Three Themed Calls for Submission from Khôra: Pride, Heat, Flash
We're looking for feverish, sweat-soaked, summer-scorched writing and art that simmer and ignite. Emotional heat. Erotic heat. Literal heat. Climate heat. Kink. We want to feel the burn.
This summer, we’re returning to a favorite seasonal series: three themed Summer Special Editions, each shaped around a single word.
🌈 JUNE — PRIDE
Last call! We’re accepting new writing and art for our annual Pride Issue through Tuesday, May 26. This issue is open to all genres. Yes, please! to love stories about queer joy and chosen family. Yes to personal and public revolutions. Tell us about the lives you chose and those you fought for. We especially love including personal photographs or artwork to accompany written work. Bring us into your world.
Deadline: Tuesday, May 26, 2026
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🔥 JULY — HEAT
We’re looking for feverish, sweat-soaked, summer-scorched writing and art that simmer and ignite. Longing, pressure, combustion. Emotional heat. Erotic heat. Literal heat. Climate heat. Kink. We want to feel the burn.
Deadline: Monday, June 29, 2026
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⚡ AUGUST — FLASH
Send us your shortest writing—fiction, micro-essays, poetry, fragments, dispatches. We’re talking itty-bitty, under 500 words. This is open to writers only, but we do encourage you to include links to your own artwork if you’re multi-talented like that.
Deadline: Friday, August 7, 2026
How it works:
Submissions for this three-issue series are open now and close August 7, 2026.
We welcome emerging and established voices—poetry, short prose (maximum 2K), hybrid forms, visual art, and unclassifiable experiments.
Submit up to 3 pieces per theme.
To be considered for the PRIDE Issue, please send your work no later than Tuesday, May 26.
In your note, please mention the name of the issue the work is intended for: Pride, Heat, Flash.
Word count of 2K or under for Pride and Heat, maximum 500 words for Flash.
Previously unpublished work only, please. Simultaneous submissions are fine—just keep us in the loop if your piece has been accepted by another publication when we reach out.
We have a strict no-AI policy for all submissions.
About our transition
ICYMI, we made a big announcement last week. Many, many (so many) thanks to all of you who have reached out with support or donated funds. 💡 If you want to help keep the lights on, a Substack subscription goes a long way.
If you love what you’re reading, please subscribe, restack, post and share, and Khôra will be back soon.
Can’t wait to see what you’ve got on the burner.
xox
Leigh
Leigh Hopkins
Editor and Curator, Khôra
Leigh Hopkins is the Editor and Curator of Khôra and the Founder and Director of Viva Institute, an educational platform advancing creativity, consciousness, and collective repair.
Hi Leigh! I forgot to mention that my recent submission was for the Pride edition :) Thank you!
Hi! I sent in a submission last week for the Pride issue and I started to worry that I messed something up, like not indicating that my submission was for Pride, or just otherwise flubbing things. Is it possible to get a confirmation??? Thank you!