Mortar Magazine is Open for Submissions

MORTAR MAGAZINE evolves the idea that writing can and should be incisive, coming in at the edges, doing that elusive something that makes us question motive, genre, meaning, or narrative itself.

While we accept any prose or poetry submissions, we have a soft spot in our hearts for of-the-moment writing, in the sense of experimental forms and new voices. As a visual, mortar exists on the boundaries of the big, the obvious, the flashier brick. Mortar occupies the outskirts. We’re looking for those strong mortar voices: women, gender-nonconforming, and non-heteronormative writers, speaking from the experience of living and writing in 2019.

Ideally we won’t be able to articulate—or at least anticipate—what we want: in a nutshell, we’re hoping to be surprised. We want the going-over-the-top-of-the-rollercoaster intake of breath, the thrill that comes from the writing that is confidently new and clearly on a forward trajectory.

We believe strongly in presenting writers' work in its fullest, most powerful form, so we welcome and encourage authors to submit audio or video recordings of their work to be published online alongside the text. We are also happy to help match any writer with a translator who would like to work with one. 

Please submit using Submittable or by emailing files to magazinemortar@gmail.com.

While submissions are free, we ask that you use the $3 "pay it forward" option if you can afford to. Your payment will help keep submissions free for those who can't. In light of the U.S. immigration crisis/trans ban/current political climate/everything else, half of the proceeds will go to the ACLU. 

We welcome simultaneous, unpublished submissions, but please keep us informed of any submissions that are accepted elsewhere. Mortar retains first serial rights, so rights to each piece revert to the author.

Submit via Submittable

Logo provided by Kat Hyslop.