I’m not sure where to start…we almost ended.  frak\ture temporarily died and was buried. Duotrope presided as coroner. The funeral was a single email without even a flower, skull, or coffin emoji.  Blame J. L.

How fitting that the number four is incredibly unlucky and synonymous with death in certain Asian cultures—we had no fourth issue on December 2020. The worst part of our status over the last few months was how we frustrated several wonderful people that tried to submit or contact us about a submission status: we never responded to their inquiries. 

We offer our sincerest apologies to all.  We can’t right any wrongs, but we can at least write everyone. Starting from today, we’ve opened submissions for a June 2021 issue.  Also, please give us two weeks from now to respond to your previous inquiries. Please contact us again if you don’t receive a response by March 8th.

It’s good to be alive.

Right-on, write on,
J. L. 

Due to all of the amazing poets that shared their work, we can now unveil our third issue! frak\ture thanks all of the contributing poets and were encouraged in our conversations with such amazing individuals from so many different countries and backgrounds and hope you are all staying safe and healthy. Even those not selected for publication are extremely appreciated as we found all pieces captivating and worthy of contemplation. Finally, special thanks are due to our new Poetry Editor, Crystal Anderson, whose diligent backstage effort kept us carefully churning through a tremendous pile of quality submissions to find the diamonds in the depths of the gems.

This is a very proud milestone for our publication, one that came with sacrifice often felt by our contributors since our average response time lapsed into the 2-month range. This was partially due to a 2X increase in submissions this period, but ultimately tied to the circumstances of the pandemic we are living through and the myriad of additional challenges it has called on us all to surmount.

Our third issue highlights loss, impermanence, and change which seems a natural contemplation during our pandemic hardships.  Now that our third issue is complete, we’re planning to vacation at the local grocer’s and breath in an aisle ripe with mangos and bananas until transported to a personal tropical island.  Otherwise, I swear we’re about to rub on sunblock and Street View a Hawaiian beach on Google Maps. See you all online again soon, tanning by the light from a computer screen.

I know we don’t post too often around here, so, in case you were concerned, the June issue is actually rolling along just fine.

No need to stand back folks: we’re professionals. But, we still could use help to roll start this clunkbucket. Get your poems out and dirty pushing by 5/22 and earn your chance to hitch a ride ^⚔. On June 5th, we’ll permanently park the issue on concrete blocks in our front yard for gawkersby.

⚔ Seatbelts not provided. Must be at least 54” tall to ride. Do not board if expecting, with heart conditions, or if expecting heart conditions. Ticket good for one admittance and a parfait from W. B. Treats or cookie from William Bake except on blackout dates (which are whisky dates, which are every day). We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone that refuses to service our reserved rights. No refunds.

Update for 02/21/2020: The application period for our Poetry Editor position has ended. We are currently reviewing applications and hope to make our selection before the end of February.

frak\ture is proud to announce an expansion, and we don’t just mean from holiday season calories. We currently seek applicants for a Poetry Editor. The application deadline is Feb. 15th 2020.

See the position details.

Our December 2019 issue is here!

Please accept our sincerest thanks to all the considerate poets that contributed work for review. We continue to grow with support from a wonderful community that inspires the direction of our journal and its mission. We exist and improve due to your thoughtful attention.

Stats for this issue:
– Submissions increased 32% from the previous issue
– Average response time increased to 3 to 4 weeks
– Percent of submissions receiving feedback increased to 38%

Although the feedback percent isn’t increasing as fast as desired, overall, stats are trending well except for response time. We hope to soon solicit interested volunteers to assist improving frak\ture.

Stay tuned for an additional post that contains the volunteer requirements. And, as always, submissions are open for the next issue. For those seeking to make a difference with their submissions, also consider our A Hard Rain series which also offers a lower barrier to acceptance.

2020 will soon arrive like a suspicious package with no return address. We forget what’s in the box we spent decades to order, but beneath those pale green packing peanuts lurks every IOU we wrote our kids, shards of every promise not handled with care. We’re liable to slit a wrist sifting through fragments to find something still whole.

Will 2020 be a year of clear sight (I’m not talking schoolhouse gunsight) or will Congress mobsters continue to pardon closet monsters for profit? Each day, the boogeymen chloroform our children’s future to stuff in an unmarked bank account.

frak\ture won’t stand for abducted hopes and dreams age processed 30 years. Starting today, frak\ture seeks to inspire others to write poems for change. We’re proud to announce our series called A Hard Rain where you can submit a poem recently written to a government official about your concern for the future.

Together, let’s ensure 2020 is not a year of regretful hindsight. Solutions are the new black and art needs to bring tough questions back into fashion. This clothing line is for the lion’s roar, not the catwalk. Our audience is a president whose shriveled ego continues to selfsuck, an establishment that thinks skin tone should compliment a black body bag, and a congress that believes climate crisis is an episode of Captain Planet. Their thoughts taste like grape Kool-Aid and everyone’s sharin’, everyone’s Charon ferrying us fast to the other side.

Submit to resist.

Behind the scenes, we’re steadily preparing for December’s issue. Submissions should be received by 12/1 for consideration and we plan to publish around 12/9. Submissions received after 12/1 will be considered for June 2020.

With roughly two months left before the window closes, time to release the “Get Kraken” jokes…

Thanks to all who submitted work and made the first issue of frak\ture possible! This is the first milestone to increase further quality submissions and generate content increasingly aligned to our philosophy.

Most submissions received responses within 2 – 3 weeks and feedback was provided on about 30% of submissions. These metrics are dear to us. We will continue to monitor closely and aim to increase future feedback while keeping response times low.

This is our beginning.
Some might call it a groundbreaking,
we call it frak\ture.

Circle your calendars;
the first issue launches June 5th 2019.

We are open for submissions!