Encyclopedia Prismatica is now accepting submissions for volume 1, issue 3, publishing in both print and digital formats in June of 2026. We want works which engage with the theme of Suffering (the Intimate and the Universal). Works should: show a mind wrestling with its condition; refuse passive despair; illuminate structures; implicate the reader; and avoid moral exhibitionism. This might involve essays, fiction, or visual art exploring the ways by which suffering in the 21st century is amplified and quieted by algorithms and metrics; experimental pieces where characters or narrators confront their own suffering as an aspect of communal, global, or universal experience; art or poetry which expresses the anxiety of seeing your own suffering in the reflection of others’ suffering; philosophical essays examining whether suffering must mean anything for it to be bearable; engaged literature which interrogates what suffering means in the 21st century, and what makes certain sufferings valid or invalid; speculative fiction which imagines metaphysical, moral, psychological, or social suffering from non-anthropocentric epistemologies, or from the perspective of those inflicting suffering; or works which question how a person exists and acts through suffering, whether alone or with others. We do not want pieces which merely describe or remedy suffering but works which force suffering to its limit as a dialectic of human experience. We also seek submissions which engage with or respond to works published in previous issues. We welcome submissions across a range of genres including:
Essays (literary, philosophical, political) that encourage readers to take up action or see the world differently — up to 7,000 words*
Engaged Poetry — Up to 5 poems (or 10 pages total)
Short fiction — Up to 5,000 words*
Hybrid Forms / Prose Poetry / Visual Texts
Art & Photography — high resolution images, 300 dpi or higher
Interviews and Dialogues — previously unpublished or original conversations
Music scores and multimedia
Submission guidelines:
Submissions must be previously unpublished (personal blogs or defunct journals count as unpublished)
Simultaneous submissions allowed; please notify us if accepted elsewhere
All prose work should be submitted as .DOC(x) files. All poetry should be submitted as .PDF files and in a single file
Visual submissions should be 300 dpi and uploaded as .PNG files if possible
Non-English submissions will be accepted if they include a reliable English translation, or if the value of the work lies in its manipulation of the source language. The following languages can be translated by our editors: French, Arabic, Persian, Russian
Submission Period: Now—May 8th
Response Time: 2 weeks after close
Rights: We request First North American Serial Rights and the right to archive the piece online. Rights revert to the author upon publication
Payment: At this time, contributors will receive a complimentary digital copy and be featured in both print and digital editions. As funding grows, we intend to offer honoraria
*: Longer works may be accepted with advanced notice and justification
