— open calls —
Fearful Symmetries: An Anthology of
Psychedelic Horror
The Library is now open for submissions for our third annual Halloween horror collection, Fearful Symmetries: An Anthology of Psychedelic Horror. Give us your grim revelations, your visions of reality broken wide open, your bad, bad trips. Send us your waking nightmares, your tricks of the light, the weirdest and worst images from your shattered psyches. Coined by researcher Humphry Osmond in 1957, the term came from the Greek psyche, meaning mind, and deloun, meaning to manifest and was used to describe the state of altered consciousness encountered under the influence of certain entheogenic drugs. In the time since, the meaning has broadened to encompass any experience which pushes the mind to the limits of perception and an aesthetic associated with fluid or altered representations of reality. ​Stories may interpret this theme as broadly or narrowly as you may wish; while you are certainly welcome to include the use of psychotropic drugs in your tale, it is by no means necessary to fit the theme. Feel free to look beyond what you think we're looking for and show us what the prompt inspires in you.
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There is no word limit for stories, but ten thousand words is a soft upper edge. Please send your submissions according to the guidelines at the bottom of the page to dionysianpubliclibrary@gmail.com.
The anthology will be published for free in digital in October, with print copies to follow before the end of the year. Authors will receive one contributor's copy as compensation for their inclusion.
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The Vineyard
​The Vineyard is our (usually) biannual unthemed zine, open to all. The zine is released in both digital form for free and as a printed copy available for purchase. There are roughly forty pages of space available, so shorter pieces will have a higher chance of being accepted, though if you feel confident in a longer piece don't hesitate to send it our way. Poetry, prose, visual art*, or anything weirder you have up your sleeves—send it our way. Though we are not currently able to pay for submissions for The Vineyard, we hope to see this change for future issues as we grow. For now, you will receive both a contributor's copy of the zine and a printable PDF so that you can print as many copies as you want. The Vineyard is currently OPEN for submissions for a single issue (rather than the customary two) to be published later this year, as we are currently operating at a reduced capacity.
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— closed calls —
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The true genesis of the project that would eventually become DPL, x/y was a zine that ran from 2018-2020, providing a platform for trans and gender-diverse artists to share their work, be it poetry, prose, visual art, or anything else that could conceivably be reproduced in a printed form. Rebooted in 2023 with new numbering, x/y is open to anyone who identifies as trans (or to those who are seeking a platform to explore their relationship to gender but aren't quite sure how they identify). Don't be afraid to send us your weirdest, most challenging work, and interpret the theme however you wish; we are not interested merely in neat and tidy trans stories about representation and empowerment, but in representing the totality of the trans experience, scars and all. Though we are not currently able to pay for submissions for x/y, we hope to see this change for future issues. For now, you will receive both a contributor's copy of the zine and a printable PDF so that you can print as many copies as you want. Submissions are currently CLOSED but will open for submissions for a single issue (rather than the customary two) to be published later this year, as we are currently operating at a reduced capacity..
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x/y: a junk drawer of trans voices
General Submission Guidelines
Prose, poetry, and other written work should be submitted as either a .doc, .docx, or .rtf format. Prose should be formatted in something approaching Shunn Manuscript Format, though deviations from this format will not disqualify you. After all, who are we to tell you what to do with your work. We have no guidelines or restrictions on content, and in fact hope to see your most challenging work, should you trust us with it. Other than that, we're pretty loosey-goosey with what we're hoping to see.
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Please send your work to dionysianpubliclibrary@gmail.com, including your name, a few details about your piece, and a short third-person bio with any relevant social media links. Simultaneous and multiple submissions welcomed.