Showcase Relaunch 2026
Object & Idea
Thank you to our previous Patrons
George Choundas, award-winning author, new book, Until All You See Is Sky
Joan Frank, author of the just released novel, Juniper Street.
Robert Kirvel, author of a fine book of essays, iWater and other Convictions.
Welcome Back to Showcase!
We’re very happy to announce the re-launch of showcase: object/idea! Showcase is a digital magazine run by C&R Press.
As a part of this relaunch, we’re also introducing our new series editor, Bethany Leger. Bethany will be bringing a new perspective to Showcase — one that, while it will feel adjacent to trends in the literary space, seems yet-to-be fully unraveled.
As a reminder, Showcase is literary poems and prose (in short form) alongside an artist ethos — a statement of their creative intent — and a brief interview about the work. Read past issues.
Unraveling:
Bethany comes to us from advocacy work in cult recovery. Born in Dallas, Texas, she moved to Asheville before settling in Winston-Salem. A cult survivor herself, she was forced to traverse uncharted territory on the other side of mandated religious ostracism and the groupthink that characterized the first thirty years of her life. When she revealed her apostasy, her devout family severed ties overnight, leaving her to navigate significant emotional and ideological whiplash. She is the author of several books, Physically In, Mentally Out: Navigating Your Exit from Watchtower (2020), and Burning Down the House: Coping with Toxic Family Dynamics, Estrangement, and Rebuilding Your Life (2026). She’s also the creator of the YouTube Channel, Stop the Shunning, and has collaborated with former Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and Scientologists.
Bethany has her BA in Psychology from Arizona State University, and is a classically trained ballet dancer who spends her free time at the local studio, honing her technique and perfecting the art of forgetting the next step. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, both of whom enjoy exploring coffee culture.
Bethany’s editorial perspective/new ethos:
Dear Reader,
Thank you for attention and focus on Showcase, which I really loved when it first launched a few years ago. As a reader, I wondered what it would be like if the content had a more focused lens; the narrowing might serve the idea portion of Showcase’s ethos more uniquely, with verve, and, possibly, with more significant writerly consequence. What I mean is, sometimes a restricted ecology yields a rarer bloom. For instance, my background is in cult trauma and recovery. While I’m not opposed to organized religion or expressions of faith, I’m pointedly interested in the co-opting nature of coercion; how language and emotions are manipulated by bad actors to blur the lines of consent. As an editor, this means I’m interested in work that explores the impact of these high-control environments and relationships, and, most importantly, how survivors reclaimed their power in the face of adversity. This is the winnowing I’d like to bring to the Showcase format.
Through writing, I believe we can regain personal agency while contributing to arts and culture. Everyone needs an outlet, but with literature, we aspire to make it artful.
So I look forward to reading work that delves into the waters of cults, religious control, even unstructured high-control groups and relationships, whether that be a partnership or institutional. We’ll likely particularize what we’re looking for as we build out the new ethos and publish work, so please continue to read our updates and descriptions of our calls.
For now, send us your polished work. The first relaunch will be free to submit. As before, we’ll have strict length restrictions which you can read about below. Please note that all paid subscribers from before will have their account reactivated. You can cancel at any time. We hope you’ll join us in submitting, and support us, as you can, on Substack.
With excitement and best wishes,
Bethany Leger
What we’ll be accepting/guidelines:
All genres. NO a.i. derived work. (we run a.i. check).
We’ll accept 1 poem and 1 prose piece (nf/f) for publication in each issue.
Published and Unpublished work (1 year minimum age for Published work).
Prose/Poetry page limits are 1 page, single spaced, 12 font, normal margins.
Deadline for our relaunch issue is July 5th.
Showcase Info:
Once we select a piece, we request the bio and a 1-paragraph artist statement that evaluates the work in the writer’s own words.
Also, we will ask a few interview questions at the craft and ethos level.
People can only submit via submittable.
Our first issue will be free to submit. After that, we’ll be charging minimal submission fees and paying out writers who we publish.
We’ll relaunch with 1x issue month and will be adding content in between.
We’re very excited by the relaunch! Keep reading for member benefits. We hope folks will support this new endeavor.
or
Join Our Patrons
Follow this link for our full list of supporters: HERE!
Showcase is generously supported by:
YOUR NAME HERE (Become a yearly paid subscriber to see your name, your book title, and an off-site link)
About Showcase:
We recognize that many great pieces sit in obscurity having been published once and provided brief light, only to then languish. But let the creative waters churn. Let what was once sediment rise again as nutrients. Showcase enthusiastically calls for previously published work alongside unpublished work.
We also pay writers. As we grow and if we hit certain benchmarks which we’ll share along the way, we’ll be able to raise the payout to writers.
Payment Calculator (payments made to writers so far):$1300Please subscribe to our new format, share with friends, colleagues, and classmates, and consider submitting work. Submitting for our relaunch issue is free, while future issues will be a minimum fee to submit.
Folks who become monthly subscribers will be able to submit 1x per month for free and up to 5 poems or 2 flash pieces, and will be capped after that. Yearly subscribers, in addition to being named as a supporter, will be able to submit extra pieces for free and 1x to our quarterly contest. If funds are tight, we encourage anyone in need of a fee waiver to write to us! Students actively enrolled in undergraduate studies can submit for free. We also encourage submerged and historically underrepresented voices, the whole spectrum of writers, to engage.
Finally, we will read very actively and pledge an eight-week turn around for all submitted work. We may hold pieces from month to month. We will generally publish monthly on the third Tuesday as well, providing as many opportunities as we can for writers. We hope you will read this issue and continue following our journey!
Note to Paid Subscribers
We thank you for your past support! With this post, we will have reactivated our paid portal for our substack. What that means for anyone previously subscribed is that you will default to the monthly or yearly schedule you once were on. We would love for you to stay with us as supporting members. But we fully understand circumstances change. You should be able to click through to your account and cancel the subscription as you need and prefer. We will send a direct reminder email as well to all paid subscribers. If somehow this falls through the cracks, if you message us we can look to issuing a refund through our payment partner (substack’s partner) Stripe. With appreciation.