West Of Canon

• Artwork, we love artwork! This includes photography and experimental/3D art in addition to traditional pieces. Artists may send 1-3 art pieces with any explication or context they deem necessary.
• Poems, 1-2, 4 pages max.
• Epistolary– do be clear who is speaking and who they’re writing to in some sense, unless it’s a plot twist. 1 letter (2 pages maximum of epistolary style short prose).
• We love Romance and The Sublime. LOVE it. Make us feel your work, not just read it.

Please note We only send out acceptances not rejections. Acceptances and light editing requests will be sent out during the month after submissions close. 

• NO AI- WE LOVE LITTLE ROBOTS BUT WANT THEM TO COME UP WITH THEIR OWN IDEAS.
• Sex and violence are fine, but don’t send deliberately upsetting or exploitative material. In particular we’re not looking for gratuitous depictions of violence towards humans or animals. This is not to say the latter can’t be a theme (the whaling fishery and SeaWorld are both interesting topics to be sure!), but please make sure that agency and respect are afforded to any character, human or animal, which undergoes trauma in your narrative.
• No endorsements of bigotry towards any marginalized group or uncritical representations of institutions or figures associated with bigotry. This includes police and military in addition to hate groups. If you would protest such a group or person at Pride, we don’t really want to see it.
• That being said, we understand that the navy is a big part of a pirate narrative, the Napoleonic hyperfixation, or Billy Budd homage. Don’t feel the need to edit sea battles out.
• Don’t preach to us. Seriously. Our editorial board includes folks affected by the systematic ethnic cleansing of the First Nations in Canada, so please note a deep editorial discomfort towards Catholic and Christian imagery, no matter how tongue-in-cheek or cheek-in-ass. If the priests and angels and their cliffside monasteries must make an appearance, be aware it will be a hard sell.
• No purity culture or virtue signaling. 
• No Oceangate. We’ve heard everything there is to hear about it. Titanic is still on the table though.
• Rudeness or entitlement are an instant rejection. Please conduct yourself with courtesy during the submissions process. We’re salty dogs here, not snotty clout hogs.

• A short bio in the body of your email (think 25-50 words including socials). Use this format in the email heading: LAST NAME- HLK SUBMISSION-[name of poems] send it to westofcanon@gmail.com.
• Please don’t send anything illegal. We’re being purposefully vague about this, as your definition of ‘illegal’ may vary from ours. But don’t please.
• Simultaneous submissions are fine, just let us know if you are accepted elsewhere!
• We’re also pretty lax about previously published work. If the work requires acknowledgement of previous publication, please indicate so in your submission. We do not consider work that has been posted on social media or a personal blog to be previously published.