For ten years () has been dedicated to publishing “boundary-breaking prose” in chapbook- and full-length works of fiction, creative nonfiction, and hybrid texts. Founded in, the press began with “a punk ethos” and a mission to create a forum for “gutsy, edgy work that needed to be in the world,” says Kristine Langley Mahler, Split/Lip’s director and publisher. Though the press and magazine are no longer affiliated, the punk aesthetic is still central to Split/Lip, which publishes four titles per year, all discovered through open submissions. The press is currently reading chapbook submissions in fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid texts through June 1 with a $10 reading fee. The charge helps pay honoraria or stipends to everyone on the Split/Lip team, including readers, who receive a portion of submission fees each reading period, says Mahler. Split/Lip’s mission statement articulates the press’s preference for writing “that questions the concept of truth and work that reinterprets what we think we know.” Recent titles include Sean Enfield’s , an essay collection published in December about the experience of being a Black educator and student during the Trump era, and Jillian Danback-McGhan’s , a story collection that blends “military literature and feminist horror,” published in February. In addition to pushing the boundaries of genre, form, and common knowledge, Split/Lip also literally traverses state and national borders: Mahler is based in Omaha, Nebraska, but the editorial team of nearly forty people hail from across the U.S., Canada, India, and South Africa.
