Issue XI begins with an infinite tension.

Para – altered, beside, beyond, against.
Social – the networks of intimacy, recognition, and belonging we carry with us.

Joined together, these words suggest closeness without reciprocity; connection without contact. We hear it most often in the context of celebrity, cashiers, counselors, and colleagues – unreturned attachments we form out of unmet needs.

But what if PARA/SOCIAL is more than a warning label?  What if PARA/SOCIAL signals possibility?

To write into PARA/SOCIAL is to explore:

• The tenderness of feeling known by someone who does not know you.
• The estrangement of being “with” people while remaining apart.
• The creative sparks that fly in parallel play — lives brushing close, never fully merging.
• The edges where community becomes illusion, and illusion shapes community.

For this issue we invite work that traces the edges of intimacy and illusion. We seek longing projected across distance, the distortions of connection, and the gifts of being alongside – with or without perception and recognition.

This theme is not a verdict, but an invitation: to consider how we live beside each other, how we build connections through shadow, screen, and story, and how we might reimagine the boundaries of the social altogether.

Let PARA/SOCIAL pull you, softly or wrenchingly, in opposite directions. Let the word unravel and remake itself through your work.

Submissions will be open September 15–December 15, 2025. We accept work in all forms: fiction, flash fiction, nonfiction, poetry, scripts for stage & screen, experimental narratives, visual art, film, and comics.

For all submissions received by October 31, 2025, we guarantee personalized feedback. All accepted work will receive $50.00 USD as payment. Free submission days will be on December 2 (Giving Tuesday) and December 10 (Human Rights Day).

We look forward to reading your work!

Meet the Editorial Team

Editors-in-Chief:
Rebecca Luxton & Laura Rensing

Section Editors:
Fiction Editor: Dave Gregory
Associate Fiction Editor: Yuya Hattori
Flash Fiction Editor: Jessica June Rowe
Nonfiction Editor: Heather Vaughan
Poetry Editor: Kiana Shaley
Comics and Film Editor: Lauren Gorski
Stage & Screen Editor: Mellinda Hensley
Experimental Editor: Ramona Pilar
Visual Art Editor: Brianna J.L. Smyk
Editorial Board Advisor: CD Eskilson

Managing Editor:
Annlee Ellingson

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: