“My relationship with the Half Mystic crew has been among the most fruitful and invigorating of my life. I’ve worked with them on radio shows, their journal, at readings, each new leaf turned then seized by the music of Half Mystic, becoming the D minor that gives our melancholy a soft landing or the skyward pitch needed to shatter the glass ceiling. It wouldn’t be quite precise enough to say it’s been a joy and an honor working with them; it’s more accurate to say it’s been a joy and an honor finding in them my family.” —Anthony Thomas Lombardi, author of Murmurations

Submissions to the journal, press, and blog are hosted on Submittable. Click here to submit.

Journal submissions: The theme for Opus II, Issue II is Sevdah, a genre of Turkish & Bosnian folk music evoking sorrowful love and ecstatic, amorous yearning—from the Arabic sawda, meaning “black bile,” or a melancholy state of longing. For our twelfth issue, we’re looking for violin solos, velvet on bare skin, half lights, broken odes, empty airport terminals, redamancy, zinnias at the edge of wilting, damask curtains, clipped swans’ wings, inosculation, heroic crowns, the memory of a late-night lake with a long-gone lover, when the sky and water turned the same colour and met at the edge of the world. Desire is holy and heavy as the still before the train comes. Moor us in the unquenchable. We want a begging to believe in. Please only send us work that interprets or embodies this theme, whatever it might mean to you.

Manuscript submissions: Send a cover letter (including a biographical note, a list of acknowledgements of previous publications, a brief description of what music means to you, and an explanation of why you’ve chosen to submit to Half Mystic Press) and a complete manuscript of at least 60 pages. We publish only full-length manuscripts—no chapbooks. We welcome submissions from both agented and unagented writers.

Featured artist submissions: Send a cover letter (including a biographical note, an artist statement, and a brief description of what music means to you) and five to ten examples of previous art, in any medium. Featured artists illustrate Half Mystic Journal with a suite of 13-15 pieces inspired by the issue’s theme.

Band and musician interview requests: Send a cover letter (including a biographical note, the musical genre in which you primarily work, and your most recent releases), links to where we can find you online, and—if applicable—a press kit. Interviews are published on our blog, sent to our mailing list, and promoted on our social media.