kitalo

Vol. IX, No. 2 issue (fall 2024), guest edited by Tramaine Suubi, is available from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, Amazon, or from most online distributors, along with past issues. You can also find our issues in several stores in the greater Baltimore area and beyond.

yellowarrowpublishing.com/news/yaj-kitalo-release-memorializing-griefulness

Submissions for the spring 2025 (Vol. X, No. 1) issue will open February 1. The theme will be announced at the end of January. For information on how to submit, see below. Thank you to all who submit and share. We appreciate your dedication to the literary arts and independent publishing.

The overarching concept of kitalo, griefulness, explores the intertwining of grief and gratitude, and the guest editor for the issue is Tramaine Suubi (she/they). Tramaine is a multilingual writer who was born in Kampala. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her forthcoming debut is a full-length poetry collection titled phases, which will be published in January 2025. Her forthcoming second book is also a full-length poetry collection titled stages, which will be published in January 2026. Both books will be published by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins. Tramaine was one of our 2023 writers in residence and her poem "begin again" was included in Yellow Arrow Journal ELEVATE (IX/01). We appreciate all that she has done for Yellow Arrow and are excited to welcome Tramaine on this new venture.

Learn more about Tramaine and griefulness at yellowarrowpublishing.com/news/fullness-grief-guest-editor-yaj-ix-02-suubi.

Support the journal by prepurchasing a bundle of the 2024 (Vol. IX) issues at a discounted price before the issues are released, 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.

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, 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 our next open submissions (for spring 2025) 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.

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?

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.