finally breathe?

In the spirit of promoting global peace and contemplative artistic expression, Zen Peacemaker’s showcases three haiku a month on this page.

Surprise us with work that stretches the meaning of kinship—personal or collective, intimate or cosmic—while staying true to the urgency of our times.

In a time of fake news and counterfeits, scammers and artificial intelligence, tell us how you’re sifting through the layers of conceit. Send us your most suspicious stories, fallacious arguments, and prose that teeters between fact and fiction. 

We’re looking for pieces that embody the spirit of Nocturnia: eerie, elegant, unsettling, or uncanny. This is not just horror — it’s the haunting echo in a quiet room, the bittersweet memory that resurfaces at midnight, the beauty in the grotesque.

This issue is not themed. Send us your best tension-filled poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.

We look for work that is creative, grounded in concrete images, and playful, though "playful" needn't equal light. We want your horror, your heartbreak, and your fury. We just want it delivered in interesting, surprising ways that remind us why we fell in love with language to begin with.

What do you consider a valued inheritance? It could be an object of sentimental value, a lesson from a loved one, a characteristic passed down through generations, a spiritual blessing or gift, or even something else you consider valuable.

At Phylum Press, the Corkscrew Willow symbolizes twists, turns, and anything unexpected that may fall into our laps. Embrace the new, plant the seed, care for it, then see what happens!

One of the most important qualities we look for in others is Integrity. But what does that mean exactly?

Each entry must include the exact phrase, “reality detonates,” within the body of the poem. Make it sing. Make it roar. Make it linger like smoke.

Rage against the machine, storm the castle, the space alliance against the hegemony, hackers against the oligarchy, or however you envision it.

We seek work that represents and invigorates the diversity of contemporary poetry and demonstrates literary excellence whether it be lyric, free verse, prose, or experimental form.