Last Leaves is a new online poetry magazine who released their first issue in October. They are currently open for poetry submissions until the end of February. Make sure to follow their Instagram, where they post and promote poetry and poets! Now that they’ve released their first issue, I wanted to check in and see how things are progressing, so I asked editor Kiera Baron some questions to find out. See my interview with Baron and a link to their submission guidelines below.

HOPKINSON: Tell me a little bit about Last Leaves.

BARON: Last Leaves Magazine had a turnout for the first issue that we never could have imagined. The overwhelming support from the community we started building and the trust they showed in submitting their work gave us the courage and drive to do a second issue. We believe now more than ever people need accessible art and poetry in their lives, and we’re here to provide that.

HOPKINSON: How/why was Last Leaves originally started?

BARON: We were three poets who wanted to try something new. Cailey has submitted to lit mags the most and was one of my biggest encouragements to pursue poetry. Cailey, Maina, and I have been writing friends for the last six years. This magazine was a way for us to share our tastes and our love for poetry with everyone else, and to find something new to do together when we’re so far apart.

HOPKINSON: Who is your target reader audience?

BARON: I would say writers of all forms. You don’t have to be a poet to love or understand poetry, and you don’t have to be an artist to appreciate art. We’re looking especially at young adults and teenagers, too. We received phenomenal work from high school students the first time around. We’d like to continue to see that, as well as work from the older generations. We want to be a community where writers of all ages can come together and find something beautiful.

HOPKINSON: What type of work are you looking for?

BARON: We’re an art and poetry magazine, so send us what you’ve got! We learned a lot about ourselves after the first issue. We do lend our tastes more towards one-page poems, but with a particularly compelling long-form poem, we can be swayed. And this time, we’ve got a first issue that you can download on our website (lastleavesmag.com) to get a feel for what we accepted and what we didn’t.

HOPKINSON: Is there a theme for your second issue? Why did you choose this particular theme?

BARON: There is! After our first issue where we mostly wanted to get a foot in the door and build a community, we decided it would be a good idea to pick a theme this time. For the second issue, I chose the theme: RAW. We’d like you to take this idea and run with it, both in art and poetic forms.

Raw can be used to describe many things: wounds, emotions, uncooked meat. When you think of the word raw, do you think of a particular moment in time? Maybe the vulnerability of being close to someone, or the way untouched snow looks at the start of winter. We want to hear from you about your wounds, about what’s healed and unhealed and torn apart. Send us your deepest desires, your biggest regrets. An intentionally unedited poem. We want you to get creative within the realm of what’s raw, what’s uncooked, what’s untouched.

HOPKINSON: What do you wish you’d see submitted, but rarely comes in?

BARON: I think the biggest thing this time around is art. If you’re an artist and a poet, send us both! No more than five pieces in each genre, but we’re small enough still that we don’t limit one form or the other. We had some really good artwork submitted last time, some even done to pair with poems, but we’d love more.

As far as poetry, we want more voices. We didn’t receive as many submissions as we would have liked last time from marginalized voices, but we’d really love to be a community and a platform that can help build up and amplify them.

HOPKINSON: What are some of your favorite lit mags/journals?

BARON: I love Train River Publishing. Since I primarily run our Instagram account, I somewhat modeled the beginning of it after them because of how successful their style was for them. I love how they accept submissions via Instagram for their lit mag, and that’s an idea we’ve toyed with here and there. I also love Capsule Stories. Their issues are filled with amazing work, and their use of illustrations on Instagram is fabulous. You’ll see I somewhat use that as inspiration for our current posting schedule following the first issue.

HOPKINSON: What is your favorite part of being on staff with Last Leaves?

BARON: I love being able to do a passion project with two of my closest friends. These girls mean more than the world to me, keeping me grounded and motivated and honest. We respect each other, listen to each other, and all share the same passion for giving writers a platform to share their work with the world.

HOPKINSON: Where can poets send submissions?

BARON: You can send art and poetry submissions to lastleavesmag@gmail.com! Please, please, please check out our submission guidelines in full: https://www.lastleavesmag.com/submissions We were very relaxed the first time around about not following the guidelines, but we’re going to be much more strict for this issue. So, please follow them to a T! It will be easier on us, and we’ll love you forever.

HOPKINSON: If someone has a question, how can they contact you?

BARON: You can DM us on Instagram at @lastleavesmag or you can email your questions to lastleavesmag@gmail.com. We’re more than happy to help you out, especially if you have a question about submitting! We try to respond as quickly as possible on both platforms, and our submission response time is around two months.

DEADLINE: February 28, 2021

SUBMISSION FEE: None

PAYMENT: None

FORMS: poetry

FORMAT: online

SUBMISSION METHOD: Email

SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram

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