Digital Special Issue: Spring 2027

Feminism × Mental Health

Canthius invites submissions for a digital special issue exploring the intersections of feminism and mental health, care, and support.

What does it mean to care for ourselves and one another in a world that so often, in so many ways, relies on us being unwell? How do gender, race, class, disability, sexuality, colonialism, and other structures of power shape our experiences of mental health? And, most importantly, what forms of support become possible when we move beyond some of those very closed and rigid models of wellness and toward collective care, solidarity, and mutual aid?

In this new special issue, Canthius welcomes submissions of work that approaches these questions from new and unexpected angles, that challenges dominant narratives about mental health, or that imagines other (new/different/various) ways of living/feeling/caring. We are interested in the intimate and the systemic, the personal and the political, the difficult and the joyful (and how those are all inextricable!). We welcome work that engages directly with mental health, as well as work that approaches the theme obliquely, experimentally, or through metaphor.

We welcome interdisciplinary writing across genres, including poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, hybrid and experimental writing, criticism, and visual art. We encourage submissions that stretch the boundaries of form and media.

Writers and artists from underserved/underrepresented communities are especially encouraged to submit. We recognize that experiences of mental health and access to support are shaped by intersecting systems of oppression, and we welcome work that reflects a wide range of experiences, perspectives, and approaches.

Submission details

  • Deadline: January 15, 2027, or when we receive 200 submissions, whichever comes first

  • Publication: Spring 2027

  • Submission fee: Free

Please submit your work through Submittable.

We look forward to reading your work. Thank you for supporting feminist publishing in Canada! 

Canthius is an intersectional feminist magazine that publishes poetry and prose by writers of marginalized gender identities, including trans, Two Spirit, non-binary, agender, cis women, genderqueer, GNC, and intersex writers. We are committed to publishing diverse perspectives and experiences and strongly encourage Indigenous women, Black women, and women of colour to submit. We also welcome submissions in Indigenous languages.

GUIDELINES

We consider unpublished work of poetry and prose (both fiction and creative non-fiction). We welcome experimental works. Please limit prose submissions to 2500 words and poetry submissions to three poems. We accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if another publication accepts work you've submitted to Canthius.

Along with your submission, please include a cover letter with your name, home address, email address, phone number, the date, and the name(s) of the piece(s) you're submitting. If you are comfortable disclosing your racial background and/or gender identity in your cover letter, we encourage you to do so. This information will be held in confidence and will be used solely to help us uphold our mandate to publish diverse work. For prose submissions, please include a word and page count in your cover letter. Finally, your cover letter should include a short bio that tells us a bit about yourself and lists your previous publications, if any. Please include a header on each page of your submission with your name.

We respond to all submissions by email. Our average response time is 12 to 15 weeks. Please be sure to designate Canthius as an approved sender to prevent our response from being caught in your email spam filters.

Thanks for sharing your writing with us – we can't wait to read it!