Variant Literature

Variant Literature

@variantlit.bsky.social

Variant Literature is a small press and magazine. http://variantlit.com We're open for submissions for the Winter 2027 issue

1.2K followers484 following245 posts

Variant Literature reposted

shovda
@shovda.bsky.social

One of my favorite bits is popping up on writer bsky to say, "by the way, I stream videogames and have a cartoon sloth for a mascot over here."

Variant Literature@variantlit.bsky.social

Excited to share our Best of the Net nominations! Congrats to all of the nominees: @readinstead.bsky.social Nick Daoust Sara Hovda Jason Zhang T. De Los Reyes Jeff Whitney David Ryan @joeyhedger.bsky.social Adina Leschinsky Levine

Variant Literature reposted

Megan Nichols
@megjnic.bsky.social

Variant Lit is able to increase our honorariums! Poetry and flash prose will receive $15 and longform fiction will receive $25. We don't charge fees during our open submission period and we try to reply within 2 months. Subs open Oct 10 - Nov 20. @variantlit.bsky.social

Variant Literature
@variantlit.bsky.social

New interview this week! Prose Editor @thebrandonhaff.bsky.social interviews David Ryan, author of the story collection, Alligator. They talk doppelgängers, experimentalism, the practice of self-imposing creative obstructions, and more! variantlit.com/dualities-mi...

variantlit.comDualities, Micro-audacities, and Writing Around the Center: a Conversation with David Ryan on AlligatorBrandon Ahmad Haffner interviews David Ryan about his new short story collection Alligator, discussing memory, experimental writing, creative constraints, duality, and writing around the center.

Variant Literature reposted

Brandon Haffner
@thebrandonhaff.bsky.social

I got to interview writer David Ryan about his wacky new story collection, Alligator. Trying to write weirder myself these days, so this was an especially awesome conversation. Check it out: variantlit.com/dualities-mi...

variantlit.comDualities, Micro-audacities, and Writing Around the Center: a Conversation with David Ryan on AlligatorBrandon Ahmad Haffner interviews David Ryan about his new short story collection Alligator, discussing memory, experimental writing, creative constraints, duality, and writing around the center.

Variant Literature reposted

Suzanne Richardson
@oozannesay.bsky.social

Thanks for the honor! 🙏

Variant Literature@variantlit.bsky.social

And congratulations to our Honorable Mentions: “Two Poems about the Men in my Family” – Bhavya Bhagtani “Market Price” – Bethany Bruno “Things that aren’t” – Jen Hallaman “SNATCH” – Suzanne Richardson “Oliver chooses the mite” – Jane Zwart

Variant Literature
@variantlit.bsky.social

And congratulations to our Honorable Mentions: “Two Poems about the Men in my Family” – Bhavya Bhagtani “Market Price” – Bethany Bruno “Things that aren’t” – Jen Hallaman “SNATCH” – Suzanne Richardson “Oliver chooses the mite” – Jane Zwart

Variant Literature reposted

Megan Nichols
@megjnic.bsky.social

You may know Brenda Miller from her new collection Love You, Bye or from Tell It Slant, the beloved craft book she co-authored with Suzanne Paola. Join our live Author Talk + Writing Sprint on Sept 19th to learn about Brenda's essay and poetry writing process!

Variant Literature reposted

Megan Nichols
@megjnic.bsky.social

Mark your calendars for Saturday, September 19 at 9:00 AM PT! Lemon Grove Writers will host a live Author Talk with Brenda Miller followed by a co-writing sprint. Her latest book, LOVE YOU, BYE, is a moving collection of poems and essays about the loss of her parents.

Variant Literature reposted

Suzanne Richardson
@oozannesay.bsky.social

Thanks for the shoutout on the shortlist!

Variant Literature@variantlit.bsky.social

The 2026 Variant Lit Poetry Prize shortlist is here! The shortlisted poems will now move on to the final round of judging. The three prize-winning poems will be published this September. Thank you for sharing your poetry with us and congratulations to this year's shortlisted poets:

Variant Literature reposted

james o
@jamesolearypoet.bsky.social

I write (and submit) so slowly anymore, that I often feel left behind or out of the general poetry scene. Things like this are a nice reminder that I am good at this and belong here :)

Variant Literature@variantlit.bsky.social

The 2026 Variant Lit Poetry Prize shortlist is here! The shortlisted poems will now move on to the final round of judging. The three prize-winning poems will be published this September. Thank you for sharing your poetry with us and congratulations to this year's shortlisted poets:

Variant Literature
@variantlit.bsky.social

The 2026 Variant Lit Poetry Prize shortlist is here! The shortlisted poems will now move on to the final round of judging. The three prize-winning poems will be published this September. Thank you for sharing your poetry with us and congratulations to this year's shortlisted poets:

Variant Literature reposted

D.W. Baker
@lowermelody.bsky.social

The final paragraph of my latest review, "The Hologram and the Hunted: on FOLLOW THIS BLOOD TO FIND A DEAD THING by Charles K. Carter" (Ferbwood Press: 2026), published by @variantlit.bsky.social

Variant Literature@variantlit.bsky.social

New review up on the site from @lowermelody.bsky.social "Tension between comfortable illusion and disquieting reality animates Charles K. Carter’s Follow This Blood to Find a Dead Thing (2026: Fernwood Press)." variantlit.com/book-review-...

variantlit.comThe Hologram and the Hunted: on Follow This Blood to Find a Dead Thing by Charles K. CarterFollow This Blood to Find a Dead Thing by Charles K. Carter (Fernwood Press: 2026) reviewed D.W. Baker for Variant Lit.
Variant Literature
@variantlit.bsky.social

New review up on the site from @lowermelody.bsky.social "Tension between comfortable illusion and disquieting reality animates Charles K. Carter’s Follow This Blood to Find a Dead Thing (2026: Fernwood Press)." variantlit.com/book-review-...

variantlit.comThe Hologram and the Hunted: on Follow This Blood to Find a Dead Thing by Charles K. CarterFollow This Blood to Find a Dead Thing by Charles K. Carter (Fernwood Press: 2026) reviewed D.W. Baker for Variant Lit.

Variant Literature reposted

Kevin A. Risner
@mrdecember.bsky.social

Reminder -- I'm taking part in a reading with three other writers on Thursday! Now's your chance to register. Hope to see you there! :-)

A Hundred Pitchers of Honey Reading Series@hphseries.bsky.social

I'm home from traveling and THIS READING IS NOW LESS THAN A WEEK AWAY! Looking forward to hosting @mrdecember.bsky.social @bernadettegeyer.bsky.social @ignatius2u.bsky.social and David Sullivan on July 9, 6:30 Central. Register here! us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Variant Literature reposted

Heavy Feather Review
@hfr.bsky.social

Don’t explain it, visit the link in bio 🌺 “Without Explanation”: Megan Nichols Reviews Susan L. Leary’s Poetry Collection More Flowers @triohousepress.org #babyeatbooks heavyfeatherreview.org/2026/07/06/m...

heavyfeatherreview.org“Without Explanation”: Megan Nichols Reviews Susan L. Leary’s Poetry Collection More FlowersIn More Flowers, Susan L. Leary doesn’t have to explain herself. Instead, she creates a psychological landscape in which the speaker careens between questioning and asserting, between the concrete …

Variant Literature reposted

Todd Dillard
@toddedillard.bsky.social

been thinking about enjambment and how you can add velocity to a poem by using an enjambment on a verb which helps readers anticipate the direct object at the start of the following line and this micro control of anticipation is so much more interesting to think about re: line breaks than “breath”