Keep going. You’re almost there. Try harder.

These are the words we are told when life gets tough, as if the only way forward is to keep saying yes to the ways life has always been: yes to the grind, yes to burnout, yes to resiliency, yes to being like everyone else, yes to whatever is going on because there seems to be no other choice.

But what if we said no? What courage and joy can we find by taking a rest, pressing pause, ignoring fads, boycotting elite brands, joining protests, and the many other ways we can go against the grain? Write about the times you were called stubborn, rebellious, naughty. Write about how going against problematic norms and traditions has empowered you.

Qwerty Magazine is now open for submissions to Issue 49, The NO Issue.

Deadline is August 19, 2024.

IMPORTANT: please note that Qwerty is a graduate student-run magazine at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, and work submitted between April and September 2024 may not be read and responded to immediately.

We welcome and encourage submissions from Indigenous writers and artists, writers and artists of colour, writers and artists with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ writers and artists, and writers and artists from other intersectional and under-represented communities. If you are comfortable identifying yourself as one or more of the above, please feel free to mention this in your cover letter.

What to send:

Our number one criterion, above all else, is mastery of craft. Though Qwerty has primarily published literary fiction and fine art, we have no qualms with publishing genre fiction that subverts convention, experimental work that inverts tradition in pursuit of innovative storytelling, or images that play on the senses in unusual ways.

So go ahead: send us your stories that tap into the lower depths of the public consciousness. And also send us your poems and photos about the zombie apocalypse. So long as it’s exemplary, we’d be delighted to feature your work in future issues of Qwerty.

Authors retain full copyright for works published in Qwerty.

Fiction/Creative Non-Fiction: previously unpublished fiction and creative non-fiction up to 5,000 words in length. Your submission must be double-spaced, in 12-point font. Please send only one story at a time.

Poetry: previously unpublished poetry in any style. You may submit up to 6 pages of poetry, single-spaced. Each poem should begin on a new page, and all poems should be in a single file.

Artwork and Photography: We accept up to 5 high-quality, unpublished prints per submission.

Reviews and Interviews: Please query us (qwertymagazine@gmail.com) about submitting reviews and interviews.

What happens next:

Qwerty is staffed entirely by volunteers, and response time usually varies between 6-12 months (see note above). If you need to withdraw a submission or part of a submission, please withdraw or add a note indicating so through your Submittable account. Please wait until you have received a reply to your first submission before submitting again, and please submit to only one genre at a time.

Contributors whose work is selected for publication are rewarded with a small honorarium (CDN $15) and two complimentary copies of the issue in which their work appears.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact qwertymagazine@gmail.com.