So to Speak

An intersectional feminist journal of language and art founded in 1993. http://www.sotospeakjournal.org

Our mission at So to Speak is to provide a digital and print platform to amplify the voices of BIPOC, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ people, nonbinary people, women, neurodivergent people, people of all different religions or none, migrants, refugees & immigrants (regardless of citizenship), and incarcerated writers.

12/15/2023

Writers across the globe are being silenced for their support for Palestinians living under occupation. This blog call, CENSORED, is So to Speak’s effort to create a safe space for all writers affected by the ongoing genocide in Gaza to share their ideas, experiences, and voices.

We’re looking for interviews, reviews, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, visual art, etc. from Palestinian writers, Jewish writers, writers affected by the occupation, writers affected by state violence in Gaza and elsewhere, and writers affected by imperialism and colonialism. We ask that all work engage with an intersectional feminist lens, directly or indirectly, to uphold our mission.

Submissions open TODAY — Dec. 15, 2023 to Jan 31, 2024.

10/20/2022

Happening tomorrow! Join us and for a Submit-A-Thon where we’ll be submitting to literary journals all day: with free coffee and snacks!! Join us tomorrow in the JC Bistro between 2-5 PM!

10/19/2022

If you missed our fee free day yesterday, you can still get your submission in today for half price! Like our fee free day, this special is one day only, so be sure to submit your poems, fiction, nonfiction, and art by 11:59 PM! 🍁🤠

01/25/2022

We are so excited to launch our new project, the Young Writers Initiative, which invites teen writers & artists to submit work to be featured on our Blog. We launch Feb. 1st; Until then, read what Asst. Fiction Editor Anna Stolley Persky has to say about the project at the link in our bio!

If you would like more information or materials to share with Young Writers in your life, please DM or email us at [email protected]

01/10/2022

Huge Congratulations to our winners and runners-up of the 2022 Contest!! Big thanks again to our judges, Krys Malcolm Belc (), Alysia Sawchyn, Susannah Nevison (), and Ghislaine Fremaux ()

11/03/2021

We are thrilled to announce this year’s Pushcart nominees! Each of these pieces is beyond amazing, and we are so proud to recognize the hard work of these authors ❤️❤️

10/22/2021

Exciting News!! We are hosting our first collaborative reading with the amazing folks at on November 12th beginning at 8PM EST! Join us in person or virtually for some great readers and fun prizes. Register for the event on Eventbrite (link in bio)

09/30/2021

We are beyond excited to announce our Best of the Net nominations! Thank you to all of our nominees and contributors for sharing your words and art with us ❤️

09/12/2021

09/10/2021

Today’s the day!! Submissions for our Annual Contest are ✨OPEN✨ Our editors and judges cannot wait to see your beautiful writing and art.

$500 prize per genre

Submission period: September 10- November 14

$9 Submission fee (free for Black and Indigenous Writers and Artists)

Submit through (link to our website in our bio!)

09/09/2021

Meet Susannah Nevison, our Poetry Judge for this year’s contest—which opens tomorrow!!

What Susannah is looking for: I admire poetry that navigates risk: in voice, in sound, in form. I’m always taken with poems that push the envelope, that challenge my notion of what a poem can do or how a poem works. A poem that shows me something new and surprising, regardless of how it gets there, is a poem I’ll follow almost anywhere.

Learn more about Susannah and the contest at our website (link in bio).

09/08/2021

Just two more days until the contest!! That means it’s time to meet our fiction judge, Krys Malcolm Belc 🥳

What Krys is looking for: I have to admit that I read--and love--widely. What I love most in fiction is getting to be fully immersed in something else that is not my kitchen counter where I sit to read. Whether that's immersion in plot, character, form, or something entirely different, I want to be transported.

Learn more about Krys and the contest at our website (link in bio)!

09/07/2021

Introducing our nonfiction judge, Alysia Sawchyn!!

What Alysia is looking for: I love nonfiction that incorporates research, and I think of research as a wildly expansive term. There is so much "world" out there—secondary sources, yes, but what about buying a kilo of clementines and methodically peeling off the skin so that it remains whole again and again and again making sure that we've got the right language for the action? What about how the structure of a fairytale can help us to make sense of our messy experiences? I am looking for nonfiction that is paying close attention, regardless of where it fixes its gaze.

Learn more about Alysia and the contest on our website (link in bio)

09/06/2021

Our contest opens in 4 DAYS, so we thinks it’s about time you meet our judges! Today, we want to introduce you to Ghislaine Fremaux, our Visual Art Judge ✨

What Ghislaine is looking for: A compelling artwork is, to me, one that shows conviction – both in the conceptual intent and in the handling of the medium. I am interested in artworks with slow hands, that act on me incrementally, in both physical and intellectual ways. I appreciate works that enable me to know with parts of myself other than my brain, to know without recourse to language or reason.

Learn more about Ghislaine and the contest on the “Contests” page of our website (link in bio)!

09/01/2021

It’s September, which means with open for contest submissions THIS MONTH. Our editors and judges cannot wait to get started and award each genre winner $500!! Submissions open September 10th for $9, with free submission portals for Black and Indigenous writers and artists.

08/25/2021

We cannot wait to see your amazing writing and art!

07/05/2021

If you haven’t already, go to our latest issue and read the amazing poems from these writers!

06/20/2021

We are so proud to feature each of these fiction writers in our Summer 2021 Online Issue!

06/07/2021

The wait is over! Our Summer 2021 Online Issue is live! The writing at art featured in this issue is absolutely breathtaking, and we know you don’t want to miss it.

04/16/2021

Cool news alert! Contributor Bo Schwabacher’s debut poetry collection comes out next week, and there’s a free, virtual launch celebration event this Monday night! Check it out: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0pcOmuqD4jGNQcFzVaz_wQoJNtITZ0SeTK

04/01/2021

✨Big announcement!✨ on April 18th at 8pm EST, we’re hosting a FREE virtual reading featuring some of our recent contributors and graduating editors. Learn about our readers & RSVP here! https://bit.ly/2PSJxRJ
The event will also feature closed captioning, and we’ll be encouraging donations to AYUDA. If you send a screenshot of your donation to [email protected], you’ll be entered to win FREE print issues, including our new 2021 contest issue! ayuda.com/about-us/

03/29/2021

Our limited series on resistance has BEGUN! We’re kicking off the series with this incredible piece by Audrey T Carroll.
We fell in love with this nuanced essay, “Bi Joy as Resistance.” Check it out here:

A bisexual/biromantic character should exist beyond the aspect of romance/sexuality; to limit a character to their romantic life risks the character becoming someone flat and static who the reader has trouble connecting to because they know so little about them.

03/09/2021

Want to get editorial feedback on a (work in progress)? We’re offering $7 feedback on pieces of poetry and prose! Spots are filling up fast already—poetry is almost full and it’s not even 10AM here!—so submit if you’re interested at sotospeak.submittable.com/submit✨

03/06/2021

Something about this just says “squad goals” 😍 purchase a copy of our 2021 contest issue today! ✨Sotospeak.submittable.com/submit ✨

03/03/2021

It's here! Purchase an e-book of our 2021 contest issue for just $4 at sotospeak.submittable.com/submit. For an extra $3, we'll also throw in some digital back issues, just for you! Plus, we'll be launching our limited print edition VERY soon, so stay tuned. 👀

03/02/2021

COVER REVEAL! Our 2021 Spring Contest Issue is launching this week during and and we can’t wait for you to get your hands on this incredible writing & art 🤩

02/24/2021

Hey hey! We won’t be able to sell copies of our issues at AWP this year, but fear not—we’re participating in SMOL Fair which is a virtual book fair experience including events, giveaways, and more! Check out our listing at 👉smolfair.com 👈

02/08/2021

Submit to our summer online issue for free starting February 10, 2021, through April 10, 2021! We’ll be accepting fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and art, all at sotospeak.submittable.com/submit ⚡️

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4400 University Drive, MSN 2C5
Fairfax, VA
22030

Website

http://sotospeakjournal.org/

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Our Story

So to Speak Journal was founded in 1993 by an editorial collective of women MFA candidates at George Mason University. It has served as a space for feminist writing and art for 25+ years. As our journal has evolved over time, so have our views on feminism. We believe in an intersectional feminist outlook which includes, advocates for, and amplifies the perspectives and experiences of marginalized women and nonbinary people.

We are looking for poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art from various identities and backgrounds. It is no secret that the literary canon and literary journals are largely comprised of heteronormative, patriarchal, cisgender, able-bodied white men. So to Speak seeks work by writers, poets, and artists who want to challenge and change the identity of the “canonical” writer. Our mission at So to Speak is to provide a digital and print platform to amplify the voices of people of color, people with disabilities, Native and Indigenous peoples, nonbinary people, women, neurodivergent people, people of all different religions or none, migrants, refugees and immigrants (regardless of citizenship), and veterans.

So to Speak Journal publishes two issues a year, one in print and one online. We are a nonprofit journal. Please refer to our website (http://sotospeakjournal.org) for detailed submission guidelines, free online issues, more information about our mission, and monthly blog content (reviews, interviews, series, etc.).