We announced the theme for Issue #3 last week at the beautiful Chapter One Books in Manchester, where a crowd of writers, readers, academics and indie publishers listened to readings from the Union issue and engaged in some lively literary debate, fuelled by freely flowing libations. It was so much fun we’ve decided to throw a launch party at a different indie bookstore around the country for each issue – so if you’re a UK bookstore looking to partner on such events, or if you’re a reader of Shooter and would like to suggest a favourite bookstore in your area, please do get in touch!

Without further ado, the theme for Issue #3 will be Surreal. We’re now open for submissions of short fiction, non-fiction and poetry revolving around strange or fantastical events, oddballs and eccentrics, dreams and nightmares, the juxtaposition of the bizarre with the everyday, ordinary characters encountering strange beings or strange beings thrust into otherwise ordinary circumstances. Unleash your imagination, but ensure the writing is of a literary standard and symbolism has meaning. Think Lewis Carroll, Mervyn Peake, David Lynch, Angela Carter. The weird and the wonderful, transgressive and transcendent.

Writers should visit the Submissions page for guidelines and information about how to submit. The deadline is October 25th. We also seek illustrations for cover art related to the theme. Artists may first submit links to their portfolio or examples of their work to artwork.shooterlitmag@gmail.com, but both artists and writers should first visit the Submissions page to check the guidelines.