Brink has two reading periods per year: January and July.
July 1 - 31 we will open for hybrid and cross-genre submissions of any length and style engaging the theme of Invitation.
Through Submittable, we accept a variety of hybrid work that resists categories, from Nonfiction to Fiction, from Poetry to Translation.
We are interested in writing that presses boundaries by using more than one medium to tell a story; work that looks and feels different on the page. Additionally, we look for submissions that engage the issue's theme and the notion of being on the brink.
A herdsman invites three beautiful sisters to dinner. He gauges their character from the way they slice the cheese on the cutting board. After close consideration, he selects his future bride. In folktales, invitations can be celebratory -- or barbed. To be invited (to a dinner, a wedding, a party) is not always an innocent affair.
From the Latin invitationem (nominative invitatio) "an invitation, incitement, challenge," invitation suggests excitement as well as effort, difficulty as well as delight. For our 13th issue, On the Brink of Invitation, we're interested in pieces where plans are thwarted, changed, or outright ignored, where a reader's expectations are inverted in the very first scene. When does being welcomed in feel both dangerous and desirable? When does an invitation feel like both a beginning and an end?
If an invitation can be an incitement then it instigates movement. We can't help but think of former Brink contributor Jessie Kraemer's drawing that includes the text "I open and open and open and open." Where are potentialities that ripple outwards without end? We want to engage with the openings you evoke as well as the brink of their enclosures.
Please submit only unpublished pieces and notify us if your simultaneous submission is accepted elsewhere.
Open submissions to Brink Literary Journal are free.
Payment for each contributor is one copy of the issue in which their work appears as well as:
$25 || Poem (per poem)
$50 || Work (less than 1500 words)
$50 || Art (1-3 Images)
$100 || Art (4+ Images)
$100 || Work (more than 1501 words)
Submission Caps
-
Poetry submissions at 300
-
Nonfiction submissions at 100
-
Fiction submissions at 100
Manuscript Counsultations
In November, Brink editors Hannah Bonner (poetry), Spencer Williams (poetry), and Nina Lohman (hybrid manuscripts) will read and offer detailed feedback on chapbooks and full-length poetry/hybrid manuscript collections.
What's included:
-
Written feedback from a selected editor of your choice
-
Developmental editing: feedback geared towards helping shape the overall tone, sequence, and flow of the manuscript
-
Suggestions and advice on enhancing, developing, and fine-tuning the hybrid nature of the manuscript
-
Zoom Conversations may address specific questions or ideas surrounding the manuscript, or may focus on submission or publication
Details:
-
$500 for full-length poetry or hybrid collections (up to 120 pages) includes written feedback and an individualized 1-hour Zoom conversation
-
$375 for chapbooks (up to 40 pages) includes written feedback and an individualized 30-minute Zoom conversation
Brink's AI Statement
At Brink, we value the human-made and the human mind. While we understand it may be almost impossible to avoid Grammarly or AI in Adobe, we are not interested in, and will not tolerate, the use of AI to generate, compose, or brainstorm written and/or visual material. If you have questions on what constitutes AI-generated work, please feel free to email us to continue the conversation. We understand that we are living in a time of flux and are happy to answer any questions you may have.