The Fiddlehead

Our 2026 Ralph Gustafson Prize for Best Poem is now open for submissions! Our judges this year are Farah Ghafoor, Fawn Parker, & Patricia Young! Prize: $2000 + Publication! Deadline: Dec. 1, 2026 Guidelines: thefiddlehead.ca/poetry-contest #poetrycontest #poetry #callforsubmissions #canlit #litmag

We're excited to announce that the winner of our 2026 Creative Nonfiction Contest and $2000 prize is Patti-Kay Hamilton! Her essay "Clawed Back" will be published in our forthcoming Issue 309. Thank you to all who entered and to our judge, Brian Braganza! Read the full announcement: bit.ly/48nCyoQ

If you're a deaf/disabled emerging writer in Canada here's an opportunity for mentorship. https://writersunion.ca/creating-mentorship-for-deaf-and-disabled-writers #CanLit #mentorship #Deaf #Disabled #WritingCommunity

Still waiting for the second print run of our summer disability issue to arrive in The Fiddlehead office. Copies remain available in the wild, though, like these ones at the Manulife Centre in downtown Toronto. @fiddlehd.bsky.social

Just got word that our Disability: The Revolution issue has sold out and that we'll be doing a second print run! This has happened only once before in the magazine's 81 year history. So proud to have played a part in bringing this to our readers.

Did you know that if you read some fine Canadian poetry mags, such as @fiddlehd.bsky.social and @prairiefiremag.bsky.social, you can get a 20% discount on our titles? Watch for ads in those magazines for your code. #ReadCanadian

The recording of our Issue 308 Disability: The Revolution Virtual Launch is now available to watch on our YouTube! www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

“Two years after my mother’s death, I walk / in the soft, searing claws of the sun. ” — Nancy Holmes (@nancyholmes.bsky.social) . . . This poem appeared in The Fiddlehead, 2025. Shared here with deep gratitude.

The Fiddlehead Issue 308 is themed "Disability: The Revolution" featuring works by 60 contributors with disabilities as well as audio recordings of complete content online. Read more at NewPages! #litmags #literarycommunity #readingcommunity @fiddlehd.bsky.social

Our The Fiddlehead Special Issue, Disability: The Revolution, Virtual Launch is tonight! We hope you will join us online at 7:00 ADT to hear from three contributors to the issue (A-E Best, M.L. Campbell, and Shantell Powell) Email fiddlehead@gmail.com for the Zoom link!

I have a live reading for the online launch of Fiddlehead’s newest edition on the 24th. I’ll be reading the beginning of my Arctic horror story “The Old Woman Who Became a Bear” at 7 pm ADT. If anyone would like to virtually attend, they can email thefiddlehead@gmail.com to register.

So excited for the virtual launch of @fiddlehd.bsky.social 's new disability issue. I'm honoured to have a book review in the issue and am excited to hear contributors read their pieces! Congrats to @jancheta25.bsky.social for his essay in the issue, too.

One week from today! Email thefiddlehead@gmail.com for the Zoom link!

Congratulations to our fourteen 2026 Creative Nonfiction Contest finalists! Thank you to everyone who submitted and thank you to our judge Brian Braganza! The contest's winner will be announced in early October! Visit our website to see who made the shortlist: thefiddlehead.ca/content/2026...

Our friends at Room Magazine are currently fundraising in order to keep the magazine going. The fund will support the production of the journal and pay contributors and staff. You can donate, or purchase or bid on fantastic auction items here: app.galabid.com/save-room-ma...

Forgetting, too, has its place. Carl Phillips, from the Winter 2026 issue of The Fiddlehead

It's the very last day to submit to our 2026 Fiction Contest, judged by Kirti Bhadresa! Submit your submission by 11:59 pm Pacific Time tonight or miss your chance! thefiddlehead.ca/contests/fic...

The print version is delayed, but you can listen to my story "Revolute" right now. It's about a guy stuck in a time loop at a protest. Sort of. Something's weird about this time loop... Listening to someone else read your story is so strange, but fun--I'm glad The Fiddlehead produced audio versions!

Issue 308 Disability: The Revolution has finally arrived in our office! Soon it will be zooming around the world to hundreds of mailboxes. Check out the contents of the issue or order a copy here: thefiddlehead.ca/issue/308

‼️It's the final weekend to work on your submission to our 2026 Ficition Contest! ‼️ 🐸 Judge: Kirti Bhadresa 🐸 Deadline: September 1, 2026 🐸 Prize: $2000 + publication 🐸 Guidelines: thefiddlehead.ca/contests/fic... 🐸 Submit: thefiddlehead.submittable.com/submit

Honoured to have a poem included in this issue among so much great work. You can hear an audio recording of my poem and the other pieces in this issue at the link below. With all gratitude to @phillipcrymble.bsky.social and @fiddlehd.bsky.social team.

From the Fiddlehead's essential new issue on disability, check out my review of Shane Neilson's strange and marvelous book "The Reign." thefiddlehead.ca/content/alas...

There's just six more days to submit to our 2026 Fiction Contest!

We’re thrilled that our very first book release, Speculative Shorts: Stories that fell out of my brain, has a glowing review in Issue 308, #Disability: The Revolution in The Fiddlehead! Please read and share because the post also includes links to the issue itself! #CanLit wp.me/pcJR4y-15b

Thanks to The Fiddlehead for including my book review of Jaipreet Virdi's book Echoes of Care: Deafness in Modern Britain in their disability issue. The print issue is delayed, but you can check out my review on their website now: thefiddlehead.ca/content/yola...

Has our 2026 Fiction Contest deadline snuck up on you as much as it has snuck up on us?! The deadline to submit is just one week and a day away! Don't miss out on your chance to win $2000 and be published in The Fiddlehead. Our judge is Kirti Bhadresa. Guidelines: thefiddlehead.ca/contests/fic...

I’m shamelessly promoting Speculative Shorts: Stories that fell out of my brain! It’s received multiple Indieverse nominations and a review in The Fiddlehead: thefiddlehead.ca/content/matt... Where to buy: books2read.com/spec-shorts #SpoonieAuthChat

Britt Corcoran's "frankie," from The Fiddlehead's forthcoming Disability: The Revolution issue.

My story "The Old Woman Who Became a Bear" has been released in audio format. If you'd like to hear my dulcet tones speak of grievous Arctic vengeful violence, check out The Fiddlehead. https://thefiddlehead.ca/issue/308 #horror #WritersOnMastodon #bears #vengeance

You can now listen to all our stories and poems! My old woman vengeance story "The Old Woman Who Became a Bear" is now available to listen to here. It was inspired by a traditional Inuit story collected by Inuk ethnographer Knud Rasmussen. I hope you like it.

SPECULATIVE SHORTS HAS BEEN REVIEWED IN THE FIDDLEHEAD ISSUE ON DISABILITY! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL! Thank you so much to Matthew Del Papa for this review! thefiddlehead.ca/content/matt...

Issue 308 (Summer 2026) Disability: The Revolution Special Issue is now on our website! For this special issue, readings of each piece available on the website for you to listen to now! thefiddlehead.ca/issue/308

Free shipping until August 20! This is an amazing issue. It's Disability Pride month. Get this. It's full of amazing work by disabled authors, including yours truly. I have a hair-raising story about an old woman who becomes a polar bear. For vengeance.

I love this cover art. I have a story in this issue about a guy stuck in a time loop at a protest--but the time loop doesn't quite work the way you'd expect. Since the issue is delayed, you can pre-order with free shipping until August 20th!

Check this out if you are interested in the history of our Journal!