The Turning Leaf Journal
@turningleafjournal
A home for CNF, Poetry & Art on the edge of change
📣 Big announcement!! 📣 Starting now, & every summer, we’ll open for submissions to a special prize edition of TTLJ. We’re calling it The Ginkgo Prize, and yes, there’s money! These prize issues are themed. This year, the theme is ✨yellow✨ Details: turningleafjournal.com/the-ginkgo-prize/
Two new book reviews are available from the Summer 2026 Leaflet! Thanks to @jmfletcher15.bsky.social and Vani Mandava for sending us these reviews. turningleafjournal.com/2026/07/15/a... turningleafjournal.com/2026/07/15/b...
Excerpts from Hannah Wyatt's poems "Pigeon Song I" and "Pigeon Song II: Pigeon Won't You Deliver Me From,' published in Volume 3, Issue 1. We paired this piece with artwork from the public domain. Read the poems here: turningleafjournal.com/2026/06/15/h...
Excerpts from @wordsbyladonna.bsky.social's essay, "A Tender End," published in Volume 3, Issue 1. We paired this piece with artwork by Kate Efimochkina. Read the piece here: turningleafjournal.com/2026/06/15/l...
Excerpts from Grace Guerroro' spiral poem "New Directions," published in Volume 3, Issue 1. We paired this piece with artwork found in the public domain. Read the poem here: turningleafjournal.com/2026/06/15/g...
Excerpts from Liza Rose's poem "HONEY," published in Volume 3, Issue 1. We paired this piece with artwork from Catherine Fowler, found in the public domain. Read the poem here: turningleafjournal.com/2026/06/15/l...
Our first feature from Volume 3, Issue 1 is Kevin Krein's essay "There is a Space that Exists Between Helplessness and Anger." We paired this piece with artwork from Matt Laux titled "Heroes in Our Streets." Read the essay & the rest of V3.1 here: turningleafjournal.com/2026/06/15/k...
Volume 3, Issue 1 launches on June 15th--one week from today! Here are the statistics from the submissions. Endless gratitude to everyone who submitted work! ❤️ This beautiful cover artwork is from Anita Eralie Schley.
Today, we share one last piece from V2.2: “On My 28th Birthday” by Ashley Kirkland, accompanied by art from @allisonanne.com 🍃 Read the rest of this work, as well as the rest of V2.2: turningleafjournal.com/2025/12/15/a...
Our feature today is from the hybrid piece “Cremation” by Lissa Staples along with the art piece “Evanescence” by Vidya Murali ⭐️ Read the rest of this piece and all of V2.2: turningleafjournal.com/2025/12/15/l...
And a quick guide to making your CNF submission stand out
We asked the editors what they love about Creative Nonfiction (CNF), and then we stole their heads to make this post. Have a question for the editors? Send us a DM or an email!
Today we are featuring the artwork “Depth of Mind” by allison anne alongside the poem “25” by Jon Raimon 🍃 To read more of this poem and the rest of V2.2, visit: turningleafjournal.com/2025/12/15/j...
The spring Leaflet is now available! turningleafjournal.com/spring-2026/ To celebrate, we’re giving away copies of both Millie’s and Allison’s books to one lucky TTLJ submitter! If you’d like to win free books, you have until May 1st to send us your CNF, Poetry, Art, or Hybrid work. (🧵1/2)
This week, we are featuring the poem “prayer to mazu in mistranslation” by Julie Wong accompanied by a free-use image titled “hand over water” by Juan Gomez. Read the rest and view the rest of issue V2.2: turningleafjournal.com/2025/12/15/j...
Only 3 weeks left to submit! turningleafjournal.com/submissions/
Today’s feature is a poem by Kevin Dwyer titled “happening upon a photo of dad before he left mom, before we were born, never to be heard from again [re-remembered as a bird burial]” with an artwork from the public domain by Theo Van Hoytema. Read more: turningleafjournal.com/2025/12/15/k...
This poem from V2.2 by Ellie Cottrell is titled “Fertile Ground.” We’ve paired it with artwork by Of Thousands titled “The Common Insect.” Read this poem and the rest of the issue: turningleafjournal.com/2025/12/15/e...
"SELFISH GIRL" by @suzchef.bsky.social was selected for the Best of Net 2026 Anthology! We're so excited for Suze. This is a huge accomplishment! We're grateful to have played a role in this--it's the outcome we hope for every time we nominate contributors for prizes. 🤍🌿
Today’s feature from Volume 2, Issue 2 is a poem by Veronica Tucker titled “After Leaving the Sanctuary” paired with a textile sample (Unknown designer, manufactured by J. Claude Frères & Co., in the public domain). Read more, and all of V2.2: turningleafjournal.com/2025/12/15/v...
This excerpt from the poem “earth • en • ware” by Adil Munim is paired with the art piece “At the Fringes” by @allisonanne.com. Read this poem and the rest of V2.2 here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/12/15/a...
This week, an art piece called “Georges in the Forest” by Cécile Gonneau is paired with the poem “Holding the Sky” by Śivani Howe. Read this, and the rest of V2.2, here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/12/15/s...
We're open and eager to read your work! V1.1 contributors have patiently waited four issue cycles and are eligible to submit again! We can't wait to see what you've been working on these past two years. Submission Instructions: turningleafjournal.com/submissions/
Check out this feature from Brandy E. Wyant's essay "St. Peter's Bones." Read the full piece here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/12/15/b... And! And! Submissions open tomorrow 👀 So if you've got stuff like this piece, we want it!
Today we are featuring an excerpt from the essay “Things I Observe at my Joint 18th Birthday Party” by Orli Baumgart, paired with art by @allisonanne.com titled “Outgrowth.” Read the full piece, and the rest of V2.2, here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/12/15/o...
This week, we are featuring work by Kate Kadleck paired with art by Vidya Murali 🍂 Read the full piece in out newest issue, V2.2, here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/12/15/k...
Today's feature from V2.2 is a poem titled "I Can't Find God" by Sukriti Patny. We paired this with artwork from Of Thousands, titled "Self Tenderness." Read the full piece here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/12/15/s...
"All Apologies" is a hybrid piece written by @girlprometheus.bsky.social. This experimental piece makes for an exciting, "choose your own adventure" type of read. Read the full piece here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/12/15/i... This piece is paired with artwork from the public domain.
Our first feature from Volume 2, Issue 2 is a poem by Kale Hensley titled "un/a/muse." We paired this with artwork from @allisonanne.com titled "sense of duration." To read the full poem, and the rest of V2.2, use this link: turningleafjournal.com/2025/12/15/k...
It's here! Volume 2, Issue 2 is out! As always, here are the stats. Today we're celebrating each of these contributors, as well as everyone who submitted work to us this past fall. Check out the issue here: turningleafjournal.com/volume-2-iss...