Person Focused
Place Based
We are a literary journal for outsiders writing about their experiences in the American West. We are especially focused on rural life, and encourage anyone living rurally in America to submit.
PERSON-FOCUSED ON OUTSIDERS
The term "Outsiders" has traditionally meant self-taught artists who create for personal expression rather than commercial success, lack traditional training and live on the "margins of society".
We want to publish people writing about their life in rural or isolated areas, experiencing poverty, houselessness, and or who grew up poor; people living with disabilities of any kind; people with mental health challenges; our elders; communities of color, people in the queer community; people in recovery; people who have experienced isolation in extreme spiritual communities, the youth, etc.
AUTHOR BIOS:
We require a one page Bio (in third person) that tells your story as an outsider and connects you to place. We will not accept bios that contain lists of publications or awards, etc. Tell us who you are, and why you fit into a journal for outsiders writing about the American West or rural life. If you feel like you have lived on the "outside of" society, but don't fit into the what has been described here, we encourage you to make your case in your bio.
PLACE-BASED ON THE AMERICAN WEST
If you are an outsider living in and writing about your experiences in the American West (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming) please submit. Take heart if you are not from the West, we specifically seek work by rural artists and/or about rural places and we encourage anyone writing from that experience to submit.
RURAL
For the purposes of this journal, we loosely define rural as being non-urban and having a population of 10,000 or less in the city limits or a density of 1,000 people or less per square mile. If a place with a greater population feels rural to you, make your case in your bio. We care more about outsiders connecting to a place than strict definitions.