With autumn comes the careening of the Whale, bringing tales of transition, transformation, and yearning.

Featuring work from: @msstefaniekirby.bsky.social, @shalinisingh.bsky.social, Eniola Abdulroqeeb Arowolo, Veronica Tucker, Eden Petri, David Capps, Emily O Liu, and Laura Walker.

astrolabe.ooo

A touch late, but never forgotten, the Retrograde has arrived! With it comes signs of yellowing and desiccation, omens from the sun, but also some things Exceptional and worth gathering around.

As always, we encourage you to explore and delight in these works among the Universe: astrolabe.ooo

For all sorts of reasons, we're pushing back our summer issue to July 17th, and our next open reading window to the autumnal equinox. We got a quite a few submissions this spring, and we want to make sure we're giving each of them attention before we open for more. Thanks for bearing with us.

Profoundly proud of this year's nominations for Best Small Fictions—long journeys wished and real; a house or a home or a meteor; an agenda of ribbons and balls and fairies.

On this winter solstice, two years after the Universe began to form, we have another materialization in an entirely new form: new prose from @lgeccles.bsky.social, @ianli.bsky.social, @forestfarmer.bsky.social, ~in orbit~ around artwork from Jacelyn Yap.

www.astrolabe.ooo

Taking a moment to celebrate our 2025 Best Microfiction nominations from @ianli.bsky.social (coming to the Universe in just a few days!), Amelia K., Satya Dash, and Joe Gallagher.

Wishing these Pushcart Prize nominations good luck! We so appreciate these stories, their writers, and everyone who's made this year of Astrolabe a brilliant one.

@aabalaskovits.bsky.social, @jjlofflin.bsky.social, @lgeccles.bsky.social, Lucy Zhang & Laura K. Wallace ✨

Some exciting news from those behind the Universe—we've expanded our editorial team! Astrid has already done incredible work reading and helping select pieces for both our Winter and Spring materializations, and we're so lucky to have them onboard!

The Universe expands once again with the Range, featuring @taracampbell.bsky.social, @willerickson.bsky.social, @addisonzeller.bsky.social, Mandira Pattnaik, Marina Ramil, Shannan Mann, and Lesh Karan.

Thank you to everyone who's explored with us over the last year.

astrolabe.ooo

Our nominations for Best Microfiction might be brief, but they glow brightly in the Universe. Best of luck to these writers!

New work coming... tomorrow!

Our Pushcart Prize nominees for this year—and a big thank-you to all the writers who let us publish their work.

Our first-ever Best of the Net nominations! With gratitude for everyone who has allowed us to publish their work, and a new burst of hope for these pieces. We'll link them all below.

✨Free✨ submissions for fiction, CNF, artwork, and photography are open until October 22nd! The Universe is looking more starful than ever, but there are still many wide and indistinct voids to fill with your work.

www.astrolabe.ooo/submissions

Our autumn materialization—coming this Friday, September 22—featuring writing from:

Marguerite Sheffer
@amygcb.bsky.social
@laeastra.com
Max Wheeler
@cavar.bsky.social
Jaye Nasir

Artwork holds a special place in our Universe, and Arihant Jain's "Melanin No. 6" is such a vivid example of why—the blocking of color like both a background and a crown, the closed and contemplative eyes.

Click the link for the fullsize version! 🖱️

www.astrolabe.ooo/jain-melanin...