Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine

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About

Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine is an online platform dedicated to using writing as catharsis, breaking the barrier around mental health, and providing an open platform for middle school to college age writers to express themselves. Founded in 2020, our project started off with three goals: 1) to foster and destigmatize conversations about mental health and identity, 2) to encourage finding mindfulness through writing, and 3) to create an open platform for young people to publish writing without the barriers of submission fees and long response times, as a young writers' stepping stone to larger publications. With the pandemic, political and economic turmoil, police brutality, and other large-scale issues arising, mental health conditions have become especially prevalent. We hope to use writing as a tool to heal and make sense of the complicated situations we've found ourselves in.

Limited Demographic: Submissions are restricted to ages 12-22.

Country of Publication & Year Established

United States

Established in 2020

Publication Medium & Frequency

Electronic Publication Electronic Publication: Published on a rolling basis

AI Policy

Unknown AI policy

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Collapse section Fiction Temp Closed

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience, including: Middle grades, Young adults.

Genres:

General

Lengths:

Flash Fiction: Up to 1,000 words; Up to 3 pieces.
Short Story: 1,000 - 3,000 words; Up to 3 pieces.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary, Mainstream.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics including...
Health/Medicine: General, Mental health.
Society/Culture: General, Current events, Social issues.
Other: See guidelines.

Payment:

No monetary payment No monetary payment.

Submissions:

Method: Email.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are allowed.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Nonfiction Temp Closed

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience, including: Middle grades, Young adults.

Lengths:

Essay: Up to 3,000 words; Up to 3 pieces.
Narrative Nonfiction: Up to 3,000 words; Up to 3 pieces.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary, Mainstream, Personal.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics including...
Health/Medicine: General, Mental health.
Society/Culture: General, Current events, Social issues.
Other: See guidelines.

Payment:

No monetary payment No monetary payment.

Submissions:

Method: Email.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are allowed.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Poetry Temp Closed

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience, including: Middle grades, Young adults.

Genres:

General

Lengths:

Poem: No line limits known; Up to 3 pieces.

Poetry Forms:

Open to all/most Forms.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary, Mainstream.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics including...
Health/Medicine: General, Mental health.
Society/Culture: General, Current events, Social issues.
Other: See guidelines.

Payment:

No monetary payment No monetary payment.

Submissions:

Method: Email.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are allowed.
Media: Text.

Always check guidelines for details and restrictions. If you aren't familiar with these terms, see our glossary.

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Social:
Instagram @catharticlitmagazine

For the Editor(s):
Request Interview
Link to Duotrope

Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine Submission Statistics

The statistics in this section are compiled from submission reports sent to us through our submission tracker. They are not provided by the publication's editors/staff or by Duotrope's admins. Information in this section is updated a few times per day. Learn more about the statistics.

We have not received any submission reports for this listing in the past 12 months.

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Dates

Last Updated: 27 Aug 2026

We check their guidelines for changes every four weeks, and we audit the listing twice a year.