Submission Guidelines:

Submissions for our Winter Issue:

What Light Hath Thou [ Told ] Through Winter Trees?

Open Sept 1 through Oct 17 ( 1 mo 1/2)

This winter, we are inviting writers to write divine warmth right into the bone cold of winter. We desire work that feels like it is probing through the deep evergreen trees of secrecy-seeking truth drawn out of honest pondering, which is why we embrace the question in our title, What Light Hath Thou Told Through Winter Trees?, inviting writers and readers alike across the world to be open to the power of asking what we do not yet know in order to unlock truth for the seeker. Inspired by King David’s prayers that long for sacred safety and sheltering in the presence of God, such as Psalm 55 and Psalm 91, as well as the raw beauty of Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, which feel like raw conversations with the Creator through hidden forests, we are beckoning writers from all across the world to bring the curiosity and courage to send forth their most genuine light to reach the darkest, most untouched parts of this wood, where grief may lie, but also where the ability to be the realest, most childlike version of oneself can come to life in one's need for the grand shadow-giving wings of the Almighty scripture allows us to imagine of the Lord—the One desires to envelop us in rare embrace, speaking light through mysterious trees. 

On that note, for this special winter issue, in feeling the call to dive back into childlike wonder, we are also encouraging a mirth, a whimsical truth to playfully fill your writing as we have introduced for the first time the genre of fantasy, with C.S. Lewis’s Narnia and Tolkien's Imagination (Nature of the Middle Earth, LOTR…)— but it does not stop there…

Followers of VOL know we have become a bilingual literary journal that proudly houses literary vessels that shine for our Living Christ with our inclusion of the English and Spanish language, however we have had the divine opportunity by God to welcome our third language with this issue as fantasy simultaneously arrives—We are thrilled to introduce French! 

We will officially be accepting Francophone poetry in this winter issue  ( French poems to be translated into English) with the wondrous international support of our newest guest French editor/translator who happens to be an esteemed Tolkien Scholar, Yannick Imbert from Southern France! 

Specific Submission Guidelines for Poetry ( For English, Spanish and French), Essays ( Non-fiction), Fiction ( Short Stories, Fantasy) Will Be Listed in Their Own Tabs On This Website Page. 

We are thrilled and expectant to what we know Christ will bring in this winter to our journal, and we hope you submit! 

Keep Burning Brightly, 

The VOL TEAM 🕯️

We publish semi-annually ( two issues per year), rotating between a spring/fall and summer/winter schedule, with additional opportunities and projects arising for special editions, such as poetry workshops and write nights. We do this for the sake of excellence; we believe in quality over quantity, the ravishing over the rushed, and want to ensure we put out our most moving, meaningful work.

Thank you,

The VOL TEAM

Summer 2026: Message in a Bottle

From Edward Hirsch’s article, “Heartland”

Submissions NOW closed.

JULY 1ST, 2026 PUBLICATION DAY

For our forthcoming Summer issue, we found inspiration in poet Edward Hirsch’s critique of poetry in his book chapter, “Heartland” at the foot of the free-flowing coast where correspondences wash up on our own personal heartlands. We are inviting writers to send out their most intimate work, poems, essays, and now for the first time short stories that are teeming with a living hope, determined to reach its secret addressee.

“Imagine you have gone down to the shore and there, amidst the other debris—the seaweed and rotten wood, the crushed cans and dead fish— you find an unlikely looking bottle from the past. You bring it home and discover a message inside. This letter, so strange and disturbing, seems to have been making its way toward someone for a long time, and now that someone turns out to be you.”

You can read the heartland chapter in the book, “How to Read Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry” by Edward Hirsch.

To glean from the words of Thomas Howard, we believe poetry is not simply a  “gingering up of language” but “the purifying and concentrating of language to its absolutely ferocious purity.” If poetry truly is “the supreme attempt to purify and concentrate and distill language to this almost remorseless power to speak to us,” we desire poems that pursue this ferocious purity in diction, imagery, music, and form. While the pursuit may be purity, we want to see the journey from low, pitted places. After all, the Bible is full of raw stories that reveal the gritty reality of fractured humanity. We treasure how he compares poetry to the “prick of a blue flame” in a bunsen burner, instead of an untamed bonfire. This image encapsulates the necessity for crisp, refined, hot-to-the-touch, surprising language that is intentional and free of cliches. At this time, we cannot accept concrete poetry for the sake of formatting.

Forms: As a free-verse forward journal, we also invite a vast array of forms reaching from sonnets, villanelles, prose poems, haikus, elegies, odes, ekphrastic, ghazals…we value variety and experimentation.

At heart, this journal believes that each poem exists as a little “vessel of light,” made up of life-giving words, with the power to ignite lasting life within readers’ souls who, in return, carry poems into this dim world as beacons of hope.

Contrary to poetry, essays have the power to take us on a different kind of intimate journey that is narrative driven. We look for short form, devotional essays that feel personal and real while shedding practical, Biblical light on the darkness one has faced or is still facing. These are essays that are raw, real, and artistically expressed. They are essentially creative non-fiction that shine in the shadows and depths of life. Integrity of scripture is essential, integration of Bible verses relevant to your essay are preferred, and literary sources or quotes are invited. Please include the translation you are using when implementing scripture. We encourage writers to read Jessie van Eerden's essay, "When the Season is Fitting" as a good reference. Ultimately, these essays carry a devotional tone and poetry that seeks the light of Heaven amid the lives of this dim world.

These essays show:

A Dark to Light Perspective

Real Life Epiphany

Literary Wisdom

Insight that Sparks Hope

Special Winter Edition Call: Fantasy Genre Short Stories!

For our upcoming winter issue, “What Light Hath Thou [Told] Through Winter Trees?” we are issuing a special call in our fiction genre for short stories, specifically seeking Fantasy fiction for a theme that channels deep awe and childlike wonder for Christ.

“Narnia, Narina, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be Walking Trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters.” Aslan, Magicians Nephew, C.S. Lewis 

In the vein of Narnia and Middle Earth, we want to read your fiction that explores the mysticism and wonder of God’s power. Magic as allegory for the Holy Spirit at work, new worlds that lead us closer to eternity, and animals that speak the truth of our Creator are all elements we would love to be drawn in by!

We are especially interested in cross worlds/portal fantasy, fairytales, and fables that lead us Heavenward. Please, no grimdark, paranormal, or science fantasy for this issue.

For a deeper dive into these subgenres and a better idea of what we’re looking for, you can find definitions and examples at this MasterClass resource:

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/a-complete-overview-of-fantasy-subgenres

Vessels of Light is thrilled to open fantasy under their fiction department ( short stories, nothing more, as we cannot accept larger fiction at the moment) and we can’t wait to see what adventures come to our inbox.

For Our Winter Issue, all short stories we accept will be under fantasy.

We desire our short stories to feel like intimate discoveries that feel found by the reader for the reader. We also look for the volta, a clear point of no return where epiphany strikes and characters make a kind leap of faith that changes both the characters and readers forever— fearless narratives that are inherently honest in voice, showing raw transformation that is true to life in the deepest sense. While we appreciate genre fiction and recognize its value in faith-focused writing—as evidenced by C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien—at this time, we are seeking stories that are rooted in the real world with tangible brushes of the divine. We do not accept erotica, graphic violence, R-rated content, or fanfiction.

1,500 to 3,500 words

Format: double spaced, times new roman font. 

Please follow Standard Manuscript Format (https://www.shunn.net/format/story/), 

although we do not need your physical mailing address included.

Please send us one short story per submission period. We are an editorial journal, but as we seek to glorify our Creator, we ask that you send us work you have crafted with excellence that is polished, proofread, and ready for publication.

CURRENTLY CLOSED.

Are you fond of epistolary literature? Vessels of Light was excited to introduce letters as a new genre for our Message in a Bottle issue that invites writers to try their hand at the ancient art of analog that feels both timeless and contemporary today.

We asked writers to center the landscape of your letter around the coast, any coast, integrating oceanic themes into the narrative.

Letters could fictionalized or real, but our requests"?

• Hand write or type write it out

• Make sure to address it to someone fictionalized or real

• Give it a signature

• Email us a scan or pdf of the letter so we may showcase it

• Letters may be one page long of any word count, written in print or cursive, and even a medley of both if that is your writing style.

CHECK OUT OUR SUMMER 2026 ISSUE “Message in a Bottle” TO SEE BEAUTIFUL HANDCRAFTED LETTERS

Vessels of Light (Vasijas de Luz) es una revista literaria que existe para compartir escritos y arte que resaltan la belleza, pureza y luz que existen en el mundo,  a través de un lente cristiano. Ahora, con una visión global y multilingüística, Vessels of Light estará aceptando poesía en español para traducción al inglés, con publicación simultánea en ambos idiomas, al igual que poesía bilingüe (poemas en inglés con palabras/frases en español). 

Para más información enviar un correo a : vesselsoflightjournal@gmail.comdirigido a Grace Cultivar (asistente editorial y traductora al español). 

Translation:

Vessels of Light is a literary journal that exists to share writing and art that highlights, through a Christian lens, the beauty, purity, and light that exist in the world. Now, with a global and multilingual vision, Vessels of Light will be accepting poetry in Spanish to be translated into English for simultaneous publication in both languages. We will also be accepting bilingual poetry (primarily English poems with words/phrases in Spanish). 

For more information send an email to: 

vesselsoflightjournal@gmail.comaddressed to Grace Cultivar (editorial assistant and Spanish translator).

Vessels of Light est une revue littéraire dont la vocation est de partager des œuvres artistiques, littéraires et visuelles, mettant en avant, à travers un prisme chrétien, la beauté, la pureté et la lumière qui sont présents dans le monde. Fort de sa vision globale et multilingue, Vessels of Light acceptera désormais de la poésie écrite en français. Ces poèmes seront ensuite traduits en anglais et publiés dans les deux langues. Les soumissions de poèmes en français pour notre numéro d’hiver seront ouvertes à partir du 1er septembre.

Please send us unpublished work that has not appeared in any publicly-accessible form previously, including online. This includes any work that is currently under contract or has been published on social media, personal websites, and/or Substack. While we value these platforms and your voice, we yearn for your fresh, rhema revelations of how Christ’s light is finding you!

We do not accept submissions of AI-generated work. As vessels of God made in the Imago Dei, our goal is to exemplify the authentic identity of the Creator within us as His created. We reserve the right to withdraw acceptances from any work found to be AI-generated, even if after publication.

Writers may submit from anywhere in the world, and we are excited by written works that engage culture through other  languages if the majority of the piece is in English. We are currently in the process of expanding to include Spanish poetry and translations of those works. Please stay tuned as our journal grows.

We have enhanced our submission method to make the “sending in” process more professional for you, and the reading process smoother for our team! Win, win:)

For all submissions from this point on, starting with our current Winter 2027 issue, please submit your writing to us by using the simple form below, which allows you to share your info, and upload your work in a clear and organized manner.

Should you have any questions or inquires in general, you may still email vesselsoflightjournal@gmail.com, but please do not email us your submission here, directly. Use the form below to be considered for the journal please!

For Poetry:

You may send up to 5 well revised poems at a time, per issue. Please begin each poem on a new page, in a standard font, such as Times New Roman, or Calibri. 

For Essays:

Please send us 1 or 2 well revised essays at a time between 500-1,000 words. While we prefer first person point of view, we are open to third or second person if the essay manages the style well. We are especially interested in devotional-style, reverent yet gritty, literary-minded, and Scripturally-centered pieces.

For Short Stories:

Please send us one short story per submission period. We are an editorial journal, but as we seek to glorify our Creator, we ask that you send us work you have crafted with excellence that is polished, proofread, and ready for publication.

Please send

If you include Biblical references, please include the translation you are citing along with the book, chapter, and verse numbers. Additionally, we greatly appreciate you including the source of any other external quotations or references you use in your piece.

Before You Submit to the Form, Please Note:

At this time, we are looking for work that requires little to no edits and cannot accept work that needs major revision. Please send us your best work!

We accept unsolicited, as well as simultaneous submissions. Please note in your submission if a piece is a simultaneous submission and notify us as soon as possible if it is accepted elsewhere so we may withdraw that piece.

Thank you,

Vol Team

You maintain ownership of your work when you submit to our platform, whether it is chosen or not for publication. If published, our platform retains First Publication Rights and First Serial Rights of the work and retains archival rights to keep the work online. This means that you won't publish the poem anywhere else in the first three months following publication and that you grant us the right to keep your work online in our digital archive. After three months have passed, we ask that you credit us as the first publisher wherever your poem is featured in the future. Then, feel free to share your published work where you please.

At this time, we are a volunteer-based journal and are not a paying market. However, we have a vision for the future in becoming a print journal, and are eager to invite you into our digital community and do our best to honor and promote our writers!

Thank you for sharing your light, we are excited to read your work.

Keep Burning Brightly,

The Vessels of Light Team

If you have any background as a poet, essayist, editor, musician, or any other kind of artist, and are interested in joining the team, please email the founder and editor-in-chief, Alexis Leigh Ragan, to inquire about setting up a conversation to hear more about the heart behind the journal and what it would look like to potentially use your God-given gifts to serve the Kingdom vision on this passionate editorial team.

Email Alexis: Vesselsoflightjournal@gmail.com