Foglifter is a biannual compendium of the most dynamic, urgent queer and trans writing today. It’s a space where LGBTQ+ writers celebrate, mourn, rage, and embrace
Foglifter welcomes daring and thoughtful work by queer and trans writers in all forms, and we are especially interested in cross-genre, intersectional, marginal, and transgressive work. We want the pieces that challenged you as a writer, what you poured yourself into and risked the most to make. But we also want your tenderest, gentlest work, what you hold closest to your heart. Whatever you're working on now that's keeping you alive and writing, Foglifter wants to read it.
Editorial Statement
We provide a path to representation for a broad selection of LGBTQ+ voices, centering queer and trans literary artists of color, youth, elders, and those beyond traditional LGBTQ+ cultural centers so that our readers and audiences can see their own experiences authentically represented through queer and trans literary arts.
We believe that queer and trans people must curate our own artistic discourses and we curate with a commitment to not perpetuate harm in our communities and recognize our responsibilities as editors to uplift the voices of queer and trans people while not punching down on those of us who live at the intersection of multiple oppressed identities.
Writers in Need Fund
Foglifter is excited to launch the Writers In Need fund to support sliding-scale payments for our contributors. While we have been deeply fortunate to be able to compensate contributors for their important and incredible writing with a modest honorarium, Foglifter recognizes the many intersections of our queer and trans artistic communities, and that members of our community may be differently impacted by financial insecurity and historical disenfranchisement. This fund is an attempt to address those inequities. Please see the Submit page on our website for details.
General Submission Guidelines
Title your submission with the title of the work(s) you are submitting (separated by commas).
Include a 50-word or less bio (with pronouns after your name, please!) in your cover letter. (If accepted, we will request an author photo; JPG or PNG files are best.)
We accept the following unpublished unsolicited submissions:
- 3 to 5 poems, one poem per page (max 5 pages)
- up to 7500 words of fiction or nonfiction (up to three flash fiction pieces)
- up to 20 pages of cross-genre work, text-image hybrids, or drama
All submissions must be uploaded as one DOC or DOCX file using the following titling convention: First_Last_Foglifter (i.e., Audre_Lorde_Foglifter)
- We accept simultaneous submissions; however, please withdraw your piece immediately if it is accepted elsewhere (or, if you only need to withdraw part of a submission, send us a message in Submittable).
- Only one submission per genre is permitted each reading period.
- We do not accept previously published material.
- We welcome translated work in all genres, provided rights have been secured before submission. (Both author and translator will receive an honorarium.)
- If we've recently accepted your work, please wait two reading periods (1 year) to submit again.
- Contributors receive two copies of the issue in which they appear and a $100 honorarium (via PayPal).
Online Exclusive Issue Guidelines
- Please submit up to 5 pieces
- For video and audio submissions, please limit to 5 minutes
- We accept art created via all mediums (except AI — no AI art submissions). This includes, but is not limited to, photography, painting, digital, ink, pencil, collage, etc.
- Acceptable file types: .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .tif, .tiff, .png, .svg, .pdf, .doc, .docx, .txt, .rtf, .odt, .mp3, .m4a, .wav, .mp4, .mov, .avi, .mpg, .3gp, .wmv
- Visual and [multi]media work must be web-viewable—please include links or uploads through Submittable and include content warnings if applicable
- All applicable artworks submitted will be considered for cover art for the online exclusive issue
- We love experimental work, feel free to submit hybrid forms that blend genres
Submission periods for our print issues are:
- March 1 to May 1 (Fall Edition)
- September 1 to November 1 (Spring Edition)
Submission periods for our digital issues are:
- August 15 to October 15 (Winter Edition)
- February 15 to April 15 (Summer Edition)
As Foglifter revitalizes our website and digital production, we are interested in creating and holding space for works that may not fit within the constraints of our print edition. We are now accepting submissions for our new Online Exclusive Issue dedicated to showcasing queer voices across a wide spectrum of creative forms.
As always, we are seeking art that aligns with our mission of promoting queer, transgressive, and original work. The themes will change from issue to issue. For 1.1, our theme is Body Politics. Bodies are sites of power, protest, pleasure, oppression, transformation, and resistance. They are legislated, labeled, liberated, and loved. In a world where bodies are constantly scrutinized, marginalized, and controlled—especially queer, trans, fat, disabled, racialized, and reproductive bodies—we want to create a space for work that responds, reclaims, and reimagines.
Please submit work that engages with themes that may include gender expression and transition, reproductive justice, disability and chronic illness, surveillance and censorship, body modification culture, fat liberation and anti-ableism, queer desire and sexuality, the racialized body, and performance and protest. We invite works that grapple with the political, personal, and cultural dimensions of the queer body.
Pieces must be original, unpublished work in genres including, but not limited to: poetry, fiction, nonfiction, drama, comics, visual art, scripts, and multimedia (video, audio, music, interactive pieces, experimental work, etc.) that align with the current issue’s theme.
This online exclusive issue will be published as a winter issue on our website. We’re especially interested in pieces that experiment with form, push boundaries, and reflect the complexity, joy, rage, beauty, and multiplicity of the queer experience.
Why Online Exclusive?
Our print publication has limits—page counts, dimensions, ink. This digital issue is a space without borders. We want to uplift work that can’t—or won’t—fit in print: multimedia projects, audio pieces, visual art, and performance pieces that demand to be seen and heard in digital space.
General Submission Guidelines:
- We accept only first rights to publication.
- We do accept simultaneous submissions, however please withdraw pieces that have been accepted elsewhere.
- Please include a short bio, description of your work, any past publications, and applicable trigger warnings in your cover letter.
- Visual and [multi]media work must be web-viewable—please include links or uploads through Submittable and include content warnings if applicable
Genre Specific Guidelines
- Please submit up to 5 pieces
- For video and audio submissions, please limit to 5 minutes
- We accept art created via all mediums (except AI -- no AI art submissions). This includes, but is not limited to, photography, painting, digital, ink, pencil, collage, etc.
- Acceptable file types: .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .tif, .tiff, .png, .svg, .pdf, .doc, .docx, .txt, .rtf, .odt, .mp3, .m4a, .wav, .mp4, .mov, .avi, .mpg, .3gp, .wmv
- All applicable artworks submitted will be considered for cover art for the online exclusive issue
- We love experimental work, feel free to submit hybrid forms that blend genres
- For grant purposes, we cannot consider submissions that do not include a completed demographic survey with their submission
Foglifter aims to reflect the vibrant diversity of the LGBTQ+ literary community in our award-winning journal. Fill out our anonymized Demographics Survey to be considered for publication—then take a screenshot of the thank-you screen at the end and attach it along with your submission.
Foglifter is looking for a Print Production Manager! The responsibilities are as follows:
- The Print Production Manager collaborates with the production assistant and the web team to design print publications. They liaise with print/digital contributors, managing publication content; procuring bios, contracts, final agreements from contributors; and confirming final versions of pieces with contributors. They manage the copy-editing of print publications and work with our copy-editor. A portion of this role also requires working with the managing editor and current Start A Riot! winner by producing the annual print chapbook.
This role requires familiarity with Adobe Photoshop and InDesign (access provided).
This role requires familiarity with print production and design. Strong adherence to deadlines is a must.
The estimated time commitment for this role is 2–4 hrs per week during non-production times, and 8–10 hrs during production times. It includes a yearly honorarium of $5,000 (half to be paid in the spring and half in the fall).
Residence is the San Francisco Bay Area is not required, but would be ideal.
Multi-marginalized individuals are encouraged to apply.