poetry & art for mental health awareness

NEW RELEASE SEPTEMBER 15!

Through The Red Door’s Open Maw by Jessica June Cato

From the Introduction: Through the Red Door’s Open Maw is a reckoning with the residual guilt and self-perception that haunts the bones—lineage, familial abandonment, addiction, mental illness, and queerphobia traced back to that red door, the open maw. Cato reflects on love as foreign—comparing ancestries as if checking the past to see if there is anything innate in her familial bones, makeup, or core.


This chapbook is a naked and honest reflection about what remains of one’s past self and how to break free from beliefs of what is intrinsic to selfhood, to live beyond into goodness that need not be compared with personal history; instead, can shine all on its own.


—Matthew Feinstein, author of Breeds of Breath


PAPERBACK | EBOOK

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Octopus Books

Ontario, Ottawa CAN

our Mission

Established in 2021, we publish poetry & art with a focus on mental health awareness. We donate 10% of each anthology sale to a featured non-profit (currently: St. Francis Center of Denver). We publish individual chapbooks and anthologies from authors around the world, and aim to uplift historically marginalized voices, including BIPOC and LGBTQ+. We host community-building local & virtual events & workshops throughout the year, including Queer Poetry Open Mic at Goldspot Brewing, every last Sunday of the Month.

our Team

SARAH HERRIN | co-founder / lead Editor / SOCIAL MEDIA / Graphic Designer

IG: @_sarahherrin


Sarah (they/them) is a queer poet based in Colorado.

Herrin has published several poetry chapbooks including One Thousand Good Answers (Sunday Mornings At The River) & The Oceanography of Her (Papeachu Press) and individual poems with Pile Press, Ouch! Collective, Querencia, blood moon POETRY, East French Press, and more.


Their background is in storytelling and creative writing (BFA/SCAD). Herrin continues education through workshops at Hugo House, Lighthouse Writers, The Poetry Lab, Community Building Art Works.

AJ WOJTALIK | Newsletter / Editor

IG: ajwojtalik.poetry


AJ (she/her) is a writer from Colorado who finds peace while exploring the sacred in the ordinary. She balances her craft with raising a remarkable teen wolf and a pack of animals, and rambling around in nature as much as possible — all of which shows up in her writing (and her zoom calls).


She has worked as an editor and consultant for a couple of small presses and loves to connect art and community, so after a series of biscuit brunches she joined the BTV team in Feb 2022.

TYLER HURULA | IN-PERSON EVENTS / EDITOR IG: @theprettypinkpoet


Tyler (she/her) is a queer and polyamorous poet born and raised in Denver, Colorado. She is the author of poetry chapbook: Love Me Louder.


When not writing, she is likely befriending the neighborhood cats or cross-stitching. She values connection, authenticity, and vulnerability, and tries to encompass these values in her writing and everyday life.

KRIS KAILA | VIRTUAL EVENTS & WORKSHOPS / EDITOR

IG:@krisesque_life/ @my_novelesque_life


Kris (she/her) is a queer Punjabi/Canadian poet & writer and book reviewer & blogger. She can be found taking workshops and occasionally leading them, reading and watching the same shows and movies over and over again.


After surviving several traumas, she finds writing about her mental health helps in the healing and self-compassion journey.


Kris is also the Educational Coordinator with The Poetry Lab.

Our Books

2023 Chapbook Contest Winners!

Maybe She's Born With It, Maybe

It's Trauma by Cait Thomson (May 2023)


It is impossible to read Maybe She’s Born With it, Maybe it’s Trauma! and not fall in love with Cait Thomson. She is funny, she is brave, she is having a revelation in a McDonald’s Drive Thru, she is ingeniously suggesting we “Wrap everything in pastry and call it a day”. Like Cait, this collection is beautiful and good. Sit back, fix yourself a gin and tonic (and a glass of milk?) and watch what happens to your heart.

—Julie Stenton, author of In the Dream I Jump from a Great Height and Land Safely

Surviving Peter Pan by Marissa Forbes (June 2023)


Marissa Forbes’ Surviving Peter Pan is a masterful poetry collection that brings fantasy into the real life story of a mother and her children being forced to grow and adapt without a husband and father. Having survived the emotional abuse and trauma from her own Peter Pan, Forbes takes us on a voyage of revisiting her past to make peace with her present. A mother’s love brings her to the realization that she must overcome her own pain, so that her children have a chance to heal in the future.

Andrés Sánchez, This Body

TRANSabdominal Retrieval by Teddy G Goetz

(Aug 2023)


TRANSabdominal Retrieval goes beyond honest and introspective: it is raw, bare, and exposed. Goetz takes us on an emotional exploration of their experiences as a trans person going through fertility treatment and egg retrieval. They invite us into doctors’ offices and bedrooms, and into their heart, mind, and body during these experiences. Alongside poignant portrayals of the complex (and at times contradictory) nature of feelings are moments of mind-body connection and awe at life and creation. While deeply personal, one cannot help but relate to the humanness within these poems. —Rabbi Ariel Tovlev, MAJE

We Are Creatures Of What Has Happened by Ashley Mezzano (Aug 2023)


We are Creatures of What Has Happened is a modern queer anthem. The speaker is a voyeur of the past, unsure of the god in her mother's prayers. Like the god in "burial grounds", Mezzano "pulls you out of your body and shuts the door" It's "a large fruit bearing tree" that has you eat our histories like a snack, crunch the cult culture between the red, white, and blue teeth of modern homophobia. A must read for those of us healing, still learning to love ourselves.


—Crystal Stone, author of Knock-Off Monarch, All the Places I Wish I Died, Gym Bras, and Civic Duty

Through The Red Door’s Open Maw by Jessica June Cato (Sept 2023)


Through the Red Door’s Open Maw is a reckoning with the residual guilt and self-perception that haunts the bones—lineage, familial abandonment, addiction, mental illness, and queerphobia traced back to that red door, the open maw.


—Matthew Feinstein, author of Breeds of Breath

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As Long As This Heart Beats by Kyrsta Morehouse (Oct 2023)


Kyrsta's debut collection is a force of queer magic, that will steady any ready and open heart that needs a little healing and a safe place to call home.


—Derrick C. Brown, publisher of Write Bloody Publishing, & author of Love Ends in a Tandem Kayak

Other Chapbooks

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Neurotica for the Modern Doomscroller by Eddie Brophy (Oct 2023)


Coming this Halloween!

Heretic: A Story of Spiritual Liberation by Kristy Webster (Sept 2022)


Should you want to leave, / you must first break / the soft, terrible neck / of your own fear.


Queer Latina author Kristy Webster's first chapbook, Heretic in an incendiary collection of poems following the path of liberating oneself from a religious cult. Webster writes to reclaim her power, to uncover the grave of herself and climb into the moonlight, transformed into something more than human.

Anti/Muse by Sarah Herrin (Feb 2022)


Sarah Herrin's poetry book features artwork by Josiah Callaway. These 30 poems will take you on a journey from the depths of heartbreak and betrayal to the reclaiming of self and purpose.


TEMPORARILY OUT OF PRINT

Anthologies

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Anthology 6: relics of unbearable softness (OCT 2023)

anthology 3: HOW TO HEAL A BLOODLINE (nov 2022)


In How to Heal a Bloodline, we discover the voices of cycle breakers boldly naming their wounds and facing their demons. - Kristy Webster, Heretic: a spiritual liberation in poems


Featuring poetry and artwork from 50 creators around the world. The theme centers around hope and healing during the Covid pandemic years.


10% profits to Mind Out: LGBTIQ+ Health Australia

Anthology 5: Do Not Tap On The Glass (JUNE 2023)


In a world where identities are fluid and multifaceted, Do Not Tap On The Glass fearlessly embraces the complexity of our human experience. It invites us to explore the myriad facets of self, to celebrate our shared vulnerabilities, and to find solace in the knowledge that we are not alone in our journeys of self-discovery. - Rebecca Rijsdijk, Sunday Mornings At The River


10% profits to St. Francis Center

anthology 2: TEA WITH MY MONSTER (JUNE 2022) (Bookshop)


Tea With My Monster contains poetry, art, and prose. It is a whopping 162 pages, featuring 64 poets & artists from across the globe. This collection speaks on themes of mental health awareness including struggling, coping, and healing. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​By sharing our stories, we learn that we are never alone.


10% profits to OutRight International

WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE: Queer & Trans Voices (FEB 2023)


An anthology of poetry & art featuring queer & trans voices, expressing grief, rage, resilience, and love for the community in response to the ClubQ shooting in Colorado Springs.


Featuring poetry and artwork from 50 creators around the world.


Proceeds to Victims First: Club Q Victims Fund

anthology 1: THERE IS A MONSTER INSIDE THAT I AM LEARNING TO LOVE (NOV 2021)


Our first anthology weighs in at 80 pages and features 35 poets & artists from around the world. It focuses on mental health through the lens of monsters.


10% profits to Mental Health America

Notebooks & Coloring Books

ANTI/MUSE NOTEBOOKS: MINT / PEACH

160pg lined paperback


Quality flexible lined notebook featuring original art (front and back) from Anti/Muse by Josiah Callaway, the Mr Bitey logo creator.

ANTI/MUSE NOTEBOOKS: LAVENDER / BLUE

80pg lined paperback


Quality flexible lined notebook featuring original art (front and back) from Anti/Muse by Josiah Callaway, the Mr Bitey logo creator.

ANTI/MUSE COLORING BOOK

Digital Download


This digital coloring book features 10 illustrations from our poetry chapbook Anti/Muse by Josiah Callaway. Each artwork prints at 11x8.5 (landscape) and has space for your own poem, journaling, or sketching. Instant PDF file download so you can print and color right away.

Merch!

MR BITEY ENAMEL PIN

DISCOUNTED MISPRINTS

Book Bundles

STICKERS

and MORE in our etsy shop:

etsy.com/shop/btvpress.

submit your work

BIPOC Anthology

BIPOC Anthology Submissions are OPEN.

Theme: Invention as Revolution


"BIPOC folks are used to inventing themselves and cultural expressions as ways of surviving in this culture of exploitation and forced assimilation. Haven’t we also used invention as a way of changing this world. Write us some poems that show us how you, as a BIPOC member, live in a culture of inventive revolution or you yourself are inventing new ways of living and fomenting your own revolution. We love a poem in whatever format you choose, but feel free to play with form, space, and style of your poems. Make it fun, make it pop! It’s not enough to survive, we must thrive!" - Sean Felix, guest editor


To be published in 2024.


  • FEE WAIVED.
  • All work remains your own.
  • Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please note it.
  • No previously published work (unless it has been significantly reworked) - we want your shiny new stuff.
  • You may submit 3-5 poems and/or artwork related to mental health and our current theme.
  • No more than 3 pages for a single poem.
  • Please do not submit only ONE poem or piece of art - we want a fair representation of your work.
  • Please DO NOT include your name anywhere on your work. We will be reading blind to curb any bias.
  • Include content warnings for work that includes possibly triggering content or themes such as: sexual assault or violence, suicide, eating disorders, abuse, excessive gore, etc.



READY TO SUBMIT? Use this form.

Survivors Anthology

Survivors of Sexual Assault Anthology Submissions Open NOW through Dec '23.

"Hey y’all - it’s Sarah, owner and editor of Beyond The Veil Press. Some of you may know that I am a survivor of sexual assault, and it’s no exaggeration when I say that YOU and this Press have been my lifeline over the past 2 years. Poetry and art can be a lifeline too."


After reading something in the news like “why didn’t you ask for help” and “if you live with a man, why are you running around getting rxped?’ and were reminded that we need more survivor stories out in the world. We need more awareness, more anger, more action. We want Justice.


The world needs your story.


We’re looking for poetry and art expressing your experience of coping, healing, suffering, grieving, and surviving.


Feel free to submit anonymously, under a pen name, or your real name — in whatever way you feel safe. We will be accepting submissions on a rolling basis for a pub date of Spring 2024. Your editors for this anthology will be Kris Kaila and Sarah Herrin. DM us on Instagram if you have any questions! Thank you in advance for sharing in your vulnerability and courage with us. You are not alone.

  • FEE WAIVED.
  • DO put your name in the file name.
  • No more than 3 pages for a single poem.
  • We prefer new, but previously published work is allowed.
  • You may submit 3-5 poems and/or artwork related to mental health and our current theme.
  • DO NOT submit only ONE poem or piece of art - we want a fair representation of your work.
  • Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please note it and let us know if it is selected somewhere else.
  • DO NOT include potentially triggering material (such as graphic details of violence, descriptions of suicide, etc.). If you’re not sure if something is okay, use a trigger warning.
  • Submitting under a pen name, real name, or anonymously is allowed.


READY TO SUBMIT? Use this form.


Please Note: Our staff works on a volunteer basis, so we cannot offer cash payment.

Contributors receive a free digital copy and the opportunity to purchase one print copy at a discounted price.

In addition, 10% of all anthology sales are donated to a featured mental health non-profit.

Events & Workshops

RSVP through Eventbrite! To schedule an event, please reach out to Kris for Virtual and Tyler for In-Person.

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Mental Health Resources We love

Please keep in mind that we are artists, not medical professionals. These are resources that we have used personally or were recommended to us. They may not be for everyone.


PLEASE DIAL 988 IF YOU ARE IN CRISIS.


WEBSITES


GENERAL MENTAL HEALTH


Wanna Talk About It - Sexual Violence & Relationship Abuse; Mental Health & Well-Being; Self-Harm & Suicide

Anxiety & Depression Society of America

Mental Health Is Health – Immediate articles and help.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Active Minds – Mental health awareness and education.

Mental Health Colorado - an advocacy organization.


LGBTQ SPECIALISTS


Queer*Asterisk – Queer-informed counseling services, educational trainings, and community programming.

OutBoulder - supporting LGBTQ+ communities in Boulder & beyond.

The Trevor Project – Crisis intervention and suicide prevention for youth.


SUBSTANCE ABUSE


AddictionResource.net (LGBT-Friendly)

Co-Occurring Disorders and Substance Abuse

The Recovery Village

Depression And Alcohol


SEXUAL VIOLENCE


Helping Survivors of Sexual Assault and Abuse

RAINN - The nation's largest anti-sexual violence org.

Rape Hurts Foundation - Excellent Help, I Can’t Do This page worth reading.


BOOKS


The Body Keeps The Score – Bessel van der Kolk

Healing Trauma – Peter Levine

Journey From Abandonment to Healing – Susan Anderson

Polysecure: Attachment, Trauma, and Consensual Nonmonogamy – Jessica Fern


PODCASTS


Where Is My Mind? – Niall Breslin

The Savvy Psychologist: Quick & Dirty Tips – Jade Wu

The Hilarious World of Depression – John Moe

The Happiness Lab – Dr. Laurie Santos

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2021-2023 Beyond the Veil Press