[Feathered Stag is woman- and Latinx-owned passion project.]
About
Feathered Stag Press is a bohío for poetry—a shelter, a sacred gathering space where language lives, breathes, and belongs. In Indigenous Taíno culture, a bohío is a thatched-roof home made of natural materials, open to community, built with care and intention. Our press draws on this spirit: a place of welcome, warmth, and rootedness for poetry that defies limits, embraces spirit, and centers equity.
We publish work that both honors tradition and breaks the mold, poetry that listens deeply and speaks freely. Our mission is to support diverse, underrepresented, and rising writers by offering publication opportunities through our free digital magazine and our curated annual print anthology, which will come in late 2026.
Feathered Stag is an independent imprint housed under Penrose Press, the parent company behind the charitable Catalyst Creators Scholarship, which aims to uplift student authors creating picture books featuring underrepresented voices. Founded by a publishing professional and poet, Feathered Stag is rooted in the belief that publishing should be accessible, not gatekept.
We are committed to honoring a wide spectrum of diverse poetic voices, emerging talent, experienced creators, and those who experiment with form and feeling. Whether your work is sonnet or scream, haiku or howl, sparse or sprawling, we want to read it.
This is your bohío. Come write with us.
Coming Soon:
Mentorship Program
At Feathered Stag, we believe poetry is built on community, connection, and shared growth. We want to create spaces where poets learn from one another, refine their craft through collaboration, and experience the power of mentorship as part of their creative journey. We are developing a new Poetry Mentorship Program where emerging poets will spend three months working one-on-one with a more experienced poet on a single poem. This virtual program is designed to help poets deepen their craft, strengthen their voice, and gain insight into the creative and editorial process. We are currently preparing the program behind the scenes and would love to hear from those interested in being part of its first cohort.
If you are interested in becoming a potential mentee, please fill out our short interest form to let us know you’d like to be considered and to share any suggestions.
If you would like to join as a potential mentor, please complete the mentor interest form so we can keep your information on file and contact you when the program launches.
Subscribe to our website for updates and announcements as we move closer to organizing the program framework and opening applications.
Poetic Expression Without Borders
We believe in poetry as a radical act—one that transcends form, identity, and age-old rules. Become a part of our community.
Publications
Annual Magazine
Feathered Stag Magazine is an annual digital publication showcasing poetry and visual art centered around a rotating theme. Submissions are always free, and each issue is available to download at no cost. Contributors whose work is accepted will receive a contributor spotlight in our magazine witht their work and biography, and promotion through our platforms.
We encourage submissions of written poetry and visual poetry (art) that explore our current theme from unique and expressive perspectives. We are especially excited to read work from emerging writers, neurodiverse and disable voices, BIPOC voices, and those challenging poetic forms. All are welcome, especially those that are too often overlooked.
Submission Guidelines
Magazine
Submissions closed.
Fall/Winter Issue Theme: Thresholds
Submissions are free and open to all. Thresholds are the edges of change, the pause before the leap, the breath before the word.
A threshold can be a door, a body, a moment, a decision. Write to the thresholds you’ve walked through or the ones you dared not cross. Stand in that liminal space, and tell us what it feels like. Think big, think small. Ink with your heart.
Submission Period Closed: August 25, 2025
Authors whose work has been selected for the 2025 issue will be contacted and assigned a volunteer poetry editor to work with them on 2 rounds of quick revisions.
Estimated Publication Date: December 15, 2025
Guidance
Please follow prompts in the forms closely. All written submissions must be in English predominately. Submissions will be evaluated based on their literary merit, adherence to theme, and in consideration with the pool of submissions.
As this is a new and growing press, we encourage you to check in frequently to stay updated on changes and details. Thank you for sharing your work with us.
Please note: We prefer your poetry is not being simultaneous published at a similar publication for the simply face that your poetry will undergo an editorial process with us. Post-publishing with Feathered Stag, we encourage you to continue querying and when possible, include a small note stating of your poem’s publication with us when further acquired.
Anthology
Submissions open.
2026 Inaugural Theme: Bold
Bold is not always loud. It’s the quiet poem written after heartbreak. The truth told when your voice shakes. To be bold is to break the pattern, to write what you thought no one wanted. Stand out. Show us your audacious line, your strange structure, your fearless image. Let your words be heavy and poetry blazing.
(Reading fee) A $5 minimum donation per submission for up to 6 poems.
Our anthology is a print collection published and curated from open submissions. This opportunity is designed to help poets gain a meaningful publishing credit in a professional, accessible way.
There is a $5 minimum donation reading fee per submission (up to 6 poems), which helps support the production of the anthology and contributes to our goal of making Feathered Stag Press a sustainable venture. We aim to provide contributors selected for publication in the anthology a small honorarium paid per poem after the inaugural issue. Royalties from the print anthology will not be distributed, as all funds are reinvested into future issues and contributor payments. This is a print anthology published on an environmentally-conscious POD model.
Submission Period Closes: November 25, 2026.
Note on Sustainability
As a one-woman press, Feathered Stag relies on generous donations to fund its operations. It is our long-term goal to provide payment for all published work, including in our digital magazine. Thank you for supporting this vision and helping us build toward it, one poem at a time.
Contact Us
Instagram & Threads: @FeatheredStagPress
Questions? Please reach out. We welcome all authentic outreach. If you are interested in volunteering as a poetry reader, publicity, or marketing assistant, please preface your message with your preferred role and a short statement on why you want to be a part of the team. Thank you!
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Established in 2025, proudly torpedoing through adversary tides.
Feathered Stag Press 