Reading Period for Obsidian 2026For the next general issue of Obsidian, submit May 15–October 15, 2026 by 11:59 PM Central time (US & Canada). Unless otherwise noted, submissions sent from October 16, 2025 through May 14, 2026 will not be accepted. Themed issue submissions are accepted during announced dates.
Submitting OnlineWe accept submissions via our online submission management system only. Submissions via postal mail or email will be discarded without response. To submit online, please use the Obsidian submission management system, found at obsidian.submittable.com/submit.
Notifications and QueriesExpect three to six months for a decision. Using our online submissions system you will be able to track the status of your submission. We accept queries after six months have passed. Queries should be sent via email. They should include:• Your name.• The date, genre, and title of the submission.• The title of the Call for Submissions to which you are responding, if applicable.
Spam NoticeTo ensure that you receive our email responses, please add staff@obsidianlit.org and notifications@email.submittable.com to your address book so that our correspondence does not end up flagged as spam.
- Include a short cover letter noting the title(s) of the work(s) submitted and citing major publications and awards, as well as any association or past correspondence with a guest or staff editor.
Image Submission Guidelines
- Submit up to five (5) images totaling no more than 40 MB.
- Upload your submission(s) as .jpg or .tif file(s) (.tif preferred) in 300 ppi at the size(s) intended to be used.
- Specify the orientation the image(s) as portrait or landscape.
- Submit up to five (5) sound files totaling no more than 75 MB.
- Upload your submission(s) as .mp3 or .wav file(s)
Video & Media Arts Submission Guidelines
- Submit up to three (3) video and/or gaming files totaling no more than 800 MB.
- Upload your submission(s) as mpg, .avi, or .mov files, Flash Animation (.swf), Graphics Interchange Format (.gif), UNITY game files, and HTML5 (with or without CSS and JavaScript markup).
Editors for the Bond of a Nation: Ekphrasis & the Promise of America themed issue: Duriel E. Harris & Guest Editor D. Lenaé Littlefield
Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora is calling for submissions for themed issue 52.2 “Bond of a Nation: Ekphrasis & the Promise of America.” This project highlights collective participation in the making of contemporary America through the creative, accessible, long-valued, and multidisciplinary arts practice that is ekphrasis. To highlight the ideals, values, and promise of American democracy, Obsidian will foreground this popular form of expression, involving making new art through reflection on/engagement with existing art.
We seek meditations on works of public art, employing a broadened interpretation, including mural, sculpture, installation, etc., as well as national monuments, national parks, historic landmarks, and other sculpted spaces. We welcome poetry, fiction, nonfiction, criticism, drama, visual art, and audio/visual media in conversation with public art throughout the continental United States, Hawaii, and inhabited territories such as Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. We’re interested in a wide range of creative works—traditional, speculative, hybrid, multidisciplinary, and experimental artmaking.
We encourage makers to reflect upon the fundamental and oft-cited “unalienable rights” among the concepts buttressing the premises of the American Declaration of Independence—“Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” We encourage an exploration of four key aspects of the “Bond of a Nation” symbolized by the American flag: Valor; Innocence and Integrity; Perseverance and Justice; and Collective Flourishing.
Published in Fall 2026/Winter 2027, this special issue will feature an intergenerational variety of emerging and established artists and writers, alongside featured contributors, as we witness and respond to America’s rich 250-year legacy. At this pivotal anniversary, through ekphrasis centered on public art, we aim to honor the past making of America, shape the bounty of its present, and harness the evolving potential of its future.
For more on public art and the national park system, visit these comprehensive, searchable databases:
Public Art Archive at https://www.publicartarchive.org
National Park System at https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/national-park-system.htm
National Monuments at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/monuments/visit.htm
For fullest consideration please review following submission guidelines for the Bond of a Nation: Ekphrasis & the Promise of America themed issue:
Reading Period DEADLINE: April 1, 2026, by 11:59 PM Central time
Simultaneous Submissions Simultaneous submissions to other journals are welcome as long as they are identified as such and we are notified immediately upon acceptance elsewhere.
Manuscript Submission Guidelines • Include a short cover letter noting the title(s) of the work(s) submitted as well as any association or past correspondence with a guest or staff editor. • Upload your text submission as a Word (DOCX), portable document format/PDF (PDF) or rich-text format (RTF) file. No Pages, TXT, or Open Office Documents. • Typed, double-spaced (poetry may be single-spaced) pages. • Numbered pages. • Submissions should follow the Chicago Manual of Style for grammar and MLA format for citations and works cited, when applicable. • Margins should be set at no less than 1” and no greater than 1.5”. • Poetry: submit up to five (5) poems totaling no more than eight (8) pages. • Fiction, Hybrid genre, and critical essay: 12-point font. No more than twenty (20) pages or 5000 words (whichever is achieved first). Excerpts of longer works are welcome if self-contained. • Drama/Performance: submit one act or a collection of short scenes no longer than twenty (20) pages following Samuel French or the Dramatists Guild suggested formatting. Excerpts of longer works are welcome if self-contained.
Image Submission Guidelines • Include a short cover letter noting the title(s) of the work(s) submitted as well as any association or past correspondence with a guest or staff editor. • Submit up to five (5) images totaling no more than 15 MB. • Upload your submission(s) as JPG, GIF, PNG, or TIF file(s) (TIF preferred) in 300 ppi at the size(s) intended to be used (Obsidian journal is 6" x 9"). • Specify the orientation of the image(s) as portrait or landscape.
Audio Submission Guidelines • Include a short cover letter noting the title(s) of the work(s) submitted as well as any association or past correspondence with a guest or staff editor. • Submit up to five (5) sound files totaling no more than 30 MB. • Upload your submission(s) as MP3 or WAV file(s).
Video & Media Arts Submission Guidelines • Include a short cover letter noting the title(s) of the work(s) submitted as well as any association or past correspondence with a guest or staff editor. • Submit up to five (5) video and/or gaming files totaling no more than 800 MB. • Upload your submission(s) as M4V, MP4, MPG, MP3 or MOV files.
Restrictions • We do not reprint previously published work.
Please note you can submit a total of seven (7) files but please follow the guidelines for the max requirements for each genre. This allows you to submit in more than one genre. Also, the total duration of audio and/or video files submitted is ten (10) minutes max for all files combined.
Direct inquiries to bond@obsidianlit.org