The Stray Branch

04/05/2024

The Spring/Summer 2024 issue of The Stray Branch is now available

The Stray Branch: Spring/Summer 2024 #33 Vol 30

17/04/2024

Coming Soon…

The Stray Branch
Spring/Summer 2024 #33 Vol 30
Cover Art “The Red Planet” by Richard Calaman
ISBN: 9798323118335�Independently Published

01/03/2024

SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW CLOSED! Please do not submit at this time. Save all submissions for the next reading cycle that begins October 1st. Any submissions sent now will not be read or saved. Thank you,

20/02/2024

Photography Submissions:

Types of photography suitable for The Stray Branch are photos of trees, woods, railroad tracks, lakes, cemeteries, abandoned asylums, hospitals, houses, anything that looks haunted, creepy dolls, skulls, dark flowers, roses, ravens, crows, owls, the moon, anything dark, edgy, emotional or strange but nothing political or religious. All photos must be in black and white, same with bio photos.

Photo by Debbie Berk, Founder/Editor/Publisher of The Stray Branch.

24/01/2024

The next two issues of The Stray Branch. Ready to begin work on the Spring:Summer 2024 issue.

04/01/2024

Submissions update: Both the Spring/Summer 2024 and Fall/Winter 2024 issues are now full. All new submissions will be considered for the Spring/Summer 2025 issue.

Also, please do not submit more than 2 submissions per reading period. Please do send lengthy fiction pieces or bio information.

Thank you.

15/12/2023

Just a reminder when thinking about submitting to The Stray Branch, I am not at all interested in political or religious material.

Thank you

26/11/2023

Photography from current issue

Photography Loretta Grimaldi is an artist and photographer whose work has appeared in The Stray Branch and various charity organizations.

26/11/2023

Photography from issue

Photography

26/11/2023

Featured Flash Fiction

Featured Flash Fiction The wooden people are common in this part of the country, at least, that’s what I was told when I moved here. The main thing to know about them is that they mean no harm. I s…

26/11/2023

Featured Fiction from current issue

Featured Fiction “Get up hurry! Put your hands in the slots, convict.” Dillard Wamchukie shouted those words through the barred opening in my cell. “They coming, hurry!” “How’s the zombie war going…

20/11/2023

Art from current issue

Artwork Born in Mexico, Luis lives in California and works in the mental health field in Los Angeles. His poems and artwork has appeared in Blue Collar Review, Medusa’s Kitchen, The Stray Bran…

20/11/2023

Featured poem from current issue

Featured Poem I am good at pattern recognition,dentifying intentwith a one-second glance.I read internal states from external gestures;learned early to know if a lifted hand would caress or make ha…

20/11/2023

Featured poem from current issue

Featured Poem After the washing and theDrying machine,There should beA folding machine,With a “Moving from the drying to the foldingMachine”In between. Robert Mayette is an author of literary and s…

20/11/2023

Featured poem from issue

Featured Poem The stale affection that gathers must and yeast.The vapid smile whose fervor is lostwith affectation’s turns and twists.The clammy palm that drips with slimy handshakes.The bosom acco…

19/11/2023

Features from current issue

Featured Contributor ~ Visual Art/Poetry Robert Fleming lives in Lewes, DE. Published in United States, Canada, England, Ireland, and Australia. Member of the Rehoboth Beach and Horror Writer’s Ass…

19/11/2023

Features from current issue

Featured Contributor ~ Poetry Peter A. Witt is a Texas Poet and a retired university professor. He also writes family history with a book about his aunt published by the Texas A&M Press. His po…

19/11/2023

Features from current issue

Featured Contributor ~ Fiction Paul is a freelance writer and author, with numerous titles, both fiction and nonfiction, published in a variety of genres. Paul released a dark fantasy anthology as …

19/11/2023

Features from current issue

Featured Contributor ~ Poetry Michael Lee Johnson lived ten years in Canada, Vietnam era. Today he is a poet in the greater Chicagoland area, IL. He has 259 YouTube poetry videos. Michael Lee John…

19/11/2023

Features from current issue

Featured Contributor ~ Fiction Doug Hawley picked up writing after earlyretirement. He switched from number to words with his writing hobby. His writing appears in most genres, sho…

19/11/2023

Features from current

Featured Contributor ~ Photography Photographer Shayna Bruce, based in Lexington, KY, artfully explores this theme in her work. Drawing inspiration from her profound connection with animals, nature…

19/11/2023

Features from current issue

Featured Contributor ~ Photography – Isabel Gómez de Diego (b. 1991) is a Poetess, Photografer and Erudite Young Women. Photography is her ideal médium for her inspiration and investigation, …

19/11/2023

Features from current issue

Featured Contributor ~ Poetry Alessio Zanelli is an Italian poet who writes in English. His work has appeared in over 200 literary journals from 17 countries. His fifth collection, titled The Secre…

07/11/2023

The fall/winter 2023 issue of The Stray Branch is now available!

The Stray Branch: Fall/Winter 2023

21/10/2023

Coming soon! The Fall/Winter 2023 issue of The Stray Branch.

Cover art by Sandro D. Fossemò

03/10/2023

As of October 1st, submissions have resumed. All submissions will be considered for the Fall/Winter 2024 issue. Please read guidelines before submitting. The upcoming Fall/Winter 2023 issue will be available in late October or early November.

12/08/2023

SUBMISSIONS ARE CURRENTLY CLOSED!
They will not be read, save them for October 1.

Thank you

07/08/2023

Just a reminder that submissions are currently closed. Submissions resume October 1st so please wait until that time to submit.
Thank you.

03/08/2023

Work on the upcoming Fall/Winter 2023 issue of The Stray Branch has officially begun. I still need to add the remaining features from the last issue to the website. It’s been a busy summer and mentally I felt I needed to take a step back from the publication.

13/05/2023

The Spring/Summer 2023 issue of The Stray Branch is now available

Poetry by… Anthony Watkins, Christopher Woods, Daniel de Culla, Debbie Berk, Duane Anderson, Edgar Rider, Emalisa Rose, Glen Armstrong, Jeremy Szuder, Jim Murdoch, John Sweet, Lamont Turner, Lee Clark Zumpe, Marc Carver, Michael Lee Johnson, Milenko Županović, Partha Sarkar, Peggy Carter, RC deW...