Fatal Flaw is a triannual online magazine publishing unexpected, topical writing and photography that considers the world through a cracked lens. We seek work that finds poignancy in unexpected places, confronts the status quo and, most importantly, prompts discussion about the human condition in these uncertain times. Give us fractured inner monologues, messy reckonings, imperfect catharses. Show us the fatal flaw and the beauty inherent within it.
We publish poetry, fiction, flash fiction, nonfiction, photography, and visual art in themed issues. Reading starts anew with each issue. For announcements on current or upcoming themes, please be sure to monitor our website or social media.
We welcome submissions from writers of all backgrounds – from the emerging and unpublished to the established – and especially encourage submissions from those who identify as persons of color, multiracial, indigenous, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and anyone belonging to a community of underrepresented voices. We currently offer free submissions to BIPOC and other underrepresented writers and artists in all genres.
Theme for Fatal Flaw Vol. 10: WITNESS
Submission period: September 18 to October 22
Intimate knowledge of an accident or crime. Loving presence at a sacrament. Affirmation of the divine. For Volume 10, Fatal Flaw invites you to send us your work on the theme Witness.
Witness may be an act we take willingly, or a trauma thrust upon us – either way, it can come to define us: having witnessed, one becomes the witness. What does this experience do to us? What responsibility – even complicity – does it imply? What marks does it leave? How does it bind us to others, and how does it tear us apart?
Send us fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that implicates us in your misdeeds, that compels us to stand up for you in critical moments, that traces the scars you never deserved. Send us visual art and photography that shines a light on things we wish we had not seen, that unearths the hidden memories of otherwise ordinary corners of the world. Send us work that testifies to a personal experience beyond the boundaries of your being. We can’t wait to see what you share with us.
- Please only submit work that has not been previously published.
- For Fiction and Nonfiction submissions, we consider work between 1,000 – 7,000 words (though for exceptional work we’ll make exceptions). For Flash Fiction submissions, we consider work between 100 – 1,000 words. For Poetry submissions, we consider up to 3 poems at a time (not to exceed 6 pages total). For Visual Art submissions, we consider up to 5 pieces per submission.
- Please only submit one piece to one category during each submission period.
- Please (please) edit your work before submitting. Any work with significant formatting, spelling, or grammatical errors will be rejected.
- When formatting prose, please double space, use Times New Roman font and 1″ margins, number your pages and include your name and the title of your work on the first page of the document. When formatting poetry, please put all poems into one single-spaced document. Each poem should start on a new page with titles and lines left aligned (unless the poem involves special formatting, in which case, do your thing – we love seeing space on a page reenvisioned).
- In your cover letter, please include the word count of your piece, your name, the title of your work, any relevant previous publications, and any applicable social media links.
No Entry fee
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