Issue Number
Release Date
ISSN
17
1 – 1 – 2025
2753-4103 (Print)
2753-4111 (Online)
Editors
Chief Editor
Poetry Co-Editor
Nonfiction Editor
Fiction Editor
Art Editor
Drama Editor
Associate Editors
Amber Kennedy
Emmett Coleman
Linda Arrighi
Ashlynn Zhang
Linda Arrighi
Tatianna Kalb
Hamsa
Zach Pedigo
Ellie Wilson
Miriam Zeglache
Cover Art
Carolyn Schlam
Girl in the Window
Poetry Contributors
Wayne T. Brown
Alexander Etheridge
Candice M. Kelsey
Freyr Thorvaldsson
Rabbit
Disorders of the Spirit
Contrapuntal Body at Open Mic Night
Anonymous Weightlifting Discussion Board
Fiction Contributors
J.W. Bodden
Goblin Spice and Everything Nice
Visual Art Contributors
Larena Nellies-Oritz
Carolyn Schlam
Viviana De Cecco
Julia Biggs
Diyar Keyhanfar
The Last of Day
Girl in the Window
Poetto Beach at the Golden Hour
Claire de lune
Spittelberg
Nonfiction Contributors
Fran Levin
Stuti Sinha
Christmas Cake
The year love came in the shape of butterfly buttons
Drama Contributors
Craig Dobson
Birds of Paradise
Let me introduce Issue 17… starting us off this season, we have a range of brutally real, impressively surreal and radically experimental poetic works. In fiction, we meet a goblin cooking her way to victory. We also have a range of eye-catching works by artists who interpreted our theme of light/ dark through multiple mediums, including collage, acrylic paint and photography. Our nonfiction selection makes us think about the varied forms in which love manifests, as well as the memories we associate with food. Finally, our drama pick presents us with some skilfully crafted dark humour.
The last few months have been busy, as always, at Spellbinder. October saw the hosting of our annual anniversary party, an online event with speeches, games, and awards. This year, we celebrated our fourth birthday with a group of incredible guests, a number of whom we selected as our annual award winners from each of our publication categories; these lucky individuals received a certificate, a paperback copy of Spellbinder, and three stickers of their choice from our merchandise store. Those in the poetry and fiction categories were also nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
November saw the judging of our first-ever writing competition, a flash submission window for individual pieces submitted by poets and prose writers adhering to a specific theme. This was judged by our social media coordinators who selected two talented creatives whose work was subsequently displayed on our competition webpage. This year, the theme was ‘Stories of Hidden Shadows’. Aside from having their work showcased on the website, two winners were selected, one for poetry and one for flash fiction. They were able to choose between a paperback copy of an issue of Spellbinder of their choice and a free yearly subscription to our website with access to digital issues of Spellbinder for their prize. This follows on from our first-ever art competition, which took place in June.
December saw the creation of our annual advent calendar, a series of twelve social media posts, also available on our website, filled with festive ideas. This year, we have shared recommendations for films themed around the holidays and stories behind the most famous festive decorations. We very much hope that all of our readers, followers, and creatives have had a safe, peaceful, and merry holiday season.
Happy New Year from everyone here at Spellbinder. We wish you all the best for the year ahead!
Amber Kennedy, Editor in Chief
We have created a playlist inspired by the Winter 2025 Issue. Feel free to play it while reading:
Poetry shortlist – Winter 2025
| Shel Zhou | Endure |
| Jarek Jarvis | There’s No AAA in Space |
| Laura Seymour | Detective Work |
| River Snowdrop | Male Anglerfish Loses His Lover |
| Isabel Gan | qīngtái; that is to say, moss |
Fiction shortlist – Winter 2025
| Christy Hartman | The Thawing |