Submissions

Call for Submissions | June 2025

Theme: Dimensions of Grief

Deadline: June 16, 2025

“Grief is like a long valley, a winding valley where any bend may reveal a totally new landscape.” — C.S. Lewis

Grief wears many faces.

It takes different shapes, forms, and depths. From mourning the death of a loved one, to grieving a relationship that ended, a life that never unfolded, or a season we can’t return to. Grief is familiar. We all carry stories of how it has touched us; how it shapes us, teaches us, and changes us.

For our next quarterly issue, we’re inviting submissions of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art that explore the many dimensions of grief — personal, collective, quiet, loud, messy, sacred.

We welcome emotive and honest expressions. Introduce us to the dimensions of grief we often overlook, or reintroduce us to the ones we think we know.

Submission Guidelines:

  1. Submission Email: Please send your submission to submissions@sapharcollective.com

    • Use the subject line format: Genre: Last name (e.g., Fiction: Smith).

    • Attach your work as a single document or file in the appropriate format (details below).

  2. Genres and Requirements:

    • Fiction and Nonfiction: Minimum 1,000 and maximum 2,000 words. Double-spaced.

    • Poetry: A minimum one poem and a maximum of two.

    • Photography and Visual Art: Maximum of 3 images in JPEG or PNG format. Please provide a short description (at least 200 words) explaining the concept of your work and how it relates to the theme.

  3. Originality:

    • Prose and Poetry: We do not accept previously published works (including works shared on personal blogs). Works posted on social media platforms are allowed.

    • Photography and Visual Art: We may consider work that has been previously exhibited or posted, as long as you still hold all the rights.

  4. Rights and Publication:

    • Saphar Collective requests the right to be the first to publish all submitted works. After they are published, the rights go back to you. If the work is published again, please mention Saphar Collective as the original publisher.

  5. Simultaneous Submissions:

    • You can submit to multiple places at once. If your work is accepted elsewhere, please let us know right away so we can remove it from consideration.

We aim to respond to submissions within two weeks after the submission deadline. If you do not hear back by then, please feel free to send a follow up to submissions@sapharcollective.com.

We can’t wait to receive your work!