Good Printed Things

Description of Work: 

We invite you to share a poem, essay, or story that reflects on a food memory — one that shaped you or has stayed with you for some reason. Essays and short stories should be no longer than 2,500 words.  

Memory holds food in surprising ways: its smells and flavors, its celebrations and rituals around both joy and grief. Sometimes our memories are about who was at the table, sometimes about who wasn’t. Sometimes these memories are flavored witth joy and other times with disgust.

We expect we will get dozens — if not scores — of grandmother stories and comfort food tales, and those are welcome. But we also understand that food is not merely nourishment or a benign connector of people; all grandmothers can't cook (and might not even like you, their grandchild), and food can be used for punishment or weapon of war, small or large. We want to read the hilarious and the hurtful, pieces that question and pieces that answer.

Selected works will appear in the next mixed-lit anthology by Good Printed Things to be published Fall 2025.

Supplementary prompts

•  A dish that connects you to your culture, your family, or your past. 
•  The first meal you ever cooked—or burned.
•  What someone cooked for you that felt like love—or hate.
•  The food you crave when you’re homesick. 
•  A kitchen tradition passed down—or one you started on your own.
•  The smells, textures, and rituals that live in your memory.
•  A food memory you'll never be able to recreate.
   

Payment

All contributors whose work is accepted for publication will be paid with

 · one print copy of the book

· $50
 

Guest Editor

Dr. Cynthia Greenlee is an award-winning journalist and historian whose work explores the intersections of food, history, and culture. A James Beard Award winner, she has written for The Atlantic, The New York Times, Smithsonian, and more. Her work has appeared in multiple Best American Food Writing anthologies. Formerly deputy editor at the Southern Foodways Alliance and senior editor at The Counter, she is currently working on a book rethinking Black foodways in the South. A lifelong Southerner by birth, rearing and choice, she draws inspiration from her heritage and deep roots in North and South Carolina.

Deadlines

First drafts should be submitted as an editable (.doc or .docx file) via Submittable. From there, our editors will select works and provide editing services, returning drafts with any necessary revisions before the final copy is due. Edits may include feedback on theme and structure, and a series of clarifying questions to aid in sharpening the work.

June 1 - June 30 - Submissions accepted

July 1 - July 31 - Selections made and drafts returned with edits 

Aug 15 -  Revisions due

Our Editing Process  

Following the submission period, our editor will select works and provide editing services, returning drafts with any necessary revisions before the final copy is due. Edits may include feedback on theme and structure, and a series of clarifying questions to aid in sharpening the work.  

Assignment of Rights

You certify that you are the sole author and creator of the work you are submitting, that all work is original and not copied in whole or part from any other work, and that no one else currently owns the rights to publish this work. You guarantee that this work is not in the public domain, and does not violate privacy rights or infringe on any copyrights. The Publisher will not publish any material that violates copyright law, privacy rights, or contains illegal content. 

You grant Good Printed Things the right to publish your piece in a particular volume of work. This is a non-exclusive right to publish and sell. We understand that your piece may have already appeared elsewhere or may in the future. Upon publication, all rights immediately revert back to the author, however Good Printed Things reserves the right to reprint your work in the same format. If your work is included in a different format or book, additional permission would need to be granted in writing.

Note  

Good Printed Things reserves the right to exclude any submissions that appear to be composed using AI. All editor decisions are final, and we appreciate our contributors' professional conduct on this.