Bridge is an independent, intelligent, and regionally grounded print publication offering a cosmopolitan perspective on arts and culture from the American Midwest. 

BRIDGE is an artistic collective and our registered, 501 (c) 3 Illinois not for profit corporation (“Bridge Art, Nfp”) is a publishing and programming organization.

An independent Chicago journal, Bridge began in the early-aughts and published roughly 15 editions, with fiction, poetry, essays and more before transitioning to an exposition production company in 2006. In 2018, with a small, committed core group, we relaunched Bridge as a journal. Our goal is to publish a hardcover guidebook to the interdisciplinary art movement which it seeks to provide, in the tradition of the vanguard pamphlets of previous eras -- from the original Century Guild Hobby Horse of the Pre-Raphaelites to post-Secession journals such as Aubrey Beardsley’s Yellow Book, Tristan Tzara's Litterature magazine & Wyndham Lewis' Blast, to Stieglitz’s Camera Work, Bataille’s Acéphale, Sharp and Béar’s Avalanche, to Ulises Carrión’s Ephemera, and all those in-between. Bridge will be a "periodical," coming out when there's sufficient quality material to merit publication.

The original goals of Bridge in the late 1990s emerged from the bedrock notion of interdisciplinarity, of a need to recognize interdependence of art across the disciplines, and to think and combine them where appropriate; we feel this concept has further evolved over the decades. The simple belief behind Bridge is that separate fields of inquiry can and should be thought of as having shared, intersectional horizons. Today, every existing worldview, whether scientific, philosophic, aesthetic, political, or literary must acknowledge its limits or risk being defined as obsolete, unachievable, and incoherent.

With the tagline “The Independent Midwest Voice of Art and Culture,” the magazine features in-depth journalism, artist profiles, essays, interviews, and critical writing that foreground underrepresented narratives often overlooked by coastal media.


Bridge

Bridge Books is thrilled to announce a new publishing project celebrating Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, which entered the public domain in the United States in 2023. This groundbreaking philosophical work, first published in 1921 in German as Logisch-Philosophische Abhandlung and translated into English in 1922, continues to shape discussions in philosophy, logic, language, and metaphysics. To honor its legacy, demonstrate the massive scope of its relevance, and bring it to new audiences, we are creating an illuminated edition that integrates contributions from a diverse range of contemporary artists, writers, and thinkers.
The Tractatus is renowned for its unique structure and style, composed of numbered propositions arranged in a hierarchical order. Wittgenstein sought to explore the relationship between language and reality, aiming to articulate the limits of what can be expressed in language. As he famously stated in the final proposition: "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent." This call invites contributors to engage deeply with Wittgenstein’s propositions and reinterpret their meaning through their own artistic and intellectual practices.
This illuminated edition of the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus will feature selected lines from the text as prompts, with contemporary submissions integrated as footnotes. We invite poets, text artists, literary fiction writers, philosophers, dance notation makers, instruction and interactionist choreographers, and any others who might find the project appealing to submit work inspired by specific propositions. Contributors are encouraged to reflect on how Wittgenstein’s ideas resonate in modern contexts or to reinterpret them creatively.
Contributors must select one or more lines from the Tractatus to use as prompts for their submission. Submissions may include poetry, prose, philosophical reflections, visual representations, dance notations, or any other form of written or visual expression. Each submission will be incorporated as footnotes alongside the corresponding proposition(s) in the published text. If multiple submissions are received for the same prompt, editorial discretion will determine which is selected. In some cases, this may mean that multiple submissions will be included. 
Please note that this is the first in a multi-year round of open calls for contributions to this special project effort. We anticipate this call running for at least two years, providing ample time for contributors to engage deeply with the text, and a likely publication date in 2028. Please note that selections will not be finalized at the end of the first open call period.
The Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is one of the most influential works in 20th-century philosophy. Written during World War I and published in English in 1922 (the only one of his works published in his lifetime) with assistance from Bertrand Russell, the text aims to delineate the limits of language and thought. Wittgenstein’s approach is rigorous and aphoristic, with each proposition numbered to reflect its place within the overall structure. Wittgenstein explores the idea that language mirrors reality and that the logical structure of language corresponds to the logical structure of the world. The Tractatus culminates in the idea that philosophy’s role is not to answer metaphysical questions but to clarify thoughts and eliminate confusion. The work’s impact extends beyond philosophy to influence fields like linguistics, cognitive science, and across the artistic disciplines. For more on the Tractatus, see the full article on Wikipedia.
To submit, select a line or lines from the Tractatus that inspire your work, create a submission based on your chosen prompt(s), and include your selected line(s) at the beginning of your submission. 
In addition to the above, all submissions to categories within this submission should also include: a cover letter, c.v., previous book publications (if any), prompt(s) selected and the title of your submission, year and any other information, and a short bio. Payment for this special volume is in 1 contributor copy per submitter.

 Please refer to our submissions guidelines before submitting your work. We DO NOT accept simultaneous submissions for our books submissions, exclusive submissions ONLY are allowed for this category. You can withdraw or edit your submission at anytime by logging into your account. To learn more about Bridge and our mission as a periodical, please refer to our About Us page.

Bridge Books: The Illuminated Tractatus

Submissions  Thank you for your interest in Bridge, Chicago's independent, intersectional hard bound journal of art and public scholarship. We welcome submissions in poetry, literary fiction and creative nonfiction, visual art, cultural criticism, design, and hybrid work from established as well as emerging writers and artists. We also have editorial departments for music, dance, architecture (unless design) and philosophy, couture and others that we do not accept submissions for here -- please pitch ideas for these departments to us directly at bridge.editors1@gmail.com.


We are especially interested in work that embraces the world and continues, however subtly, the ongoing global conversation about culture and society that Bridge has championed from its beginning in 1999. We also accept reviews and interviews, which we publish throughout the year at our online magazine, bridge-chicago.org. Back issues are available in our member's area archives. A free membership is required for access.

How to Submit: We accept all submissions through Submittable, an online submissions system. There is no charge to create a Submittable account, but please note that we do charge a small reading fee to help cover the costs of the software and some operating expenses. We do not accept mailed or emailed submissions. As a periodical, we publish when we have sufficient material to justify it, and accept submissions year-round.
 
The deadline for submissions to be considered for the next volume of Bridge (V26 N1) is 11:59pm on November 30, 2025. This is for our regular "annual" journal, organized by members of the Bridge artistic collective, who also serve as section editors.
 
For Fiction, please include in your cover letter the title, year, author and any other information, and a mailing address for your contributor copy if accepted. We do also accept literature in translation, so long as copyright from the original author or poet, their estate, or current rights holder has been obtained, and written proof can be provided. For literary fiction submissions, we generally look for work in the 2,000 to 5,000 word range, though we’re open to considering slightly longer pieces if the length serves the story.

 Please also include a mailing address and 250-word or less bio with your submission.
 
Please refer to our submissions guidelines before submitting your work, and for information on other categories. We accept simultaneous submissions. You can withdraw or edit your submission at anytime by logging into your account. To learn more about Bridge and our mission as a periodical, please refer to our masthead page.

Bridge Journal - Literary Fiction

Submissions  Thank you for your interest in Bridge, Chicago's independent, intersectional hard bound journal of art and public scholarship. We welcome submissions in poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction, visual art, cultural criticism, design, and hybrid work from established as well as emerging writers and artists. We also have editorial departments for music, dance, architecture (unless design) and philosophy, couture and others that we do not accept submissions for here -- please pitch ideas for these departments to us directly at bridge.editors1@gmail.com. 

We are especially interested in work that embraces the world and continues, however subtly, the ongoing global conversation about culture and society that Bridge has championed from its beginning in 1999. We also accept reviews and interviews, which we publish throughout the year at our online magazine, bridge-chicago.org. Back issues are available in our member's area archives. A free membership is required for access.

How to Submit: We accept all submissions through Submittable, an online submissions system. There is no charge to create a Submittable account, but please note that we do charge a small reading fee to help cover the costs of the software and some operating expenses. We do not accept mailed or emailed submissions. As a periodical, we publish when we have sufficient material to justify it, and accept submissions year-round.

The deadline for submissions to be considered for the next volume of Bridge (V26 N1) is 11:59pm on November 30, 2025. This is for our regular "annual" journal, organized by members of the Bridge artistic collective, who also serve as section editors.

For Poetry, please include in your cover letter the title, year, author and any other information, and a mailing address for your contributor copy if accepted. We do also accept literature in translation, so long as copyright from the original author or poet, their estate, or current rights holder has been obtained, and written proof can be provided.

 Please also include a mailing address and 250-word or less bio with your submission.

 Please refer to our submissions guidelines before submitting your work, and for information on other categories. We accept simultaneous submissions. You can withdraw or edit your submission at anytime by logging into your account. To learn more about Bridge and our mission as a periodical, please refer to our masthead page.

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Bridge Journal - Literary Fiction