The Ripples on the Pond project seeks to connect the creative work of our contributors with some of our perennial favorites—the subject matter we return to again and again. The writers who have influenced us greatly, who have inspired us to create, who have furthered our learning about ourselves and the world around us.

If you think about your own creative process—maybe even back to how you got stared with it in the first place—you might find a few helpful guides such as teachers and mentors, perhaps a wise sage or slightly more advanced contemporary who pushed you beyond your limits. If you have collected artifacts from the pre-digital age, maybe you’ll find some yellowed, coffee-ringed copies of the books you have returned to time and time again.

The particularly strong influences we encounter send ripples into later life. The messages carry on and disperse, only to become enveloped within another ripple pattern….

The next theme we will be working with as part of this project is expansion & contraction. There are a lot of directions this could go! Perhaps you're most inspired by Rumi and Dōgen, Alan Watts and Ram Dass. Maybe Walt Whitman or Gary Snyder, Mary Oliver or Naomi Shihab Nye, Haruki Murakami or Margaret Atwood.

Whether it's through formal study, a contemplative approach, or simply following the flow of life, I'm sure many of you I'm sure have included some aspects of expand & contract cycles in your writing. 

Jack Kornfield speaks of our journey through such cycles of expansion and contraction: 

In the beginning we may erroneously imagine spiritual practice to be a linear journey, traveling over a certain landscape to a faraway destination of enlightenment. But it is better described as a widening circle or spiral that opens our hearts and gradually infuses our consciousness to include all of life as a spiritual whole.

He later adds:

At one period of our practice we may be greatly devoted to following a teacher, later we may find ourselves in a period of practice and investigation on our own. One phase of our spirituality may focus on detachment and solitude, while a later phase demands we extend our loving-kindness through service to others. We may experience periods of great attention to our body, periods of prayer and surrender, or periods of study and reflection.

This submission is open to any written work (poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and hybrid forms), as well as visual art in any medium. For written work, please submit pieces under 1,000 words (exceptions can apply to work that is particularly compelling to the given themes, so please note if your submitted piece is part of a longer expression).

The submitted pieces can be any type (poetry, prose, art), in any combination. We are certainly open to the creative possibilities that you have to offer, in all of their craft, experimentation, and intuition.

Both literal and figurative interpretations of the “expansion & contraction” theme are welcomed. In the “Cover Letter” section of the submission form, you may include a brief explanation of how your submitted piece(s) connect with the theme.

Online publication is planned for summer 2025.

If you would like to be considered for one of our upcoming issues or Maya's Micros features, good news! We have a submission available for expedited reading of your work. You will receive a response within 14 days, and as an extra thank you we'll send a PDF download of the most recent issue with the reply.

Here are the poetry submission guidelines:

•  1-6 poems (send in a single file, .doc/.docx preferred). 
• We'll use the category of "poetry" to include prose poems, micros, experimental writing, and other hybrid forms. (The attachment also allows image files, so if you create visual art as well, feel free to show us!)
• We generally view each piece individually, so you may submit pieces that vary in style or subject matter. If you prefer to have your submission viewed as a collection, please note that in the cover letter.

 
Include your artist statement/cover letter, a short 3rd person bio, as well as any relevant links to your website/social media.
 

Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please withdraw pieces from consideration if they are accepted elsewhere. If your work is accepted, you agree to give The Closed Eye Open online publishing and archival rights; following publication, all rights revert back to the author/artist. We ask that you credit The Closed Eye Open if the work is published elsewhere in the future. 

We are currently considering artwork for the cover of our upcoming Issue XIII (Spring 2025).

The selected winner of the contest will have the cover image for the issue, which is a digital PDF release. In addition, the selected artist will have a gallery feature in the issue (5-8 works), as well as a written commentary on the pieces that appear in the issue.

*If not selected as the cover art, your pieces will still be considered for publication in the issue.*

Here are the cover art submission guidelines:

• Up to 15 visual art pieces; .jpeg file type preferred. 
• Please send high-resolution images as much as possible, as we may need to crop to meet the needs of our cover. (If you submit lower-resolution files as samples, please have high-res copies available.)
• Our PDF format is vertical 5.5" x 8.5" dimensions; however the submitted pieces do not need to be in that exact ratio.
• Visual art may include painting, drawing, photography & print-making, digital art, and hybrid forms.
• We generally view each piece individually, so feel free to submit pieces that vary in style or subject matter. If you prefer to have your submission viewed as a collection, please note that in the cover letter.

Include your artist statement/cover letter, a short 3rd person bio, as well as any relevant links to your website/social media. For art submissions, you may also add a list of titles as you would like them to appear.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please withdraw pieces from consideration if they are accepted elsewhere. If your work is accepted, you agree to give The Closed Eye Open online publishing and archival rights; following publication, all rights revert back to the author/artist. We ask that you credit The Closed Eye Open if the work is published elsewhere in the future. 

In between main issues of The Closed Eye Open, we have an ongoing supplemental feature on our website. This little “extra” is called Maya's Micros and exclusively features the littlest form of creative writing—micros. Whether you consider them micro-poems, micro-fictions, or minis they are welcome here… as long as each individual piece is 108 or fewer. (Why 108, you may ask? Have fun speculating:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/108_(number).)

Here are the submission guidelines:

•  Up to 6 pieces (send in a single file, .doc/.docx). You may send both poetry & fiction in the same submission.
• Each individual piece must be 108 words or fewer (not counting title).
• We generally view each piece individually, so feel free to submit pieces that vary in style or subject matter. If you prefer to have your submission viewed as a collection, please note that in the cover letter.

 
Include your cover letter/submission info, a short 3rd person bio, as well as any relevant links to your website/social media.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please withdraw pieces from consideration if they are accepted elsewhere. If your work is accepted, you agree to give The Closed Eye Open online publishing and archival rights; following publication, all rights revert back to the author/artist. We ask that you credit The Closed Eye Open if the work is published elsewhere in the future.