Open Secrets Magazine

Thank you to everyone we connected with at @awpwriter.org! Please submit your work, check out our essays, and enjoy your zines. opensecretsmagazine.com

We can't wait to have Frighten the Horses author @oliverradclyffe.bsky.social on this panel! We had to make a change due to speaker availability and instead of Chloe Caldwell @jackiedwrites.bsky.social, author of memoir in essays No Offense, will be on this panel with everyone else listed.

Photos of Jeff Hiller and Murray Hill and Youngmi Mayer Open Secrets Magazine Live May 2, 2026 Jeff Hiller and Murray Hill and Youngmi Mayer Keynote speaker Symphony Space Leonard Nimoy Thalia 250 West 95 St., NYC

Open Secrets Live is on May 2 in NYC! 30+ memoir authors, editors from Abrams, @catapultbooks.bsky.social, One Signal, Tiny Reparations Books, @nytimes.com, & @slate.com, & keynotes by @boomboomhiller.bsky.social, Murray Hill, & @youngmimayer.bsky.social! Tix: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/open-secre...

Object-ives #23: Unlit What a small candle taught me about living

Responding to a prompt to write about an object, it was a candle bought on a dull Thursday morning in 2017 that held an odd, lingering resonance. For years, my refusal to light it told me too much about myself.

Thanks to @opensecretsmag.bsky.social for sharing this small essay.

Photos of Jeff Hiller and Murray Hill Open Secrets Magazine Live May 2, 2026 Jeff Hiller and Murray Hill Keynote speaker Symphony Space Leonard Nimoy Thalia 250 West 95 St., NYC

*NEWS* Actors, comedians, and memoirists @hillmurray.bsky.social are closing keynote speakers at personal storytelling summit Open Secrets Live on May 2 @symphonyspace.bsky.social's Leonard Nimoy Thalia in NYC. Visit
opensecretsmagazine.com/p/open-secre... for schedule, lineup, and ticket details.

I Throw Pottery. Would I Throw My Career, Too? After the chaos of the last government shutdown—and a hard year of loss and change—federal workers like me face a tough decision.

Thanks @opensecretsmag.bsky.social for publishing my little flash story on a moment of struggle- and clarity- for #federalworkers like me this year. opensecretsmagazine.com/p/pottery-ho...

The Gun That Exploded My Marriage opensecretsmagazine.com Open Secrets Magazine Photo of rifle

For Gun Appreciation Day, we put our own spin on things with this essay, “The Gun That Exploded My Marriage,” by Rebecca Agiewich, which we encourage all spouses of gun owners to check out. Read it at opensecretsmagazine.com/p/marriage-g...

You’ve Heard About Who ICE Is Recruiting. The Truth Is Far Worse. I’m the Proof. What happens when you do minimal screening before hiring agents, arming them, and sending them into the streets? We're all finding out.

A few months ago, ICE hired me

I didn't sign and submit any paperwork. I almost certainly failed the drug test. I'm real outspoken about my opposition to the Trump administration, and I am extremely googlable

And yet, there it was, in plain English. "Welcome to ICE!"

My latest for Slate

Never Buy a Goldfish How I acquired an anxious new hobby

A few months ago, my daughter won a goldfish at the fair. That was the start of my s̶p̶i̶r̶a̶l̶ uh, new hobby. I wrote about it for @opensecretsmag.bsky.social:

A white person’s hand holds up a book in front of a dark teal background. The book is Make Good Trouble: Discovering Movements that Sparked Change by Jamia Wilson. On the cover is a stylized cartoon drawing of a young Black woman on one knee and calling out to make her voice heard.

Book rec: Make Good Trouble by @jamiaawilson.bsky.social. Great for inspiring young adult readers (and olds like me) in these awful times. The varied fonts, speech bubbles, and drawings keep things fresh and AHDH friendly. I was lucky to meet Jamia at @opensecretsmag.bsky.social ‘s 2025 conference

Thank you for reading and sharing our food insecurity essays, and for all your submissions. We’re proud to be able to respond to the news and offer personal takes on what are often framed solely as “issues” without close attention to the individuals and nuances behind these issues.

And while any individual essayist is only speaking for themselves, we know many others are working but still unable to make ends meet, but are earning too much to qualify for government assistance.

Food pantry image I Make Too Much for Government Assistance, So Community Feeds My Family Open Secrets Magazine opensecretsmagazine.com

Our final personal essay of 2025 is part of our food insecurity series and Moriah Richard’s title, “I Make Too Much for Government Assistance, So Community Feeds My Family,” says it all. Read it at opensecretsmagazine.com/p/post-divor...

Photo of Rachel Kramer Bussel holding baby while sitting down and text overlay: “I’ve wanted to be a mom for 20 years and I’m more proud to be one than any professional achievement.” I Am My Kid's Mom And I Like When You Call Me That Some outspoken moms are offended that their names are erased from public interactions as parents and replaced with "Mom." I cannot relate.

Closing out 2025 with an essay about motherhood and identity at Another Jane Pratt Thing in their Unpopular Opinion section. It’s free to read and Jane Pratt is a thoughtful and smart editor and has cultivated such a lovely community online where she joins in too. open.substack.com/pub/janeprat...

Just Like Christmas How my impossible manager’s comeuppance was the best workplace gift I could have received

Merry Christmas. Here's something of mine published today in @opensecretsmag.bsky.social about a bad manager and a very happy day.
opensecretsmagazine.com/p/bad-boss-m...

Thrilled to Announce by C.E. McKenna | Hippocampus Magazine "There she is: white girl drunk on the dance floor of the Reed student union" -- from the essay "Thrilled to Announce" by C.E. McKenna in the Nov-Dec 2025 issue.

Want to know what it feels like to be a #tech worker looking for a #job in the age of #ai?

It feels a lot like a bad one-night stand.

@hippocampusmag.bsky.social

www.hippocampusmagazine.com/2025/11/thri...

Exciting news: Open Secrets will have a table at @awpwriter.org in Baltimore March 4-7 selling swag and essay zines (yes, zines!) and will be hosting book signings! We're working out all the details now but if you're a contributor to or reader of Open Secrets, we hope to connect with you there.

Take note! #AWP26 goers:

The Fine Art of Literary Submission and Rejection: Secrets of the Editors
...a walkable off-site you won't want to miss if you want to break into the lit mags.

Watch for our listing!

How to Submit to The Queer Love Project The Queer Love Project is open for submissions from all interested writers. We publish essays that are original and not previously published on any other platforms.

We want your personal essays that reveal heartbreaks, happiness, secrets, sexual encounters and the realities of dating. Anything that answers the question: “What do you know about love?”
Here's how to submit:
queerloveproject.substack.com/p/coming-soon

Object-ives # 11: The Hardest Working Dress on the Planet Memories of cloth and armor for a rebellious promgoer

Object-ives # 11: The Hardest Working Dress on the Planet
An essay 50 years in the making. #cnf opensecretsmagazine.com/p/prom-dress...

The Exhausting Mathematics of Hunger While Receiving SNAP How ill health and being poor impact my eating

I’m a guest writer on Open Secrets Magazine!
I’m on SNAP for the second time as a single mother. Only this time, I’m also ill with medically required diets for two of my diagnoses.
The Exhausting Mathematics of Hunger While Receiving SNAP
opensecretsmagazine.com/p/the-exhaus...

The Stroke of a Pen What happened to a romance novelist in her mid-forties when she couldn't read or write after a stroke

“It was August 13, 2022. Early that Saturday morning, after an evening of drinking wine and watching movies, I awoke to use the bathroom.”

Read Christina Berry’s essay, “The Stroke of a Pen,” in @opensecretsmag.bsky.social! #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth opensecretsmagazine.com/p/the-stroke...

Object-ives #10: The Shirt That Slayed Demons I collect the outgrown versions of my daughter

The middle school years are tough on parents too, and we both had a rocky couple of years. Unexpected help arrived in the form of anime tees. Thanks to @opensecretsmag.bsky.social for sharing our story.

opensecretsmagazine.com/p/mother-dau...

Open Secrets Magazine Call for submissions Pays $200 Essays on food insecurity Deadline: ASAP opensecetsmagazine.com

PLEASE SHARE: Personal essays on current food insecurity, including loss of SNAP benefits, wanted. Pays $200/essay. Authors retain all rights. Rolling deadline until all 5 essays are commissioned. See our writing guidelines for details: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/food-insec...

Why My Friend’s Surprise Marriage Raised So Many Red Flags And how I tried to help her escape opensecretsmagazine.com

What would you do if your close friend wound up in a whirlwind romance that quickly became an abusive marriage? For Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we published Sumitra Mattai's “Why My Friend’s Surprise Marriage Raised So Many Red Flags." Read it at opensecretsmagazine.com/p/helping-fr...

Photo of vegan food including beans and vegetables There’s a Vegan at Your Dinner Table (P.S. It’s Me) Why I dropped the conversion act—and started inviting people in ooensecretsmagazine.com

Ahead of World Vegan Day on November 1, @gia_mora explores why she took “vegan” off her bio for a while, why it’s back, and how her approach to talking to non-vegetarians has changed. Read it at
opensecretsmagazine.com/p/why-stoppe...

Photo of Dirty Lola in yellow dress lying on couch The Keys to Ghosting He gave me his keys after one night. I gave them a proper funeral opensecretsmagazine.com

If you’re single or have ever been single, read @dirtylola.bsky.social's hilarious essay about what she did after a one-night stand left her with his keys and never returned for them. This ghosting story involves a mini coffin and key funeral, with photos!
opensecretsmagazine.com/p/dirty-lola...

If you’re single or have ever been single, read Dirty Lola’s hilarious essay about what she did after a one-night stand left her with his keys & never returned for them, despite multiple efforts. This ghosting story involves a coffin key funeral, with photos!
opensecretsmagazine.com/p/dirty-lola...

How to Find Your Voice as a Writer The talking heads on your TV all sound alike — but writers shouldn’t opensecretsmagazine.com

The Heartbreak Years author Minda Honey gives advice on how to find your voice as a writer. It’s for our paid subscribers (who also get access to all our draft essays), but there’s a sneak peek for everyone. There’s even a quiz to test your literary knowledge! opensecretsmagazine.com/p/writing-vo...

Below watch @ruwithsonali.bsky.social on advice she gives friends facing breast cancer.
Our full Q&A is on being a breast cancer previvor, her preventive double mastectomy, BRCA, the aftermath of her surgery, reconstruction, body image, mental health & more: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/interview-...