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.
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.
— open calls —
It's going to be a long shift...
Overtime that never ends. Poverty wages that are never enough. A work-life balance that feels more like death. The Library is now open for the fourth installment in our annual series of themed Halloween collections, Slashed Budgets: An Anthology of Corporate Horror. Send us your tales of labored labor, of fingers bloody from filing, of upward mobility gone wrong. As wealth stratification increases, opportunities for safe and fair work become harder to find, and the cost of living gets higher and higher, we are looking for stories about the struggle of trying to survive the daily grind and the world which demands it.
There is no word limit for stories, but ten thousand words is a soft upper edge. Poetry is also accepted. The theme may be interpreted as liberally as you wish; as such, the definition of "corporate" is here deliberately broad, and anything relating to labor, business, or employment across all sectors and industries is open to consideration.
Please send your submissions to dionysianpubliclibrary@gmail.com. Window closes September 15th. Contributors will receive a token ten dollar payment and a copy of the printed anthology. The collection will be published in print and digital in October of 2026.
Slashed Budgets: An Anthology of Corporate Horror
Curses, Confusions, & Rebukes: An Anthology of Jewish Horror
This was my dream, in the beginning I dreamt...
The Library is currently open for the first in a series of new collections centering and highlighting marginalized faith and cultural backgrounds, Curses, Confusions, & Rebukes: An Anthology of Jewish Horror. Guest-edited by writer Benjamin Hooper, the anthology is open to anyone of Jewish background or affiliation (practicing, secular, or something in-between) with the intention of using storytelling as a platform to build interfaith solidarity.
There is no word limit for stories, but ten thousand words is a soft upper edge. Poetry is also accepted. The theme may be interpreted as liberally as you wish, as long as some element of Jewish culture or tradition is present and relevant to the story. As a disclaimer, the Library maintains a stance in favor of Palestinian independence; we mention this not to discourage or exclude anyone from sending their work, but to allow submitters to make an informed decision about whether we are the right venue for their stories.
Please send your submissions to dionysianpubliclibrary@gmail.com. Window closes February 1st, 2027. Contributors will receive a copy of the anthology and an even split of profits earned from prerelease fundraising and post-release sales. The collection will be published in print and digital on Purim of 2027.
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 OPEN for submissions for issue #6, themed to ANTIFREEZE. Send us your writing, art, comics, whatever protesting ICE and CBP—use your pen and your voice and stand up for our neighbors. Priority for this issue will be given to those most directly affected by current anti-immigrant policies. ICE OUT NOW.
x/y: a junk drawer of trans voices
The Vineyard
The Vineyard is our biannual literature and art 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 open for submissions on an ongoing basis, with one or two issues presently released each year.
