off•ing, n. (ˈɔ fɪŋ, ˈɒf ɪŋ)
the most distant part of the sea seen from the shore.
in the offing, idiom.
a. at a distance but within sight.
b. in the projected future; likely to happen.
OUR MISSION
The Offing is an online literary magazine publishing creative writing in all genres and art in all media.
The Offing publishes work that challenges, experiments, provokes — work that pushes literary and artistic forms and conventions.
The Offing is a place for new and emerging writers to test their voices, and for established writers to test their limits.
The Offing actively seeks out and supports work by and about those often marginalized in literary spaces, including Black and Indigenous people, and people of color; trans people, cis women, agender, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, two-spirit, and non-binary people; intersex people; LGBQA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, asexual/aromantic) people; people with disabilities; and especially people living at the intersections of these identities.
The Offing believes that writers and artists deserve to be compensated for their work, and we pay our contributors. We are working diligently, with your help, to raise the funds to increase our current contributor honoraria amounts, and to increase the frequency and amount offered to our editorial staff.
The Offing initially began under founding Editor-in-Chief Darcy Cosper as a channel of the Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB), with LARB providing a home on its server, and offering administrative support and umbrella 501(c)3 status, in exchange for a percentage of our donations. For all other costs, such as honoraria for contributors, funds were raised by The Offing’s all-volunteer editorial staff.
The Offing reserves the right to remove previously published content for any reason, including but not limited to situations where we believe that doing so will protect the integrity of the publication and its mission.
DEPARTMENTS
(Schedule subject to change when we feel change is in the offing!)
FICTION
First Monday
Fiction of any length, including excerpts of longer works and forthcoming books.
POETRY
First and Third Wednesday
One to five poems of any form and length.
ESSAY | MEMOIR
Second Thursday
Personal essays and explorations (rather than commentary or criticism) of any length, including excerpts of longer works and forthcoming books.
ART
Fourth Friday
Home to visual artists and storytellers from all walks of life. Art that inspires, compels, and breaks convention, from abstract art, to text and visual interplay, to comics, illustration, and everything in between.
HERE/YOU ARE
First Thursday
Writing tuned to form and place : location, space, setting, situation, position. Formerly known as YOU ARE HERE.
BACK OF THE ENVELOPE
Second Tuesday
Literary pieces which relate to, or draw on, science and the natural world. Sharing its wonder or its horrors, relating to untold stories of discovery, or toying with everyday curiosities.
MICRO
Second and Fourth Wednesday
Ten- to 560-character works—or one to five tweets—in any genre. Published simultaneously on The Offing site and on our Twitter account.
ENUMERATE
Third Tuesday
Lists of creative and cultural artifacts, from famous examples of anaphora to obscure quotations about the nature of art; from novels about nervous breakdowns to good covers of bad songs.
WIT TEA
Third Thursday
Humor. Formerly WIT'S END.
INSIGHT
When the occasion arises
Responses to works of art, literature, and culture that raise questions or address issues about the matters that concern us aesthetically, politically, ideologically.
RETIRED DEPARTMENTS:
DEAD LETTER OFFICE
Missives never sent, confessions in epistolary form—long or short, true or false.
CONTACT
Direct all general inquiries and comments to [email protected].
