The Santa Barbara Literary Journal, a small press founded in 2018, hosts an eclectic mix of short and flash fiction, poetry, interviews, and art.

Beautifully written narratives by imaginative storytellers and visionary poets fill the pages. Tales that push boundaries and reveal our potential and our fears. Stories and poems that keep us wondering long after reading.

Established authors and emerging voices from Santa Barbara and beyond have contributed adventures of wrestlers and renegades, dramas of captains and criminals, and fantasies of vixens and vampires.

 A mix of genres from literary to phantasmic, magical realism and sci-fi to crime, mystery and suspense fill our pages. Within each narrative, imagery, plot and most of all, the structure where something happens and people transform, tempt readers to turn the page and discover new possibilities in themselves, others, and the world around us.

Poems of love and loss, of the beauty and cruelty of nature, of what it is to be human by expanding our awareness and understanding.

Art is the balm that soothes our souls in troubled times. It’s disturbing, enlightening and enthralling. It piques our interest and makes us wonder.

Pick up a journal and join us in this grand pursuit of the sublime.

Available Now!

Volume 13

Mysterious Ways

featuring the art of Diana Salas-Deitch

Fiction by

Jenny Burman
B.J. Burton
Nick Deitch
Calla Gold
Jeremy Gold
Juyanne James
Nathan Loceff
Alyson MacInnis
Zach Murphy
Shira Musicant
Ted Olson
Mona Leigh Rose
B. Geren Sanford
Terry Sanville
Kirby Wright

Poetry by

Kunal Basu
Christopher Buckley
Eugene Datta
William Doreski
Chynna Foster
Valerie Girard
Khris Golder
Samantha Grabler
Stella Ho 
Christine Jackson
Naomi Bess Leimsider
Wendy Jean MacLean
Eddi Salado
Peter Schwartz
Michael Spivack
Caitlin Swalec
Veronica Tucker
Tom Tulloh
Reed Venrick

Santa Barbara Literary Journal Volume 13: Mysterio ....
Knight, Maryanne and Murdock, Zachary and Salas-Deitch, Diana

Thanks to our sponsor Lazarus Media

Volume 13 Events

WithVolume 13: Mysterious Ways, we’re excited to feature The Waterfall, an enchanting watercolor by Ventura artist Diana Salas-Deitch, on our cover. You’ll find Diana’s work throughout the issue, along with an interview by Fiction Editor Calla Gold.

Upcoming readings for Volume 13:

  • Thursday, May 14 Release Party at Chaucer’s Bookstore in Santa Barbara

  • Saturday, May 30 at Tecolote Books in Montecito

Volume 14 Submissions are Open Through April 30

Check out our Submissions page for more details.

Back Issues

Volume 11
This Must Be the Place

Volume 10
Satellite of Love

Volume 9
Space Sirens

Other Collections