IBO X: MELT is available NOW at Backstreet records, Castlecarry, The Feel Good Store, Hero’s Beacon, and Union House! Get ‘em before they’re gone! It’s our last issue!❤️ 🫠
We have news: IBO X: MELT will be our final issue at @itsburningoff . We have had a wonderful two years reading & publishing your work, and now it’s time for us to move on to new & exciting projects. Thank you to all our contributors, readers, and supporters - & you’ll be able to find the last issue in the usual places in a few weeks! 🔥 ⛅️
COMING in Spring 2026: IT’S BURNING OFF X: MELT
IBO is now seeking your submission of black & white art, comics, essays, poetry, & stories (800 words or less) along the themes of:
-spring thaws
-transitional seasons
-ocean and river voyages
-waterfalls, freshets, and floods
-release & catharsis
-awakenings
-controversial new directions
Send your stuff by April 22, 2026 to [email protected]
HOT OFF THE PRESSES: IT’S BURNING OFF IX: LOVE GONE COLD
In Saint John, can you ever really break up?
Lovers come and go, friendships fail - and then, some grey afternoon, they are again: at the movies, at the corner store, or driving silently past, a ghost from a version of your life in which they still play a part. Or perhaps you’ll wave. Then they’ll wave back. And then who knows?
We at It’s Burning Off believe that anything really good is worth fighting for - but also, when it’s truly, irrevocably, over, you got to know when to fold ‘em. Folded in the pages of our 9th issue, you will find: spectres of past love, brutal breakups, stubbed toes, snubbed exes, missed connections, hot coffee and cold kisses.
Find your copy at select uptown Saint John this week 💔
IT’S BURNING OFF is now seeking your submissions of black & white art, comics, essays, poetry, & stories (800 words or less) along the themes of:
-passions extinguished
-ice cream dates
-hearts broken and repaired
-terrible Tinder experiences
-first loves
-cold comfort for change
Send your stuff by FEB 1, 2026 to [email protected]
Have you picked up the latest issue of It’s Burning Off? December’s issue of this local Saint John zine is packed with warm short stories, beautiful artwork, an insert from @kakuterulounge The Spirit of Hospitality, & one of my postcards.
I’m so thankful to the editors for including this wintry postcard. On these chilly days, it feels like an invitation to slow down, get cozy, and write a short note to family or friends. A reminder to experience and share a bit of joy across the country via the mail.
This photo of a snowy King’s Square, tucked into the pages of the zine, is a serendipitous addition to a postcard project I started over on TikTok. Over the past month, I’ve connected with people across Canada, with more than 200 postcards sent from Nova Scotia to British Columbia. (If you’re curious, I’ve shared more about that part over on my blog, link in bio.)
You can pick up a free copy at one of the local spots stocking the zine, follow @itsburningoff on Instagram to see where you can grab yours.
out now (while supplies last) at select uptown locations: IBO VIII: HEARTH & HOME - a ✨ limited-edition ✨ holiday number featuring odes to the festive season, Bigfoot sightings, outlaw gas-thief deer, a guide to hospitality by @kakuterulounge & much more.
OUT NOW: It’s Burning Off VII: BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL 🕯️ Our sophomore Halloween issue featuring tales of ghostly voices, spooky comics, NB witch trials, unexpected encounters in Fernhill (not ghosts), a lunar word search PLUS a bespoke advertising supplement from the singular @hatchandparley 🚪. Find it at @backstreetsj@heroesbeaconsj@emporia.saintjohn@feelgoodsj@castlecarry.sj@obscurityshop & more while supplies last.
P.S. does anyone have a source for some TYPE K saddle stitch staples???? We’d love you to death 💀
