Pithead Chapel

It’s our October issue! Art: Cate Petty Fiction: @writesofkathryn.bsky.social Arden Shostak @jeremymauser.bsky.social Mathieu Parsy Nonfiction: Sharon Goldberg Melissa Fraterrigo Leath Tonino Poetry: @leeh70.bsky.social Cal Freeman pitheadchapel.com/volume-15-is...

Don’t forget to send us your stories! Deadline October 31

“You want intention. I can only tell you that came later.” @writesofkathryn.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/rabbits-2/

“He says a gift like this changes ownership. He laughs when he says it.” Mathieu Parsy in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/after-the-gi...

Don’t forget to send us your stories! Deadline October 31

The Smart Search List of the Day is: Personal Narrative Nonfiction feat. @ploughshares.bsky.social @narrativemag.bsky.social @pitheadchapel.bsky.social @offbeatlit.bsky.social‬ et al. https://duotrope.com...

It was a dream just to be published in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social. To have them nominate my work for Best of the Net is almost too much to take in 😭 Thank you, lovely editors 🤗 🥰 🙏 ICYMI, linking to the piece below 👇

“We need sharp incisors to gnaw through the meat of this mess, unflinching.” Love this deeply felt gem of memoir and manifesto by @erinvachon.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social

Congratulations and best of luck to our Best of the Net nominees!

Some fab @erinvachon.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social. "I whispered, You’re really going to do this? As if you had another option, eight months in. Your child, a renter inside a bloody studio apartment. A mandatory eviction, about to bust the hell out..." pitheadchapel.com/and-treebear...

You read 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐲's delectable short story “The Golden Apples of Little River, Alabama” in 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 with us back in July, now read the writer. Want Answers? We’ve got questions, none frequently asked. @katetooley.bsky.social @kenyonreview.bsky.social @pitheadchapel.bsky.social #booksky

"... couldn’t we just leave, couldn’t we, couldn’t we just, just go home, just slink home, slither home and ..." @ediemeade.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/urgent-care/ pitheadchapel.com/urgent-care/

"But such violences cannot be cushioned." "But there’s no retracting icy metal touching bare skin." "I tell you things will get better ..." "The truth is we’re birthing a revolution." @erinvachon.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/and-treebear...

Stunning piece from @erinvachon.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social "You ask me what I want your child to call me once he starts talking. Not aunt. Not uncle. Aun-cle, maybe? I say, Ent. Like the trees in The Lord of the Rings. Druids do befriend oaks and maples."

"There is magic in believing we’ll soar through this." @erinvachon.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social. Read this NOW 💚⚡

"As if you had another option, eight months in. Your child, a renter inside a bloody studio apartment. A mandatory eviction, about to bust the hell out." Devastating, undeniable, and inspiring work by @erinvachon.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social

'I know. I say, It could happen at anytime now. Your smile spreads the wingspan of a wren, brown-feathered.' 💚 Just a beautiful and hard-hitting piece from @erinvachon.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/and-treebear...

A heartfelt thank-you to our longtime nonfiction editor, @stateofkate.bsky.social, as she steps down from her role. We’re so grateful for all she has contributed and wish her all the best! At the same time, please join us in welcoming @dawnsteffler.bsky.social as our new nonfiction editor!

A fantastic new story by @mpershan.bsky.social in the latest issue of @pitheadchapel.bsky.social. Bad luck, strange rituals, and a letter perfect ending. Love this one.

If you're an English teacher looking to assign a story that involves a winter ritual wherein a poor woman who's had a tough year has to strip and wear a bird costume and undergo a painful ritual for reasons that are difficult to explain and impossible to justify, look no further!

I’ve got a new flash in this month’s @pitheadchapel.bsky.social, a true story that reads stranger than fiction. Thanks a million to @kimmagowan.bsky.social for loving this, because I truly love Pithead Chapel. ✨🖤

Good September morning. I have a prose poem in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social, which is a towering dream of mine come true! The poem's called "Urgent Care." pitheadchapel.com/urgent-care/

New issue of @pitheadchapel.bsky.social! Tip of the cap to editors @kimmagowan.bsky.social, @brttnyblm.bsky.social, @karenkay.bsky.social, Dawn Tasaka Steffler, et al, for another fine-looking issue!

Thrilled to be in this lovely issue! pitheadchapel.com/watersnakes/

"...until my son told me actually his finger didn’t hurt much anymore couldn’t we just put a Band-Aid on it and be more careful in the future,...." My lord, this is an extraordinary piece of writing (perfect last lines!) by @ediemeade.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social 💙💙💙

Our September issue is live! Art: Trevor Cunnington Fiction: @erinvachon.bsky.social @mpershan.bsky.social Lisa Beech Hartz @skoeplin.bsky.social Nonfiction: Shara Sinor Alexa Loftus Marin Smith Poetry: @Ediemeade.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/volume-15-is...

The Smart Search List of the Day is: Essays feat. @willowswept.com @pitheadchapel.bsky.social @januaryhouselit.bsky.social et al. https://duotrope.com...

"On Sunday afternoons for easy money, innocent prancing at kids’ birthday parties, horsey-rides, candy-sticky fingers tangling his mane" Such a brilliant lightness of touch in this one from @travisflatt.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/the-centaur-...

This heartbreaking CNF by @mooninabucket.bsky.social from the @pitheadchapel.bsky.social archives took my breath away with its raw details and depth of emotion. Parenthood is truly the scariest hood you'll ever go through. #archivechallenge pitheadchapel.com/when-my-daug...

“When you were born I became tears/blood/breastmilk, the mattress soaked through” how motherhood is a rent in your very soul. Of course this was nominated for BSF. @kathrynreese.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social 🧡🔥🧡🔥🧡 so proud of you

Stoked that this little story has been nominated for Best Small Fictions: pitheadchapel.com/birthright-b... Thanks to the team at Pithead & congrats to the other nominees

Delighted to announce our Best Small Fictions nominees for this year! @jaimegill.bsky.social @kathrynreese.bsky.social

Ask me what I love about this CNF by Liam Carnahan from the @pitheadchapel.bsky.social archives and I'll tell you: the craft, the tension, the unforgettable ending! #archivechallenge Couldn't find Liam to tag him but find him on his website liamcarnahan.com ❤️ pitheadchapel.com/ask-me-how-m...

I love the speculative dreamscape and “what ifs” in this CNF by @thorntonforreal.bsky.social from the @pitheadchapel.bsky.social archives. #archivechallenge pitheadchapel.com/the-snow-in-...

I am almost five years sober. One of the reasons I am so gratified to be in the latest issue of @pitheadchapel.bsky.social is because the piece talks about my first few months in recovery. Here is the link if you are interested in reading it: pitheadchapel.com/first-step/

New poem up at @pitheadchapel.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/the-crone-pr...

Brilliant stories in here One of them by @sarpsozdinler.bsky.social ‘Once I read a poem she wrote about a girl who eats her own shadow to feel whole’ Captivating throughout

Astonishing...but true:) I have a piece in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social 🥰 It is very humbling to be here with these incredible artists. Thank you!!! #writingcommunity

We want your stories! The 2026 Larry Brown Short Story Award is officially open for submissions 1st prize: $500 Guest judge: Deesha Philyaw More info: pitheadchapel.com/larrybrown/

Our August issue is live! JH Lucas Dodge Zelko @sarpsozdinler.bsky.social Jacob Schrodt Jeffrey-Michael Kane @liquid-chicken.bsky.social @zaryfekete.bsky.social Matthew Trumbull Kinga Varga-Dobai Andrew Christoforakis @bethgordonpoet.bsky.social Kaylan McCann pitheadchapel.com/volume-15-is...

Our annual short story contest opens in 1 week! See what guest judge Deesha Philyaw has to say about writing that has surprised her lately and what she is looking for in contest submissions.

The Smart Search List of the Day is: Short Stories feat. @necessaryfiction.com @pitheadchapel.bsky.social et al. https://duotrope.com...

...her hand lifts, two fingers separating as if they remember the path: forehead, chest. The small private choreography that once meant: keep us safe. Her hand drops to her side. She sees me watching and her face closes, polite and empty. READ @ausiastsel.com in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social

Check out my story in the new Pithead Chapel! Please!?