Epiphany

“Requiem,” a poem by legendary poet Patricia Smith, is a homage to Black tradition and memory from our Fall/Winter 2016 Issue.

Read “Requiem” on our website, where you can also get a copy of Issue 18 to read more of Smith’s poetry and a diverse range of writing.

We asked Epiphany’s team what concepts and forms they want to see more of from our submissions. Let their answers be an inspiration for your writing and revision process. Behind the Submittable veil, our readers and editors are also writers with a wide range of interests!

Subscribe to our Substack through the link in our bio and immerse yourselves in what Epiphany’s back wall has to offer. (4/4)

Through a portrait of her son’s best friend who died at 25, we are brought into her search for the joy he embodied. As her son’s friend whirls Pearlman around the kitchen after his college graduation, we discover the young man who lingers in the echo of his inviting call: “Hey, man.” (3/4)

Each month, we’ll be unlocking a new piece from our archives—to honor our past contributors and introduce new readers to work that has touched us deeply.

This month, we’ve peeled “Lost Joy” by Edith Pearlman off the back wall from our very first issue. (2/4)

For over 20 years, Epiphany has published literature that guide our readers towards thrilling revelations. While there’s much to admire in our recent work, Epiphany’s archives call us away from modern life’s erratic pace into timeless transcendence. (1/4)

Read the full poem on our website, and check out GRIME, an electric, unflinching elegy for the dirty underbelly of gentrifying San Francisco. (3/3)

It looks alive with people and noise, with rats, light, and blood, but really it’s dying. Its people, even its buildings are crawling to a stop. The call for sleep is irresistable. (2/3)

In honor of her new poetry book GRIME with City Lights Books, we’re reminiscing on Thea Matthew’s “Dez,” published in our Summer 2023 issue. In the poem, Brooklyn is seen through a druggy haze. (1/3)

Stay tuned for the full conversation and read “Yoga Commune” at the link in our bio!

which addresses the breakdown of a relationship between an incarcerated writer and one on the outside. Their conversation explores how incarceration gets pushed to the peripheries of our minds, and how stories about intimacy and sex allow us to engage with what makes us human. (2/2)

‬ In Issue 29, Leigh Sugar graced us with “Yoga Commune,” a poem that engages in the struggle for enlightenment amidst aging, anxiety, and modernity.

Reader and poet Scott LaMascus sat down with Sugar to talk about FREELAND, her debut poetry collection (1/2)

Come to Epiphany’s upcoming Open Mic Night on 2/18 to meet our staff, listen to live readings, and browse rare editions at Dear Friend Books.
While readings are limited only to Epiphany staff, a few of whom are listed here, everyone is welcome. Go to the link in our bio to RSVP!

We’re only three weeks away from #AWP2026! Come to the book fair and say hi to us at booth T328. On March 6, we’ll be hosting a reading at Peter’s Pour House with Baltimore Review and Cream City Review. Go to the link in our bio to RSVP to our offsite event and subscribe to our newsletter for more!

We're hosting an open mic night for our volunteers and staff! Come hear the thoughtful readers of *your* submissions share their own work!

N.B. the only people reading (this time!) will be Epiphany staff + volunteers. Space is limited, so arrive on time to guarantee a seat.

Excited to share new work in the excellent literature journal @epiphanylit.bsky.social

Florida Story by Joanna Hershon — Epiphany Magazine I craved that kind of permanence with Lara, who was the friend I wished were my sister but also the kind of person who might vanish at any minute. 

I craved that kind of permanence with Lara, who was the friend I wished were my sister but also the kind of person who might vanish at any minute.

From issue 35, Florida Story by @joannahershon.bsky.social , fraught teen friendship in 80s Miami nightclubs.

www.epiphanymagazine.org/features/flo...

“Nothing else exists or ever was of this hoarse

Magnitude.”

do yourself a favor and read these beauts by the late great edmund white.

Two Poems by Edmund White — Epiphany Magazine "Bloody Murder" & "Looking at Rubenstein"

We were honored to publish two poems by the late icon of LGBT literature Edmund White in our latest issue of Epiphany. They're unlocked and can be read at the link below.

www.epiphanymagazine.org/features/two...

Epiphany Issue No. 35 / FW25 | Print Issue — Epiphany Magazine Recognize yourself in “Metamorphosis,” Edidiong Uzoma Essien’s subversion of the Kafkian trope that takes on sex work, fantasy, and capitalism; in John Weir’s “Starting from Paumanok,” an ode to lost ...

Issue 35 FW25 of @epiphanylit.bsky.social is out! Stories by Joanna Hershon and John Weir and 2 new poems by Edmund White.

www.epiphanymagazine.org/store/p/issu...

Happy holidays from the Epiphany community!

Cowboys — Epiphany Magazine A poem by Jonathan Fletcher

Because I was brown
they cocked their thumbs
aimed pasty forefingers
at me while they shouted
Take that, Geronimo!
Although they were white
they had a herd of their own

@jmfletcher15.bsky.social

www.epiphanymagazine.org/features/cow...

Looking forward to celebrating with you all tonight at Von Bar! Featuring readings by @joannahershon.bsky.social, Wah-Ming Chang, Edidong Uzoma Essien, and @jweirdo.bsky.social.

After nearly 25 years, it was time for an Epiphany refresh! Explore our new website at epiphanymagazine.org.

While our mission remains the same—championing boundary-pushing writers at all stages of their careers—the new site opens up new ways to discover the work we feature.

Shovel People by Asya Graf — Epiphany Magazine It’s as easy as it sounds in my grandparents’ letters to live a normal life under an authoritarian regime. You love or fall out of love, you go on summer adventures, defend a dissertation. The trains ...

Early access from our upcoming issue (out December 16!):

Shovel People, @nastjagraf.bsky.social's stirring essay on complacency and moral dissent, in the USSR, Russia, the US, and everywhere.

Check it out below.

epiphanyzine.com/features/202...

As we close out 2025, we're working toward a $20,000 fundraising goal to continue championing vital voices in 2026 and beyond. Your support helps us pay writers, fund fellowships and prizes, and keep literature accessible to readers everywhere. Give today:

weblink.donorperfect.com/EpiphanyMaga...

Nihao in Afrotopia by Ruella Che — Epiphany Magazine It was strange to hear these Chinese friends tell their kids not to play unsupervised in the yard because there were Black people outside, Black people who were often gardeners or drivers working for ...

Congratulations to Ruella Che! Her essay from Issue 33 "Nihao in Afrotopia" was listed as a notable mention in Best American Essays. We've unlocked the piece, and you can read it at the link below

epiphanyzine.com/features/202...

Can’t wait to share the beautiful new issue! And can’t wait to read your wonderful work! Subs close Dec 15th epiphanymagazine.submittable.com/submit

Issue 35 cover art reveal! "Solitude" by digital collage artist Evans Akanyijuka. The issue will be available for purchase next week.

Memoir, Reinvented: The Pursuit of Truth with Terese Svoboda - Interviewed by Christa Lei — Epiphany Magazine A conversation with Terese Svoboda about her latest book, writing through uncertainty, and using humor to face the unbearable truths that history leaves behind.

"Poets are often drawn to the genre because they can cloak their personal struggles with metaphor and allusion and any other veil of the trade they can unpack."

@tsvoboda.bsky.social interviewed by
@christalei.bsky.social on her new book, Hitler & My Mother-in-Law
epiphanyzine.com/features/ter...