ICYMI, @havenspec.bsky.social published a new poem of mine last week! 🖤 it’s all about creating care and community in the face of apocalypse
havenspec.com/poetry/if-i-...
Amazing recs and the best thing to wake up to. What wonderful company to be in, especially with my long time friend and CP @thelialao.bsky.social
Four short stories I read and loved in FEBRUARY ✨
MAGICAL GIRL: CORPORATE FAILURE by @thelialao.bsky.social in @havenspec.bsky.social
THE SALT AND THE CURE by @rukman.bsky.social in @lightspeedmagazine.com
ICYMI: My poem "Roommate" is now free to read in @havenspec.bsky.social!
The day after Danny died of pneumonia
He came downstairs to call the landlord.
I watched trembling from the kitchen
As he rasped and bubbled into his
phone, “Damp’s gotten worse,
you need to get down here.”
...
"there’s a name for this—
suicide, hibernation, runaway.
bad daughter, goth wife,
crafty, avoidant, irresponsible
to throw ice over everything,
trade green for arctic gray.
but I am not my mother.
I never was."
ICYMI: "Persephone Wins Custody of Herself" in @havenspec.bsky.social 🦌
stoked to say I'm returning to @havenspec.bsky.social's eminent pages with "Mother's Bane," my short story about carnivorous plant women and confronting your abusive mother 🌿🌷🌹🌱 keep an eye out for it in their upcoming issue!
"Lean in, little girl—
drop pumpkin blossoms into my depths
Look into the dark and tell me
you don’t want to go."
ICYMI: all of @havenspec.bsky.social issue 22 is now available online, including my poem "Persephone Wins Custody of Herself" 🦌🌙
Read now ⬇️
Reading for 🌹award nominations🌹?
We published eight short stories and seven poems in 2025, and we loved each and every one of them!
If any of these pieces spoke to you, moved you, made you feel feelings like they made us feel feelings, please consider nominating them!
🧵 of issue links below:
deleted my last post bc of all the typos 😅 so anyway, promo take two! “skin deep” is out, with shapeshifting and sapphism in the suburbs (feat. samuel taylor coleridge and about one william mosquitos)! get it right here in the new issue of @havenspec.bsky.social!!
havenspec.com/fiction/skin...
"When the seasons fracture, we look up.
Leaves aren’t all that tumble from the sky,
carpeting our humble underworld.
You fall, and fall, and fall."
You can now read my poem, "Persephone Wins Custody of Herself" free online @havenspec.bsky.social 🦌🍂
Our ✨February 2026 Issue✨ is now free to read online!
Find it here:
havenspec.com/issues/issue...
Or get the PDF and EPUB:
ko-fi.com/s/805c9b3a99
In it, you'll find five stories and five poems for your reading pleasure. Please spread the word!
My poem “If I must exist here” is now free to read in the new issue of Haven Spec!
havenspec.com/poetry/if-i-...
The issue is now available for all to read!
See below for links and give Haven Spec a follow while you’re there!
My first published piece:
We are the Giants We Fear.
#writingcommunity
Fiction by Lex Chamberlin, @verybadllama.bsky.social, @eggandcressida.bsky.social, Dafydd McKimm, @lima-zulu.bsky.social!
Poetry by @eleanorball.bsky.social, Sophia Zhao, @marisca.bsky.social, @arthurmanners.bsky.social, @babblewocky.bsky.social!
Cover Art by @mspencerdraws.bsky.social!
Our ✨February 2026 Issue✨ is now free to read online!
Find it here:
havenspec.com/issues/issue...
Or get the PDF and EPUB:
ko-fi.com/s/805c9b3a99
In it, you'll find five stories and five poems for your reading pleasure. Please spread the word!
FFer Read of the Day: "Restaurant Space for Lease" by @vivianhchou.bsky.social in @havenspec.bsky.social
havenspec.com/fiction/rest...
Also, it's important to note that the poetry numbers aren't super accurate since they represent total submissions (and not total poems submitted!).
But even if the numbers aren't totally accurate, hopefully people find this data interesting!
Note: "Holds" represents what's currently being held, not what was initially recommended! I estimate that about 10% of fiction submissions move on to the second round of consideration.
A graph showing the total number of submissions to Haven Spec Magazine for the 2026 Winter Reading Period (covering January 1st to today, February 22nd). Each day is color-coded for open, recommended, rejected, and withdrawn. Almost all of the January submissions have been processed (either rejected or held for further consideration). The graph peaks at February 1st, with about 115 submissions, of which about half have been processed.
👀Submission Snapshot, 2026 Winter Reading Period👀
Fiction submissions: 967
Open: 658
Holds: 20
Passed: 274
Withdrawn: 15
Total poetry submissions: 211
Open: 108
Holds: 3
Passed: 97
Withdrawn: 3
(See the next post in this 🧵 for caveats about this data!)
Haven Spec Magazine is closing to submissions for the entirety of next month, so send us all the things while you still can!
For our complete guidelines and schedule, visit:
www.havenspec.com/submit/
Bad landlords beware! My dark poem "Roommate" is out now in @havenspec.bsky.social.
![An excerpt of the poem "Roommate" by Arthur H. Manners, in Issue 22 of Haven Spec Magazine (February 2026). The text reads:
The day after Danny died of pneumonia
He came downstairs to call the landlord.
I watched trembling from the kitchen
As he rasped and bubbled into his
phone, “Damp’s gotten worse,
you need to get down here.”
[...]
The background is the issue's cover art, titled Harmonies of the Harvest, by Matthew Spencer. It shows a figure with a human body and a deer head.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4ueitqarm32pz3ap6ckphdzu/bafkreigeet3qipuezz7hlh2cl7cmvbs26npqc5aif3d6n72pz3skun4psi@jpeg)
An excerpt of the poem "Roommate" by Arthur H. Manners, in Issue 22 of Haven Spec Magazine (February 2026). The text reads: The day after Danny died of pneumonia He came downstairs to call the landlord. I watched trembling from the kitchen As he rasped and bubbled into his phone, “Damp’s gotten worse, you need to get down here.” [...] The background is the issue's cover art, titled Harmonies of the Harvest, by Matthew Spencer. It shows a figure with a human body and a deer head.
👀February 2026 Poetry👀
"Roommate" is a poem by @arthurmanners.bsky.social about housing crisis horrors. Read it for its gothic vibes (and its terrible landlord).
Subscribe and read it now!
havenspec.com/issues/issue...
Thanks to Haven Spec for publishing my voodoo doll manifesto… what do you owe to the one who unspooled themselves to make your life?
An excerpt of the poem "Mothercraft (a villanelle)" by Erin Brown, in Issue 22 of Haven Spec Magazine (February 2026). The text reads: It isn’t magic, doll, which fastens you. I am the needle, thread, I am the pin. It is the art I wield, the work I do. I hasten credit where I think it due, And do not find earned pride to be a sin. It isn’t magic, doll, which fastens you. The background is the issue's cover art, titled Harmonies of the Harvest, by Matthew Spencer. It shows a figure with a human body and a deer head.
👀February 2026 Poetry👀
"Mothercraft (a villanelle)" is a poem by @babblewocky.bsky.social about the magic that binds us and the ways we make and are made. Read it for its witchiness.
Subscribe and read it now!
havenspec.com/issues/issue...
So you're saying only taking submissions by carrier pigeon isn't a viable option
Featuring stories from @fiyahlitmag.bsky.social, The Dark, @lightspeedmagazine.com, @foofarawpress.bsky.social, @reckoningmag.bsky.social, @havenspec.bsky.social, @smallwondersmag.com, @kaleidotrope.bsky.social, @morningtransport.bsky.social, and @thedeadlands.com.
It's definitely true, and between our submissions and teaching undergrads, I feel like I have the patterns down pat. But wouldn't it be grand if I could somehow filter them out before my tired eyes ever have to look at them in the first place? They still eat up so much valuable reading time!
