You’re interested in submitting? We’re so happy! The Chansey over here has the same expression as the editors open up a new submission email!
First off, we don’t care about your clips and past publications. If you’re dealing with mental health problems and have a story to tell, we’d be honoured to have you.
We’re interested to read your writing, your stories, your poetry, personal essays or pop culture musings*, see your photos and your collages, publish your illustrations, photographs and your comics. In short, all mediums are welcome. Send us fiction, creative nonfiction, autobiographies, personal essays, and anything that is experimental and blurs the lines between genres.
* NOTE: Due to the sheer volume of submissions we have been receiving we are currently taking a break from accepting any new writing subs (essays, poetry and so on) as we are simply running out of room to accommodate everyone’s amazing work! But check back in for when this situation changes!
On triggering material
We want to be a safe, healing place, and therefore we do not accept explicit triggering material. Your painful history can be written without triggering others and with an aim of helping others. Instead we are interested in your feelings regarding your painful history, how you dealt with it, and how you might still be dealing with it. Please do not include explicit details about self-harm, eating disorders, assault, etc. We know writing about trauma in explicit and unflinching ways is cathartic; however this simply isn’t the right platform for triggering content. This could harm others and us, so please try to understand. That said, we do have a banner in place on articles dealing with a triggering theme to keep this journal a safe space. Though you can write on a theme that might be triggering in itself we do not accept pieces written on their excruciating details. If you are unsure about your piece you can send it to us, but please be sure to include a trigger warning with a note on your doubts.
Word counts vary but on average we publish works around the 1,000 word mark.
Subjects
We are interested in subjects related to trauma; surviving; community; class; race; anti-blackness; addressing how certain mental illnesses are stigmatised more than others; discussing how hard it is to admit you struggle with mental health when you are pathologized and othered so much already; the history of mental health, of institutions, of control; how vulnerability exists in different bodies, particularly the bodies of women of colour; queer identities, and how these fit in with mental health; notions of gender identity; womanist reflections; feminist discourse; community activism; your favorite movies; self care tips; recommended resources on recovery; fashion as self-care; when the trope of self-care fails; being a survivor and about a million other things too.
About the financial side
This is a small publication but we aim to pay each and every contributor for their hard work, and are currently applying to funding and seeking donations in order to make this a reality. Want to help us out in reaching our goal? Check out our support page!
If you are interested in contributing, or would just like to share your thoughts on the project, drop us an e-mail at dollhospitaljournal@gmail.com.
If you have any further questions we’d love to answer them! Just drop us a line at dollhospitaljournal@gmail.com.