The Monstrous & The Divine: A Sapphic Anthology Scylla Publishing Gold Star Program Gold Star

Submissions open from May 1, 2026 to July 31, 2026 for short fiction, flash fiction, and poetry.

“This is not a time for men,” Inanna says from her place at the head of the table, in the seventh-storey boardroom where their number are tasked with decreeing fate.

“Inanna.” Not for the first time, Enlil gives off patronising patience. “Are you sure about that? I think you might not have considered the optics—”

The goddess of war and love’s gaze only softens after glancing in the direction of her ever-devoted handmaiden. Before that, its cold, quelling edge brings abrupt silence to Enlil and all masculine murmurs.

“It is time now for the women to speak.”

Submissions should focus on Sapphic goddesses and monsters as you’ve not seen them before. Bring them down from the heavens and out of the caves. While goddesses and monsters aren’t like us, they do still crave the company of ones who love, fear and worship them. Not necessarily in that order.

Reminiscent of Seanan McGuire’s October Daye, Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Bryan Fuller’s American Gods, or the work of Nnedi Okorafor, Nghi Vo, or Francesca Lia Block, submissions for this anthology should be:

• gritty
• neon vivid
• whimsical
• character-driven
• moody/atmospheric
• offering social/political commentary, or
• any combination of the above

Wrest your Sapphic goddesses and mythic monsters from traditional settings (though many may still possess paraphernalia of previous glory or destruction). They’ll doubtless have feelings about that, for good or ill.

Send us the monsters of magical realism, and goddesses struggling to get by in a world they no longer recognise. Show us contemporary immortal immigrant families settling in the new world, divinities struggling with the inexorable slog of time or reincarnation. Write of constellation-based goddesses and monsters who have made their homes among the stars after finding no welcome on Earth.

Be bold! Sapphic urban fantasy, political fantasy, historical fantasy (just NOT traditional settings), magical realism, sci-fi, contemporary fantasy, weird fiction, and/or gender-bent takes are all welcome. Just make it speculative! Special consideration will be given to mythologies outside Greek and Roman (though interesting takes on these are still welcome).