iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Hey, Bluesky! It's been a while, but Artists from Maryland is open for our THIRD ISSUE (closing November 22nd), *and* we are opening rolling submissions again for micro collections! Submission details for both opportunities at the link in our bio. Find us on Chill Subs!

SUBMISSIONS OPEN!

for Issue 3 (closes November 22nd)
and micro-collections (rolling subs)

Artists from Maryland
artistsfrommaryland.org

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Artists from Maryland is proud to announce the final microchapbook in our inaugural digital publishing run! This collection comes from Una Zelić. Check out How to Heal A Scar at the link in our bio!

Artists
from Maryland

How to Heal A Scar by Una Zelić
In How to Heal A Scar, Una Zelić quickly establishes a body as the narrator’s worn and beaten terrain. Zelić questions what healing looks like after the scar is what remains of the initial wound. For Zelić: “say what you have to say, say what you are dreaming.” For Zelić: reconciling our histories and our memories is the solution to scarring. How to Heal A Scar is a guide to reflection, a memoir of hurt, and a museum visit led by a tour guide distraught by all things painful.

“Zelić's poems send the reader careening through the connective tissue binding generational trauma and mental illness into the fabric of the self. The sharp imagery and powerful rhythms throughout this collection compel the reader into a world bound up within a dense protective shell that no longer serves its purpose. How to Heal A Scar challenges the reader to question what it means to heal from pain that persists after the body has closed the surface wound, and whether recovery emerges from acceptance or resistance.”

—Jess Keyes, award-winning Baltimore artist and composer
praise for How to Heal A Scar by Una Zelić

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

Artists from Maryland is proud to announce the second microchapbook in our inaugural digital publishing run! The second collection comes from the great Ashley Elizabeth (@aetheblkpoet.bsky.social). Check out bite-sized at the link in our bio!

Artists
from Maryland

bite-sized by Ashley Elizabeth
In bite-sized, Ashley Elizabeth faces one of the most prevalent societal pressures of the patriarchy: body image. In thirteen poems, Elizabeth tells the story of many women growing up surrounded by pressures to fit a certain mold. The mirror morphs into the narrator’s enemy—the community surrounding the narrator, its villainous sidekicks. bite-sized goes from a story of a hero versus a villain, to a web of epiphanies. “i am supposed to like this body,” our hero says, entering the view of the stage lights. You can’t help but root for them.

praise for bite-sized by Ashley Elizabeth

“Poet Ashley Elizabeth slices fragments of life with an eating disorder into a series of sparse, gut-punching poems with bite-sized. Yet even with self-doubt, societal fatphobia, and Marie Claire’s passive-aggressive reminders to hydrate knocking at the door, this narrative of just one of the many tolls womanhood can take remains unafraid to take up space.”

—nat raum, editor-in-chief of fifth wheel press and author of totaled
“In the background of increasingly small plates and gulps of water before each meal, Ashley Elizabeth dissects life with an eating disorder, both the beginning and the recovery. With lines like ‘I have learnt to swallow / my hunger’ bite-sized articulates the meticulous planning behind an eating disorder, juxtaposing it with the chaos of emotion surrounding weight. Through contrasting two aspects of the body: one in disorder and one in recovery, Ashley Elizabeth ensures a clear understanding that recovery is a constant struggle, emphasizing the intensity of life with an ED.”

—arushi (aera) rege, author of suburban suicides and BROWN GIRL EPIPHANY, EIC of ink & ivy lit mag and Bus Talk

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

Artists from Maryland is proud to announce that we are starting our inaugural digital microchapbook series! The first collection comes from the wonderful nat raum (@gr8earlofhell.bsky.social). Check out totaled at the link in our bio!

Artists
from Maryland

totaled by nat raum
In totaled, nat raum is surrounded by devastation in the style of smashed fruit liqueur bottles, but they refuse to call it by the term. Instead: “i have hidden from myself.” Instead: “high-octane.” Instead: “the crash.” Equipped with nine poems poured from empty bottles, raum jumps from behind the bar.

“In totaled, nat raum bottles the juxtaposition of want and reality. The journey of this short collection also reeks of familiarity and comfort as our narrator becomes themselves as they stamp their power outside of alcohol and the societal pressure to conform.”

—Ashley Elizabeth, author of bite-sized
“Through a broken bottle and different spirits, nat raum explores relapse in a piercingly real manner. With lines like ‘how is it / i am / still standing / after the crash,’ totaled blends guilt and absolution, creating a poignant study in the complexities of sobriety. Finding contrast between rose quartz necklaces and the Irish corner bar, raum underscores what recovery looks like: showcasing both the healing and the backsliding.”

—arushi (aera) rege, author of suburban suicides and BROWN GIRL EPIPHANY, EIC of ink & ivy lit mag and Bus Talk
praise for totaled by nat raum

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Reposted by Artists from Maryland

Genrepunk Magazine @genrepunkmag.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

Genrepunk Haunting Award 2025 "Thanks for Your Patience" by Hayley Igarashi Thomas, Artists from Maryland (@artfrommaryland.bsky.social) www.artistsfrommaryland.org/june-2025-ar...

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

We're excited to announce our MICRO COLLECTIONS series! Check out our website and our NEW Duosuma page for more!

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Reposted by Artists from Maryland

CraigrKirchner@gmail.com @craigkiirchner.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

I am honored to be featured in Artists from Maryland. www.artistsfrommaryland.org/october-2025...

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

@writersinbmore.bsky.social does a lot of great things for young writers in Baltimore: please support them if you can!

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Artists from Maryland's 2025 Genrepunk Awards (@genrepunkmag.bsky.social) noms! EDITOR'S CHOICE: Kelci Tillman, @eldritchjellyfish.bsky.social, Jordan Byrum WILDCARD AWARD: @whoastanderson.bsky.social HAUNTING AWARD: Hayley Igarashi Thomas, Breasia "Bree" Boyd, @aetheblkpoet.bsky.social

Artists
from Maryland

2025 Genrepunk Awards Nominations
GENREPUNK EDITOR'S CHOICE
"The Earwig" by Kelci Tillman
"Unfinished Tree" by Kyrico
"rust dyed" by Jordan Byrum

GENREPUNK WILDCARD AWARD
"blue catfish get smote again" by stephanie anderson

GENREPUNK HAUNTING AWARD
"Thanks for Your Patience" by Hayley Igarashi Thomas
"The Life and Times of the Kids on Streeper Street" by Breasia "Bree" Boyd
"southern-esque" by Ashley Elizabeth

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Artists from Maryland's 2025 Best of the Net noms! POETRY: Otis Sprow, Patricia Adelizzi, Kay Mi, @matoro.bsky.social, @whoastanderson.bsky.social, Breasia "Bree" Boyd CNF: Hayley Igarashi Thomas, Kelci Tillman ART: @gr8earlofhell.bsky.social, @eldritchjellyfish.bsky.social, Judith Skillman

Artists from Maryland
2025 Best of the Net Nominations

“When a long supply of city blocks
lies in front of you,
notice how each door you pass
tells a different story.”
Otis Sprow, “For Beginnings”

“shhh! listen for what you can hear
as the farmer silences his machine”
Patricia Adelizzi, “ditchin’ days”

“& this time, i am so lonely. i have all the time in the
world to anticipate what’s outside: the frost rushing
beneath our skins, & the moon, so the moon.”
Kay Mi, “it’s april again”

Artists from Maryland
2025 Best of the Net Nominations

“This is not a winless team,
but we’re dogshit.“
Matthew Herskovitz, “Father’s Day at Camden Yards (June 2021)”

“fifty tiny crabs a hundred
three thousand
warmed into the sun"
stephanie anderson, “blue crabs get smote again”

“because the raunchy lyrics with heavy beats make
it all too indecent.”
Breasia “Bree” Boyd, “You Can’t Play Too $hort at the Family Cookout”

Artists from Maryland
2025 Best of the Net Nominations

“The soundtrack of my anxiety is the beating of an imperfect heart. I do not know how valves or septums work, but I can close my eyes and feel the rhythm of blood, flowing back and forth, in and out, where it's wanted and where it's not.”
Hayley Igarashi Thomas, “Thanks for Your Patience”

“Sundays used to be the pinnacle of the week, of our existence really, but things have changed and slowly, with time and age, we’ve shifted and are shifting still. The Baltimore Farmers Market and Bazaar happens every Sunday, a place where we can be fed.“
Kelci Tillman, “ditchin’ days”

Artists from Maryland
2025 Best of the Net Nominations

“Meadow, after Dion Salvador Lloyd” is oil on board, 11” x 14”. I was struck by the beauty of this pastoral scene and used brushes to render shades of green and cream, punctuated by bales of hay or simply otherwise mysterious marks. The grasses were done with a palette knife. I am fascinated by imaginary and real journeys, and like to think of the top upper left green as a pathway off the rectangle.
Judith Skillman, "Meadow, after Dion Salvador Lloyd"

From black paper and graphite, augmented with digital highlights and unnatural colours. Creatures stare curiously, maybe hungrily at you from the darkness. Hidden in the shadows of a forest that doesn't yet exist; drifting beneath the illusion.
Kyrico, "Unfinished Tree"

A photograph of the afternoon light casting shadows through the ceiling windows at the American Visionary Arts Museum.
nat raum, "untitled"

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

A reminder: at the moment, we are open for rolling subs for our monthly posts! Maryland-based artists and writers, try us out! Guidelines here: www.artistsfrommaryland.org/guidelines/

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

ISSUE TWO of Artists from Maryland is out! Many thanks to our wonderful contributors, and to our awesome Issue 2 judges nat and Diamond! Check the issue out here: www.artistsfrommaryland.org/issue-archive/ Also, rolling subs for Maryland Artist of the Month are open NOW!

"Artists from Maryland ISSUE TWO

Kay Mi, Matthew Herskovitz, stephanie anderson, Hayley Igarashi Thomas, Breasia "Bree" Boyd, Judith Skillman, Ashley Elizabeth, Kelci Tillman, Kyrico, Davin Faris

Issue Two: June 7th, 2025"

"Artists from Maryland Issue 2 Statistics

7 finalists (paid $10)
2 runner ups (paid $20)
1 winner (paid $40)

15% tiered rejection rate
8 submissions given feedback

Artists in upwards of 15 different counties in Maryland submitted!"

"Artists from Maryland

ISSUE TWO

June 2025"

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

Keep an eye out for AFM: I2 to drop on JUNE 7TH. Kay Mi, @matoro.bsky.social, @whoastanderson.bsky.social, Hayley Igarashi Thomas, Breasia "Bree" Boyd, Judith Skillman, @aetheblkpoet.bsky.social, Kelci Tillman, @eldritchjellyfish.bsky.social, Davin Faris ... and subs open 6/8 for monthly features

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Reposted by Artists from Maryland

stephanie 💽 @whoastanderson.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

i can’t stop thinking about the state of maryland wanting to eradicate blue catfish, thank you artists from md for enabling me <3

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Results are IN for Artists from Maryland's Issue 2 contest! Congratulations to the winner, the runner ups, and the finalists, who will all be published in the coming weeks in Issue 2!

THE RESULTS ARE IN!

Congratulations to all of the very amazing contributors to Issue 2, and thank you to everyone who submitted! All three of us enjoyed the process of being able to read your work.

WINNER: Kay Mi, with “it’s april again”

Runner up: Matthew Herskovitz, with "Father's Day at Camden Yards (June 2021)"

Runner up: stephanie anderson, with "blue catfish get smote again"

Finalist list:
Kelci Tillman, with "The Earwig"
Hayley Igarashi Thomas, with "Thanks for Your Patience"
Davin Faris, with "The christmas tree farm"
Ashley Elizabeth, with "southern-esque" and "Summer 2011"
Breasia "Bree" Boyd, with "You Can’t Play Too $hort at the Family Cookout" and "The Life and Times of the Kids on Streeper Street"
Judith Skillman, with "dawn" and "Meadow (after Dion Salvador Lloyd)"
Kyrico, with "unfinished tree"

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

SUBMISSIONS HAVE CLOSED for Artists from Maryland's second issue! Submitters, expect a response early May. We're currently in our final deliberation stage!

Photo of tree branches stretching out the top of the screen, and mellowed yellow clouds at the bottom of the screen. On top of the photo are two yellow boxes, saying (from top to bottom):

"Artists from Maryland"

"Submissions have CLOSED for Artists from Maryland's second issue! All submitters will receive a response in the coming weeks in early May. Thanks for everyone's support!"

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

There's a week left to submit to AFM I2! If you're a Maryland artist and have some writing and/or visual art, send it our way! Details in the link in our bio.

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

We're excited to announce that this week (from 4/6 to 4/13), you can have the option of getting feedback from our editor-in-chief, Aldrin Badiola! Ends 4/13, midnight EST. (AFM can only offer this to ten people; you have to specifically press "Yes" when asked if interested in feedback on the form.)

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

To advertise AFM Issue 2; we're sharing pieces from Issue 1 we love! I2 subs close Apr. 26, it's free to submit, and all contribs. are paid. Details in bio. Here are two poems from Issue 1: "romanticism as midtown pothole" by nat raum (an Issue 2 judge!), and "ditchin' days" by Patricia Adelizzi

Background of a leaf-less tree and yellow clouds. On top is three text boxes and two screenshots. First screenshot:

"the proper venue for a 7-eleven hot dog / is north howard street after midnight, / when i am in my blackout drunk / phase and ambling across cratered / sidewalks back home to my dorm." "nat raum, 'romanticism as midtown pothole'"

Below it is a text box saying "AND MORE from Artists from Maryland: Issue One!"

Below that is another screenshot:

"shhh! listen for what you can hear / as the farmer silences his machine // at Earth's most bleak barren moment / just before she cracks it open" "Patricia Adelizzi, 'ditchin' days'"

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

To encourage submissions to AFM's Issue 2; we're sharing pieces from Issue 1 that we can't stop thinking of! Subs close Apr. 26, it's free to submit, and all contributors are paid. Details in bio. Here are two poems from Issue 1: "Backward Train" by Thu Nhat Pham, and "For Beginnings" by Otis Sprow

Background of a leaf-less tree and yellow clouds. On top is three text boxes and two screenshots. First screenshot:

"You descend into the belly / of Union Station, where the DC metro / are doors away from resembling the Hong Kong MTR in your hazy / childish memories, of yellow and grey / textured floors and your dad's gentle hand / guiding you onto a train car." "Thu Nhat Pham, 'Backward Train'"

Below it is a text box saying "AND MORE from Artists from Maryland: Issue One!"

Below that is another screenshot:

"When a long supply of city blocks / lies in front of you, / notice how each door you pass / tells a different story." "Otis Sprow, 'For Beginnings'"

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

We've loved the subs to AFM's Issue 2; keep them coming! Subs close Apr. 26, it's free to submit, and all contributors are paid. Details in bio. For insight on what our EIC Aldrin Badiola wants to see more of, check out these poems by Ashley Elizabeth in her collection "CHARMed" (fifth wheel press)

"Pass the children

for two years
students will not be held accountable
but we will pass them along
like they did something
& be surprised when they’re behind
and parents speak out
or we end up on fox 45
when a sixteen year old can’t read

it’s hard to care to read
when they’re allowed to pass despite all odds
some of it is grace, sure
learning in a pandemic is difficult
but there needs to be more
than allowing foolishness."

in the bottom right is a black and white photo of a classroom

"ms. baltimore

baltimore has gone
from greatest city in america
to heroin capital
she is tired
slumps into class
makeup leftover from many
late nights ago
on her knees
tells her students they are going
to watch a movie
thirteenth time in a row
as she scratches her left
arm jerks her neck
her students are used to this
and they stopped coming
she has let lexington market into her
bloodstream along with what lines city lines
she wants it to snow
slowly into her underweight bony body
baltimore is sick of hearing hon
she wants to go back to bed
she cannot sleep
mistaking fireworks for bullets
always looking for her next
hit she wants to be safe
doing what she knows"

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

Continuing with our promotion for AFM's second issue, we're happy to announce the two wonderful judges: Diamond Abrams (@jiminologyx on Instagram) and nat raum (@gr8earlofhell.bsky.social)! Submissions close on April 26th! Paid opportunity!

Photo of yellowed trees in the background. Imposed on top of that is a lime green box, with multiple boxes of text inside of it. From top to bottom, it says:

"Artists from Maryland

JUDGE: Diamond Abrams

Looking for works with an extensive sense of imagery and/or motif. At least one feature of complexity shown through ambiguity.

Diamond Abrams is a poet, actress, photographer, stop-motion animator, and web-weaving enthusiast. Her work can be found in the "Baltimore Beat", the Hopkins Review (as runner-up to the FMRI writing prize), the WAYM web page and media account, and on her social media platforms."

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Reposted by Artists from Maryland

mosh pit daria @greatearlofhell.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

hiiiiiiii i'm co-judging issue 2 of @artfrommaryland.bsky.social 👀 i'd love to read work that evokes a vivid sense of place—show me your corner of the state in all its details. make me feel something! oh, and did i mention this is a paid opportunity?

Artists from Maryland Issue 2 submission graphic

For Issue 2 of Artists from Maryland, we will be PAYING contributors, through a free-to-enter contest! Winner receives $40 USD, Runner-ups receive $20, Finalists receive $10. All honorees will be published in Issue 2! Details at artistsfrommaryland.org/guidelines. Submissions close April 26th.

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

We are excited to announce that we are opening contest subs for AFM: ISSUE TWO! We will be PAYING all contributors for this issue! We'll be announcing the judges for the contest soon. You'll have until APRIL 26th, 2025 to submit! Details at www.artistsfrommaryland.org/guidelines/.

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

A reminder that submissions for Artists from Maryland are ALWAYS OPEN! If you're from Maryland, we'd love to see you submit visual art or writing (prose of any sort, poetry of any sort)!

black background with many yellow lights going diagonally down. above the background is two yellow boxes. the yellow box in the top right says "Artists from Maryland". the yellow box in the bottom left says "SUBS always open!"

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Artists from Maryland @artfrommaryland.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

Artists from Maryland is excited to present its first Maryland Artist of the Month: nat raum (@gr8earlofhell.bsky.social)! Find their series of photos taken throughout Baltimore and their artist statement here: www.artistsfrommaryland.org/january-2025...

orange gradient background, with descending text saying "MARYLAND ARTIST OF THE MONTH" in all caps. one of those texts is bolded. above the bolded text is a brown box, with white text in it saying "On that note, I've always maintained that it's not about the camera, it's about the photograph it produced." there is another brown box below the bolded text, saying "nat raum"

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