Home

The Broken Spine Journal is a literary journal for unheard voices—a space for raw, unflinching writing that doesn’t flinch, soften, or perform. We are not here to decorate pain. We are here to name it. To own it. To burn through it.

The Broken Spine Journal is literary journal for unheard voices it was born from a very personal kind of disappointment—the kind that comes after submitting your truth to gatekeepers who only reward polish over power. I got tired of being told my voice was too much. So I built a home for voices like mine. We want lived experience.

We are here for the misdiagnosed. The mislabeled. The misunderstood.
The ones who’ve lived through systems, silence, or survival—and wrote anyway.

If your work doesn’t follow the rules,
If your voice was too loud, too blunt, too broken, too real—
We want it.

We don’t care about perfect punctuation.
We care about what stays with us after the last line.

We don’t mean raw like edgy.
We mean raw like waking up with your ribs cracked open.
Poems that confess. That collapse. That rage.
Mental health. Identity. Systemic trauma. Survival. Addiction. Unlovable truths.
The kind of writing that makes people uncomfortable. That’s what we want.

Don’t paint us flowers.
Paint us your wreckage.

This Is More Than a Journal. It’s a Movement for Unheard Voices.

We’re not just publishing online—we’re going to print.
We plan to distribute free physical issues to shelters, sober homes, and places where words might be the only form of hope left.

We are currently working to become a nonprofit organization with the goal of building outreach programs that go beyond the page. Our mission doesn’t end at publication—it extends into real lives and real communities.

We intend to produce special editions of The Broken Spine Journal dedicated to uplifting the voices of those in:

Homeless Shelters

Sober Homes

Women’s shelters

Juvenile and adult correctional facilities

We believe these voices matter—not just as art, but as truth, as testimony, and as a way to reclaim identity in a world that too often tries to erase it.

We will publish poetry, prose, visual art, and multimedia work. Submissions will open soon.

If you’ve ever been silenced, rejected, overlooked, or made to feel like your story wasn’t worth telling—you are exactly who we’re here for.

Thank you for every word you’ve ever written in the dark.

📖 My Debut Chapbook Is Out Now

I Wont Paint You Flowers is a raw and unfiltered collection of poetry about survival, silence, and the ache beneath beauty.

Published by Bottlecap Press, this book holds the words I never thought I’d share—
now they’re yours.

💡 All proceeds I receive from this book will go toward supporting the mission behind The Broken Spine Journal—amplifying unheard voices and bringing free literature to those who need it most.

👉 Order your copy here

Link to:

• Submissions page — “Want to share your story? [Submit your work here.]”
• Voices page — “Read raw, honest work from our contributors on the [Voices page].”
• About page — “Learn more about our mission [here].”