Yellow Arrow Journal is excited to announce the theme for our next issue:

UNFURL

Submissions for Vol. X, No. 1 (spring 2025) are open February 1-28.

Please read the guidelines carefully before submitting.

This issue of Yellow Arrow Journal explores the process people go through when finding and transforming into their authentic selves. UNFURL will be a survey of the unique journeys people take when experiencing and undergoing self-transformation, journeys that all start with a little fire, a desire, deep inside. The guest editor for UNFURL will be Sara J. Streeter (she/her). Sara J. Streeter, or 한혜숙 Hea Sook Han, is a writer and a Korean-American adoptee. Since starting her writing journey in 2021, Sara found her writing community through Adoptee Voices and developed a meaningful connection to readers, both within the adoption constellation and beyond. She mainly writes creative nonfiction prose and has been published in literary journals, such as Longleaf Review, Hippocampus Magazine, Peatsmoke Journal, The Rappahannock Review, GASHER Journal, Cutleaf Journal, and others. Sara has been nominated for Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and Best Small Fiction. She joined the Yellow Arrow community when her piece “Bitter / Sweet” was included in Yellow Arrow Journal kitalo Vol. IX, No. 2. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her family and is an interior designer for a small hospitality firm. You can find her at sarajstreeter.com. You can also find the video above on the Yellow Arrow YouTube channel.

Support the journal by purchasing a bundle of the 2024 (Vol. IX) issues at a discounted price as we get started on volume X, for yourself, for your office, or as a gift. Bundles are also available for the 2022 (Vol. VII) and 2023 (Vol. VIII) issues. Learn more about our bundles at yellowarrowpublishing.com/store/yellow-arrow-journal-bundle.

You can also find past issues, including kitalo, in the Yellow Arrow bookstore, Amazon, or from most online distributors, and in stores in the greater Baltimore area and beyond.

Thank you to all who submit and share. We appreciate your dedication to the literary arts and independent publishing. For information on how to submit when submissions open February 1, see below.

Do you have creative nonfiction, poetry, or cover art you would like to share? Join our newsletter and follow us on Facebook or Instagram for up-to-date information about UNFURL, future journal issues, and Yellow Arrow Publishing.

If selected, you will receive $10.00USD and a PDF of the journal issue. Note that payments are through PayPal; while we try to accommodate those that do not have a PayPal account, this is not always possible, especially for people outside of the U.S. Thank you for understanding.

We receive many wonderful submissions but have limited room in each issue. Please do not be discouraged if your submission is not accepted or you miss the deadline—there will be more opportunities available to you in the future.

We are grateful that you would like to share your story with us and our readers.

Please read the guidelines below in their entirety before submitting. Any questions? Email submissions@yellowarrowpublishing.com.

Submissions Guidelines

• Accepted submissions include creative nonfiction and poetry by authors identifying as women (cover art guidelines follow below).

• Submissions must relate to the theme, as interpreted by the author, using provided guiding questions (these will change for each theme and will be available during open submissions).

• Creative nonfiction (1 submission per author per issue) must be between 100 and 2,000 words. Poetry (up to 2 poems per author per issue, grouped into a single document) may be any length.

• Submissions do not need to be in English but must include an English translation.

• No previously published work will be accepted at this time—this includes all printed and online material; simultaneous submissions are okay but please let us know when you send in your submission(s) and if a submission is published elsewhere in the interim, email submissions@yellowarrowpublishing.com immediately.

Cover Art Submission Guidelines

• Cover art (1 submission per artist per issue) can be a painting, drawing, print, photo, graphic design, comic, or anything else that can be dreamed up by artists identifying as women, as related to the theme/guiding questions.

• Artists must own all rights to the work submitted—if published or shown previously, artists must be able to list where and when.

• If chosen, the artist must be able to supply the artwork at a resolution no lower than 300 dpi and at a size of 8 ½ x 11 cm, as a .jpeg/.jpg or .tiff/.tif.

Are You Ready to Submit?

Submissions are open for UNFURL (Vol. X, No. 1, spring 2025) February 1-28. Any submissions sent before February 1 will not be considered. To submit to an issue when submissions are open, send an email to submissions@yellowarrowpublishing.com and include:

• Subject: Vol. #, No. # Theme – type of submission [nonfiction, poetry, or cover art] (required)

• Your full name (and name you would want Yellow Arrow to use), nationality, and current city/state/country of residence (required)

• Our writers and readers come from all walks of life and so do we. We are taking steps across our portfolio to increase representation and give greater visibility to the voices of underrepresented women-identifying storytellers. If you are comfortable doing so, please share with us which underrepresented communities you identify with that may make you uniquely positioned to connect with a particular group of readers (optional)

• Your pronouns and age (optional)

• Where you heard about us (optional)

• For cover art submissions, a list of past publications/exhibits for the artwork you are submitting (required, if applicable).

Authors/artists should only submit one type of submission per issue; no agents.

Note that submissions are anonymously reviewed in-house; the information you provide above is used only to better understand the composition of our audience.

Attach your submission to your email. Accepted files for creative nonfiction and poetry submissions include .doc/.docx, .rtf, or .pdf (.doc/.docx preferred)—use minimal document styling and do not include identifying information (only within your email). Accepted files for cover art include .jpeg/.jpg, .tiff/.tif, .gif, .eps, or .psd—a low resolution is preferable at this time.

By sending your submission you agree to the following statements:

• You are a writer or artist who identifies as a woman

• You have completely read and submitted within the guidelines.

Due to the volume of submissions and the nature of our submission process, authors/artists will not receive an email confirming receipt of submission. Rather, all who submit within the guidelines, whether accepted to the next issue or not, will receive an email after submissions have closed—please do not email us to inquire about a submission.