Spark to Flame

Issue Seven of S2F is published! www.s2fjournal.com/assets/Issue... In this issue, we have two co-authored poems and eleven poems created through our "spark-to-flame" process. Thank you to the cover artist, Adam (see more of his work on Instagram at @digitallycomposed)

One more day to submit! Yall got this! #writingcommunity #poetry

Really awesome to read @ryancmccarty.bsky.social’s account of creating the flame for “A Brother’s Gotta Tell Me Goodbye.” 🔥🔥🔥 ryanmccarty.substack.com/p/the-dirty-...

The new Whale Road Review is out, including a bunch of really sweet pieces, and a new one of mine. Check it out!

So grateful for @s2fjournal.bsky.social for the nomination. I was stunned by Lost Sea, @mithalanis.bsky.social transformed my soggy-hearted spiel into something powerful and I am delighted his magic is recognised. Read it at s2fjournal.com/assets/Issues/Spark_to_Flame_Issue_Seven_June_2026.pdf

Very honored by @s2fjournal.bsky.social's nomination - my very first! Deeply appreciative of @sorrenbriarwood.com for trusting me with their words to build off of. A wonderful collab that had me thinking in directions I wouldn't have otherwise explored. #poetry #BestOfTheNet #poem #booksky

What a fun surprise to wake up to! Sarah did such a brilliant job crafting something beautiful from my inane ramblings. Thanks to @s2fjournal.bsky.social for the nod and congrats to all the other nominees! 🥳

Totally knocked-out to be nominated for Best of the Net by Spark to Flame. This piece was a new kind of thing for me (then again, so is this kind of nomination!).

Congrats to our @sundresspub.bsky.social Best of the Net 2027 nominations! #bestofthenet #writingcommunity #poetry #botn

Suggestion: write a poem with a friend. (Then submit it to us 😎)

Submissions are open! www.s2fjournal.com/submit/ #writingcommunity #poetry

“When The Forest Is Quiet, You Must Be Quiet Also” by Coleman Pedigo (Flame) and @sachavega.bsky.social (Spark) is a fantastical journey through magical forest and enchantment: “To love as grown men love / is to remain when enchantments fade.” Page 17: www.s2fjournal.com/assets/Issue...

I love “Unfortunate Breath” by Athena Maynard and Anthony David Vernon: “Of course I’m scared of the fire / …” Check it out, page 16: www.s2fjournal.com/assets/Issue... #poetry #litmag #writingcommunity

“red CAPS” by J.D. (Flame) and Alyaa Zein (Spark) is the historical, multi-lingual, poem you are looking for! “one by land, two by sea / in a church steeple / for all to see…” Check it out, page 15: www.s2fjournal.com/assets/Issue... #poetry #litmag #writingcommunity

ICYMI I turned a line from Annie Liang's spark into a golden shovel in the latest issue of @s2fjournal.bsky.social, so check out "Phantom Thread" here:

A poem featuring sewing?! Yes, please! Check out “Phantom Thread” by @carriganak.bsky.social (Flame) and Annie Liang (Spark): “I often surrender control of my hands to a / careers softer than the silk I feed through the machine…” Check it out, page 14: www.s2fjournal.com/assets/Issue... #poetry

I love the format of “cotton rose blues” by @sorrenbriarwood.com (Flame) and Katerina Dementeva (Spark) in Issue Seven - what a haunting, emotional piece. Check it out, page 13: www.s2fjournal.com/assets/Issue... #poetry #litmag #writingcommunity

I'm so pleased with the poem @thejoelest.bsky.social built out of a nagging thought I couldn't figure out where to take. They really turned the ideas into something poignant. So pleased to have had the chance to read this result of collaboration. #poetry #poem #writing #writingsky

“Old and New Propositions” by @thejoelest.bsky.social (Flame) and @mithalanis.bsky.social (Spark) in Issue Seven plays with collective crisis, transactional relationships, and capitalism. Check it out, page 12: www.s2fjournal.com/assets/Issue... #poetry #litmag #writingcommunity

Check out “End-Of-Season Sale” by Lilly Purdy (Flame) and Coleman Pedigo (Spark) in our seventh issue: “My mother used to bake with honey-blood / redcurrants, reduced and distilled /…” Page 11: www.s2fjournal.com/assets/Issue... #poetry #litmag #writingcommunity

Did someone say collaboration? 👀👀 🔥

“Crow Queens’ Sexiest Song” by Katerina Dementeva (Flame) and M (Spark) is an ode to queer bars and connections with strangers. Check it out, page 10: www.s2fjournal.com/assets/Issue... #poetry #litmag #writingcommunity

A sonnet broken by anxiety? Say less. I love “Truths That Don’t Land” by Mahailey Oliver (Flame) and Lilly Purdy (Spark). Check it out, page 9: www.s2fjournal.com/assets/Issue... #poetry #litmag #writingcommunity

I love “Lost Sea” by @mithalanis.bsky.social (Flame) and @sorrenbriarwood.com (Spark). The form! The imagery! The sea–gone. Check it out, page 8: www.s2fjournal.com/assets/Issue... #poetry #litmag #writingcommunity

“Forgotten” by M (Flame) and Abraham Aondoana (Spark) is gentle, yet haunting, and filled with ache. “...his lips frozen, as though silence / could hold the sky together.” Page 7: www.s2fjournal.com/assets/Issue... #poetry #litmag #writingcommunity

Second up from Issue Seven is “The Deadly Sins of Space,” which is a collaborative poem written by The Hivemind – 20 people! “The sea spat the fallen stars onto the shore, / dead as diamonds.” Check it out, page 6: www.s2fjournal.com/assets/Issue... #poetry #litmag #writingcommunity

“A Brother’s Gotta Tell Me Goodbye” by Ryan McCarty (Flame) and Dylan Night (Spark) made me cry when I read it. “I squeezed all my hope into a stone and prayed it / toward the lake,...” Check it out, page 5: www.s2fjournal.com/assets/Issue... #poetry #litmag #writingcommunity

I was lucky enough to write a spark AND a flame for the new issue of S2F 🕯️♥️ This was such a special and rewarding writing process and I think the results really speak for themselves. If you want to read some truly unique collaborative poetry, check it out below 👇👇👇

My poem "Phantom Thread" is in the new issue of @s2fjournal.bsky.social. Check out this flame based off a spark from Annie Liang on pg. 14. www.s2fjournal.com/assets/Issue...

Spark to Flame just released their latest issue. They always have some cool stuff - you should give them a try! #poetry #litmag #collaborativepoems #booksky

The new issue of @consequencef.bsky.social is out! My ekphrastic poem "War Stories" is included, so order your copy here: consequenceforum.org/product/volu...

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous poem up this week!!! Go to the beach, or sit by a stream, or maybe even submerge yourself in a pool and read "blue body" from @kmhanslik.bsky.social!!! Link: dishsoap-quarterly.com/5-12-26

" —indeed i have positioned my thumb and index finger on either side of my circumstances’ trachea" Kicking off our 3rd anniversary with two killer new #poems from @gr8earlofhell.bsky.social | www.doesithavepockets.com/poetry/nat-r... Art @anchalastudio.bsky.social

Thrilled to have a sonnet* published in Neologism along some other fab writing! www.neologismpoetry.com/April-2026/ *of sorts.

Reviewing ISSUE SEVEN submissions and so in love with this community. Yall are amazing ✌️🔥 #writingcommunity #poetry

Whoops! Just accidentally posted a call for our food systems horror and Weird fiction anthology, open to submissions this September. 👀 cursedmorsels.com/submission-c...

We are creating a new instagram account at sparktoflamejournal - there is one post up and it has a bio. Feel free to follow us over there! #poetry #writingcommunity

Two more days to get submissions in for our Issue Seven!! #submissionsopen #writingcommunity #poetry

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Good morning and happy April! 11 days left to submit something for our seventh issue! #writingcommunity #poetry #submissionsopen

So…I have news. My poem Post-Vespers, has been longlisted for The Blake Poetry Prize. The Blake is a fancy-pants Aussie poetry prize for poetry wirh themes of faith, religion or spirituality. I’m very honoured to have made the longlist! complete list: www.westwords.com.au/the-69th-bla...

Flyers up in various cities thanks to friends ~ here’s one in Austin, Texas! Submissions open until April 12 for Issue Seven! #writingcommunity #poetry

The Trans Rights Readathon is just around the corner, and I'm so proud of this range?! We've got: + transfemme hybrid poetry + t4t sea fantasy + t4t cult decay + transfemme absurd + t4t gambling noir + transmasc roadtrip + gendermix flash fic + genderfluid neo-Dracula + fem transmasc picaresque

Good morning all! Our submissions are open for Issue Seven! Less than one month to get something in. Still time, though, to call up a friend to collaborately write a poem 😎 #creativewriting #poetry #writingcommunity