Society celebrated our resilience, called us “brave” and “strong” instead of removing the conditions that made us have to learn to survive systems designed to destroy us.

What happens to us who did survive?

How do we live after decades of poverty, abuse, ableism, queerphobia, racism, caregiving, chronic illness, capitalism, slow systemic death and grief?

What does survival leave behind in our bodies? For each other?

Have we stopped confusing survival with living?

This is an open call for submissions seeking poetry, essays, creative nonfiction, letters, eulogies, articles, visual art, illustrations and hybrid/experimental work about survival and what comes after survival- from those who spent years surviving systems that asked us to disappear. 

This collection explores survival, grief, disability, memory, care, trauma, poverty, caregiving, chronic illness, capitalism, ableism, queerphobia, racism, colonialism, class, healthcare access, legal systems, neurodivergence, and other systems and circumstances that shape people's lives.

The project is particularly interested in work that questions the cultural expectation to be "strong" or "resilient" instead of asking why people were required to survive difficult or oppressive conditions in the first place.

Submissions are rolling. Submit new, unpublished finished drafts. 

There is no deadline.

Submissions remain open until the anthology is full. 

Full guidelines below.

Submissions must be previously published (this means published elsewhere in print or online). Work that has been read or recorded is fine if not published in print or online. 

Artwork should be scanned unless 3D art submission. Photographs, artwork and mixed media submissions will be considered for cover art and cover art of online announcements/ press/ etc. This means your submission will be considered "published."

What can I submit?

Poetry

Essay

Creative nonfiction

Letter

Eulogy

Illustration

Visual art

Photography

Comics / sequential art

Hybrid / experimental work

Other

Is my work a good fit?

Read the about us page, mission statement, any previously published work and the work we have published in the past, look at our social media accounts and interests, any links, does it seem like your work would interest the editor? 

How do I write a cover letter or bio? 

Check out our resources for examples. 

Rejection: 

Your work was not a fit and does not reflect on yourself, in any capacity. The length of time to respond and a rejection to a submission does not reflect on you, the work submitted, your creativeness or experience.

Reasons for rejection could include: work is not original or already published; is AI generated, prompted, edited, or completed with generative AI; you are not the sole author/ creator and do not hold first publishing rights; is longer than the accepted length; your work is not in a format we can read; your work does not fit the theme/ topic of the call; editorial discretion applies.

How many pieces can I submit?

Creative nonfiction/ essays, letters, eulogies:

Maximum one of each, for a total of 3, up to 1,500 words each.

 Short creative nonfiction

(flash fiction, post card fiction, micro fiction, etc):

up to 250 words each, up to 3 pieces.

Poetry:

submit up to 3 poems. 50 lines per poem.

Visual art/illustration:

up to 3 pieces.

Other forms:

contact the editor if your work does not fit these categories.

What about formatting?

Unless a style choice, all submissions should be double spaced. Poetry should be single spaced, in a readable 12 pt font.

Poems and short creative nonfiction should be combined in one document. Each poem on a new page.

Can I submit more than once? Contributors may submit new pieces if more than 30 days since your acceptance or rejection of first submission. 

Cover letter/ content notes? Cover letters are not required. Please include any content warnings in a cover letter or when submitting. If you're unsure if a content note should be included, go ahead and include the content note in the cover letter. This also helps to act as a content note for submission readers and editor. 

Simultaneous Submissions

Of course. But please withdraw your submission immediately if accepted elsewhere.

Response time We try to respond to submissions as quickly as possible and send a decision within 60 days, given crip time and crip editing.

Who?

We encourage, stress and love submissions from Black and Indigenous writers, writers of color, writers with disabilities/ crip writers, writers from LGBTQIA+ communities, and writers that have been historically under-represented and minoritized in the publishing world. 

Found poetry/ black out poetry/ erasure/ and borrowing work:

Please include the original text title, where published, etc.

Payment/ Tips

Accepted contributors will receive 3 copies of the project and discounted copies of their issue. We currently are not able to offer payment. If you'd like to support the publishing of this project, a tip is appreciated but not required and does not impact the submission process.

Updates/ Revisions:

Please do not send revisions to already submitted or accepted pieces- we have ADHD and this will confuse us. If it's vital, please withdraw your submission.

Other submission information:

You will be asked for a short bio, a photo (optional), a cover letter or a brief note on the submission-include any content notes, sometimes also called trigger warnings, this helps with the editorial process; social links, personal sites and a tip, which does not affect the submission of your work.

Please do not email about submission status, we run on crip editing time. 

If more than 6 months have passed since your submission, email us at bythisweapon@protonmail.com for an update status.

Please do not submit submissions directly via email; we have ADHD and this will confuse us. If having trouble with the form, email us to let us know and we will send a PDF Form of the submission form.

If we accept your work, we ask for First Serial Rights until publication.

After publication all rights revert back to the author/ artist.

Any works submitted in a language other than English, please provide an English translation.

SUBMISSION FORM

The title By This Weapon is drawn from Audre Lorde’s poem “A Litany for Survival.” The poem has been personally significant to the editor, Noemi Martinez who wrote the zine Hermana, Resist, for many years, accompanying their own evolution and changing understanding of survival, fear, resistance, and what it means to live beyond simply surviving.

Stay tuned for more calls for submissions from Crip Kitchen Press.