Exclamation for and by the Disabled and Chronically Ill (June 2026)
– A Collaboration with FLARE
Dear Reader,
Thank you for stopping by and reading this latest issue of Exclamation Mark! We decided to team up with fellow literary magazine, FLARE, where we opened to the theme: Exclamation for and by the Disabled and Chronically Ill. We wanted pieces that exclaimed (!), were urgent to tell (!), and emotional!
We are thrilled to share this incredible issue with 14 creators and 16 total pieces! Get the word out by sharing and commenting on social media, telling your friends, and more about this issue!
If you want to do more, you can donate to Exclamation Mark and FLARE. ALL proceeds for both go toward funding more future Collabs and/or paying future contributors. Let’s pay disabled creators!
Be on the lookout soon for the print version of this issue, which will be available to purchase really soon! We truly hope you enjoy this issue just as much as we loved curating it!
(And if you’re interested in supporting the EIC of FLARE, Kelly do have a ko-fi that acts as her tip jar. However, it’s always and forever absolutely optional.)
Love,
Robert Hills, Editor-in-Chief, Exclamation Mark
Kelly Esparza, Editor-in-Chief, FLARE Magazine
Art:
- Be Ourselves – Catherine McGuire
- Escape Your Mental Prison – Vishaal Pathak – COVER
- the many me’s – Vishaal Pathak
(NOT FINAL) Print Issue Cover (TBD)
Poetry:
- I Used to Love Rain – Anna Samson
- You Were Sick Too – Anna Samson
- Twist and Shout – Barbara Krasner
- Breaking – Bella Melardi
- Shift Change – Dana Hangle
- The Glass House I Built Myself – Hannah E. Kraus
- collecting myself as a series of heat blisters – Nisha Patel
- dead woman – Theo Foste
- Night Offerings – Tori Hirsh
- August 6, 1996 – Trystan Popish
Microfiction:
- One Pill a Day – Alex Fendrich
- Fixing the Fault – Brigitta Scheib
Creative Non Fiction: