Peatsmoke Journal
@psmokejournal.bsky.social
Online literary journal committed to diverse voices, accessibility, and to writers. Fiction, nonfiction, poems, flash, hybrid, art.
peatsmokejournal.com
peatsmokejournal.com
We are pleased to announce that Peatsmoke is now paying contributors! Contributors will receive $10 per piece (though we wish it was one million because that's how much we love you)!
November 18, 2025 at 11:45 AM
We are pleased to announce that Peatsmoke is now paying contributors! Contributors will receive $10 per piece (though we wish it was one million because that's how much we love you)!
We are thrilled to announce our PEN/Robert J. Dau Emerging Writer Nominations!
🌟"Where to Look" by Brian Lynch
🌟"The Blue Jays Are Imported" by Peter Alsante
🌟"Terminal Break" by Emily Drew
🌟"Eighth Place" by Sarai Abram
🌟"Where to Look" by Brian Lynch
🌟"The Blue Jays Are Imported" by Peter Alsante
🌟"Terminal Break" by Emily Drew
🌟"Eighth Place" by Sarai Abram
November 14, 2025 at 11:43 AM
We are thrilled to announce our PEN/Robert J. Dau Emerging Writer Nominations!
🌟"Where to Look" by Brian Lynch
🌟"The Blue Jays Are Imported" by Peter Alsante
🌟"Terminal Break" by Emily Drew
🌟"Eighth Place" by Sarai Abram
🌟"Where to Look" by Brian Lynch
🌟"The Blue Jays Are Imported" by Peter Alsante
🌟"Terminal Break" by Emily Drew
🌟"Eighth Place" by Sarai Abram
"I kept the tooth in my pocket all night, feeling it through the fabric while I watched my parents orbit each other like two planets that forgot they were supposed to share gravity."
Read "Teeth in All the Wrong Places" by Emely Taveras!
Art: “Ya Big Baboon” by Matthew Fertel
Read "Teeth in All the Wrong Places" by Emely Taveras!
Art: “Ya Big Baboon” by Matthew Fertel
November 5, 2025 at 11:54 AM
"I kept the tooth in my pocket all night, feeling it through the fabric while I watched my parents orbit each other like two planets that forgot they were supposed to share gravity."
Read "Teeth in All the Wrong Places" by Emely Taveras!
Art: “Ya Big Baboon” by Matthew Fertel
Read "Teeth in All the Wrong Places" by Emely Taveras!
Art: “Ya Big Baboon” by Matthew Fertel
Not a trick, but rather a treat! We will be open for ALL genres October 30-31st!
October 29, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Not a trick, but rather a treat! We will be open for ALL genres October 30-31st!
"If he was the egg. Or the frying pan. Or the man he was, or could have been. All I know is this: he scrambled it anyway."
Read the full "The Odds" by Emily Portillo on our website!
Art: “Spring’s Coming” by Yan Jiang
Read the full "The Odds" by Emily Portillo on our website!
Art: “Spring’s Coming” by Yan Jiang
October 21, 2025 at 10:31 AM
"If he was the egg. Or the frying pan. Or the man he was, or could have been. All I know is this: he scrambled it anyway."
Read the full "The Odds" by Emily Portillo on our website!
Art: “Spring’s Coming” by Yan Jiang
Read the full "The Odds" by Emily Portillo on our website!
Art: “Spring’s Coming” by Yan Jiang
When you clear the leaves, you'll see our Fall 2025 Issue is here!
Featured Contest Winners
🍁"The Odds" by Emily Portillo (Poetry)
🍁"Teeth in All the Wrong Places" by Emely Taveras (Fiction)
🍁"Orange Juice" by @dfcohen.bsky.social (Flash)
Fiction
🍁"Terminal Break" by Emily Drew
Featured Contest Winners
🍁"The Odds" by Emily Portillo (Poetry)
🍁"Teeth in All the Wrong Places" by Emely Taveras (Fiction)
🍁"Orange Juice" by @dfcohen.bsky.social (Flash)
Fiction
🍁"Terminal Break" by Emily Drew
October 16, 2025 at 12:26 AM
When you clear the leaves, you'll see our Fall 2025 Issue is here!
Featured Contest Winners
🍁"The Odds" by Emily Portillo (Poetry)
🍁"Teeth in All the Wrong Places" by Emely Taveras (Fiction)
🍁"Orange Juice" by @dfcohen.bsky.social (Flash)
Fiction
🍁"Terminal Break" by Emily Drew
Featured Contest Winners
🍁"The Odds" by Emily Portillo (Poetry)
🍁"Teeth in All the Wrong Places" by Emely Taveras (Fiction)
🍁"Orange Juice" by @dfcohen.bsky.social (Flash)
Fiction
🍁"Terminal Break" by Emily Drew
The wait is over... Congratulations to our Best of Net 2026 nominees!
Cortez
@manateevanity.bsky.social
Rachel Dorn
Annastacia Stegall
Sarah Burke
Sullivan Jordan
Eric Roy
Esmé Kaplan-Kinsey
Garth Pavell
Ruby Wang
Ara Deinde
Sewkhy Tan
Cortez
@manateevanity.bsky.social
Rachel Dorn
Annastacia Stegall
Sarah Burke
Sullivan Jordan
Eric Roy
Esmé Kaplan-Kinsey
Garth Pavell
Ruby Wang
Ara Deinde
Sewkhy Tan
October 8, 2025 at 12:24 AM
The wait is over... Congratulations to our Best of Net 2026 nominees!
Cortez
@manateevanity.bsky.social
Rachel Dorn
Annastacia Stegall
Sarah Burke
Sullivan Jordan
Eric Roy
Esmé Kaplan-Kinsey
Garth Pavell
Ruby Wang
Ara Deinde
Sewkhy Tan
Cortez
@manateevanity.bsky.social
Rachel Dorn
Annastacia Stegall
Sarah Burke
Sullivan Jordan
Eric Roy
Esmé Kaplan-Kinsey
Garth Pavell
Ruby Wang
Ara Deinde
Sewkhy Tan
"Lucky for him something in me is like a sheep with a bell. But not all of me. And lately the clapper’s started going wonky, almost like an alarm."
Read more of "Bitters" by Sarah Bess Jaffe on our website!
Art: “Contrite Respite” by Brooke Walker
Read more of "Bitters" by Sarah Bess Jaffe on our website!
Art: “Contrite Respite” by Brooke Walker
October 5, 2025 at 8:14 PM
"Lucky for him something in me is like a sheep with a bell. But not all of me. And lately the clapper’s started going wonky, almost like an alarm."
Read more of "Bitters" by Sarah Bess Jaffe on our website!
Art: “Contrite Respite” by Brooke Walker
Read more of "Bitters" by Sarah Bess Jaffe on our website!
Art: “Contrite Respite” by Brooke Walker
"The sun hit the cloudbank a fist’s width above the horizon and swelled enormously, pregnant with its own death, melting, bleeding, then spilling into the sea, metal and crucible as one..." - @gabriella-p-h.bsky.social "r/Hell"
Art: “Harpies” by Rollin Jewett
Art: “Harpies” by Rollin Jewett
September 25, 2025 at 10:45 AM
"The sun hit the cloudbank a fist’s width above the horizon and swelled enormously, pregnant with its own death, melting, bleeding, then spilling into the sea, metal and crucible as one..." - @gabriella-p-h.bsky.social "r/Hell"
Art: “Harpies” by Rollin Jewett
Art: “Harpies” by Rollin Jewett
"She turns herself upright but otherwise remains still, like she’s choosing whether to give up or go on. It takes a moment to regain your bearings when you survive."
Read "Our Goldfinch Math Doesn't Add Up" by @andreabishop.bsky.social on our website!
Art: “Queencard” by Lindsay Liang
Read "Our Goldfinch Math Doesn't Add Up" by @andreabishop.bsky.social on our website!
Art: “Queencard” by Lindsay Liang
September 8, 2025 at 12:56 AM
"She turns herself upright but otherwise remains still, like she’s choosing whether to give up or go on. It takes a moment to regain your bearings when you survive."
Read "Our Goldfinch Math Doesn't Add Up" by @andreabishop.bsky.social on our website!
Art: “Queencard” by Lindsay Liang
Read "Our Goldfinch Math Doesn't Add Up" by @andreabishop.bsky.social on our website!
Art: “Queencard” by Lindsay Liang
Our 2025 Summer Editor's Prize Contest has come to an end! We'd like to thank everyone for their submissions- it made our job so hard! Without further ado, here are our winners!
August 31, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Our 2025 Summer Editor's Prize Contest has come to an end! We'd like to thank everyone for their submissions- it made our job so hard! Without further ado, here are our winners!
"Paris and Pulitzer Prizes are good pearls for other pails. Only let me have eternity in the overalls of the ordinary."
Read "Full on Empty" by Angela Townsend if you are feeling toot-avoidant!
Art: "Lamb3" by Katie Lamb
Read "Full on Empty" by Angela Townsend if you are feeling toot-avoidant!
Art: "Lamb3" by Katie Lamb
August 18, 2025 at 10:47 AM
"Paris and Pulitzer Prizes are good pearls for other pails. Only let me have eternity in the overalls of the ordinary."
Read "Full on Empty" by Angela Townsend if you are feeling toot-avoidant!
Art: "Lamb3" by Katie Lamb
Read "Full on Empty" by Angela Townsend if you are feeling toot-avoidant!
Art: "Lamb3" by Katie Lamb
Huge congratulations to Jennifer S. Lange for being selected for Best of Net 2025 with "Sticks and Stones" which was featured in our Winter 2024 Issue! Hurrah!
August 12, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Huge congratulations to Jennifer S. Lange for being selected for Best of Net 2025 with "Sticks and Stones" which was featured in our Winter 2024 Issue! Hurrah!
"The party ends. The aftertaste lingers." Read "The Host Family" by Rachana Pathak on our website today for a story that lingers!
Art: “Novalis 2025” by Milena Makani
Art: “Novalis 2025” by Milena Makani
July 23, 2025 at 12:23 AM
"The party ends. The aftertaste lingers." Read "The Host Family" by Rachana Pathak on our website today for a story that lingers!
Art: “Novalis 2025” by Milena Makani
Art: “Novalis 2025” by Milena Makani
Our Summer 2025 Issue, launching TOMORROW, is definitely bringing the heat. Please enjoy this beautiful art piece, "Lamb3", by Jennifer Lamb which was selected for the cover!
July 14, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Our Summer 2025 Issue, launching TOMORROW, is definitely bringing the heat. Please enjoy this beautiful art piece, "Lamb3", by Jennifer Lamb which was selected for the cover!
“Because you don’t have to be dead to leave a ghost.” If you need a hit to the heart, try “Eulogy for a Living Uncle”, a flash piece, by J. Condra Smith.
Art: “8” by Migyoung Yun
Art: “8” by Migyoung Yun
June 25, 2025 at 12:31 AM
“Because you don’t have to be dead to leave a ghost.” If you need a hit to the heart, try “Eulogy for a Living Uncle”, a flash piece, by J. Condra Smith.
Art: “8” by Migyoung Yun
Art: “8” by Migyoung Yun
"Turtle Balloons" by Stephen Mirabito is great for a day of wonder in the relentless mundane. Check it out!
“The census is coming up. There is a loophole to get out of any parking citation.”
Art: “The Part of Dorothy’s Fever Dream that Went Untold” by Thad DeVassie
“The census is coming up. There is a loophole to get out of any parking citation.”
Art: “The Part of Dorothy’s Fever Dream that Went Untold” by Thad DeVassie
June 14, 2025 at 6:50 PM
"Turtle Balloons" by Stephen Mirabito is great for a day of wonder in the relentless mundane. Check it out!
“The census is coming up. There is a loophole to get out of any parking citation.”
Art: “The Part of Dorothy’s Fever Dream that Went Untold” by Thad DeVassie
“The census is coming up. There is a loophole to get out of any parking citation.”
Art: “The Part of Dorothy’s Fever Dream that Went Untold” by Thad DeVassie
Read
@pegahouji.bsky.social 's mind-reeling "Hayoula" on our site!
"She reads her daughter’s books twice, running her index finger along the edges, hoarding all the paper cuts for herself. She scours the pages for Hayoula claw prints..."
Art: “Llorando a Rodón en Butoh; 2” by Jorge Luna
@pegahouji.bsky.social 's mind-reeling "Hayoula" on our site!
"She reads her daughter’s books twice, running her index finger along the edges, hoarding all the paper cuts for herself. She scours the pages for Hayoula claw prints..."
Art: “Llorando a Rodón en Butoh; 2” by Jorge Luna
June 6, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Read
@pegahouji.bsky.social 's mind-reeling "Hayoula" on our site!
"She reads her daughter’s books twice, running her index finger along the edges, hoarding all the paper cuts for herself. She scours the pages for Hayoula claw prints..."
Art: “Llorando a Rodón en Butoh; 2” by Jorge Luna
@pegahouji.bsky.social 's mind-reeling "Hayoula" on our site!
"She reads her daughter’s books twice, running her index finger along the edges, hoarding all the paper cuts for herself. She scours the pages for Hayoula claw prints..."
Art: “Llorando a Rodón en Butoh; 2” by Jorge Luna
We are closed for submissions until July 1st to ramp up for our 2025 Summer Editor's Prize Contest which will run July 1-August 1, 2025! We are so excited for your entries!
June 2, 2025 at 6:32 PM
We are closed for submissions until July 1st to ramp up for our 2025 Summer Editor's Prize Contest which will run July 1-August 1, 2025! We are so excited for your entries!
Sink your teeth into this flash by @aniking.bsky.social !
"Because Pastor said it doesn’t matter if our eyes are closed if we pray with our whole hearts, Tattletale, worry about your own eyes."
Art: "Lure" by Madison Huffman
"Because Pastor said it doesn’t matter if our eyes are closed if we pray with our whole hearts, Tattletale, worry about your own eyes."
Art: "Lure" by Madison Huffman
May 23, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Sink your teeth into this flash by @aniking.bsky.social !
"Because Pastor said it doesn’t matter if our eyes are closed if we pray with our whole hearts, Tattletale, worry about your own eyes."
Art: "Lure" by Madison Huffman
"Because Pastor said it doesn’t matter if our eyes are closed if we pray with our whole hearts, Tattletale, worry about your own eyes."
Art: "Lure" by Madison Huffman
Incredible news! Sammi Chiyao has been awarded the 2025 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers with "Corn Soup" which debuted in our Fall 2024 Issue! Congratulations, Sammi!
Art: "Memory of Bliss" by Lindy Giusta
Art: "Memory of Bliss" by Lindy Giusta
May 6, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Incredible news! Sammi Chiyao has been awarded the 2025 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers with "Corn Soup" which debuted in our Fall 2024 Issue! Congratulations, Sammi!
Art: "Memory of Bliss" by Lindy Giusta
Art: "Memory of Bliss" by Lindy Giusta
"Reaction Times" by the brilliant @fionaemckayryan is featured in our latest issue! Here's a snippet👇
"A quick glance around shows her there’s no one to witness her motherhood."
Read the full piece on our website.
Art: “Colornea_2024” by Cynthia Yatchman
"A quick glance around shows her there’s no one to witness her motherhood."
Read the full piece on our website.
Art: “Colornea_2024” by Cynthia Yatchman
April 24, 2025 at 12:59 AM
"Reaction Times" by the brilliant @fionaemckayryan is featured in our latest issue! Here's a snippet👇
"A quick glance around shows her there’s no one to witness her motherhood."
Read the full piece on our website.
Art: “Colornea_2024” by Cynthia Yatchman
"A quick glance around shows her there’s no one to witness her motherhood."
Read the full piece on our website.
Art: “Colornea_2024” by Cynthia Yatchman
In less than 24 hours, our Spring 2025 Issue will be live! Get a taste of it with the cover art of the release: "Eternity And A Day" by Dominique Elliot!
April 14, 2025 at 11:28 PM
In less than 24 hours, our Spring 2025 Issue will be live! Get a taste of it with the cover art of the release: "Eternity And A Day" by Dominique Elliot!
In case you missed it, we are OPEN for submissions until March 31!
March 19, 2025 at 11:51 PM
In case you missed it, we are OPEN for submissions until March 31!
Check out "On Earth As It Is In Heaven" by Cortez on our website- it is angelic!
"It is so hard to stay pious. God plants landmines everywhere."
Art: “The Undernetting” by J. G. Orudjev
"It is so hard to stay pious. God plants landmines everywhere."
Art: “The Undernetting” by J. G. Orudjev
March 14, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Check out "On Earth As It Is In Heaven" by Cortez on our website- it is angelic!
"It is so hard to stay pious. God plants landmines everywhere."
Art: “The Undernetting” by J. G. Orudjev
"It is so hard to stay pious. God plants landmines everywhere."
Art: “The Undernetting” by J. G. Orudjev