Tendrils: Trauma and the Government, Issue 3

About this call

Tendrils, a trauma-focused art and literary journal, seeks visual art and short-form literature for Issue 3, "Trauma and the Government". The issue explores how policy, laws and programs have rippled through communities, neighborhoods and lives. Work can reflect historical or contemporary themes related to local, national or global policies and laws, and can be abstract, realistic or anything else. Work may address governments from around the world, but the journal only publishes artists and writers based in the United States, including its territories. The issue will be available in print, and a condensed online version will be free to read once the print edition is produced.

Who can apply

• United States only
• Medium: Mixed Media / Writing
• Free entry
• Open to artists and writers aged 18 or older who live in the US and/or its territories; the work itself may reflect governments from around the world. Work must address the theme of trauma and the government, and only original, human-created work is considered. Two categories, visual art and short-form literature, each closing Friday, December 18, 2026 at 11:59 PM (no time zone stated). Each category's guidelines allow up to 2 submissions. Both ask for a statement on how the work addresses the theme (between 100 and approximately 300 words). Visual art: any medium or size; JPG files at 300 dpi, longest side no greater than 3500 pixels, each named FirstnameLastname_Title; for video or performance, submit both a still image and a link to view the video. Literature: short-form (poetry, essay, short story, etc.) of max. 1000 words, or an excerpt of max. 1000 words from a long-form text, as PDF files named FirstnameLastname_Title. No submission fee.