Full Bleed exists to cultivate that fertile ground where the visual and literary arts intersect. Published annually in print and online by the Maryland Institute College of Art, our journal strives to inspire, critique, and inform the pursuits of contemporary artists and writers. We do so with the belief that aesthetic experience—those intuitive stirrings, intimacies, and insights engendered by concentrated encounters with works of art and literature—is favorable to the cause of human dignity, within individual lives and within our politics.
Because our world is syncretic, characterized by intercultural exchange, flux, and strife, the pages of our journal are eclectic. They are welcoming of many points of view and formal approaches, open to controversy, and responsive to shifting cultural conditions. In each issue, we hope to chronicle the diverse ways that visual and literary artists are participating in this tumultuous historical moment.
We publish criticism, belle-lettres, visual art, illustration, fiction, poetry, and graphic essays. We are especially interested in promoting innovative projects combining word, image, and design; collaborations between writers and artists; ekphrastic creations; and groundbreaking critical essays.
Full Bleed is designed and produced by participants in Publishing Culture, an upper-level practicum for graduate and undergraduate students at MICA.
We are a proud member of the Community of Literary Magazine and Presses, which cited the journal as a finalist for a 2019 Firecracker Award for Best Debut Magazine.
Send us your poems
As a print and online journal devoted to the intersection of the visual and literary arts, we at Full Bleed will consider publishing any poem that holds the attention. We are especially drawn to poetry that is attentive to the act of making, whether through ekphrasis, collaboration, or simply its attention to language.
Full Bleed 10 theme: DELIVERY
“You must let me know everything—how parcels go and come, what papers you have, and what newspapers you want, and other things.” –John Keats, 1819
To free, to hand off, to give birth. A manner of speaking, a system, a service. Send us poems, stories, essays and art about the act of conveyance in any form, from mailbox to ballot box to ambulance, text chain to chain of custody, customs office to deportation plane, coffee chat to Paper Plane. Slips and slip-ups and strange arrivals: what can be delivered, and what can’t?
Details
December 31 is the deadline for submissions, which should only be sent to us via Submittable. Selections will be made by the journal’s editors and advisory board members in collaboration with student staff members at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
We pay our contributors modest honoraria: 25 USD per author for poems and flash fiction; 50 for longer prose pieces and art portfolios. International contributors receive either the honorarium or the print edition.
Before submitting, please review past issues of our journal and the following guidelines:
- Poetry submissions: Send us no more than three poems in a single file. Each poem should begin on a new page. Exclude your name and contact information from the document and from the file’s title. Note that we do not consider reprints of previously published work.
- Do not send writing or art that has been generated or refined using AI. If AI is integral to the nature of the project, take a look at our call for hybrid works.
- You may submit to Full Bleed in multiple categories, but only once in each category in a given year.
- Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but do notify us immediately via email (fullbleedjournal@gmail.com) if part or the entirety of your submission is accepted elsewhere.
- We expect to have responded to all submissions by February 15, 2026, if not earlier. If you have not heard from us by that date, feel free to send us a note.
We are excited to review your work and thank you in advance for sharing it with Full Bleed.
Send us your essays and short fiction
As a print and online journal devoted to the intersection of the visual and literary arts, we at Full Bleed are especially interested in stories and essays, whether critical or lyric, relating at least obliquely to the visual arts.
Full Bleed 10 theme: DELIVERY
“You must let me know everything—how parcels go and come, what papers you have, and what newspapers you want, and other things.” –John Keats, 1819
To free, to hand off, to give birth. A manner of speaking, a system, a service. Send us poems, stories, essays and art about the act of conveyance in any form, from mailbox to ballot box to ambulance, text chain to chain of custody, customs office to deportation plane, coffee chat to Paper Plane. Slips and slip-ups and strange arrivals: what can be delivered, and what can’t?
Details
December 31 is the deadline for submissions, which should only be sent to us via Submittable. Selections will be made by the journal’s editors and advisory board members in collaboration with student staff members at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
We pay our contributors modest honoraria: 25 USD per author for poems and flash fiction; 50 for longer prose pieces and art portfolios. International contributors receive either the honorarium or the print edition.
Before submitting, please review past issues of our journal and the following guidelines:
- Prose submissions should be double-spaced and include page numbers. Exclude your name and contact information from the document and from the file’s title. If appropriate, you may include endnotes (in accordance with the Chicago Manual of Style, please). Maximum length is 2000 words.
- Do not send writing or art that has been generated or refined using AI. If AI is integral to the nature of the project, take a look at our call for hybrid works.
- You may submit to Full Bleed in multiple categories, but only once in each category in a given year.
- Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but do notify us immediately via email (fullbleedjournal@gmail.com) if part or the entirety of your submission is accepted elsewhere.
- We expect to have responded to all submissions by February 15, 2026, if not earlier. If you have not heard from us by that date, feel free to send us a note.
We are excited to review your work and thank you in advance for sharing it with Full Bleed.
Send us your art
As a print and online journal devoted to the intersection of the visual and literary arts, we at Full Bleed are interested in presenting visual art to best effect; each issue is designed around the work we choose.
Full Bleed 10 theme: DELIVERY
“You must let me know everything—how parcels go and come, what papers you have, and what newspapers you want, and other things.” –John Keats, 1819
To free, to hand off, to give birth. A manner of speaking, a system, a service. Send us poems, stories, essays and art about the act of conveyance in any form, from mailbox to ballot box to ambulance, text chain to chain of custody, customs office to deportation plane, coffee chat to Paper Plane. Slips and slip-ups and strange arrivals: what can be delivered, and what can’t?
Details
December 31 is the deadline for submissions, which should only be sent to us via Submittable. Selections will be made by the journal’s editors and advisory board members in collaboration with student staff members at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
We pay our contributors modest honoraria: 25 USD per author for poems and flash fiction; 50 for longer prose pieces and art portfolios. International contributors receive either the honorarium or the print edition.
Before submitting, please review past issues of our journal and the following guidelines:
- Art submissions: Please send us a portfolio of at least five and no more than ten images, all included in a single file. Do not include your name or contact information anywhere in the document, or in the title given to the file. You may provide an artist statement in our Submittable form or in the submitted file, as you wish.
- Do not send writing or art that has been generated or refined using AI. If AI is integral to the nature of the project, take a look at our call for hybrid works.
- You may submit to Full Bleed in multiple categories, but only once in each category in a given year.
- Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but do notify us immediately via email (fullbleedjournal@gmail.com) if part or the entirety of your submission is accepted elsewhere.
- We expect to have responded to all submissions by February 15, 2026, if not earlier. If you have not heard from us by that date, feel free to send us a note.
We are excited to review your work and thank you in advance for sharing it with Full Bleed.
Send us your genre-defying work
As a print and online journal devoted to the intersection of the visual and literary arts, we at Full Bleed are especially interested in innovative projects combining word, image, and design; collaborations between writers and artists; ekphrastic creations; and ambitious critical essays. We publish poetry, prose, and art. If your work doesn’t fit neatly into one of those categories, submit it here.
Full Bleed 10 theme: DELIVERY
“You must let me know everything—how parcels go and come, what papers you have, and what newspapers you want, and other things.” –John Keats, 1819
To free, to hand off, to give birth. A manner of speaking, a system, a service. Send us poems, stories, essays and art about the act of conveyance in any form, from mailbox to ballot box to ambulance, text chain to chain of custody, customs office to deportation plane, coffee chat to Paper Plane. Slips and slip-ups and strange arrivals: what can be delivered, and what can’t?
Details
December 31 is the deadline for submissions, which should only be sent to us via Submittable. Selections will be made by the journal’s editors and advisory board members in collaboration with student staff members at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
We pay our contributors modest honoraria: 25 USD per author for poems and flash fiction; 50 for longer prose pieces and art portfolios. International contributors receive either the honorarium or the print edition.
Before submitting, please review past issues of our journal and the following guidelines:
- Your genre-defying submission should be contained in a single file. Do not include your name or contact information anywhere in the document, or in the title given to the file. You may provide an artist statement in our Submittable form or in the submitted file, as you wish.
- We will not consider work that has been generated or refined using AI unless AI is integral to the nature of the project, in which case please include a full explanation in your submission file.
- You may submit to Full Bleed in multiple categories, but only once in each category in a given year.
- Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but do notify us immediately via email (fullbleedjournal@gmail.com) if part or the entirety of your submission is accepted elsewhere.
- We expect to have responded to all submissions by February 15, 2026, if not earlier. If you have not heard from us by that date, feel free to send us a note.
We are excited to review your work and thank you in advance for sharing it with Full Bleed.