How We Learned to Leave

An Anthology of Departures, Goodbyes, and Becoming

Leaving is rarely simple. Sometimes it’s a door closing behind us. Sometimes it’s a slow backing away. Sometimes it’s staying far longer than we should, and finally choosing ourselves.

How We Learned to Leave seeks essays, memoirs, flash fiction, poetry, prose poetry, and short stories that explore the many ways we exit: relationships, homes, identities, beliefs, versions of ourselves. We are interested in work that examines what it means to walk away, be left behind, return changed, or never look back.

We welcome pieces that are intimate, sharp, tender, dark, hopeful, or quietly devastating. Whether your leaving was deliberate or accidental, loud or unnoticed, we want the moment of rupture, and what followed.

If your work grapples with departure as transformation rather than failure, this anthology may be for you.

Genres were interested in: Personal essays, memoir, flash fiction, short stories, poetry, prose poetry 

Theme: Leaving; physical, emotional, psychological, generational, or symbolic

Sometimes leaving is the bravest thing we do. We’re ready to read how you learned.

We look forward to reading your work. Submissions are open through 05/31/2026.

Please review our guidelines below before submitting:

 General Guidelines

• You must be 18 or older to submit.
• We accept previously published work for our anthology and journal opportunities. Given that the previous publishers allow it.
• Please include all previously published credits at the bottom of the correlating title in the body of the submission, not in the bio, subject line, separate messages, or anywhere else.  
• We do not accept previously published work for our traditional and chapbook publishing opportunities.
• Once accepted, you will be added to our email newsletter, and we will contact you about developments via the email you have listed on your submittable account. You are welcome to unsubscribe at any time.
• Please send any follow-up inquiries through your Submittable submissions portal.
• We are not yet a paying market for our anthology opportunities. Contributors will receive a PDF version of anthology collections unless otherwise indicated.
• If you need to withdraw the submission, please notify us through submittable.
• Contributor or Publisher may withdraw the offer of publication at any time before print.
• By submitting your work, you are agreeing to give us non-exclusive rights to publish it/them, if selected, in the anthology described above. Traditional publishing of full collections or novels requires exclusive rights.
• You may submit to more than one genre, but please do so in separate submissions. Multiple files or subs will be automatically rejected.
• Edit your work before submitting it. Please make sure the line breaks, stanza breaks, spelling, and grammar are EXACTLY how you want them. We will publish it as it is (except for glaring mistakes). We want to stay true to your formatting as closely as possible and will assume minor variations are for artistic flair. There will not be an opportunity to make changes. If you need to make changes, please request that we open the submission for editing via your Submittable submissions portal. This also prevents you from having to withdraw the submission to edit and saves you a 2nd submission fee.
• Quillkeepers Press reserves the right to make revisions to the work for uniformity and style (including capitalization of titles). However, we will solicit the Contributor’s approval for any significant changes.
• We are not babysitters. Please check your email for updates, release letters, and related materials. If we don't receive the release letter by the date listed on the document, we will assume you no longer wish to be part of the anthology, and your work will not be included in the manuscript.
• We cannot grant fee waivers without complicating our submission and project processes, so we do not honor such requests. We are genuinely sorry.

Submission Specifications:

• 1 flash fiction, short story, essay, or memoir up to 4k words.
• Up to 5 poems or prose poetry in a single document. Please ensure each selection starts on a new page. Anything over those numbers will not be read.
• Please use a 12pt, serif family font, standard size print paper (8.5x11), and 1.5 or double-spaced. 
• Please only include a short 3rd person bio starting with your name in the application part of the submission. Include any information you would like the readers to know about you, including any previous publications (this will not hinder or increase your chances of acceptance. We enjoy celebrating your wins in our publication.)
• Please include an author picture (if you want it in the anthology)
• Allow 4-8 weeks after the submission deadline date to receive a response.
• Reader fees cover this ad space and other overhead costs associated with the project.