When Inscape Journal was first thought up in the 1980s, its creators certainly had big dreams for the fledgling literary magazine—but they never could have imagined that 50 years later, Inscape would be a thriving literary community with a staff of over 40 people, receiving submissions from creators in over 12 countries.
One thing that hasn’t changed in 50 years, though, is Inscape’s commitment to publishing meaningful art and promoting bold creativity. Our journal’s next step is simply one more way to achieve that mission: starting with our Winter 2027 issue, we will be paying all contributors published in our general issue.
What’s Changing?
At Inscape, we champion work that is bizarre, believing, and beautiful. We believe that art is a powerful tool for positive change, and for decades we have been sustained by a community of contributors who also believed in our mission.
This new milestone isn’t the first big step Inscape has taken in recent years in order to pay it forward to that community. Successes like the introduction of the visual art genre and our regular contests have made it possible to reach out to and invest in artists in meaningful ways.
So while this is a big change for Inscape, it’s far from an overhaul of our journal’s mission and identity. It’s a natural continuation of it.
Why Does This Matter?
We love art at Inscape. Always have, obviously. The creative works we’ve received and published throughout the years hold tremendous value for us, even when we couldn’t yet afford to compensate their creators.
Paying published contributors is a tangible sign of Inscape’s development as an organization. Our staff and scope has grown—we can do more as a journal! But even more importantly, it’s a tangible way of thanking our artist community for the labor, creativity, and vulnerability involved in making and sharing meaningful work.
Paying it back is more than just a reward for good work. It’s a form of investing in our own mission statement and sustaining the artistic community we are so thrilled to be a part of.
What Can I Expect?
Our editorial mission is not changing. Inscape is still seeking work that is bizarre, believing, and beautiful.
When you submit to Inscape, your work is thoughtfully evaluated in multiple steps. Each piece is first reviewed by a genre group—a collection of staff members focused on one of Inscape’s four genres. Each staff member will read your piece carefully before meeting with the rest of the group to discuss submissions.
These genre groups evaluate submissions based on multiple criteria, including alignment with Inscape’s mission and overall artistic merit. (We’ll go into more depth about what we look for in submissions in a later blog!) After a piece is discussed, it will be voted on by all group members. Pieces that are approved in this vote move forward to a second round of evaluation: that of our lead genre editors and our editors-in-chief.
If this second group also approves of your piece, then congratulations! You have officially been selected for publication in the next issue of Inscape. You will be notified by your corresponding genre editor, who will also keep you up-to-date on the editing process.
We publish issues twice a year: once in December and once in April. Each publication is celebrated by a gala, to which all published contributors are invited to meet our staff, celebrate with us, and explore the new issue. Now we get to add one final, exciting step to the process by releasing contributor payment shortly after this gala.
What’s Coming Next?
This is a new and exciting chapter for Inscape, and though we have high hopes for the results, we can’t envision all of the changes this milestone will bring. Any step into unknown territory brings an equal measure of anticipation and anxiety.
But we couldn’t ask for a better community to take this leap with. Don’t wait to become part of that community—click here to submit to Inscape.
