Call for Submissions

Feb / Mar 2026

Vol 11, Issue No. 1

Guest Editor: Marissa Thomas, Co-Founder of For the Breast of Us

SURVIVORSHIP

Have you had the experience of scrolling back through pictures and come across a picture of yourself taken in the months/weeks/days leading up to your breast cancer diagnosis? Does it break your heart a little to think of that more innocent version of yourself who doesn’t yet know what is coming their way? What would tell them about survivorship specifically?

For our first “Survivorship” issue since 2021, we’re looking for voices of survivorship — from Stage 0 to Stage IV — that don’t just tell the victory lap, but live in the gap, the question, the becoming. If your story walks the line between what was and what is, if you’ve asked why me and what now, we’d love to invite you to share.

What change have you witnessed in yourself between grief and humor, diagnosis and identity, loss and becoming in your survivorship?

Listen for what wasn’t supposed to happen, what the experience still carries, what you almost said, what the world doesn’t see…

Meet Guest Editor Marissa Thomas

Marissa Thomas is returning to Wildfire Journal as this issue’s guest editor.

Marissa Thomas, a dynamic Woman of Color and a visionary leader, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the tender age of 35.

This life-altering moment led her to co-found For the Breast of Us in May 2019, alongside Jasmine Souers, another resilient breast cancer survivor.

Their mission was clear: to craft a sanctuary where women of color battling breast cancer could find resources that speak directly to them, shared by voices they could relate to.

Previously, Marissa guest edited our “Social” issue.

We accept:

Essays: 650-1200 words
Poems: 50 line maximum
Artwork: high-resolution along with a written Artist Statement

Submission Deadline: December 30, 2025

Ready to submit your story? Fill out the submission form at the bottom of the Submission page.

SUBMIT NOW

Need inspiration to write your story in the Wildfire Journal way? We’ve got you. Scroll down for resources & inspiration.

✏️Writing Prompts

Use these prompts to help dig into the layered, messy, emotional terrain of your experience. These prompts can provide an entry point to the page and the start to an essay.

Tell about the first time you felt you’d survived diagnosis (and maybe treatment, too), but something still felt off.
Describe a moment when you realized your body or your identity had changed, and you weren’t sure you’d ever recognize what came next.
What’s one ordinary day after treatment when you looked around and thought: ‘This is what survivorship feels like’ — and then something inside you whispered: ‘But there’s more to it.’
If you could send a postcard from your life right now to the person you were at diagnosis, what would it say?
When you hear the word ‘survivor’, what rushes up in you — and what doesn’t get said?
My biggest challenge in survivorship today is…

Tip: As you're writing your transformation stories, try ending your piece with a silent "... and nothing was ever the same again," to see if that rings true for you.

Keep digging for how your life is different now. This is what takes a writing from a moment or anecdote to a story.

Remember, we are looking for cancer-related stories, so no matter where your story begins, don’t forget to include how your experience of cancer has affected you, and the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Read more writing tips here.