Humans & Nature Press Digital publishes creative work that explores and promotes human responsibilities in relation to the whole community of life.

For our 2025 open call for digital submissions, we welcome your writings and artwork on the theme of seeds, as both the offspring/wellspring of the plants and also as metaphors for resilient reimagining and active adaptation. Seeds are teachers. Seeds intend to grow. Seeds carry the experience of all who came before, and seeds hold resiliency based in ancestral adaptation. Seeds are inherently generative and life-giving.

In this time of accelerated climate and social change, what are the seeds we are planting for the future? What are we growing in our gardens and communities? What are the forms of adaptation and beginnings that we want to enact at this point in our shared histories? What ancestral knowledges do we retain and reinvigorate that will further the flourishing of humans, and other-than-human beings? What are our intentions and offerings for the generations who follow us? How are we cultivating transformation in this time? 

Words for inspiration: creativity, diversity, resiliency, adaptation, gardening, germination, genetics, interspecies relationship, generational knowledge, growth, knowledge transfer, seed sovereignty, seed keeping, rematriation, animacy, radical joy, belonging, listening, enchantment, embodiment, urgency, slowness, deep time, crafts, roots, dialogue.

Poetry: Please submit pairs or groups of up to four poems that complement, contrast, and can be published together and that have not been published elsewhere (including on personal blogs, websites, and social media).

We accept only one submission per person within a submission period. We welcome multimedia artwork; please refer to the category definitions above to select a category of best fit for your submission: essay, poetry, or artwork.

Submit documents in a .doc format or as a JPG file via our Submittable account. When you submit, please include a bio and headshot.

Please note that Humans & Nature Press Digital does not accept essays, images, or documents that have been generated or extensively edited by AI. We value the authenticity of the content submitted to us. Please ensure that any work you submit reflects your own creativity and effort.

Concurrent submissions are welcome. If you have submitted elsewhere, let us know in your cover letter that this is a simultaneous submission and please withdraw it from the Center’s Submittable if you agree to publication elsewhere. Returning contributors are welcome to submit.

Contributors receive an honorarium of $500 USD upon publication.