Special Edition: Trans Voices in Horror Poetry Zine

Submission Deadline: June 17, 2025

Bloodletter is a 2025 recipient of the Community Engagement Grant to publish our first print offering: a poetry zine of trans voices in horror. Unlike our biannual digital magazine, it will be distributed nationally in select bookstores and available for direct order. Trans orderers will be eligible for free copies, and all other proceeds raised will be donated in support of trans advocacy and equality (partner organization to be announced). 

• Trans poets are invited to submit work that offers an inclusionary, expansive, and feminist perspective on the horror genre—or more broadly, the horrific.
• New and established poets, as well as past Bloodletter contributors, are encouraged to submit.
• Up to five poems may be submitted in one document. Length and style should be determined by the needs of the piece, though please note that we will have limited space for print.
• Only previously unpublished work will be accepted.

Poets will receive $50 per poem.

Each poem will be illustrated by a trans artist (see submission guidelines below). This zine will be published in November 2025.

Bloodletter will select trans artists to illustrate our Trans Voices in Horror Poetry Zine. The featured artists will create artwork in response to each poem, thereby defining the visual language of our first print publication. Featured artists will be promoted extensively across Bloodletter’s channels, and their illustrations will remain in Bloodletter’s permanent archive.

Featured artists will be required to:

• Produce a maximum of six illustrations within an eight-week window
• Work with strict deliverable deadlines
• Work collaboratively with the editor-in-chief throughout the zine’s development

Featured artists will receive a $150 stipend.

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Issue Five Theme: Rage

Submission Deadline: May 6, 2025

At Bloodletter, the definition of horror is expansive, cooperative, and inclusive. We seek writing that pairs the personal with the analytical, exploring the theoretical underpinnings of the genre through an experiential perspective. All forms of writing are welcome.

Bloodletter is a digital magazine that is published biannually. Each issue is organized around a guiding theme, which contributors are encouraged to engage with, deconstruct, or reject.

• Women, trans, and non-binary writers of all disciplines are encouraged to submit work that offers a feminist perspective on the horror genre, or more broadly, the horrific
• Biannual themes are designed to be generative and should not restrict submissions
• New and established writers are encouraged to submit
• Length and style should be determined by the needs of the piece
• Full articles and pitches accepted for review
• Previously unpublished work only
• Past Bloodletter contributors should wait one calendar year (two submission cycles) to submit new work

Issue Five: Rage will be published in September 2025. Selected pieces will be illustrated by artist Ana Luna, featured on the front page of Bloodletter’s website, and spotlighted on Bloodletter’s social media channels. 

A maximum of 20 pieces are selected per issue.

Bloodletter submissions are and always will be free, but we offer optional paid editorial feedback for writers through our submission form. If your piece is selected for publication, we will refund the fee. 

One woman, trans, or non-binary artist is selected to illustrate each issue of Bloodletter. The featured artist will create artwork in response to each written piece in the issue, thereby defining the visual language of the issue. Featured artists will be promoted extensively on Bloodletter’s website and across all social media channels, and their illustrations will remain in Bloodletter’s permanent archive.

Featured artists will be required to:

• Produce a maximum of 22 illustrations within a three-month period
• Work with strict deliverable deadlines
• Work collaboratively with the editor-in-chief throughout the issue’s development

All 2D art mediums are welcomed. Submissions are accepted year-round. Artists in contention will be invited for a follow-up meeting with Bloodletter’s editor-in-chief before selections are made.

Featured artists will receive a $250 stipend.