Foglifter is a biannual compendium of the most dynamic, urgent queer and trans writing today. It’s a space where LGBTQ+ writers celebrate, mourn, rage, and embrace.

Foglifter welcomes daring and thoughtful work by queer and trans writers in all forms, and we are especially interested in cross-genre, intersectional, marginal, and transgressive work. We want the pieces that challenged you as a writer, what you poured yourself into and risked the most to make. But we also want your tenderest, gentlest work, what you hold closest to your heart. Whatever you're working on now that's keeping you alive and writing, Foglifter wants to read it.

Editorial Statement

We provide a path to representation for a broad selection of LGBTQ+ voices, centering queer and trans literary artists of color, youth, elders, and those beyond traditional LGBTQ+ cultural centers so that our readers and audiences can see their own experiences authentically represented through queer and trans literary arts.

We believe that queer and trans people must curate our own artistic discourses and we curate with a commitment to not perpetuate harm in our communities and recognize our responsibilities as editors to uplift the voices of queer and trans people while not punching down on those of us who live at the intersection of multiple oppressed identities.

Writers in Need Fund

Foglifter is excited to launch the Writers In Need fund to support sliding-scale payments for our contributors. While we have been deeply fortunate to be able to compensate contributors for their important and incredible writing with a modest honorarium, Foglifter recognizes the many intersections of our queer and trans artistic communities, and that members of our community may be differently impacted by financial insecurity and historical disenfranchisement. This fund is an attempt to address those inequities. Please see the Submit page on our website for details. 

General Submission Guidelines

Title your submission with the title of the work(s) you are submitting (separated by commas).

Include a 50-word or less bio (with pronouns after your name, please!) in your cover letter. (If accepted, we will request an author photo; JPG or PNG files are best.)

We accept the following unpublished unsolicited submissions:

• 3 to 5 poems, one poem per page (max 5 pages)
• up to 7500 words of fiction or nonfiction (up to three flash fiction pieces)
• up to 20 pages of cross-genre work, text-image hybrids, or drama

All submissions must be uploaded as one DOC or DOCX file using the following titling convention: First_Last_Foglifter (i.e., Audre_Lorde_Foglifter)

• We accept simultaneous submissions; however, please withdraw your piece immediately if it is accepted elsewhere (or, if you only need to withdraw part of a submission, send us a message in Submittable).
• Only one submission per genre is permitted each reading period.
• We do not accept previously published material.
• We welcome translated work in all genres, provided rights have been secured before submission. (Both author and translator will receive an honorarium.)
• If we've recently accepted your work, please wait two reading periods (1 year) to submit again.
• Contributors receive two copies of the issue in which they appear and a $100 honorarium (via PayPal).

Online Exclusive Issue Guidelines

• Please submit up to 5 pieces
• For video and audio submissions, please limit to 5 minutes
• We accept art created via all mediums (except AI — no AI art submissions). This includes, but is not limited to, photography, painting, digital, ink, pencil, collage, etc.
• Acceptable file types: .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .tif, .tiff, .png, .svg, .pdf, .doc, .docx, .txt, .rtf, .odt, .mp3, .m4a, .wav, .mp4, .mov, .avi, .mpg, .3gp, .wmv
• Visual and [multi]media work must be web-viewable—please include links or uploads through Submittable and include content warnings if applicable
• All applicable artworks submitted will be considered for cover art for the online exclusive issue
• We love experimental work, feel free to submit hybrid forms that blend genres

Submission periods for our print issues are:

• February 1 to April 1 (Fall Edition)
• August 1 to October 1 (Spring Edition)

Submission periods for our digital issues are:

• August 15 to October 15 (Winter Edition)
• February 15 to April 15 (Summer Edition)

Guidelines for Issue 12.1

This issue's guest poetry editor is Meredith Nnoka, a Chicago-based poet, educator, and prison abolitionist. She is the author of Les Portes, winner of the 2025 CAAPP Book Prize, and the chapbooks I Could Never Be Your Woman and A Hunger Called Music. Meredith teaches poetry in carceral facilities and has received fellowships from Lambda Literary, Illinois Humanities, and VONA. Twice nominated for Best of the Net, her poems have appeared in Diode Poetry Journal, Four Way Review, The Massachusetts Review, and elsewhere. 

Submission must adhere to the following guidelines:

• Submit a maximum of 5 pages 
• Individual poems can be longer than one page, but the entire submission cannot exceed 5 pages. 
• Each new poem must start on its own separate page.
• Include all poems in a single Word document (and put the titles of your poems, separated by commas, in the title field).
• No AI submissions — if a submission is suspected or found to be AI generated, it will be declined and we will not consider your work in the future. 
• Please do not withdraw a piece and resubmit it with minor edits, changes to your cover letter, or adjustments to your file name. When you withdraw a piece, it does not withdraw from the submission cap and it takes space from other submitters. If your piece is selected, you will have the chance to make minor revisions later on. We appreciate your understanding!
• For grant purposes, we cannot consider submissions that do not include a completed demographic survey with their submission.
• Because of the high number of submissions, we have capped this project at 500 submissions, so please submit sooner rather than later!

Foglifter aims to reflect the vibrant diversity of the LGBTQ+ literary community in our award-winning journal. Fill out our anonymized Demographics Survey to be considered for publication—then take a screenshot of the thank-you screen at the end and attach it along with your submission.