iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 20h

This week's Sunday Snippet is a distinct piece of art titled Punch by Danny D. Ford. Find more brilliant artwork and photography in Issue 7, and check out more of Ford's work here: www.theunfoldinghead.com

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This week's Thursday Throwback is a touching glimpse of Pale Thumb by Owen Townend. Raw and poignant, we appreciated its use of mundane details to ground the piece. Read it now in Issue 5.

Thursday Throwback
Pale Thumb by Owen Townend

'The appointment passed but the news remained, a numbness turned to a raw
pain, an outcome still within you for four more stops. Then you brushed the bell with
a pale thumb and disembarked to cracked pavement and more to come.'

Read it now in Issue 5.

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This week's Tuesday Taster is a segment of Female Patient C50.911, C78.00, C50.811, Z17.1 by Aerin Higginbotham. A striking take on the theme, we were drawn to its rawness and found it deeply evocative. Read it now in Issue 7.

Tuesday Tasters
Female Patient C50.911, C78.00, C50.811, Z17.1 by Aerin Higginbotham.

'Someone left urine on the bathroom floor and I’m afraid
it will seep through my sock and track on the operating table.
My belongings are stuffed in a bag, smelling of chemical
and I’ve been waiting for this one bathroom
for an anxious number of minutes.'

Read it now in Issue 7.

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Trash Cat Lit @trashcatlit.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Our very first prose poetry issue is NOW LIVE 🦝 Twenty absolute stunners for you to savour. Huge thanks to Jude Potts @judepickledplum.bsky.social for her reading assistance. We'll start highlighting these beauts soon. For now, grab a brew and lose yourself 💜 trashcatlit.com/prose-poetry... 1/2

trashcatlit.com

Prose Poetry, September 2026

We have twenty beautiful pieces in this, our first issue of prose poetry. Inspired by a very special raccoon, Jimothy, the theme was a celebration of tenacity and difference. Click on the images to…

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Trash Cat Lit @trashcatlit.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Our Halloween Horror flash call is now OPEN! 🦝 We're looking for biohazardous stories between 100 and 1000 words until 11th October. Get inspired and informed here, sub link is at the bottom of the page trashcatlit.com/call-for-bio...

trashcatlit.com

Call for Biohazard Horror

For our first Halloween issue, we want HORROR flash with a biohazardous flavour and a speculative seasoning and a speculative seasoning. There are many subgenres in horror storytelling, and we&#821…

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

This week's Sunday Snippet is a serving of The Last Supper by Katy Goforth. @katywrites.bsky.social A compelling take on the theme, we enjoyed the layers of deception and the way the story hides something unexpected inside a tale of everyday life. Read it in Issue 7.

SUNDAY SNIPPETS

See, when I’m all by myself like that, I enjoy walking in and out of all the statuary. Feels like all that weathering and decay has made real-life figures immobile and silent—living but trapped. They call it the “uncanny valley,” where statues appear almost human-like. Hosey would tell me I read too much and that’s why I think on things that don’t matter. Hosey would tell me a lot of things that I didn’t like.

The Last Supper
Katy Goforth

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

All responses for Issue 8: FEAR have now been sent! If you haven’t found yours, please check your spam folder, and feel free to contact us at underbellypress@gmail.com with any questions!

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

With the release of his debut novel today, 50 Reasons to Live, Emyr sat down with us to discuss why he writes (and, just as importantly reads), his advice for other writers, what’s next, and more. You can read the full interview here (or link in bio): underbellypress.wixsite.com/home/blog/in...

In conversation with Emyr Payne
The black and white image shows Emyr's face and shoulders. He is stood against a wall.

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Trash Cat Lit @trashcatlit.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

We're thrilled to reveal the contributor line up for our very first prose poetry issue 🦝 Look out for this 20-piece issue on 28th September, it's a beaut 💜 @madeleinewrite.bsky.social Moira Ashley, Lavanya Arora, Polly Conway, @sandrinado.bsky.social @bronwengriffiths.bsky.social Rachel Jones 1/2

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Submissions closed 378 Poetry 163 Short Fiction 183 Art & Photography Thank you to everyone who sent their work our way! This has been our biggest response yet, with over 720 submissions received. I’m grateful to everyone who trusted me with their work and took the time to send something.

Submissions closed
Thank you for the largest amount of submissions yet!
378 Poetry, 163 Short Fiction, 183 Art & Photography

Submissions for Issue 8: FEAR are now closed. Thank you to everyone who sent their work our way! This has been our biggest response yet, with over 720 submissions received. I’m grateful to everyone who trusted me with their work and took the time to send something.

As always, I want to be upfront with what happens next. Given the amount of submissions, and the fact I balance Underbelly Press alongside other commitments, I’ll be relying on form rejections again. My aim is to have everyone contacted within the next 2 weeks. With such a number of submissions to work through, please bear with me.

I like to sit with submissions rather than rush through them, because sometimes a piece needs time before I fully know how it has landed with me. Please don’t take a form rejection as a reflection of the quality or value of your work. Choosing what makes it into an issue is never easy, and there are so many different reasons a piece might not find its place this time around.

Thank you for your patience.

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Jupiter Jones @jupiterjonz.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Thanks for giving this another airing!🐻

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Tired and Ravenous by @jupiterjonz.bsky.social We especially enjoyed how the piece shifted from something mundane and ordinary, a steak bake and dry cleaning, to something unexpected. The vulnerability in the natural vs the unnatural, and how the two intersected, was compelling. Issue 5.

Thursday Throwback
Tired and Ravenous by Jupiter Jones.

'It began with a steak bake. After dropping off her dry cleaning, she ate it in the street, chowing down outside the shop, cramming in pastry flakes and mechanically recovered meat. Two more in a greasy paper bag for later. She was ravenous.'

Read it now in Issue 5.

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

The Lady in the Cowboy Hat by @richardpounder.bsky.social We enjoyed how our perception shifted throughout. It reflects the reality of how ordinary people can turn to cruelty when a crowd is laughing & the uncomfortable truth that you may be laughing at someone struggling beyond imagination.

Tuesday Taster
The Lady in the Cowboy Hat by Richard Pounder

'“Oh my God! He is sick. He is a sick man,” the lady with the cowboy hat says.
I evolve into clap push-ups, the adrenaline from knowing moms watch me causes me to do way more reps than I normally would.
She runs inside, shouts to someone inside, “That evil demon with the blue car is out there, he's sick!”
“Yeah, I'm sick!”
I turn and see more people watching, laughing.
Two of the twenty-something-year-old aftercare workers are now watching. One of them is filming. She looks at the other and grins.
A buzz courses through me.'

Read it now in Issue 7.

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

One week left to submit! Show us existential dread, childhood terrors, the horrors of being human. As before, we’re pairing the theme with our inherent focus: the gritty, the mundane, the uncomfortable, the human. Fear is universal, but the way we live with it is personal.

Call for submissions
until September 12
Fear

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

This week's Thursday Throwback is a serving of Mother Knows Best by Elinor Drew. Oozing with disconcerting realism, we were especially struck by the twist at the end. Read it now in Issue 4.

Mother Knows Best by Elinor Drew.

'Speeding back to the safety of leafy West London, she congratulated her own bravery and effort. Benji had always been so difficult. An early riser, awful sleeper and a fussy eater, he even needed one of those clicky injector pens for all his allergies.

Dust and dead skin sparkled between the unopened curtains of Benji’s bedsit. Cake crumbs littered the floor where he lay, wheezing in the amber glow, clawing at his throat as it closed.

Deep underground, with no hope of a phone signal, Kayla remembered.'

Read it now in Issue 4.

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Trash Cat Lit @trashcatlit.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Our Autumn Prompted Story issue is LIVE! 🦝 13 flash fiction written to blind-chosen prompts. Grab a cuppa and snacks, sit back and immerse yourself in the imagination and creativity of our 12 contributors 💜 trashcatlit.com/prompted-sto... @joycebingham.bsky.social @jessebinger.bsky.social 1/2

trashcatlit.com

Prompted Stories Pop-Up Autumn 2026

We selected thirteen flash for the second prompted challenge of the year. These twelve writers showed amazing imagination and creativity with their prompts. Our Guest Readers for this issue were Le…

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

This week's Tuesday Taster is a segment of Barbie Fashion Show by Arielle Arbushites. @writingthewayhome.bsky.social We found this piece compelling, and especially enjoyed its resonant tone. Read it now in Issue 7.

Tuesday Taster
Barbie Fashion Show by Arielle Arbushites

'“I’ll get my dad to be the judge,” I said
and we clamored and cackled,
while he sat on his throne in the living room,
remote in hand,
to watch each girl display Barbie
on the coffee table runway.
We undressed perfection to redress it again,
we decided what was beautiful
then let a man tell us
whether we were right or wrong.'

Read it now in Issue 7.

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Rachel Burrows @rburrows.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

A poem from Issue 5 of @underbellypress.bsky.social - for those going back this week! 🌰🌰🌰🤬 #autumnterm #teaching #poetry #conkers

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Important information! Due to an overwhelming response, submissions will close early. Submissions will close September 12th instead of the previous date of September 25. That still gives you two weeks to send something if you were planning to. Thank you for your understanding!

Important information!
Issue 8: Fear
Due to an overwhelming response, submissions will close early.
Submissions have only been open for 1 week, and we have already received over 210 submissions. As it is just one person handling everything, I have chosen to close submissions a couple of weeks early in order to review them in a manageable way.
Submissions will close September 12th instead of the previous date of September 25. That still gives you two weeks to send something if you were planning to.
Thank you for your understanding! We are so grateful for such an incredible response. The quality of submissions are fantastic, and there will be many hard decisions ahead.
NEW DATE: SUBMISSIONS WILL CLOSE SEPTEMBER 12.

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

This week's Sunday Snippet is a slither of No Frogs Need To Die by Peter Devonald. @pdevonald.bsky.social Evocative and visceral, this piece conjures up memories of schooldays gone by... Read it now in Issue 7.

Sunday Snippet
No Frogs Need To Die by Peter Devonald.

What did we learn
nervously cutting away the head,
the digits, nostril and mouth, flaring,
pull away the tongue and vocal sacs,
remove the skin, peer within our own
suffering, all dissected in our turn,
programmed for another's whim.

Read it now in Issue 7.

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

This week's Thursday Throwback is a snippet of Carapace by Rebecca Tiger. We loved its distinct narrative voice, the shocking ending, and Sophie's authenticity. Read it now in Issue 5.

Thursday Throwback
Carapace by Rebecca Tiger

'This year, it’s turtles. Sophie marvels at their contradictions. Hard on the outside, soft on the inside. She chews her fingernails, sometimes until they bleed. “What do you have to worry about?” her mother asks. Sophie’s bedroom now houses her baby brother’s crib. Sometimes she plays in the room’s large closet, reading to her imaginary turtle, Rufus. Her father got her a copy of Minn of the Mississippi from the library. She learns that a turtle cannot regrow a limb. But a damaged shell might come back. Sophie eyes her stumpy nails with hope.'

Read it now in Issue 5.

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Trash Cat Lit @trashcatlit.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Here They Be. Our contributors to our second Prompted Stories issue, and a cracking bunch they are too 🦝 Issue goes live on 2nd September. See you there 💜 @jessebinger.bsky.social @joycebingham.bsky.social @zmbreneman.bsky.social @chrisdotydunn.com @louisehurrell.bsky.social 1/2

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

This week's Tuesday Taster is a serving of Inflammatory by Ellen Williams. Visceral and evocative, the words exude and produce so much feeling. Read it now in Issue 7.

Inflammatory by Ellen Williams.

'lump in my right breast
tender at the touch
three ultrasounds in a year
repeating family history to two separate providers
both saying it’s just a milk duct
medical bills more costly to my well-being
than tears shed over the scare
sometimes I think my body deceives me
so I can feel close to you again'

Read it now in Issue 7.

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T.E. Bean @tebean.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

🚨 BREAKING NEWS: Preorders for my debut novel, 𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙄𝙉𝙄𝙏𝙀 𝙉𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏 𝙀𝙔𝙀𝙎, have escaped containment and can now be accessed in the material universe 🌀 Our journey through ♾️ begins now! preorder links ▶︎ ▶︎ www.tebeanwrites.com published by #blackspringpress (UK) → @simonandschuster.bsky.social (US/Can)

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Submissions open for Issue 8: Fear until Sept 25! As before, we’re pairing the theme with our inherent focus: the gritty, the mundane, the uncomfortable, the human. Fear is universal, but the way we live with it is personal. What do you fear? 🔗https://forms.gle/fqUemuNDQ52UDvMUA

Poetry (30 lines max), submit up to three.
Short fiction (1,000 words max), submit up to three.
Art & Photography (of any medium), submit up to five.
Please note that submissions will be responded to after the reading period. Acceptances and rejections will start being sent out after Sept 25. Editing will take place throughout October. Issue 8 tentatively set for late November.
For poetry and short fiction, if you were a contributor in the last issue we won’t be accepting submissions for the consecutive issue in the same category you were published.
The theme is FEAR.
As before, we’re pairing the theme with our inherent focus: the gritty, the mundane, the uncomfortable, the human. Fear is universal, but the way we live with it is personal.
So tell us, what do you fear?

Submissions open
Issue 8
Fear
Submissions open August 21 to September 25

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Frazzled Lit *Closed for Submissions* @frazzledlit.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Pleased to tease our cover reveal for the Short Story Award Issue. We are so proud of everyone who entered and all our finalists and winners. Can't wait to reveal the contents on the 6th of September! @kerrybyrne.bsky.social @jmcm.bsky.social

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LindaAnn LoSchiavo @ghostlyverse.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

#SFFcommunity #CallToSubmit THEME: Endings There are no beginnings to these stories, no middles - only endings. SEND: fiction comprising the last 15 mins of the action/SF/fantasy story/film/book WHEN: Sept 1-30, 2026 💰 Pays: 8¢ /word @hdwp.com @alpbeck.com aanpress.com/submissions....

aanpress.com

air and nothingness press - submission information

the air and nothingness press was created to explore book arts and graphic design with an emphasis on limited edition hand-made livre d artiste books and editions of poetry, fantasy and science fictio...

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

This week's Thursday Throwback is a tribute to Tito, titled Burnt Orange by Jorden Makelle. Beautifully written, this striking mediation on anticipatory grief is raw and resonant. Read it now in Issue 4.

Thursday Throwback
Burnt Orange by Jorden Makelle

'You just came home from surgery. You can’t walk. You’re too small and fragile to sleep that high up. They say I bought you another year at most, and that’s if we’re lucky. Was I selfish? Should I have just let you go? Your fur still shines a brilliant burnt orange like the sandstone Arizona canyon trails we hiked together just months ago. I look at you, the bald patches on your belly and tail, the bruise on your leg from the needle, the gnarled flaps of skin glued together to form an incision scar on your side. Things change so quickly.'

Read it now in Issue 4.

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LindaAnn LoSchiavo @ghostlyverse.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

My latest uncut gem is in Issue 7. This is the coolest lit-mag of all! 😘 @underbellypress.bsky.social

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Trash Cat Lit @trashcatlit.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

The submission bin is now open for those prompt-generated flash 🦝 Get them lobbed in before the lid slams shut in two days. We're excited to see what you did with the challenge. Sub link on this page: trashcatlit.com/call-for-pro...

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

This Tuesday Taster is a rich morsel of Feeding the Fantasy by LindaAnn LoSchiavo @ghostlyverse.bsky.social Laden with symbolism, we loved this take on the theme with a sense of illusion & self-deception. A mundane ritual, weekend brunch, is so much more beneath the surface. Read it in Issue 7

Tuesday Taster
Feeding the Fantasy by LindaAnn LoSchiavo
'We still have weekend brunch, which indicates
Availability. We’ll secretly
Keep tabs which lovers stayed the night. I want
You back but nothing in reality
Sustains this force-fed fantasy of mine.'

Read it now in Issue 7.

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Submissions open in just one week, 21 August, for Issue 8 Fear. As before, we’re pairing the theme with our inherent focus: the gritty, the mundane, the uncomfortable, the human. Fear is universal, but the way we live with it is personal. So tell us, what do you fear?

Explore the fear of losing control of your own body
What is a fear you have grown out of?
The fear that happiness won’t last
Fear as control

The fear of the abused become the abuser
Existential fears; the fear of being stuck in the same cycle
Fear of the unknown
How fear arises from trauma

What childhood fears followed you into adulthood?
What is the first fear you remember?
Explore a fear passed down through generations
An everyday fear people have but don’t discuss

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

This week's Thursday Throwback is a striking shot titled Empty Muskoka Chairs, Autumn, Victoria, Canada by D. C. Nobes. See more stunning photography and artwork in Issue 5.

This week's Thursday Throwback is a striking shot titled Empty Muskoka Chairs, Autumn, Victoria, Canada by D. C. Nobes.

“Empty Muskoka Chairs, Autumn, Victoria, Canada” shows a trio of summer deck chairs on the shore in mid-October. The style of chair is called the Muskoka chair in Canada, but the Adirondack chair in the USA. Both Muskoka and Adirondack are cottage areas where city dwellers escape in the summer.

See more stunning photography and artwork in Issue 5.

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

50 Reasons to Live by Emyr Payne available to preorder now, releasing 22.09.26! @emyrpayne.bsky.social Preorders close 16.08: www.barnardpublishing.co.uk/books/50-rea... A story of loss and hope, 50 Reasons to Live is a call to arms for anyone who is struggling and looking for a reason to go on.

50 Reasons to Live by Emyr Payne available to preorder now from @barnardpublishing, releasing 22 September 2026!

Preorders close 16 August: https://www.barnardpublishing.co.uk/books/50-reasons-to-live-pre-order/

In sixteen-year-old Jason Stone’s world, there is death, self-harm and infidelity, but there are also 50 reasons to live. His girlfriend Lucy commits suicide and leaves him a collection of letters. In these letters he finds out why she died and why he should survive. Through Jason’s diary entries spanning the summer of 2023, he gives us a different reason to live each day.

A story of loss and hope, 50 Reasons to Live is a call to arms for anyone who is struggling and looking for a reason to go on.

‘Jason starts reading a stack of letters she wrote to him. In them, he finds 1 reason to die and 50 reasons to live.’

About Author:
I’m a nurse by day, writer by night and everything else in between. I harboured dreams of being a rock star in my teens, then, when I was twenty-two, I had an epiphany and decided to write instead. I went through a lot as a teenager, as we all do, and spent about twelve years trying to write about it. Then, during a period of chronic stress, depression and anxiety I went into therapy, finished, and wrote 50 Reasons to Live in a three-week furore. What emerged was a book exploring who I was as a sixteen-year-old and who I am now. I then spent three years editing and re-writing to make it what it is today.

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Emyr Payne @emyrpayne.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

ANOTHER MICRO READ FROM MY DEBUT NOVEL 50 REASONS TO LIVE, WHICH YOU CAN STILL PREORDER HERE: www.barnardpublishing.co.uk/books/50-rea...

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

This week's Sunday Snippet is a gripping excerpt of On Duty by Madeleine Armstrong. @madeleinewrite.bsky.social Gritty and distinct, this story oozed deception and dirty realism. Read it now in Issue 7.

Sunday Snippet
On Duty by Madeleine Armstrong

'Just cause I don’t speak, people think I’m stupid.
But I see everything. I remember everything.
Like that girl, blasting into the gas station in a beat-up old truck while I stood by the pump, squinting into the early-morning sun. She couldn’t have been more’n eighteen, with bright yellow hair and an inch of dark roots, her bruised-up eye only half hidden by her sunglasses.
After she pulled up beside me her gaze kept darting to the empty road, back the way she’d come, where the heat-haze blurred the line between asphalt and sky.'

Read it now in Issue 7.

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Trash Cat Lit @trashcatlit.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Today is the LAST day to request prompts for the flash writing challenge. Make sure to come get some before 8pm tonight (BST) 🦝 Some Trashies still haven't done any work, like these: Setting: Purple Roach Character: Yellow Raccoon Object: Red Weed trashcatlit.com/call-for-pro...

trashcatlit.com

Call for Prompted Stories

THE CHALLENGE HAS NOW BEGUN, GET YOUR PROMPTS BEFORE THE 6th TO BE ABLE TO SUBMIT A STORY. THE LINK TO THE PROMPT REQUEST FORM IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE. HAVE FUN!Note: Contributors to the Apri…

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Issue 8: FEAR! Subs open 21.08 to 25.09 For Issue 8 we’re exploring fear in all its forms. Show us existential dread, childhood terrors, the horrors of being human. Fear is universal, but the way we live with it is personal. So tell us, what do you fear?

Theme reveal for Issue 8: FEAR!

Submissions open in just over 2 weeks from August 21 to September 25

What do we fear? What we cannot understand? Cannot name, see, or control? The unknown has always haunted us, from childhood monsters under the bed to the dread that follows us into adulthood. Inevitable things we cannot control like loss, death, and grief.

What does fear reveal? How do we respond? Do we run, fight, or hide? Does it make us cruel, compassionate, reckless, resilient? For Issue 8 we’re exploring fear in all its forms. Show us existential dread, childhood terrors, the horrors of being human.

As before, we’re pairing the theme with our inherent focus: the gritty, the mundane, the uncomfortable, the human. Fear is universal, but the way we live with it is personal.

So tell us, what do you fear?

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Trash Cat Lit @trashcatlit.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Two more days of prompt generation for our August Pop-Up. Don't miss out 🦝 Want prompts nobody else has currently got? Here's our hardhatted squirrel's activity reports. Plenty of fresh, unused Trashies to pick from. Make 'em work 🦝🐀🪳 trashcatlit.com/call-for-pro...

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

This week's Tuesday Taster is a sharp slice of repair work is expensive by Geoffrey Aitken. @8cakey.bsky.social We found this piece resonant and enjoyed its frankness. 'completing work without thinking replacement will be inevitable' Read it now in Issue 7.

Tuesday Taster
repair work is expensive
Geoffrey Aitken

'completing work
without thinking
replacement
will be inevitable'

Read it now in Issue 7.

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

This week's Sunday Snippet is a beautiful shot titled 'Hyena Portrait' by Vincenzo Cohen. Find more brilliant artwork and photography in Issue 7.

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

This week's Sunday Snippet is a beautiful shot titled 'Hyena Portrait' by Vincenzo Cohen. Find more brilliant artwork and photography in Issue 7.

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

This week's Thursday Throwback is a beautiful elegy titled Worst Kind of Days by Scott McLane. Its intimate, conversational tone is raw and compelling and we found it a tender, poignant reflection on grief. Read it now in Issue 5.

Thursday Throwback
Worst Kind of Days by Scott McLane

'I choke on guilt
just inhaling her memory,
as if every breath today
borrows from what her lungs once lacked'

Read it now in Issue 5.

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

This week's Tuesday Taster is a resonant bite of To Speak to a Representative by Kelly Murashige. Beautifully written, we loved how it was centred on something mundane and yet felt so very human. Read it now in Issue 7.

Tuesday Taster
To Speak to a Representative by Kelly Murashige

'She only has ten seconds to hit the green button. Missing a call affects her stats, which could lead to a Corrective Action Plan.
Panicking, she answers the call, one hand pressed to her mouth as she swallows a cough.
“Oh, great,” the caller mutters when she doesn’t speak immediately. “Bet they hung up on me again.”
She meets her own gaze in the mirror.
She wishes she were dead.
“Hello,” she says, smiling wide enough to make her eyes water. “Thank you for calling. How can I help you today?”
“Oh!” The relief is palpable, leaking through the phone. “A person. You’re a real person. Aren’t you?”
She smiles wider, imagining herself a corpse, her cheeks cut in a Glasgow grin.
“Yes, I am,” she says.'

Read it now in Issue 7.

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leefraserpoetry.bsky.social @leefraser.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Thank you Underbelly!

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Underbelly Press @underbellypress.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

This week's Sunday Snippet is Lee Fraser's Everybody Knows What Mum Needs. Real and resonant, we found its concrete form striking. @leefraser.bsky.social Read it in Issue 7.

Sunday Snippet
Lee Fraser
Everybody Knows What Mum Needs.

'Babies are all so different but
everybody knows what Mum needs:

a baby wipe warmer
impromptu visits
more exercise
to lighten up
a good shag
journalling
wall decals
better diet
a pedicure
a new car
lipstick
novels
a trim
a rest
a job

me time
gratitude
a hobby'

Read it in Issue 7.

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Reposted by Underbelly Press

jenharkerauthor.bsky.social @jenharkerauthor.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Cloak and Dagger - entering agent inboxes as we speak: 🗡️ Rivals to lovers ❤️‍🔥 An actual love triangle ✨ Forbidden Love 🔮 Hidden Powers 🏛️ Greek Mythology Inspired 🐺 Talking Animals 💪 Disability & chronic illness rep 🌈 Diverse characters 🫂 Found Family 👹 Feminine Rage #Questpit #Q #A #F #D #H

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