Bear Flag Press is dedicated to publishing work that is inspired by and resonates with the ideals and troubles of the western United States, everything from sprawling metropolises to stretching mountain ranges, and the vast open spaces of the Mojave and the Pacific. We also invite work that engages with the West in its imaginary forms. Some of these categories are: immigration, LGBTQIA2S+ and BIPOC perspectives, race and gender coalition or violence, extractive capitalism, Silicon Valley, settler colonialism, indigeneity, unfamiliar landscapes, individualism activism, isolation, surveillance, Western imaginary, popular culture related to the West, and folklore. We invite you to engage with one or all of these ideas in relation to the U.S. west coast, and while you do not have to be a resident of this region, we do prioritize those who have a connection here.

We also present and highlight authors and artists in a fuller scope. Where many magazines take only one or two poems or flash fiction for publication, we are dedicated to showcasing more from each contributor so that we can offer a robust catalog of work, which shows growth, scope, commitment, and purpose. For writers, this is a chance to publish more work than commonly offered, provide context for your work, and depth for your theme and narrative through the writing itself.