Pithead Chapel

birthright/bloodline Kathryn Reese   When you were born, I was sent away to the witchdoctor/my grandma’s house/the place where they teach babies to sleep. You, a bundle in my arms/a portacot/still in my belly. Me, a pr…

“What would I know of bones? Mine exchanged every night for incense/gold leaf/fur.” @kathrynreese.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social (no less) with this mothering stunner 🧡🧡🧡
pitheadchapel.com/birthright-b...

Thank you so much for trusting us with your work!

New flash in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social ! @smokelong.bsky.social workshop-born of course! 💕

pitheadchapel.com/motherhood/

My first journal publication has found its home in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social🖤

This essay is part of a longer arc of writing toward my forthcoming book and I’m deeply appreciative and honored to be part of this issue. Grateful. 🙏🏾

Linked below.

I’m so proud to be featured in this issue! Thanks so much to the @pitheadchapel.bsky.social editors!

Ain't no party like a hot tub party. Pithead Chapel published my story Public Relations Professionals Hot Tub Night in their new issue!

pitheadchapel.com/public-relat...

new flash in here about motherhood and sea turtles 🐢so happy to be amongst these gorgeous stories!

pitheadchapel.com/nursery/

Please Please Please Please Please Stop Talking Patricia Caspers You know the answer—or maybe you thought you knew the answer. You think of the guy in college everyone called monster breath, how he raised his hand as soon as the Hemingway story …

“Hands shaking so—not from alcohol but fear of regret—they had to give you an illegal Valium so you could sign consent.” —Patricia Caspers @pitheadchapel.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/please-pleas...

Nursery Dallon Robinson One week left of summer and the turtles haven’t hatched. I encourage children to come back, but I know the signs. Each morning, I check the eggs, the nursery incubated in low light.…

“I name her Ramona, and I don’t know if there’s a line.”

“I reapply Ramona’s bandages, treat her with topical creams and manuka honey. I imagine her to be over ninety years old. I imagine her looking up at me.”

@dallonwrites.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/nursery/

Motherhood Allison Field Bell Sun stuck to the sky like an egg yolk. A whole fried center casting its heat across the yard. Roasting every cactus, boiling the pavement, turning the pool into bathwater. Tucson…

“I try to imagine not knowing ‘what to do with my time.’

‘Sounds nice,’ I say.

She looks at me critically. ‘You’re running out of it, you know. Time,’ she says.”

@allisonfieldbell.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/motherhood/

The Bread Ausiàs Tsel   My son leaves the bread upside down because he is six and the world is a surface you can rearrange. It’s a barra—too long for the plate, too warm for patience—resting on the tab…

First published nonfiction. ‘The Bread’ at @pitheadchapel.bsky.social — Mediterranean Gothic without ghosts. Just bread, superstition, and a son who learned cruelty could look like intelligence.
pitheadchapel.com/the-bread/

Our March Issue is live!
pitheadchapel.com/2026/03/01/v...

Cover Art by KYLE MERCER

Fiction by
CHARLIE KIEFT
PHEBE KIRKHAM
KATHRYN REESE @kathrynreese.bsky.social
DOUGLAS BAKER

Nonfiction by
AMY TURN SHARP
AUSIÀS TSEL @ausiastsel.com

Prose Poetry by
SEAN CHO A.
LILY CROWDER
MATT POINDEXTER

Volume 15, Issue 2 COVER ART BY kyle mercer   FICTION NURSERY BY DALLON ROBINSON PUBLIC RELATIONS PROFESSIONALS HOT TUB NIGHT BY ALEX MILLER MOTHERHOOD BY ALLISON FIELD BELL BILLY AND THE YOUNG ESTHER WIL…

New Issue!

Words: @dallonwrites.bsky.social , @alexmiller77.bsky.social , @allisonfieldbell.bsky.social ,CHRISTOPHER NEGRI, KIMBERLY BRYANT, @liamcarnahan.bsky.social , EMMA HEATH & EVAN MURPHY, DAVID MCARTHUR, PATRICIA CASPERS, ANNE DUNCAN, SPENCER ECKART

pitheadchapel.com/2026/02/01/v...

We are beyond thrilled to share that we have three pieces selected for @bestmicrofiction.bsky.social 2026!! Congratulations to everyone on this list, and especially to @irrellavent.bsky.social , @francesorrok.bsky.social , & L. Soveiro

Our first issue of 2026 is officially live!

pitheadchapel.com/2026/01/01/v...

Four Words MB Valente   Her tattoo parlor is the only thing like it still open, at least on this side of the lake. A pink neon sign in the window shares its glow with the sidewalk; a sawed-out square in the d…

All my other favorite stories, in order of reading...

Four Words by @mbvalente.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social
pitheadchapel.com/four-words/

We are thrilled to announce our 2025 Larry Brown Short Story Contest Results! Judge @andrewporter01.bsky.social

Congratulations to all the winners:
1st: Anju Sharma
2nd: MC Schmidt
3rd: Cathy Adams
4th: Lyndsay Hall
5th: Jennifer Popa (@jenpopa.bsky.social)

“Mr. Palm Beach” may be my weirdest story yet, but it’s a good kind of weird, I promise. What do you think?

Thanks to @kimmagowan.bsky.social and everyone else at @pitheadchapel.bsky.social for giving it a great home!

#AmWriting #ShortStories #MagicalRealism

pitheadchapel.com/mr-palm-beach/

Volume 14, Issue 12 COVER ART BY deems ortega   FICTION A Bestiary of Immortal Creatures by J. Condra Smith The Great Miss Valentina Speaks by Rebecca Turkewitz Mr. Palm Beach by Will Willoughby Awe by Nick Rees …

Our December issue is live! Read here: pitheadchapel.com/volume-14-is...

Words:
J. CONDRA SMITH
@rebecca-turkewitz.bsky.social
@willwilloughby.bsky.social
NICK REES GARDNER
MAX LIN
JASON FRALEY

Cover art:
DEEMS ORTEGA

We're chiming in today to announce our Best Small Fictions nominees! Congratulations and good luck everyone!

Please join us in congratulating our Pushcart nominees! Good luck everyone!

We're proud to announce our nominations for Best Microfiction 2025! Please join us in congratulating these stellar writers. Good luck everyone!

It's an honor to make top 10 in flash fiction and in the top 100 overall! Thank you for your work, Brecht, and thank you to our amazing writers and readers who make this possible.

Volume 14, Issue 11 COVER ART BY SUSAN POLLET   FICTION CABBAGE SOUP WEEK BY NINA Y. MORAGON ONE OF GOD’S FAVORITES BY HAL WRIGHT CREEPS BY MELISSA BENTON BARKER THE NEED IN HER EYES BY RACHEL EPHRAIM   NONF…

Our November issue is live! Read here: pitheadchapel.com/volume-14-is...

Words:
NINA Y. MORAGON
HAL WRIGHT
@meliseliz.bsky.social
RACHEL EPHRAIM
MAGGIE LEVANTOVSKAYA
@mooninabucket.bsky.social
JENNY CHU
CAROL ROSE LITTLE

Cover art:
SUSAN POLLET

The Larry Brown Short Story Award We’re pleased to announce the tenth annual Larry Brown Short Story Award. The winners will receive the following prizes: 1st $500 USD, 2nd $50 USD, 3rd $50 USD, and 4th and 5th will receive a…

Hello dear writers! Today is the last day to submit to our annual short story contest (submissions close at midnight EST). We can't wait to read your work with this year's judge
@andrewporter01.bsky.social!
pitheadchapel.com/larrybrown

a clock on a white wall shows that it is almost eleven o'clock ALT: a clock on a white wall shows that it is almost eleven o'clock

Writers, don't wait! Our annual short story contest closes November 1st.
pitheadchapel.com/larrybrown

Good question! You're more than welcome to submit a different story to general submissions. Let us know if any more questions come up!

Time flies! Less than one week remains to send us your best short story. Details here: pitheadchapel.com/larrybrown

Less than two weeks remain to submit your best unpublished short story to our contest!

There are two fee-based submission options that support prizes and costs of running Pithead Chapel (and our general submissions are *always* free!).

pitheadchapel.com/larrybrown

Four weeks remain to submit to our annual short story contest! Read more: pitheadchapel.com/larrybrown