Exposition Review is thrilled to share the theme for our eighth annual issue: “Lines.”
Submissions will be open September 15–December 31, 2022. We accept work in all forms: fiction, flash fiction, nonfiction, poetry, scripts for stage & screen, experimental narratives, visual art, film, and comics.
Read more about the theme and how to submit:
At this moment in time, it can be so easy to focus on just that: this moment. A date on the calendar. Our place on the planet.
But our experiences aren’t limited to a single point in time, or on a map. We look back, and ahead, and realize we’re tethered to a track, our lives hurtling along a trajectory like a car on the open highway.
We don’t exist on a point, but on a line.
For Exposition Review: Vol. VIII, we’re looking for work that explores lines: The line of reality that constantly unfurls in front of us. The lines that connect us, whether the ties that bind us to our familial lineage or the bonds we choose to create between each other—friends, claimed family, lovers. The lines that we draw—boundaries of safety to protect our hearts—and the lines that we cross. The lines we wait in, and the lines we toe. All defining, all surprisingly fragile.
Art, too, starts with a single line. The act of making a line, and then a link or connection, is the beginning of a journey, and whether it ends in heartbreak or triumph, we’re here for the ride.
When we tell stories, write poems, and pen screenplays, we neatly arrange our words into lines. We laud alluring first lines, kicker last lines, and memorable lines in between. We quote them, put them on T-shirts, say them in wedding vows.
Sometimes
we even break them.
So, think about the lines your characters are on—where they began, where they lead, how they build or break. Introduce us to someone hurtling through their trajectory, flying along the highway of their lives. Show us characters willing to color outside the lines, or draw a line even though it hurts. Give us lines we can’t forget, that only you could write.
Your blank page awaits, with lines ready to be written or drawn.
For all submissions received by October 31, 2022, we guarantee personalized feedback. All accepted work will receive $50.00 USD as payment. Free submission days will be on November 29 (Giving Tuesday) and December 10 (Human Rights Day).
We look forward to reading your submissions!
Meet the Editorial Team
Editors-in-Chief: Annlee Ellingson & Mellinda Hensley
Fiction Co-Editors: Kelly Esparza & Shze-Hui Tjoa
Flash Fiction Editor: Jessica June Rowe
Nonfiction Editor: Ramona Pilar
Poetry Editor: Anya Maria Johnson
Stage & Screen Editor: Kes Nave
Experimental Editor: Rebecca Luxton
Visual Art Editor: Brianna J.L. Smyk
Comics & Film Editor: Lauren Gorski
Remember to check out our submission page for specific guidelines. Want an even better idea of what to submit to us? Read our previous issues.
We accept all submissions via Submittable:
Photo Credit: Marcus Urbenz