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📬 Call for Submissions

[Opening June 23, 2025]
To Whom It May Not Concern: Emails That Were Written (or Should’ve Been) and Never Sent

We’re collecting stories, real or imagined, inspired by unhinged letters to schools and/or between parents. The kind that might have stayed in the “Drafts” folder, or were sent late at night, or whispered in parking lots.

This is a space to unpack the raw, complex, and sometimes absurd emotions that come with parenting within (and around) the institution of education. These letters may be filled with love, outrage, confusion, protectiveness, or pure bureaucratic exhaustion.

✖️ Pieces created, written, or translated by generative A.I. will not be considered for this anthology. As many parents are leveraging A.I. for these communications, I hope you consider rewriting the experience in your own voice. I promise it'll be more fun. 

📚 Submit with this Google Form: 
⏹️ Deadline for submissions is September 1, 2025 (Open All Summer)
📘 Expected Publication Date is June 2026 
💰 Token Payment 
❓ email questions to [email protected]

We welcome:

  • Fictionalized letters, creative nonfiction, poetry that channel real emotional truths.

  • Anonymous accounts of clashes with school administrators and teachers.

  • Emails-never-sent to principals, boards, or other parents.

  • Open letters that reckon with the cost of conforming or resisting social norms and out-dated rules.

  • Epistolary rants or elegies about individualized education programs, drop-off line politics, or PTA drama.

  • Pieces from marginalized and POC voices impacted by education systems, with a focus on parents, caregivers, and guardians.

  • Bonus points for dashs of speculative, humor, and spice.
  • Reprints will be considered. Please tell me where and when it was published. 
  • Please do not submit pieces written by generative A.I. The words must be crafted by a human. 

💡 Important Notes:

  1. Protect identities: Change names, locations, and identifying details. This isn’t about calling individuals out but calling systemic dynamics and emphatizing experiences.

  2. Keep it civil, but honest: We want the emotional intensity without personal attacks.

  3. Word count: 500 - 2000 words (exceptions welcome with strong cause).

  4. Payment: Token $20 for longer form pieces, $10 for each poem
Previous Submissions: 
  • [Closed on April 2025] Coven of the East: Reimaging Asian Women's Magical Histories. Pro-rate for words up to 1,200 words.