CONTRIBUTORS’ GUIDELINES
The Mythic Circle solicits original fantasy-inspired stories and poems from the membership of the Mythopoeic Society and from the larger world. We are also looking for original visual art contributions in the form of jpeg or other suitable file formats.
As a small online literary magazine, The Mythic Circle is published electronically by the Mythopoeic Society, an organization which celebrates the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Charles Williams. These innovative writers drew upon the rich imaginative tradition of fantasy literature stretching from Homer to H. G. Wells, and they returned fantasy to a respectable place in adult literature.
The Mythic Circle exists primarily for the benefit of writers and artists (to whom we refer collectively as "Authors") trying to develop their craft in the mythic tradition. Regarding length limits, the editors must think very well of a contribution more than 5000 words long to publish it. By editorial policy, we favor our subscribers.
The editors look mostly for original work by authors following the mythic tradition; this can include a certain amount of commentary and allusion to the works of other mythic authors (though such allusions and commentary are not necessary). However, the editors do not wish to see "fan fiction” such as stories that make use of characters, settings, or images from works by living or recent authors or artists or any works still under copyright.
Submissions and letters of comment should be e-mailed to [email protected].
As a small literary and arts publication, we do not pay cash for contributions. The copyright for works published in The Mythic Circle remains with the author or artist, except for the specific rights given for publication in The Mythic Circle, for future reprints of a particular issue in print or electronic (including online) formats, and for distribution of The Mythic Circle to third party database partners. Artists can request that a watermark be placed upon the digital image in the SWOSU archive, but such watermarks must be specifically requested or they may not be inserted.
For more information, check the society’s website at http://www.mythsoc.org/.
Current Issue: Issue 48 (2026)
Editors’ Introductions
Greetings, fans of fantasy art, including fiction, poetry, and images, and welcome to the 2026 edition (issue #48) of The Mythic Circle, the creative writing publication of The Mythopoeic Society. The Mythic Circle serves as a publishing outlet for members of The Mythopoeic Society (to join, go to https://www.mythsoc.org/members/join.htm to review your options), and for writers and artists in the general public as well. By policy, preference is given to Society members. To purchase paperback and hard cover copies, go to https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09C4WCSGS?binding= kindle_edition&searchxofy=true&ref_=dbs_s_bs_series_rwt_tkin&qid=1781977321&sr=1-1.
For this year’s edition, we selected the work of nineteen fiction writers for 20 stories; twelve poets who produced fifteen poems; and six visual artists in various media for sixteen images. Once again, this year we received a wide range of enjoyable creative works and tried to select those that went together best within our 124 pages. These mythic and fantasy works best represent “original work by authors following the mythic tradition” that is the guiding principle of The Mythic Circle.
Binding Off Loose Ends
Susan Shwartz
Red Hooded Jasper
Ali Al Azzazi
The World Beneath the Waves
Jacob Bier
The Nightjar and the Souljar
Rebecca Hyde Gonzales
All This Time
Robert Normandie
The Coward of Ithaca
J. Brice Owens
The Lament of Orpheus
Nadia Hana Abraham
Small Gods
Charlie Freelander
The Many Faces of Persephone
Nicole Vickers
Jasper Mary
S. Dorman
Let There Be Life
Tawanda Nyahasha
The Golden Brain
Zac Walsh
In the Out-Text
Daniel Rabuzzi
Máni’s Melancholies
Danielle Krikorian
A Page from Gandalf’s Notebook
David Sparenberg
A Short Sumerian Note
Jack Devoe
Fifteen Years Later: Arthur Returns
Youtao Cao
Centre of the Labyrinth
A J. Dalton
The Sign in the Stone
Anthony Starkiewicz
Siren Song
Dorcy Jaffray
This Holy Creature
Hari Blackmore
Erebus and the Man
Saad Kayani
The Abyssal Curse
Kylie Bartley
The Wastes Beyond Nyothatha
Lee Zumpe
Co-Editors
- Victoria Gaydosik, fiction, Southwestern Oklahoma State University
- Nolan Meditz, poetry, Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Editor Emerita
- Gwenyth Hood, Marshall University
Archivist
- Phillip Fitzsimmons, Administrator of The Mythic Circle and Society Archives, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

