Lucky Jefferson

08/31/2025

Guess what? Our sixteenth issue debuts today!

celebrates 14 writers and artists who dare to examine the cracks in our world and within ourselves.

“The work in this issue reflects the darkness of our time, but it also screams our desire to be free. ”

— NaBeela Washington, Editor-In-Chief

Each contributor in this issue confronts the question: how do we find meaning when everything feels like it’s falling apart?

luckyjefferson.com/fissure

Give it up for our writers and artists:

Disha Trivedi
K.R. Van Horn
Kashawn Taylor
Lynne Schilling
Nicholas Pagano
Rachel Pittman
Alexandra Nwigwe
Susan L. Lin
Angela Townsend
A. J. Frantz
Christiana Castillo
Shaniqua Harris
Josie Levin
Jessi Farfan

Read the issue by heading to luckyjefferson.com/fissure!

🎨 Cover Artwork by Tran Nguyen and Emma Hodgdon. Interior Art by Thy Hoang and Riley Hannon.

08/27/2025

Are you ready for ?

Issue 16 drops this Sunday.

The cracks are forming. Could this be a turning point??

🎨 Artwork by Tran Nguyen.

Tran is a freelance graphic designer and aspiring environment concept artist from Vietnam. Her work blends fantasy and realism, drawing from illustrated stories and vivid imagination. With bold color and atmospheric detail, she builds worlds that feel both haunting and alive.
Explore her portfolio: tranarts.myportfolio.com

08/24/2025

💥Happy !

is our second Latine-focused issue that celebrates 6 Latin-American and Latin-identifying writers, poets, and artists, each of them inviting the radical act of protest into their work.

“Estallido aims to show that there is another option. There is more than helplessness.

Estallido tiene como objetivo mostrar que existe otra opción. Hay algo más allá del la amargura.”

— Keila Gallardo Cubas, Editor

Celebrate the six writers with us:

Madari Pendas
Ciara Alfaro
Marie Anne
Cecilia Rodríguez Milanés
Catalina Garza Onofre
Vic Xochitl Chavez

Enjoy the issue now by heading to luckyjefferson.com/estallido!

🎨 by Alberth Wilfredo Chacon Salas. Alberth studied fine arts at Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Perú.

He is an illustrator and comic author. Most of his work talks about animals, fantasy, or science fiction. His hobbies include watching movies and cartoons, listening to records, and reading comics or books.

07/29/2025

🌟 Introducing our Inaugural Randolph Emerging Photographers Fellow 🥹

Our cohort kicks off next week and will debut their exhibition opening September 15 at Buddy at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Randolph Window.

Our fellow represents the south (Englewood) side of Chicago and we couldn’t be more excited to work with her.

She embodies the spirit of storytelling, innovation, and community that the Fellowship was founded to champion.

Brittany Norment, rooted in Chicago, is a visual storyteller whose work weaves together photography, language, and design to celebrate Black joy, memory, and collective experience. Her creative practice effortlessly bridges documentary and imaginative expression, recently expanding into immersive and collaborative storytelling formats. Beyond the camera, Brittany amplifies the missions of purpose-driven organizations with campaigns grounded in care, culture, and impact—making her artistry as powerful in boardrooms as it is in galleries.

07/09/2025

Still so grateful for IFF’s support! 🥹

This is our largest gift to date. And with everything going on in our world, it feels surreal to be included among this list of organizations fighting for the arts.

As the Trump administration slashes arts and culture funding, Chicago-based IFF has awarded $3 million to more than 70 local groups, including Lucky Jefferson, Albany Park Theater Project and Kuumba Lynx.

07/02/2025

🙌🏽

We asked the many independent literary presses and magazines that make up our membership to share with us some of the literature they recommend reading in honor of Disability Pride Month, observed annually in July.   Literary Magazines   Two Poems by L. R. Bird beestung | 2020 The poem “WE’VE ...

06/23/2025

Don’t let the heatwave melt your creative spark. 🥵

Stay cool and join one (or all) of our upcoming FREE writing workshops in July!

luckyjefferson.com/programs

Here’s a quick rundown:

• Wednesday, July 9 - 5-6:30PM CT - Join Lucky Jefferson, Kyrie Mason, and Zuri Arman for a free 1.5-hour virtual writing workshop designed for writers interested in reworking history.

• Saturday, July 12 - 11-12:30PM CT - Join Lucky Jefferson and Devon Fulford for a free 1.5-hour virtual writing workshop designed for writers interested in using poetry to write about challenging topics.

Register for these FREEE virtual workshops: luckyjefferson.com/programs

*Questions? Email [email protected].

05/28/2025

Who has time for contest entry fees? WE definitely don't.

For the third year, we're calling all poetry and prose writers to submit to our summer contest! Here's how it'll work:

* We'll select up to 20 finalists who will ALL be published in our 365 Collection.

* Then 2 of those finalists will win a cash prize + LJ swag pack.

luckyjefferson.com/poetry-prose-contest/

It's FREE to enter. Submit any original and unpublished poem or prose piece you want.

🍉 We're proud to work with this year's judge Ahmad Almallah!

Ahmad Almallah grew up in Palestine and currently lives in Philadelphia. His newest poetry collection, Wrong Winds, is out with Fonograf Editions (2025). His other collections include Border Wisdom (Winter Editions 2023) and Bitter English (Chicago 2019). He is currently an artist in residence in English and Creative Writing at the UUniversity of Pennsylvania

Artwork designed by Dana Ross: danarossportfolio.com!

Submit/More Info: luckyjefferson.com/poetry-prose-contest

03/24/2025

🥹

Poems, readings, poetry news and the entire 110-year archive of POETRY magazine.

03/16/2025

If caught you by surprise this year, you're not alone. Luckily for you, we've got a few free programs planned throughout April.

luckyjefferson.com/programs

Here's a quick rundown:

• Saturday, April 12 - 12-1:30PM ET - Join us + Katherine Quevedo for a workshop designed for writers interested in breaking form through speculative poetry.

• Wednesday, April 23 - 6-7:30PM ET - Join us + Jessie Leitzel for a workshop designed for writers interested in placemaking through writing.

• Saturday, April 26 - 11:30-1:00PM ET - Join us + Natasha Mijares for an ASYNCHRONOUS workshop designed to fuel your writing through digital media & collage.

Tap the link below to register for these FREEE virtual programs that’ll make celebrating easier: luckyjefferson.com/programs

*Questions? Email [email protected].

11/23/2024

And the winners of our 2024 Poetry and Prose Contest are……🥁

Elizabeth Upshur, (Poetry)

Andy Weekes, (Prose)

https://luckyjefferson.com/2024-poetry-prose-contest-winners

In the second year of our annual Poetry and Prose Contest, we received over 600 submissions; yet two phenomenal pieces, by Elizabeth Upshur and Andy Weekes, would emerge and declare themselves the winners.

https://luckyjefferson.com/2024-poetry-prose-contest-winners

Elizabeth Upshur is a Black Southern writer and guest on Tsalaguwetiyi Land. She is a Fulbright alumna, and serves as poetry co-editor at Okay Donkey Mag, contributing editor at The Seventh Wave, and is the cofounder of The Southern Esesu Endeavor, a virtual thirdspace retreat for Black Diaspora writer

Andy Weekes is an educator, celebrant and walker who is usually found hiking the UK countryside, exploring old sites, procrastinating over his writing and generally daydreaming his way through life.

Click this link to read “i do and do not want a rabbit” by Upshur and “Jetsam” by Weekes:

https://luckyjefferson.com/2024-poetry-prose-contest-winners

And stay tuned for our 2025 contest!

11/03/2024

😏…

Now announcing the finalists of our second annual Poetry & Prose Contest! 🎉

What started from our belief that writers deserve more FREE opportunities like this vs paying fees or jumping through hoops.

Help us celebrate our finalists:

Ezra M. Serra
Sean Cho A.
Clara Collins
Courtney Kaye
Nwodo Divine
Michael Beard
Jay Délise
CP Nwankwo
Kamilah Mercedes Valentín Díaz
Amanda Vogt
Tom Nakasako
Andy Weekes
Obi Taswell
Irisa Teng
Abby Hosterman
Donna Tang
Jessi Seohyun Kim
Matthew Johnson
Michael Hardin
Elizabeth Upshur
Kunjana Parashar
Kaila Patterson
Jayce Russell
Kathleen Hellen

We wish we could have announced this sooner, but, we received over 600 submissions 😮‍💨. That’s 50% more than we received last year (our small, mostly volunteer team is still recovering from going through each submission more than once). We never know how many subs we’ll receive for any given call and this year we really felt the love. From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU THANK YOU.

Stay tuned for the announcement of the two poetry and prose winners (coming later this month)!

A special thanks to the very fabulous Lisa Low, for judging this year’s contest.

Artwork by Francis Bordeleau! Francis is a Boston-based cartoonist and illustrator. They earned their BFA in Illustration from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2023 and currently attend Boston University to earn their MFA in Visual Narrative.