a note from the editors

It was with particular passion that we chose bodily autonomy as our theme for our Issue 12 contest. This year's attacks on reproductive choice by the United States government not only hurts, angers, and scares us immediately, but for the future of bodily autonomy, women's rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, racial and class protections, and the increasing dominance of Christofascism and leftist passivity. And that's just in our own home country, it's not even to mention the, unfortunately, so many other recent global attacks on personal autonomy, such as the Mahsa Amini-inspired protests in Iran. In a year that's been so violent across the globe, we wanted Issue 12 to champion resilience, highlight hope, and inspire action.

This is why we asked for your words written from the fetal position, words on your knuckles raised in the air, words that cross state and country lines. Writing felt in the gut, writing that bleeds. Fiction, poetry, hybrid, and nonfiction that you chose for yourself to share with us and the world.

In conjunction with publishing the brave and beautiful writing of our Issue 12 contributors, and being able to award the three winners monetarily from the submission funds, we have also used submission proceeds to donate to a pro-choice organization. Matching the total contest prize money, we donated $150 to Bedsider, an online birth control support network operated by the non-profit Power to Decide, centering around education and access to reproductive and sexual health resources. Please check them out to learn more about all the awesome work they do.

Thank you so much to everyone who submitted to The Body Issue. It’s through the contest submission fees that we were able to pay our featured writers and donate to such an important cause. And thank you to all of our readers who we would not be able to keep BTL going without.

first place

second place

third place