Unleash Creatives’ for writers/by writers publication is designed to do it all. Unleash Lit highlights some of the best contemporary fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. We are always looking for bold new submissions as well as essays that focus on encouraging writers and also telling truths about Writing and The Writing Life.
Writing can be rewarding and draining in equal measure, and our goal is to share it all. We will publish a variety of voices and perspectives, and if you subscribe, you’ll also get private invites to events and submission opportunities, along with occasional subscriber-only posts.
Submit here.
Who we are:
Our mission as a holistic arts organization is to support authentic storytellers and unleash the power of creativity across diverse communities.
As authors ourselves, it is important to us to create a sense of community in all of our efforts because, as we all know, no creative work is written, completed, and shared alone. To usher one's writing or visual art into the world means to be a part of a larger process that includes editors, publishers, and readers. The creative dance of expression and communication has been historically largely limited to a specific gender, race, and/or wealth status, which has limited the artistic landscape. We believe all voices are valuable, and our mission is to add to the larger discussion and to put our limited resources to work to share voices and stories that may not otherwise be heard. Our vision is to bring the joy of creativity to a wider audience through workshops, publications, and experiences.
We are not the venue for dogma or proselytizing in any form (there are plenty of venues for that).
We believe all voices are valuable, and it is our mission to add to the larger discussion and to put our limited resources to work in order to share voices and stories that may not otherwise be heard. If you publish with Unleash Lit, our blog, or Unleash Press, we consider you family.
Board of Directors:
Jen Knox, Executive Director
A widely published writer of short fiction and essays, Jen has work in such journals as Room Magazine, CutBank, Chicago Tribune, McSweeney’s Internet Quarterly, Saturday Evening Post, New Winning Writers, The Best Small Fictions, and elsewhere. Winner of the Montana Prize for the Essay, The San Miguel Essay Prize, The Press American Award for Prose, and the Steel Toe Books Award, other honors include residencies and grants from the Ohio Arts Council, The Greater Columbus Arts Council, Vermont Studio Center, and The Ou Gallery. Jen holds an MFA from Bennington and lectures at OSU. Her first historical novel, Radicals, will be published by Library Tales/Simon & Schuster late 2026. Her memoir in essays, At Work, will be available from Cornerstone Press UWSP in 2027. Jen writes The Resilient Creative where she posts meditations and prompts and invites writers to join monthly creativity circles.
Chris Shanahan, Artistic Director
Chris Shanahan is an economist and artist who specializes in portraits, murals, infographics, data visualization, multimedia painting, typography (or *legal* graffiti), acrylic, oil, and illustrations for children's books as well as book cover design. Chris's customized portraits range from amusing to realistic. He is also an Excel wizard. His book covers include Ubulembu (J. Eric Smith), Man Wanted in Cheyenne (Richard McPherson), and Telling You Everything (Cindy Hochman), among others.
Ashley Holloway, Editorial Director & Book Reviewer
Self-proclaimed logophile and devourer of books, Ashley Holloway teaches writing classes and healthcare leadership in Calgary, AB, Canada. She writes in a variety of genres, including fiction, creative nonfiction, essays, and poetry, with work appearing across Canada and the US. Ashley has co-authored three books (with Jen Knox!) and her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Joanna Constandache, Prose Editor and Reader
Joanna Constandache has been based in the UK for the past three years. She studied English and French in Romania and recently completed her M.A. in English Literature in Sweden. She is currently a reader at Fiction on the Web and Twin Bird Review, where she reads fiction and poetry submissions and helps spot the ones worth holding onto.
Her academic work has appeared in RISE: Review of Irish Studies in Europe, ABEI Journal, The Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, Commentarium: Journal of Humanities Studies, and The Journal of Academic Studies in World Languages, Literatures and Translation. She has also presented her research at conferences in the UK and internationally.
She speaks five languages (Romanian, English, French, Turkish, and Spanish) and plans to start a PhD in English Literature at York University this fall. Long-term, she’s aiming for a career in publishing.
Outside of this, she enjoys travelling, trying new food, and spending time with friends—usually somewhere busy, loud, and fun.
Laura Esther Sciortino, Poetry Editor
Laura is the author of two chapbooks of poetry and her work has appeared in Artstra’s Poetry Moves, Fractured Lit, The Comstock Review, Unleash Literary Journal, Great Weather for Media, and elsewhere. As a live typewriter poet, Laura crafts custom poems for people at events and celebrations. Laura also works as a writing coach and consultant, helping individuals and organizations find and refine their voice. For more information, please visit LauraEstherSciortino.com or Instagram: @thetypewriterpoetpdx
Richard C. McPherson, Special Projects Chair
Richard C. McPherson's short stories have been called "beautifully honest," appearing in Black Fox Literary Magazine, Unleash Press, and The Write Launch. “Man Wanted in Cheyenne,” his short story, received an award in Living Springs Publishing's international short fiction contest and appeared in their 2017 anthology, Stories Through the Ages. The rich backstory of Its iconic protagonist, Jake, is now the subject of a new novel, Man Wanted in Cheyenne, available in paperback and Kindle at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Unleash Creatives. After the publication of his book, Richard was invited to be a part of the Unleash board and graciously agreed.
Prior to his writing career, Dick advised leading nonprofits on messaging and digital strategy, including NPR and PBS stations, the New York Public Library, and women's rights organizations in the US, Europe, and Hong Kong. His 2007 book Digital Giving: How Technology is Changing Charity, was called a "must-read" in the US and UK, considered a seminal work on the rapidly approaching impact of the internet. He advised Stand for Rights, a pioneering live stream fundraiser for the ACLU, produced by Tina Fey and hosted by Tom Hanks, and which earned Facebook its first Emmy nomination.
He taught digital communications at NYU, Columbia, and UCLA, and led workshops across the US and in London, Amsterdam, Geneva, Hong Kong, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Dick lives on the California Central Coast with his wife, Heidi. He loves to hear from readers and writers and may be reached at richardcmcpherson.com
Carol Fischbach, Publications Co-Chair
Carol Fischbach sat at the actual Pinewood Table for nearly five years and is now a Pinewood Squares OG. She is a retired RN, Reiki master, and a student archetype with an MFA in Creative Nonfiction along with several other degrees, but her favorite classroom is everyday life and listening to and reading others’ stories. Writing is the portal through which she enters her life, seeks insight and reframes her stories. At 74 she is still trying to figure it all out. She is currently working on a memoir that feels a lot like herding cats. She has been published in Khora, Propeller, Nailed Magazine, Oregon East, Tide Pools, the Port Townsend Leader and won 2nd place in the 2020 Women’s National Book Foundation for her essay, Butterflies, Berries, and Beef.
Christina Valentine Larsen, Publications Co-Chair
Christina Valentine Larsen lives in Vancouver WA. Tina loves to be in nature walking and hugging trees, spending time with family and friends and reading. She is a teacher, retired nurse, Reiki master and author. Her first book My Own Darling: A Love Story for the Ages from the Greatest Generation was published in 2017. She is currently working on a memoir An Uneven Life: Grief and Other Shenanigans.
How to submit:
We are currently reading for our WIP contest, which asks for 25 sample pages (double-spaced) and a personal statement that discusses your aims as a writer. Unlike other competitions, entries are rated based on the clarity of vision and potential of the project, not how polished the work is. The winner will receive $500 and a mentoring package. Unleash Lit recently reopened to submissions. Find all updates and guidelines here.
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