Riddled with Arrows is a rougue, semi-seasonal online literary journal that centers metafiction, ars poetica, and creative writing and art that centers the process and product of writing as art. Read that again.
We publish when we feel like it, often with little notice. We aim for the heart. Please see our guidelines for more of what we’re looking for.
Our Inspiration:
Riddled with Arrows Literary Journal takes its name from “Poetry”, a poem by Pablo Neruda:
“…and I wrote the first faint line,
faint, without substance, pure
nonsense,
pure wisdom
of someone who knows nothing,
and suddenly I saw
the heavens
unfastened
and open,
planets,
palpitating plantations,
shadow perforated,
riddled
with arrows, fire and flowers,
the winding night, the universe.”
with credit also to Seamus Heaney’s, “From the Frontier of Writing”:
“…and everything is pure interrogation
until a rifle motions and you move
with guarded unconcerned acceleration—
a little emptier, a little spent
as always by that quiver in the self,
subjugated, yes, and obedient.
So you drive on to the frontier of writing
where it happens again.”
(Get it? Quiver… arrows….)
Our Mission:
“May I write words more naked than flesh, stronger than bone, more resilient than sinew, sensitive than nerve…” Sappho
Riddled with Arrows Literary Journal was created as a safe haven for poetry about poetry and prose about prose. We defy the notion that writing about itself is not literary, relevant, or worthy of inclusion in the finest pages of arts and letters. On the contrary, we believe that self-examination is needful, and interesting at every level of the creative process. We encourage introspection not just in the mind of the artist but in that of the art, and in the creative community itself.
We must pause to reflect on what it is we’re doing, and why. Don’t you agree?
Riddled with Arrows is dedicated to being an inclusive and writer-friendly literary market. We call bullshit on the capitalism that props up much of the current literary industry. We refuse to accept as normal those practices which monetize the hopes, labor, and creative property of modern writers while eroding the value of the written word in the digital world. We believe there are ways to create sustainable platforms for poets, authors, wordsmiths, and visual artists without leaning into the problems that plague and divide us.
Riddled with Arrows is a labor of love, a love letter to writing, and a call to arms. Feed the writers, feed the revolution.
You can read more about our editorial policies and quirks over on our guidelines page.
