Yellow Arrow Journal (XI/01) WONDER Submissions are Now Open!
Yellow Arrow Publishing is excited to announce that submissions for our next issue of Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. XI, No. 1 (spring 2026) are open February 1-28, exploring the interplay between curiosity and creativity and how it informs discovery in the personal creative process and encourages artistry and fulfillment for women-identifying writers. And in her introductory blog, guest editor Heather Brown Barrett examined the idea further.
“The connections and therapeutic power between lived experience and artmaking are complex. Some works flow from us in a soothing cascade and some are structured explorations. We write through major life changes and minor annoyances, through healing and fear, loss and joy. We journal to keep a record of days or nuanced introspection. We attempt a sense of play or experimentation, shaking off established norms or forms. Many of us are creative explorers working across mediums. We fit creativity into life with a toddler, or an aging loved one, or a classroom of students, finding ways to keep our creative fires alive. We emphasize attention in a world seeking to monetize or obliterate that very attention.”
Heather Brown Barrett is an award-winning poet in southeastern Virginia. She mothers her young son and contemplates life, the universe, and everything with her writer husband. She is a Cherokee Nation citizen, the membership chair of The Poetry Society of Virginia, a member of The Muse Writers Center, and a former board member of Hampton Roads Writers. Much of her work is influenced by themes and dualities of motherhood, modes of forgiveness and grace, and the types of subjects that plague most poets, like death, grocery stores, and birds. She’s the author of Water in Every Room (Kelsay Books, 2025), a collection of poems embodying the fluctuations of emotion and form in new motherhood.
The first issue of volume XI will reflect on this idea through the issue’s theme WONDER
(noun)
: a cause of astonishment or admiration (a marvel or a miracle)
: the quality of exciting amazed admiration
(verb)
: to be curious or in doubt about
: to feel surprise, curiosity, or doubt
Here are some guiding questions about the topic and theme:
1. How is your creative process influenced by curiosity? For example, by subjects or motifs you return to, by what you desire to explore, or by what you’re hesitant to explore?
2. How do curiosity and creativity help shape the person you hope to be? What have you discovered about yourself?
3. Was there a defining moment in your life that sparked your writing journey because you wondered where it might lead?
4. Are you curious about breaking from your typical forms or genres? How do curiosity, uncertainty, or discoveries lead you to experimentation of form?
5. What light do you hope your curiosity and creativity sparks within others?
Yellow Arrow Journal is looking for creative nonfiction, poetry, and cover art submissions by creatives who identify as women, on the theme of WONDER. Submissions can be in any language as long as an English translation accompanies it. For more information regarding journal submission guidelines, please visit yellowarrowpublishing.com/submissions. Please read our guidelines carefully before submitting. To learn more about our editorial views and how important your voice is in your story, read about the journal. This issue will be released in May 2026.
The journal is just one of many ways that Yellow Arrow Publishing works to support and inspire women-identifying creatives through publication and access to the literary arts. Since its founding in 2016, Yellow Arrow has worked tirelessly to make an impact on the local and global community by advocating for writers who identify as women. Yellow Arrow proudly represents the voices of women from around the globe. Creating diversity in the literary world and providing a safe space is deeply important. Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling.
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Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women-identifying writers through publication and access to the literary arts. You can support us as we LUMINATE a path for women-identifying creatives this year by purchasing one of our publications or a workshop from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, for yourself or as a gift, joining our newsletter, following us on Facebook or Instagram, or subscribing to our YouTube channel. Donations are appreciated via PayPal (staff@yellowarrowpublishing.com), Venmo (@yellowarrowpublishing), or U.S. mail (P.O. Box 65185, Baltimore, Maryland 21209). More than anything, messages of support through any one of our channels are greatly appreciated.