Announcing our Fall 2026 Theme: THE CRONE

Submissions will open August 21 and close on September 18.

For our Fall 2026 issue, we are seeking flash fiction and poetry
from female-identifying & gender fluid writers over 50 years old
that features the The Crone, in all her glory.

Who is YOUR version of The Crone?
Is she the fierce Morrigan, or is she the Cailleach?
Is she the elder Hecate, or is she the Baba Yaga?
Is the the Grandmother Spider, or Nana Buluku?
Has she given out her last fuck, or has she settled gently into a well-deserved rest?
Or, maybe a little bit of both?
Whoever she is, please make this your own.

I especially welcome Black authors, authors of color, indigenous writers, immigrant writers, and disabled & neurodivergent folk to apply.

500 word limit for flash fiction.
For poetry, no more than 50 lines.

Please, no simultaneous submissions.
But multiple submissions are okay.

Chosen submissions will receive a flat payment of $50 and the author must be able to receive payment via Paypal.
You will also be invited to participate in our Fall 2026 reading party.

For future submissions calls, please check back here, follow our Facebook page, or subscribe to our newsletter.

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Please read carefully below for our editorial aesthetic, rights information, AI policy, and guidelines.

The aesthetic:
My editorial tastes mainly align with the original vision of The Green Sheaf: I love folklore, fairy tales, mythology, and the mystical. I also enjoy the speculative, the darkly fantastical, folk horror, the weird/numinous, the surreal/strange, the gothic, and magical realism/slipstream. Furthermore, I love poetic language, exquisite prose, and lush imagery. My favorite authors of short fiction include Angela Carter, K-Ming Chang, Carmen Maria Machado, Angela Buck, María Fernanda Ampuero, Agustina Bazterrica, Gwendolyn Kiste, Jamaica Kincaid, Sheree Renée Thomas, Nalo Hopkinson, Caroline Yoachim, Karen Russell, Ramona Ausubel, Kelly Link, Aimee Bender, Barbara Molinard, Leonora Carrington, Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, and Gabriel García Márquez, among others. I love the films of Robert Eggers, Federico Fellini, Tim Burton, and Guillermo del Toro. I’m also haunted by The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Transport me with your words. 

AI Policy:
We will not accept AI-generated work.

Rights:
We request first North American serial rights—which will revert to you immediately on publication—and non-exclusive rights to archive your work electronically.

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