submissions are closed.
submissions are closed.
submissions are closed. submissions are closed.
Submissions are now closed :(
But don’t fret! Those interested in having their work published with a shorter turnaround period and no theme requirements, check out our bi-weekly publication, Thursdaise! Every other week we publish essays, reviews, interviews, etc. written by small or unpublished writers around the world!
The Summer ‘24 Issue theme is…
Minor Anthropologies
discover how everyday objects and moments can become significant markers of identity and history:
drawing inspiration from Sōetsu Yanagi's, "The Beauty of Everyday Things," this issue delves into the intimate snapshots of life and the profound significance of collecting artifacts and experiences. We invite artists to examine their own lives as living museums.
from cherished heirlooms to fleeting interactions, this issue showcases how the mundane transforms into the meaningful when viewed through an anthropological perspective.
With this issue, we hope that you as artists, photographers, jewelry makers, writers, textile artists, etc. will celebrate the art of mindful observation and the power of context; to rediscover the richness of their personal histories and surroundings.
Listed below are a few of the works that inspired us while collecting research for this issue. We hope they will inspire you, and serve as references for the themes, motifs, and elements we are looking for this quarter.
“...in that moment I realize how much I love the little everyday routines of my life..the details that are my life’s special pattern, like how in handwoven rugs what really makes them unique are the tiny flaws in the stitching, little gaps and jumps and stutters that can never be reproduced.
so many things become beautiful when you really look.”
“Documenting what I do in the kitchen can feel like the task of recording almost nothing. But it is the nothing I am doing, and do almost every day, and have been doing every day for over a decade. It is the nothing that has been part of almost every social interaction of my life as an adult and through which I have come to know almost all the people I love. It is the nothing through which I have been sustained and transformed.”
“One of the first instincts of parents, after they have brought a child into the world, is to photograph it. Given the speed of growth, it becomes necessary to photograph the child often, because nothing is more fleeting and unmemorable than a six-month-old infant, soon deleted and replaced by one of eight months, and then one of a year,; and all the perfection that, to the eyes of the parents, a child of three may have reached cannot prevent it being destroyed by that of the four-year-old. The photograph album remains the only place where all these fleeting perfections are saved and juxtaposed, each aspiring to an incomparable absoluteness of its own.”
“...use the Things around you, the images from your dreams, and the objects that you remember...And even if you found yourself in some prison, whose walls let in none of the world’s sounds – wouldn’t you still have your childhood, that jewel beyond all price, that treasure house of memories?”
“Here is the most beautiful match in the world
It’s one-and-a-half-inch soft pine stem
Capped by a grainy dark purple head
So sober and furious and stubbornly ready
To burst into flame
Lighting, perhaps the cigarette of the woman you love
For the first time
And it was never really the same after that...”
“Folklorists generally stand together when asked why the folk object commands their attention. Folk things offer a straightforward, intimate picture of the traditional attitudes and beliefs of makers and users. Typically not mass produced, but rather handmade and distributed locally, the personal folk object gives tangible clues to immediate human experience and lines of communication. Those things that enter folk tradition also tend to endure over time and vary across space. The tendency to vary across space allows for examinations of objects as indexes of cultural place and identity, and the basic human demands, needs, and functions that objects serve.”
“...the things common to all men are more important than the things peculiar to any man. Ordinary things are more valuable than extraordinary things; nay, they are more extraordinary. Man is something more awful than men; something more strange. The sense of the miracle of humanity itself should be always more vivid to us than any marvels of power, intellect, art, or civilization. The mere man on two legs, as such, should be felt as something more heartbreaking than any music and more startling than any caricature. Death is more tragic even than death by starvation. Having a nose is more comic even than having a Roman nose.”
“We leave you a tradition with a future.
The tender loving care of human beings will never become obsolete.
People even more than things have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed and redeemed and redeemed.
Never throw out anybody.”
submission guidelines
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to provide monetary compensation for publishing at this time. Since we are so small and so new, all funds raised at this point go into operating costs. However, published creatives receive their digital copy for free and a discounted print copy.
- We welcome submissions in fiction, poetry, essays, visual art, and multimedia formats.
- Encourage writers and artists of all print-transferable mediums to submit their work: writers, poets, essayists, photographers, jewelry-makers, textile/fiber artists, sculptors, potters, etc.
- We seek works that truly engage with the themes, offering insightful perspectives, unique narratives, and thought-provoking commentary.
- We encourage and prioritize submissions from unpublished, marginalized, and/or disabled voices.
- Challenge traditional storytelling and artistic norms. Experiment with form, style, and medium to bring a fresh and innovative perspective to the themes.
- Simultaneous submissions and publications are allowed; if you would like your piece released before the publication date, please contact us at thekingfishermag@gmail.com as soon as possible out of respect for our editors. You can also refer to that email address for any other questions or concerns.
-Please submit no more than ONE piece.
- 3000 word limit.
- And don't forget to get weird with it!
- No confirmation emails are sent; once you have completed the form, your piece has been submitted. Submission status info will be sent to your email in early August.