The Liar publishes emerging and established artists from Canada and beyond. 

THEME: MAGICAL REALISM 

The Liar is looking for your best writing and art to feature on our 2022 Issue: On Magical Realism!

When thinking about creating a piece based on magical realism, there are really only two questions you need to contemplate: What if the world as we know had magic? And, what if that magic was a daily occurrence in our everyday lives, an aspect too common and mundane to require any sort of extravagant explanation? What then? 

We’re looking for alternate realities, whimsical madness, normalized oddities, and of course, we invite you to give your own interpretation of the theme.

TIP

Here are a couple of writers and artists you can check out for inspiration on magical realism:

Writers

• Neil Gaiman
• Haruki Murakami 

Artists

• Frida Kahlo 
• Rob Gonsalves

GENERAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES 

• Up to two submissions maximum per medium (writing and art) per submission period. Please submit each piece in separate documents. 
• We only accept online submissions. Submissions must be sent through submittable as we do not accept mailed submissions. 
• Please type all written submissions and only use the doc, docx or pdf formats. 

• We prefer new and unpublished submissions, but we also accept submissions that have previously been published in print or online. If you are submitting a previously published piece, please note this in the body of your submission and include where it was published. 
• We accept simultaneous submissions. If your work is accepted elsewhere, please let us know. 
• We encourage submissions from intersectional identities and marginalized groups such as writers of colour, writers with disabilities, LGBTQ+, low-income writers, and Indigenous writers. Feel free to include in your email if you identify as one or more. 

POETRY AND PROSE 

• We accept fiction submissions up to 2000 words. 

• Hybrid-genre, creative non-fiction, literary essays, creative journalism and personal essays up to 3000 words are welcome, however we do not publish academic essays. 
• Hybrid and cross-genre works in poetry are welcome. 

DRAMA  

• We accept screenplays and dramatic work up to 2000 words. 

TRANSLATION 

• We accept poetry and prose translations into English. 
• Please include the original author, title and language it was originally published in the body of your submission email. 

ART 

• We accept photography, traditional, digital, hybrid and experimental art. 
• Please submit all art in high resolution (preferably at 300dpi) TIFF or JPEG in color mode. 
• Please note: submissions will be printed in greyscale, aside from the cover, which will be in CMYK colour mode.