Propagule is a literary magazine, founded in 2022.

Propagule champions experimentation, transgression, and aesthetic novelty.

Propagule is engrossed by narrative, style, and form.

Propagule rejects the literary/genre divide.

Propagule is Speculative Surrealism. 

Propagule releases new issues biannually, featuring a carefully selected entourage of original fiction. Also published: interviews with artists, essays, and other nonfictional ideations (Musings); flash fiction (Motes); and visual art (Scrawls).

We can be reached at [contact@propagule.co].

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Propagule

We are looking for:      \\ atypicality \\ unexpectedness \\ unreality      \\ defamiliarization \\ intrepidness \\ transgression      \\ escalation \\ unrest \\ alienation      \\ disassociation \\ lyricality \\ hypnosis      \\ Speculative Surrealism      While we are interested in abstraction and experimentation, we prefer stories that involve event-progressions or narrative development.      We are excited about stories that have traditionally not been considered literary, such as science fiction and fantasy. For some examples of our taste in this regard, see here, here, or here.      We champion new and underrepresented voices in our publications, and aim to prove that experimental fiction belongs to all. If you consider yourself someone traditionally unwelcomed by the genre, we strongly encourage you to share your work.       Submissions may range from 1,500 to 10,000 words; any submitted pieces below or above this will not be considered. We are open to accepting flash, though we strongly prefer to receive a set of multiple related pieces.      Propagule is prepared to offer $5 per 1,000 words for the first 2,000 words, and $10 per 1,000 words thereafter (up to a maximum of $30) upon our decision to publish your work.

Fiction

What we are looking for: strange and surreal flash fiction.


We highly recommend reading our previous issues to get a sense of the kind of prose we are interested in; that said, we are also always looking to be caught off guard with unprecedented content.


Submissions may range from 250 to 750 words; any submitted pieces below or above this will not be considered. 


Accepted works will be published on a rolling basis to our (upcoming) Motes page.


Propagule accepts only previously unpublished material. 


Please only submit one piece at a time—if your piece is rejected, we welcome you to send us another; if your piece is selected for publication, we ask that you wait until the reading period of the next issue to submit another story. 


Please do not resubmit the same piece more than once, even if somewhat changed—we do not accept unsolicited rewrites.


Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please notify us immediately if your piece has been accepted elsewhere, so that we can remove it from consideration.


Upon publication, Propagule acquires First World Serial Rights, First World Electronic Rights, and Non-Exclusive World Anthology Reprint Rights.

Propagule Flash Fiction

What we are looking for: short stories  that are intrepid with regard to experimentation and oddity; the  strange, the surreal, the atypical, the unexpected. Traditional genre  divisions do not matter to us—we do not care whether a piece qualifies  as strictly ‘literary’; we only care that it is high-quality, that it is  well-written, and that it is interesting. Please send us pieces that  you feel do not fit in anywhere else, or are beyond the pale of any  given trend. Send us content that causes us to experience feelings we do  not have names for.
 
 We find that a lot of contemporary fiction  is resolutely realist, and fundamentally anthropocentric. There’s  nothing wrong with this—it remains something we enjoy—but we often find  ourselves drawn to writing that seems to slip out of the folds of the  human brain, and stretches toward becoming something beyond. We think  this is one of the often unspoken dogmas of art—that art has to be about  us (meaning: human beings), and we reject said dogma. We think art can be about anything. 
 
 ‍Speculative  fiction is also more than welcome, especially from those who, like us,  find themselves looking back longingly on the more stylistically daring  science fiction of the late 60s and 70s (see Damon Knight’s Orbit  anthology series for a fine example of this ethos).
 
 We highly  recommend reading our previous issues to get a sense of the kind of  stories we are interested in; that said, we are also always looking to  be caught off guard with unprecedented content.
 
 Submissions  may range from 1,500 to 10,000 words; any submitted pieces below or  above this will not be considered. We are open to accepting flash,  though we strongly prefer to receive a set of multiple (not necessarily  related) pieces.
 
 Propagule is prepared to offer $5 per 1,000 words (up to a maximum of $20) upon our decision to publish your work.
 Propagule accepts only previously unpublished material. 
 
 Please  only submit one piece at a time—if your piece is rejected, we welcome  you to send us another; if your piece is selected for publication, we  ask that you wait until the reading period of the next issue to submit  another story. 
 
 Please do not resubmit the same piece more than once, even if somewhat changed—we do not accept unsolicited rewrites.
 
 Simultaneous  submissions are allowed, but please notify us immediately if your piece  has been accepted elsewhere, so that we can remove it from  consideration.
 
 Upon publication, Propagule acquires First World  Serial Rights, First World Electronic Rights, and Non-Exclusive World  Anthology Reprint Rights.
 
 Please send your submissions through Submittable.

Propagule Express Submissions (guaranteed response within 7 days) - Fiction

What we are looking for:   
(a) Reviews of new works of literature (novels, single-authored short story collections, categorial chimeras such as fiction/nonfiction hybrids or books that are structurally experimental). We are not interested in reviews of ‘well-known’, ‘mainstream’, or ‘industry-recognized’ books—we leave the expectably vague boundaries of this delineation to your intuitions (we trust them). As always, we aim to focus on transgressive and stylistically and conceptually novel content.  
(b) Reviews of new albums of music. As with literary reviews, we are looking for commentary on content outside of the mainstream. Introduce us to new sounds.  
(c) Other nonfictional ideations, such as analytic essays or CNF.  
Accepted works will be published on a rolling basis to our Musings page.  
Propagule accepts only previously unpublished material.  
Please only submit one piece at a time—if your piece is rejected, we welcome you to send us another; if your piece is selected for publication, we ask that you wait at least a couple months before submitting another.  
Please do not resubmit the same piece more than once, even if somewhat changed—we do not accept unsolicited rewrites.  
We accept simultaneous submissions. 
Upon acceptance, Propagule acquires the right to publish your work online.

Propagule

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