A refraction is defined by the visible alteration of light as it passes through a medium. Following Asiya Wadud’s recent title, No Knowledge Is Complete Until It Passes Through My Body, we think of poetry—and the body, by extension—as a filter through which knowledge passes; we collect and shape the runoff into discrete pieces of writing, thinking, processing. Refractions, then, is a broad genre representing the realms of knowledge passed down from poet to poet, from body to body. Any kind of critical work that opens poetic discourse and critically interacts or responds to poetry and poetics can be a refraction.

Send us critical essays, book reviews, lyric essays, letters, responses to poets/poems/collections, hybrid or experimental work, or something in between.

Submissions to Refractions are always welcome, and will be accepted on a rolling basis.

There is no word limit for critical work, but do keep length in mind (no book-length pieces please).

Please send your work in both .pdf and .docx format to littlemirrormag@gmail.com with “Refraction Submission” in the subject line, including a third-person bio.

Poems for our biannual issue will be accepted each year during the winter and summer, with issues released in the spring and fall. We’re particularly interested in the heightened lyric; from the visionary and the abstract to the spontaneous and quotidian, we are looking for work that pushes up against the boundaries of the lyric.

Submissions for Issue 2 will open in Winter 2024.

Send up to six poems in both .pdf and .docx format to littlemirrormag@gmail.com with “Poetry Submission” in the subject line, including a third-person bio.

Artwork is always welcome and will be accepted on a rolling basis.

Works will be published alongside Refractions, as well as be considered for our biannual issue. Film, gravure, prints, collage, illustration, textiles, multimedia pieces, and concrete poetry are all things we’re into~

Please send up to ten high resolution images of your work to littlemirrormag@gmail.com with “Art Submission” in the subject line.