Theme for Issue 08: Kith & Kin

Family is our first world. It is where we learn how to love, how to fight, how to care for ourselves and others. It is also where we learn what to hide, what to carry, and what to heal.

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For Issue 08 of Thorn & Bloom Magazine, we are exploring family in all its complexity: the bonds that sustain us, and the ones that wound us. We are looking for writing that asks:

• How did your family — given or chosen — shape who you are today?

• What does family mean when it is chosen, not given?

• How do you care for yourself within family expectations?

• What does healing look like when the wound is familial?

• What traditions, stories, or secrets have been passed down to you?

• How do you break cycles and build something new?

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We welcome submissions that explore biological family, chosen family, found family, ancestral lineage, and the many forms that kinship can take.

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This theme is rooted in the feminist consciousness-raising tradition, trusting our lived, felt experiences as sources of knowledge and power.

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DEADLINE: 15 November 2026

PUBLICATION: December 2026

​We welcome submissions in any genre and style. Please read the guidelines before submitting your work. Any work that does not meet our guidelines will automatically be disqualified.

redrosethorns publishes original short stories, creative non-fiction, fiction, poems, prose, memoirs, academic writing, and more.

• Please submit your work through our secure online forms found on the right side of this page. You may submit your work either by uploading documents in PDF or Word format. (If you experience any issues with uploading your document, please reach out to us at contact@redrosethorns.com.)

• All submissions must be uploaded to the forms portal on the right side of this page. To comply with GDPR and CCPA requirements regarding the secure handling of personal data, we can only consider work submitted through our official submission portal.

• Please do not email your manuscript to our email address. Any submissions sent to our email address will be ignored and deleted.

• redrosethorns (including this publication, Thorn & Bloom) only considers original, unpublished work. We do not accept pieces that have appeared anywhere else, including on personal websites, blogs, or social media.

• In alignment with our mission to champion authentic human voices, we do not accept submissions written or edited by generative artificial intelligence. Furthermore, our editorial process is entirely human-led; we do not use generative AI to evaluate, edit, or select work.

• You retain all copyrights to your work and full license to use your work after Thorn & Bloom publication. We require First Publication Rights, so please only submit work that has not been published elsewhere.

• By submitting, you confirm that you are 18 years of age or older. We are unable to accept work from minors.

• All written work needs to be 2500 words max.

• You may submit as many pieces as you wish, but please submit only one piece per submission. Each submission is automatically linked to our spreadsheet, and multiple pieces in one document cannot be processed. If you send multiple pieces together, they will not be considered.

• We do not charge for submissions; however, donations are always appreciated. 

• Please note that we do not offer compensation for pieces published in our publications. Nor do we offer complimentary print publications.

• Failure to meet any of these guidelines will result in automatic disqualification.​

• DEADLINE for all submissions: 15 November 2026

We encourage folks from marginalised communities, including but not limited to women - both cisgender and transgender women, transgender men, non-binary, gender neutral, and Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour to contribute their work.​

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Please get in touch with us with any questions, concerns, or compliments at contact@redrosethorns.com

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redrosethorns does not tolerate any rudeness, discrimination, or aggressive behaviour of any kind for any reason. Only love and kindness are accepted in this space.