Summer 2026

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Editors

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Fiction Contributors

Victoria Bromley	Blistering
Andreea Mirică	On Display

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Visual Art Contributors

Rooheen Farhana	Emotional Conception
Clarise Tacadena	It’s way too loud

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Nonfiction Contributors

Hana Anandira	Down South
Dona Hare Price	String of Pearls
Matthew Trumbull	Picture Boards

Drama Contributors

Tony Horitz

My Name is Marketta

In the space between anticipation and reflection, Spellbinder focuses on something less visible, but no less important: the work of building foundations. Growth is often measured through new projects, expanding platforms and outward-facing plans, yet just as much of it happens in the systems we strengthen, the relationships we cultivate and the identity we continue to define.

That sense of purpose runs through all aspects of what we do. Our monthly blog posts have become a deliberate effort to show up for our readers and invite a wider audience into conversation. From re-introducing our team and values more closely, to opening discussions between writers and editors and sharing insights as fellow practitioners, we have aimed to shape Spellbinder not only as a publication, but as an ongoing dialogue. Our Instagram feature, Typewriter Confessions, continues to extend that space, offering a place for readers to contribute directly to the conversation with honesty, humour and reflection—for which we thank you.

The Summer 2026 Issue emerges from that same spirit of attentiveness. Poetry traces spaces between innocence and experience, belonging and alienation, revealing the human desire to remember and endure. Creative Nonfiction traces survival through diasporic love and political hardship storytelling after a defining medical diagnosis, ending with a final reflection on a mother sparked by a picture board. Drama traces memory across time and generations, exploring family, identity and the power of remembrance. 

Our ethos is grounded in the belief that art is shaped by its attention to power, identity and lived experience. That ethos is no longer only something we simply articulate; we see it reflected in the work we receive. Submissions arrive with a willingness to engage with difficulty rather than resolve it too neatly and with an attentiveness to voice, form and emotional precision. There’s also a clearer openness to experimentation, whether in structure, tone, or perspective, alongside a sustained concern with lived experience in all its nuance. In that sense, Spellbinder is not only  a space defined solely by editorial vision, but one that is shaped through a shared creative practice.

Finally, we would like to thank everyone who made this issue possible. To our contributors, editors and readers whose generosity and support sustain this publication and its community. At a time when independent literary spaces face growing challenges, your continued engagement matters more than ever—whether you submit, volunteer, read, or share our work, you help ensure that literature remains a place for connection and discovery, and we hope you will continue to be part of that.

Co-Editors-in-Chief
Effy Kousteni & Tatianna Kalb

Poetry Shortlist – Summer 2026

Simone Reid	Aporia 2.0
Nikki Vo	Contemplation at a bookstore

Fiction Shortlist – Summer 2026

Molly Kirk	The Magpie
Neve Shay	Ghost Song
Chantele Sitaram	Mangoes and Magical Thinking

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