Shade Literary Arts is a literary organization focused on the empowerment and expansion of literature by queer writers of color. The Shade Journal seeks work that challenges forms and upsets the canon, while understanding literature's rigorous and traditional roots.

The reading period for our 2022 Spring/Summer Issue is January 24 - March 7.

Guidelines for each category can be found below.

Poetry

Submit three (3) to five (5) unpublished poems of any length in a single file. "Unpublished" is considered never appearing online (including all blogs; not including in video format). Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Please notify us immediately through the submission manager if one or more of these poems has been accepted elsewhere. If only one of the pieces are being withdrawn, do not withdraw the entire submission unless that is what you intend.

Visual Art

Submit four (4) to six (6) unpublished pieces of visual art. "Unpublished" is considered never appearing in another online or print publication. Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Please notify us immediately through the submission manager if one or more of these poems has been accepted elsewhere. You can upload submissions in one (1) file or in six (6) different ones. If you want to withdraw any submissions, please do so through the submission manager.