KirstyAnne // editor

Here’s one from the archives. 📽️ Each quarter, just before Thorn & Bloom Magazine is released, we invite our contributors to share their published work with all of us.❤️‍🔥 📌For the third edition, we selected the theme, The Splinters We Carry, and the contributors did not hold back with all that causes our pain and influences the people we turn out to be. Listen to what a few of them had to say. We will be sharing more of these snippets, so do follow along to hear more insightful stories. 🔗Next up, we have an open mic scheduled for 23 May 2026, so click on the link in the bio to sign up to share your words. . . . #RedRoseThorns #ThornAndBloomMagazine #LiveReading #OpenMic #ShareYourVoice #SelfCare

🎤 Join us for our Virtual Open Mic this month, where we will be headlined by one of our wonderful redrosethorns contributors: Tulip Chowdhury! ✨ About Tulip: “Tulip Chowdhury is a long-time educator and writer. She has authored multiple books, including Visible, Invisible and Beyond, Soul Inside Out, and a collection of poetry titled Red, Blue, and Purple. Tulip currently resides in Massachusetts, USA.” We’re thrilled to have her open our stage. After our headliners perform, everyone who registers gets a 5-minute slot to share their work—poetry, prose, or whatever moves you. This is your space to be heard. Event Details:
🗓️ Date: 23 May 2026
⏰ Time: 11 am PDT | 2 pm EDT | 7 pm BST
📍 Location: Online via Zoom
🎟️ Tickets: Free (donations welcome) 👉 Link in bio to sign up. Slots fill fast—reserve yours now. We can’t wait to hear your words. .
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. #RedRoseThorns #OpenMic #OnlineEvents #WritingCommunity #ShareYourVoice

A hard lesson I have learnt in my business, which is also tied to the life lessons learned in my 40+ years. 🙆🏻‍♀️ If you don’t set boundaries and enforce them, you are teaching others that it is okay to exploit you. Likewise, if you lower your prices in business, you are teaching others that you/your business are not worth much. This is not about what others can afford. It is about what you are willing to accept for your labour. By giving your services or products away for free, you are showing others you have little value. (Of course, there are freebies for promotional purposes, but this is something entirely different.) Likewise, not showing up as your authentic and best self teaches others to decide who you are for you. Create value by sharing more of yourself, your story, why you are doing what you are doing and then the price tag becomes less important. Charge what you are worth and watch your self-confidence increase. The same thing happens outside of business, where showing up more as who you are naturally invites people more aligned and healthier for you. In turn, those are the people who will empower and support you. People surround themselves – and purchase things – with those that bring value to them. You can choose to be of little or high value. It all starts with setting clear expectations and enforcing solid boundaries. . . . #Over40 #Boundaries #LifesLessons #GrowthMindset #SelfCare #SelfAcceptance #MentalHealthMatters #RedRoseThorns

Week 27 of 37 Stories. Two stories. One question. Maryam Rozizada writes of a young girl in school, trying to focus on her exams while gunshots echo in the distance. Then the Taliban draw near. The girls evacuate. A safe haven becomes a desolate building. Zahra Amiri writes of a young woman leaving her family behind, crossing a border alone, risking her life for a future she cannot yet see. She dreams of studying further. To stay means an unfilled life. To flee brings unmatched freedom. Both say goodbye to everything they knew. Both face an abyss of uncertainty. Change brings grief. Grief is so painful that we often cling to familiar cages instead. But these girls move anyway. Toward the unknown. Toward growth. So here is the question that lingers: If you want change, what are you going to say goodbye to? Click the link in our bio to read both stories. . . . #37Stories #WeAreHere #MaryamRozizada #ZahraAmiri #BetweenGunfire #APromiseToSurvive #Change #AfghanGirls #AmplifyHerVoice #RedRoseThorns #UsawaLiteraryReview

I am so excited to announce that I signed a book deal with redrosethorns press!!! My poetry book Picket Fences Require Picket Lines will be released in May 2027!!! My book is a call to collective action against sexist, racist, and pedophilic beauty standards 💪 This is a childhood dream come true and a cause I care deeply about because it’s impacted my whole life and the lives of women around me (especially those with dark skin). Stay tuned to read more of my story through poems in the book :) Book launch party in one year 🎉

💘Click on the link in the bio to read Christin Marie’s (@christin.marie.writer ) inspiring essay on why she wrote her upcoming romantasy novellette, The Rose Temple. This book may be small, but it is packed with so much wisdom. Each time I read it, I glean more, and we cannot wait to get this onto your bookshelves.😍 The Rose Temple is inspired by the goddess-centred traditions of the Bronze Age Aegean yet set in Classical-era Crete – a time when goddess reverence lingers as a quiet testament within a world already being reshaped by patriarchy. It follows a priestess’s transformative journey from sacred duty, through forbidden passion and heartbreak, to a reclaimed life of authentic desire and self-created purpose.❤️‍🔥 Perfectly apt representation for our press publications. And now that the edits are just about done, we can begin the best part of turning a manuscript into a book. Stay tuned for more updates, and keep your inboxes open for all announcements on this book’s journey. 🥀The book is scheduled for release in October 2026. . . . #RedRoseThorns #BookLove #WritingCommunity #ChristinMarie #TheRoseTemple #ReadersOfInstagram #Bookstagram #FeministPublication #LiteraryFiction #Romantasy #IndiePress

❤️‍🔥Week 26 of 37 Stories. This one will stay with you. Safa Niazi writes ‘Chassis’. Little Sumayyah watches birds outside her window. They build a nest. They feed their chick. The father bird flies back and forth with food. The birds mirror her own family. Her father saves for permits. She waits patiently for her turn to fly. This is the reality of leaving home. Fees. Uncertainty. The crushing unknown of whether you will ever truly restart. Those lucky enough to escape the Taliban now face another battle: being unwanted in new lands, restricted in how much they can move. But Safa reminds us: birds move, build, and rebuild. So can we. The Taliban will crumble. And what comes after? That is our choice. Click the link in our bio to read ‘Chassis’ in Usawa Literary Review (@usawamag ). . . . #37Stories #WeAreHere #SafaNiazi #Chassis #AfghanRefugees #Immigration #Birds #AmplifyHerVoice #UsawaLiteraryReview #RedRoseThorns

🖤We are honoured to welcome back mk zariel, who will be reading from its upcoming publication, Voidgazing (Whittle Micro Press - @whittlemicropress ). In this chapbook, zariel shares a collection of poetry tackling our modern world’s discourse on technology, pop culture, and gender. Its work is laced with sardonic language and plays with heavy uses of oxymorons that bitingingly describe the nuances and humour within our increasingly complex society. This is an event you don’t want to miss out on, so get your tickets to hear the incredible poetry before it is released into the void. 📅 1 May 2026
⏰ 4 pm PDT / 6 pm CST / 7 pm EDT
📍 Online via Zoom
🎟️ Sliding scale — pay what you can (Note: half of the ticket sales go directly to the author.) 👉 Link in bio to register. Come listen and support artists. . . . #Voidgazing #mkzariel #Poetry #OnlineEvents #RedRoseThorns #LiteraryEvents #LiveReading

We’re back with a new theme. 🌹 Thorn & Bloom Issue 06: The Body As Archive Our bodies store memory, trauma, and joy. This issue invites writing that explores the body as a living archive, where experience lives beneath the skin. We welcome submissions in any genre and style. Deadline: 15 May 2026 👉 Link in bio to submit your work. . . . #ThornAndBloomMagazine #TheBodyAsArchive #OpenCall #SubmissionsOpen #WritersOfInstagram #LiteraryMagazine #CallForSubmissions #MentalHealthWriting #FeministPublishing #RedRoseThorns

It’s publishing day, and here are the inclusions for April in #RedRoseThornsJournal.✨ 🥀 @redrosethorns  is an educational publication company centred around mental health, self-care, gender, and sexuality. Each month, our journal publishes literature around these themes, where you can read them on our website at any time (link in bio). Do share in the comments which one resonated the most with you! ➡️ Love getting curated reads? So do we. Our weekly newsletter brings one of these amazing stories straight to your inbox. Subscribe now—it’s the easiest way to stay connected and inspired. . . . #OnlinePublication #FeministLiterature #LiteraryJournal #RedRoseThorns #Poetry #ShortStory #SelfCare #MentalHealthMatters #Identity #WritersOfInstagram

🎤  We’re excited to announce that our next Virtual Open Mic will be headlined by the lovely Tulip Chowdhury! ✨“Tulip Chowdhury is a long-time educator and writer. She has authored multiple books, including Visible, Invisible and Beyond, Soul Inside Out, and a collection of poetry titled Red, Blue, and Purple. Tulip currently resides in Massachusetts, USA.” Why you’ll love her: Tulip’s writing is a window into her inner world. Her introspective pieces explore the small, significant moments that often go unspoken, offering a glimpse of what it means to navigate life with honesty and grace. Come be part of an audience that listens deeply. Let Sarah’s poetry move you. Event Details:
🗓️ Date: 25 April 2026
⏰ Time: 12 pm PDT | 3 pm EDT | 8 pm BST
📍 Location: Online via Zoom
🎟️ Tickets: Free (donations welcome) 👉 Tap the link in our bio to sign up! We can’t wait to hear your words. . . . #RedRoseThorns #OpenMic #OnlineEvents #WritingCommunity #Poetry #SarahCarter #Womanhood

Unboxing my copy of #thornandbloommagazine Terrible lighting but a gorgeous edition. Click on the link in the bio to get your copy now. 🔗📚 . . . #redrosethorns #booksbooksbooks #literarymagazine #feministpublishing #indiepress #literature