Painted Bride Quarterly's Print Annual 5 is available online and will be arriving from the printers shortly. Punishment, food, and two unthemed issues comprise the book, which is now in its 38th year of publication.

We are now accepting submissions for Print Annual 6 (Issue 84/Unthemed, Issue 85/Displacement, Issue86/Unthemed, Issue 87/Costume); more information follows below.

Issue # 85: Displacement

Come here. No, go away. You belong. You don't. You're welcome. Or are you?

The casual trip sheds light on your roots, or lack. Forced emigration is a 21st century surprise. Diaspora. Displacement.

PBQ encourages submissions that explore coming and going, belonging and longing. We seek work that dwells, that moves.

Issue # 87: Costume

Blink: I know who you are, (or so we'd like to think).
PBQ explores the semantics of style in its upcoming issue. Style is decipherable, interpretable, a sign signifying self. The concept of dress makes us mindful of duality, identity, conformity and a promise of transformation. We're looking for poetry, prose, fiction; fashion us material that matters.

Guidelines for Submission

Painted Bride Quarterly accepts up to 5 poems, fiction up to 5000 words, and essays and reviews up to 3000 words, in any genre or school (occasional exceptions are made.)

All artwork: photographs, paintings, etchings, lithographs and line drawings are now accepted in black & white and color for publication on our website, and in black & white only for our print annual. If submitting art work for our website, please do so via pbq@drexel.edu. We appreciate photoshop files (psd.), or jpgs; size 1024x768.

PBQ requests that upon notification of acceptance, the work(s) be submitted on a 3.5" floppy disc (any format), Zip disc or CD, or electronically in .rtf format. Discs will be returned if accompanied by self-addressed, stamped envelope. A SHORT bio should also be included.

Send hard copy submissions to:

Painted Bride Quarterly
Drexel University
Department of English and Philosophy
3141 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Nicole Mysandwich

You pruned the weeping birch, though I distinctly told you not to. What do you know about landscaping anyway? And now look at it - it’s the saddest thing in our front yard. The “decorative, crenulated bark” that was so appealing to us when we bought it is falling off in sheets. A clergy of leafminers have ritually spread their blight;leaves that look like they’ve been burned crunch in my hand even though it’s the middle of spring.

Squirrels won’t be jostling the branches scurrying around in that canopy anymore. It’s dying, you know… and it looks well deserving of its stature.

Dig it up. We’re going to The Home Depot this weekend.