FIYAH is a quarterly speculative fiction magazine that features stories by and about Black people of the African Diaspora. This definition is globally inclusive (Black anywhere in the world) and also applies to mixed/biracial and Afro-appended people regardless of gender identity or orientation.

 All stories are the same: we meet our characters, a conflict arises, and our crew journeys to set things right. Correct? Well, what if we told you there’s another way? Allow us to introduce another tradition: kishōtenketsu.

Ki = Introduction | Shō = Development | Ten = Complication | Ketsu = Reconciliation

Henry Lien’s SFWA article is particularly insightful: “The Asian four-act structure is not necessarily based on conflict, tension, and resolution. It is more interested in exploring the unseen relationships among the story’s elements than in pitting them against each other. It is also not symmetrical. The first two acts [Ki, sho]are characterized by a gradual buildup. A radical twist appears in the third act [ten]that introduces a new element. The fourth act [ketsu] “harmonizes” all the elements that came before. By ‘harmonize,’ I don’t necessarily mean a peaceful resolution. I mean that the fourth act contains a revelation about the relationships among the elements that often feels like a new element in itself.”

We’re eager to see submissions without the confines of Western three-act (or five-act) story structure. What could that look like? Films like Kiki’s Delivery Service and Parasite, and even Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” are cited as great examples.

Last year’s FIYAH 35: BLACK ISEKAI proved to be a challenging and deeply rewarding issue. We’re confident this theme will build upon that intention and more. Let’s level up in craft together. Go do what you do best. Dazzle us.

Random notes from DaVaun:

• Always keen to see more well-executed science fiction. (All genres of course are still welcome, don’t fret if that’s not your bag.)
• So many Black stories/tropes are drenched in literal conflict. I’m really keen to see submissions that subvert those in an interesting and meaningful way.
• Novelettes are a tough sale. I’d prefer to acquire two 7k word stories than one at 14k. Not impossible of course, but something to keep in mind as you’re drafting/editing!

For our 40^th issue, we’re enthusiastically accepting submissions featuring magical schools. If you have an untold story in this beloved trope, this call is for you! 

Take us for a journey through your Pan-African University for Gifted Mages. Give us the trials of alchemy professors positioning themselves for tenure. The boredom of a TA stuck monitoring the dragon eggs over holiday. Or the angst of conjuring gone wrong in the group project (there’s always that ONE person) while the clock is ticking toward deadline. A sorority that sends their new line of pledges to a nether dimension for, ahem, “orientation.” A time-traveling brass section in search of the perfect instrument for their next battle of the bands.

Black HBCU? We’re in. Summer of research for a hoodoo postdoc? Gimme. A substitute teacher left in charge of kindergarten witches? Yes, please. A home school collective’s escapades to ward off nosy neighbors? Say less.

Stories that examine and challenge hierarchical relationships in school will pique our interest. Non-Western settings for instruction (or means of education that subverts that structure) are welcome.

Random notes from DaVaun:

• This issue will naturally lean toward fantasy, but genre bending is welcome if the idea takes you there!
• Particularly interested in whimsy, joy, and humor. (If that’s not where your piece goes, submit with confidence!)
• Stunning worldbuilding always makes me lean in—flat characters will make me reluctantly pass. Do your characters and relationships match the care you put into your worldbuilding and magic system?
• Novelettes are a tough sale. I’d prefer to acquire two 7k word stories than one at 14k. Not impossible of course, but something to keep in mind as you’re drafting/editing!

Below you will find specific guidelines for each of our areas of submission.  The following guidelines apply to all areas of submission and will be take into consideration regardless of medium.

We are open to receiving work around many themes but we will immediately reject work that feature any of the following without providing feedback:

• Graphic depictions of rape or sexual assault
• Needless brutalization of women and children
• Depictions of brutalization or abuse of people with disabilities
• Graphic abuse of animals

Additionally, we reserve the right to reject and not provide feedback on work we believe may be harmful to our readers. Like our staff, our readers come from a variety of backgrounds and work that has elements of homophobia, fatphobia, colorism, ageism etc. that go unchallenged will not find a home with us.

In addition:

• We only consider unpublished work, and we do not consider reprints (work that has been published in another magazine or on your blog or other social media) or fan fiction.
• We do not accept multiple submissions for fiction, so please wait until you have heard a response before submitting again. Submitting under different aliases does not evade this policy; we will recognize your writing style.
• We do not accept simultaneous submissions.
• Please do not resubmit previously rejected stories or poems in a new submission period. Resubmissions are by editorial solicitation only.
• We are only accepting submission from authors from the African diaspora and the African continent because #BlackWritersMatter. This is an intersectional definition of Blackness, and we strongly encourage submissions from women, members of the LGBTQIA community, and members from other underrepresented communities within the African diaspora.
• FIYAH is committed to publishing only those works which are entirely created by and original to the human author attached to each submission. If submitted under false pretenses, the piece in violation of our no-AI policy will be rejected and the author will be banned from future submissions to FIYAH.

Writers previously published in an issue of FIYAH must wait 1 year or 4 issues to submit work again. Works submitted before that time is up will be automatically rejected.

We accept submissions of short fiction 2,000 – 7,000 words and novelettes up to 15,000 words.

We are looking for brave works of speculative short fiction by authors from the African continent and diaspora that reject regressive ideas of blackness, respectability politics, and stereotype. Please submit your bravest, blackest, most difficult to sell stories to us. We want to read them.

We want stories that are well written, of high quality, and generally easy to read on a screen.

What we want in speculative poetry is verse that struggles, reveals, instructs, comforts, and fights back. We are looking for weird, complex, honest and challenging work with a clear speculative element from Black authors. You can check out this post from our Poetry Editor for more on what we’d like to see in your poetry.

Additionally, poetry submissions should be no more than 1,000 words.

Commissions pay $400.00 USD for original artwork and we purchase rights to First Use and six months exclusivity.

Artists should submit portfolios or work samples which illustrate an understanding of composition, and which feature fantastical elements and/or can be categorized as fantasy, science-fiction, horror, and their related subgenres. Standard portraiture and/or still life will not be a good fit for us.  

In keeping with our mission, we prioritize Black creators as the face and content of our magazine.

We are using a simple form to collect submissions for prose and poetry. We understand the use of a form may not be accessible to disabled users. If you require an alternative means of submission for your work, please contact us at team[@]fiyahlitmag.com and we will arrange one for you. You will see a confirmation message when the form is completed, indicating your submission was successfully received. You will not receive an e-mailed confirmation.

•  Click here to learn more about how to write a professional cover letter. 
• Submissions should be submitted in proper short story manuscript format with your name, email address, and the story’s total word count on the first page. For our purposes, you do not need to include a mailing address or phone number. Click here for an example of proper short story manuscript format.
• For poetry, you may submit up to four (4) separate poems, one (1) poem per form submission. 
• All submissions should be in .doc/.docx format

Our payment schedule for 2023 is as follows (all amounts USD):

Short stories (2,000 – 7,000 words): 0.08/word

Novelettes (<15,000 words): 0.08/word

Poetry: $50 USD

Nonfiction: 0.10/word

FIYAH is a SFWA-qualifying market. Works of prose published with us count toward SFWA membership.

FIYAH will publish accepted stories in a quarterly ebook magazine format, as well as archiving them on our website. Thus, FIYAH will claim first world electronic rights, nonexclusive archival rights, and nonexclusive anthology rights to your story.

This means that we are buying the rights to publish your story on FIYAH’s website and in electronic issues of our magazine. This also means that you can only publish your story as a reprint after it appears in FIYAH, and it cannot appear anywhere else online or in print prior to submission, or for 180 days after we publish it. After that it can be reprinted online, in a magazine, or in an anthology.

Response time will vary by volume of submissions. You may query after 45 days using email submissions[at]fiyahlitmag.com. Please include the date that you submitted and the title of your story.

We encourage you to track your submission using Duotrope and The Submission Grinder.