About

Black Heart is a full-on literary rebellion based entirely online, transmitting our tenacious texts around the world at the speed of light—or at least cable modem. Edited and produced by Laura Roberts, and flaunting a license to kill your darlings, our mission can be summarized in three short words:

Reading. Writing. Rebellion.

Rebellion in the literary sense, tiger. Easy there. If I told you to blow your nose, would you use a Kleenex or a hand grenade?

In brief, we publish fiction that breaks the rules. Join us, if you dare. Or read more about what we’re looking for in this interview with our editor at the Review Review or this editor interview over at Duotrope.

Publishing Schedule

With a weekly publishing schedule, our website offers new poetry every Monday, new fiction every Friday, plus a revolving schedule of interviews, book reviews and assorted literary news and commentary on Wednesdays.

Our reading period never ends, and we accept submissions year-round, unlike some poncey lit-mags that close up shop when school ain’t in session or their delicate staff feel too faint to continue. We claim no affiliation with any halls of higher education or national grant foundations, and do what we do as bold Independents. The only people we care about pleasing are our subscribers, so join up with our RSS feed, sign up for our mailing list, or follow us on Twitter to stay involved and voice your opinions.

In addition to our weekly output, we’ve also kicked off the production of yearly digital anthologies in a variety of genres. With guest editors who specialize in different themes taking up the reins, we promise to bring you more of our edgy, cerebral content in downloadable form—the better for reading on the go with the digital device of your choice. Check out the first of these anthologies, The NOIR Issue, guest edited by crime fictionista Jimmy Callaway.

Our Mission

We aim to publish the best in short-form modern literature, from pulp to literary fiction and everything in-between. Genre is dead, though plot (despite advertisements to the contrary) is not. We tire of irony and the clichés so often perpetrated by mainstream media, but thankfully We Are The Media, so let’s combat this problem with thumping hearts full of lust for change. Join us at the Truck Stop of the Real; it’s just at the edge of Baudrillard’s infamous desert.

Support Literary Rebellion

Like what you see? We do this for the love, not the money. Consider supporting our literary rebellion with a purchase in the Store, where we sell back-issues of our print mag as PDFs and copies of our new digital anthologies in all e-reader formats.

For the terminally cash-strapped, how about adding a link to your site? We’ve even made a few handy buttons for ya:

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Or feel free to design one of your own and end the fascism of pre-made buttons.

Get Involved

Want to get more involved? Check our Volunteer page for more details, or just send us an email to get started.